Living in a Painting

Friday, May 24th

Another free day, which meant another day solo-adventuring in Paris. I had created a long list of places I wanted to go see and planned to start from the top and get as many done as I could. The day was overcast, a little windy and gray. It was on and off drizzly rainy so I figured I'd spend some time museums. I started the day off by going to the Delacroix museum, who is an artist I really like and is most known for his painting "Liberty Leading the People". His museum was pretty small but I enjoyed  his art. After the Delacroix museum I went to another that I had been dying to see - the Rodin museum. Rodin is by far my favorite sculpture (and yes, he is the only sculpture that I know...) and I really like his pieces. The museum is unique in the sense that some of the smaller pieces are inside but most of the larger ones are outside in the garden. I absolutely loved almost every piece. And best of all I was able to see the famous "Thinker" in real life! One of my other favorites from his museum is titled "Le Baiser" - or "the kiss". It was simply remarkable to me how Rodin was able to breathe life into his sculptures. The marble/bronze is so smooth but at the same time it is so detailed even down to the most minute aspect. I just had such a respect for the amount of talent and artistry that was represented, I mean I was truly looking at someone who was a master in his element. 

This is a sculpture Rodin made of Victor Hugo - with a muse

After the Rodin museum I met up with a friend to tour the park Buttes-Chaumont, which is one of the largest in Paris and is in the 19th arrondissement. The park is absolutely amazing. It is so beautiful and so big! We were walking around in some drizzling rain which surprisingly just added to the beauty. The rain meant that the park was completely empty, 100%, we saw maybe one or two other people. Plus it made the whole scene look like something out of an Impressionist painting. There is this small mountain/hill in the middle of the park that has a big white gazebo/Roman style temple built on the top. Looking out from this temple you can see the whole park and even an amazing view over Paris - you can see the Eiffel Tower on one side and Sacre Coeur on a different side. I was pretty speechless. I mean it was this picture perfect view underneath the light rain fall. Since we were pretty chilly from the rain we went and grabbed a chocolat chaud and chatted for a while. Then I went and met up with the rest of my friends at the Sprenger's apartment before we all went home.