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France: A Day in Paris

October 29, 2022October 29, 2022 JWF Leave a comment

Yesterday was our first full day in Paris. We figured out that we have visited here at least five times over the decades. We spent the day on foot (a welcome change from the car) and chose a route past a few hotels and streets where we’ve stayed in the past. First up was the Hotel de l’Universite’ on rue de l’Universite’, then the Hotel Duc de Saint-Simon, and also a street near the Pantheon. We couldn’t locate the Pantheon Hotel and thought perhaps it had changed names or gone out of business. Aside from strolling down memory lane, here’s what else we did.

MUSEE D’ORSAY

Main hall showing elaborate clock at back

We had tickets for a 10:30 entry to this favorite museum of ours, onCe a train station, now a glorious art museum. I used the French app, Tiqet, for the purchase; had I used a different app I probably could have gotten us a higher priority entry line. Rule for future trips: read all the advice the trip organizers give you first!

As it was, the plaza outside the building was very crowded with multiple lines for entry. We ended up in an A line and prepared to wait. It seemed longer, but we were actually only in line for 20 minutes and were inside by 10:35, even with airport-like security screening.

Behind large clock looking out at the city

Knowing that the Impressionist paintings were what we wanted to see most, we threaded our way through the throngs and made a beeline for the escalator at the back of the hall and the 5^th, top floor. We weren’t the only ones with this in mind. But, fortunately, we’d been here before and even though we couldn’t get close to some paintings, we enjoyed seeing old favorites again and discovering new surprises. Part of the appeal of this museum is its great architecture.

A Monet painting of the bridge at Giverny, 1900 (which we visited)

CAFÉ LUNCH

If any city specializes in sidewalk cafes, it’s Paris. With all its cafes and bars, you can get something to eat any time of day or night. Not true in the provinces. We had lunch at just such a café, opting to sit on the side street, not St. Germain des Pres. My salmon and spinach tart (a quiche) featured ingredients I love and was one of the best I’ve ever eaten. The Chief Penguin also thought his croque monsieur as absolutely the best he’s had.

LUXEMBOURG GARDEN

Think lots of metal straight backed chairs, some wide open spaces, a café, and formal flower plantings in ground and urns, and you have a sense of Luxembourg Garden. On this day, the garden was teeming with people of all ages sitting, conversing, reading, and picnicking. At the little lake, reminiscent of Central Park, fathers and mothers with sons and daughters were delighting in pushing around little sailboats with long poles.

All around, it was a happy scene full of life. We found chairs and people watched and took photos.

Luxembourg Garden was created in 1612 by Henri IV’s widow when she decided to build herself a new home there, Luxembourg Palace. The garden today is owned by the French Senate which meets in the palace.

PANTHEON

From the garden, we ambled to the Pantheon. Like so much of Paris architecture, the Pantheon is grand and handsome and appealing. It was built between 1758 and 1790 and was originally intended to be a church. Instead it was used as a mausoleum for noted individuals. Later it was a church again, then back to being a mausoleum. It is still a mausoleum and Victor Hugo is buried here.

The streets here have plenty of shops from international brands to local from mini-grocery to high fashion, and always, at least one bookstore.

PLACE DE LA SORBONNE

A short distance away is this square, close to the nearby universities. As you would expect, students hang out here, chatting, studying or just contemplating life. Spurting fountains add interest. This square opened in 1639. On one side is a bookstore for law books. We had not been in this place before.

DINING OUT

The previous night we ate outside and had something akin to comfort food. Roast chicken for me and skate in a caper butter sauce for CP. This night we dined inside at a recommended small restaurant called La Ferrandaise. It was an excellent meal in an attractive space with posters on the wall and large hanging lampshades bringing light below.

My starter of ravioli with chèvre and spinach was exquisite while the CP loved his butternut squash soup with chestnuts. He had octopus over white beans while I opted for the grilled veal shank. Despite the busyness of the restaurant, service was especially friendly and attentive. We could easily return for another meal.

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.) Header images is also Luxembourg Garden.

Manhattan Potpourri

May 14, 2021May 14, 2021 JWF Leave a comment

NAVIGATING MANHATTAN

Manhattan is beginning to come back to life and there is something approaching normalcy. But, it’s hard to be spontaneous. Museums require some form of advanced ticketing or reservation, there are usually lines to enter, masks and social distancing are the norm, and you will most likely have your temperature taken.

Unfortunately, some of our favorite restaurants are gone, there are too many empty storefronts, and reservations for dining are almost always a must. There too, they take your temperature, often request contact info, and sometimes require that you sign a health form. Strange times we’re living in, but at least it’s possible to see an exhibit and eat a meal at a restaurant, either outdoors or inside. It’s been a long wait, but we are enjoying both: viewing art and eating well!

