Impressionism in the Rain

Monday, May 20^th 2013

So the weather in Paris hasn’t been all that nice, but starting on Monday it took a turn for the rainiest. After class, we had free time to go see and explore but it was so rainy and windy and chilly, no one wanted to be outside. A few of us tried to visit a couple of museums but they were closed. I’m not sure exactly why but most museums are closed either on Monday or Tuesday, it’s a little rare for them to be open more than 5 days a week. Luckily, we eventually found success at the Orangerie museum, which is in the Tuileries gardens. It’s a smaller museum with impressionist artists and is especially known for a whole room that has huge paintings of Monet’s water lilies. It’s a big circular room and on each wall panel, there are long paintings that curve with the wall. So you can sit on a bench in the middle of the room and just spin in a circle, surrounded by Monet. I really really enjoyed the art from this museum. Partly because I enjoy impressionism so much but also because I didn’t know many of the artists so it was cool to find new people whose works I enjoyed so much. The paintings look both so real and also so dreamy. I love it. I would definitely put this on the museum list of must-sees. Unfortunately, they don’t allow pictures in most of the rooms so I only have limited shots of some of my faves.

After the museum, we went to this place called La Défense. I had heard that there was a big shopping mall there (which is rare in France. Even in Paris there are only a few) but none of us really knew what to expect. So the place is also called La Grande Arche, after this big building/monument. I’m pretty sure that la Grande Arche is made up of office buildings – so it’s not just a monument to look after, it’s more for utilities sake. But of course it’s still way cool. We actually really enjoyed the area – it’s nicknamed petit Manhattan because it’s one of the few places in Paris that has skyscrapers. It was so funny, but being around the skyscrapers and mall made me realize what a difference there is between Paris the city and New York or practically any other American city. There are no skyscrapers in Paris – the streets are typically still very small and the buildings have kept their old classic architecture. I love that. Of course there are still lots of people and the metro can be packed but the feeling of Paris is completely different than other cities. It’s still so charming. The mall was super awesome. It was huge and shiny and so clean. It was ultra-modern. In fact the bathrooms were the nicest I had ever seen and for France that is practically a miracle. In France, they have NO public restrooms. And I mean NONE. Plus! We found out that they’re building a Chipotle!!! I was so excited, I had to take a picture with the sign. I was so excited to discover how cool this place was because I had practically never heard of it before. I was expecting a little mall and a little of this or that but then BAM! We found this whole snazzy galleria! Then we went to FHE and had dinner with the jeunes adultes (young adults).  We had a type of hawaiian haystacks, with rice and chili. Not too French haha. After that, the day was winding to an end (as was my energy!) so we headed back home. But proof that even with bad weather, Paris is never boring!