Free Museum Day: L'Orangerie

My favorite day of the month is the first Sunday, or as I like to call it; "Free Museum Day". I rarely miss the opportunity to take advantage of this forward thinking social program, whether I take my sketch pad to the Louvre or the Rodin, or choose to discover something new. Today I was in the mood to visit L'Orangerie and her collection of Impressionism and Modernism. A light and airy space, her foyer is walled in glass which affords a view onto the Tuileries, the Seine, and Le Tour d'Eiffel. Inside you will find a delicious selection of bonbons; beginning with giant tableaux by Claude Monet representing the four seasons at Giverny. It's a pleasure to sit and contemplate the brushstrokes, the beautiful colour palette, and the technique of this great master - if you can find a spot on the benches! Downstairs is the private collection of Jean Walter and Paul Guillome, patrons of the arts. Renoir, Matisse, Picasso, and Cezanne are well represented, as are André Derain and Chain Soutine. It's a collection one dreams of possessing! Modest and demure, L'Orangerie can be savored in a couple of hours from Tuesday-Sunday from 9h-18h. Closed Monday! Tariff 7.50 (plus 2.00 for special installations) Visit the L'Orangerie and the Musée d'Orsay (within 4 days) for 13 euro! Metro lignes 1,8, ou 12 to Concorde. The museum is located at the front right end of the Jardin des Tuileries.

Saturday in the Park

The lifestyle in any big city involves negotiating crowded sidewalks, dodging frenetic taxi drivers, and being jostled on and off the metro, all the while taking care to avoid pickpockets, motorscooters, and gawking tourists. Concrete, asphalt, and skyscrapers assault the eye, and one returns home to a cramped apartment to have one's senses assaulted by the neighbors crying baby and funky food smells. As one living in a city such as Paris is deprived of a backyard to cultivate and take the sun, or a place for the children to expend endless amounts of energy, a visit to the neighborhood park is an intregal part of the day. Every afternoon around 4:00, nannies and parents lucky enough to have the time at home push strollers of cherubic toddlers toward the nearest park and relax on a bench whilst the children play. Old men can be found playing pétanque, the family dog has a walk, lovers meet to kiss and coo. But the weekend is when the parks really come alive! If the weather is nice, this is where one takes the sun and enjoys a good book. Boys play futbol, those more motivated types jog around the perimeter, and ice cream vendors rake in the dough. Pigeons trawl for leftover baguettes, ducks swim leisurely in the ponds, and families enjoy quality time together, foregoing an afternoon in front of the television (as Americans are wont to do). The entertainment here is provided by amateur musicians, pretty girls, and spontaneous moments.....a child chases a bird, two dogs meet for the first time and size each other up, a boy chases a soccer ball gone astray. This is the quality of life that is Parisian culture, and whether you live in the city or the countryside, it is a habit that anyone, anywhere can benefit from!