CANVASES IN BIG SPACES

Frick Madison

During renovation and expansion of its home building, the Frick has re-located to what was the Met Breuer and is now called Frick Madison. It was both a surprise and something of a shock to see these works, normally hung close together in very decorated furnished rooms, spread out on vast walls. Some works stood out in a new way which I appreciated. I especially enjoyed seeing the four Fragonard pieces on the progress of love in this venue. Another standout was the portrait of Sir Thomas More by Hans Holbein the Younger. And I loved the tiered displays of ceramics—jugs, vases, teapots—arranged by color, one of blue and white pieces, the other works in shades of magenta.

There is a printed guide to the collection, but it isn’t that easy to follow, so I recommend downloading the Bloomberg Connects app before you visit. It includes guides to this museum and others in NY and the U.K. There is a QR code at the museum to do this, but that didn’t work for us.

Although the museum shop is closed, the café is open. With our friends, we enjoyed coffee and cookies before our entry time. Since the Frick doesn’t allow any photos, you must visit to see the art!

BLACK LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE

Whitney Museum of American Art

The Chief Penguin was particularly interested in the special photography exhibit at the Whitney. We got tickets for opening time; the entry line was short and moved quickly.

*A Couple in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY, 1990*

Dawoud Bey is a contemporary photographer. This exhibit was entitled, “American Project.” Using a variety of different techniques and camera sizes, Bey focused on Black life in several cities, Syracuse, NY among them. He also made a series of portraits of teens from different schools paired with written statements from each. Many of the photos are black and white.

We also spent some time looking at paintings and sculpture from the permanent collection. Some we’d seen before; others were new to us. I particularly liked the larger than life Black woman with a raffia skirt.

OUTSTANDING TV SERIES

Philly D. A. (PBS Independent Lens)

This eight-part series focuses on newly elected District Attorney Larry Krasner’s first term in office. It is excellent! Krasner campaigned on structural change and reducing the high figures for mass incarceration in the city of Philadelphia. Statistics showed that Philadelphia had a very high prison population, many Black or Brown, and sent youthful offenders to reform institutions at a much higher rate than almost anywhere else. Krasner’s goal is to undo 30 years of practices that don’t work and bring about cultural change. It’s an incredibly difficult and complex challenge; watching him struggle to be successful on several fronts is fascinating.

You get to know some key staff, meet several police district captains, follow a long-term prisoner petitioning for early release, and learn about the entrenched and powerful Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police. It’s a study in how municipal government does and doesn’t work for the community and how so often perception prevails over reality.

I worked in Philadelphia for almost twenty years so the attitudes and some players were familiar. But even for those elsewhere, the issues will resonate and are at the forefront of Black Lives Matter. As a footnote, Larry Krasner is being opposed in the Philadelphia Democratic Primary election next week; we will be following his fate. Highly recommended series!

PERFECT LUNCH!

Meme Mediterranean

In the past, we had frequent dinners at this small restaurant on Hudson Street in the West Village. It’s only a short walk from the Whitney. On this day, we had a delicious lunch at a corner table inside, with the door to the outdoors wide open. We shared our favorite fried artichoke, sampled the meatballs with yogurt and mint, and loved the chopped salad with chickpeas, tomato, cucumber, and grilled chicken. To top it off, abandoning noontime restraint, we each had a glass of a refreshing Albarino.

Note: Header photo by Dawoud Bey is entitled A Man at Fulton Street and Cambridge Place, Brooklyn, NY, 1988. Photos taken by JWFarrington.

Manhattan Museums: Art & More

May 19, 2019May 19, 2019 JWF Leave a comment

Whitney Museum of American Art

An every two year occurrence, the Whitney Biennial is designed to showcase trends in art and both emerging and established artists working in a variety of genres. Many of the artists in this year’s biennial are under 40 and their work gets at social, political and racial issues in both understated and more direct ways. I went expecting to find most of it too strange or ugly or outrageous for my taste, and some of it was not aesthetically pleasing—at least not to me. But when I looked over the photos I took, I found that there were more pieces I liked than I thought. What follows is a sampling of some of what we saw.

Detail, “A Lesson in Longing,” 2019 by Jennifer Packer

Society of Illustrators/Museum of Illustration

The Chief Penguin and I like to explore small museums and historic homes. The Museum of Illustration, home to the Society of Illustrators, is just such a place, a gem of colorful artwork that transitioned from being a private club to a tiny museum with a most attractive bar and café on its upper floor. Located on E. 65Street, it sponsors changing exhibits, invited talks and workshops, and an annual student competition along with displaying works from its permanent collection.

The special exhibit was “Masters of the Fantastic,” an array of sci fi and fantasy illustrations, along with a short film about the making of the 1950’s horror film, “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” The range of artistic styles was impressive and I enjoyed it more than I expected. Definitely a museum to re-visit with the perfect spot for a simple lunch!

Roosevelt House

Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt lived in a house on E. 65 Street. Today that house, which FDR’s mother bought for them (she lived in the other half), belongs to Hunter College and is home to a public policy institute. But the house is also open to the public for free. Here, you can read about Eleanor’s connections to the college and her involvement with its students. Also on display is a set of personal letters Franklin wrote to his cousin Daisy Suckley. They enjoyed a warm friendship, and she frequently visited him in Warm Springs, Georgia. There are also public lectures such as an upcoming one by Brenda Wineapple about the impeachment of Andrew Johnson.

Note: Photos by JWFarrington. Header photo is of a work by Japanese fantasy artist, Kuniko Craft.

Tidy Tidbits: Books & Local Scene

April 6, 2019April 6, 2019 JWF 2 Comments

RECENT READING

Love is Blind by William Boyd

I have known of Boyd’s work and watched the TV production of Any Human Heart, but until now had not read any of his novels. Love is Blindwas a very satisfying read. Set in the years from 1894 to 1906 and in a variety of venues ranging from Edinburgh, Paris, Nice and a remote island, it details, as the subtitle states, The Rapture of Brodie Moncur. A Scotsman with a domineering and abusive father, Brodie is a gifted piano tuner who escapes his gray tumultuous home life for the light and beauty of Paris.

His talents enable him to find a job wherever he goes, and with a diagnosis of tuberculosis, he often needs to seek out warmer climes. But what really propels and drives him is his obsession, call it love or infatuation, with a young Russian singer named Lika Blum. The fact that Lika is in a relationship with one of his clients, the past-his-prime pianist John Kilbarron, doesn’t deter Brodie, and they enjoy brief periods of togetherness.

Scotsman Boyd is a good storyteller and his prose provides enough local color to differentiate the various locales while detailing the changing times as automobiles replace horses in the early 20^thcentury. I found myself caring a great deal about Brodie and his peregrinations. (~JWFarrington)

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

In today’s news, there are more reports of prisoners wrongly accused or punished being released or having their sentences reduced. Prisoners on death row for decades for crimes they didn’t commit or those whose punishments far exceeded what was just for the nature of the crime. This was not always the case. Author and lawyer Stevenson was a pioneer in these efforts with his creation of the Equal Justice Initiative in the early 1980’s. Based in Alabama, Stevenson and his small team challenged the death row sentences of innocent individuals and those who were sentenced when they were mere children, thirteen or fourteen.

An account of Stevenson’s work over more than twenty-five years, the book offers up details about some of the people whose cases he appealed, some successfully, some not. The heart of it, however, is the story of Walter McMillian, one of his first cases, and a man who’d already spent several decades on death row for a murder he did not commit. What Stevenson uncovers about faulty justice, indifferent lawyers and law enforcement officials, lying eyewitnesses, and easily led townspeople is chilling; what Stevenson is able to achieve for Walter and his family is a testament to perseverance and dedication. This book, published in 2014, won several awards and appeared on six best books of the year lists. Thanks to our Pennsylvania friend Mark for recommending it. (~JWFarrington)

LOCAL COLOR

MUSEUM EXHIBIT

If you’re a fan of animals, then you might trot over to the South Florida Museumto see the new National Geographic “Photo Ark” exhibit by Joel Sartore. Gorgeous up-close photos of fifty animals (mostly taken in zoos) against stark black or stark white backgrounds. The exhibit just opened to the public and runs into July.

POWERFUL THEATER

Set in Reading, Pennsylvania, against the backdrop of the 2000 presidential election and the financial crisis of 2008, playwright Lynn Nottage’s Sweat at the Asolo, packs a punch. The language is raw and the emotions even more so. Focusing on three women who are union workers in a local factory, two young men who are the sons of two of them, and the local bar where they all hang out, it’s a portrait of working-class America that many of us haven’t experienced. The bar set is realistic-looking and TV videos overhead as a transition between scenes make for effective staging. I thought the acting was uniformly excellent. We came out exhausted, but appreciative of the high caliber performances we see here. It’s a play that could be required viewing for all adults—it’s that good!

DINING NOTES

A friend and I had lunch at Mar Vistarecently and it was lovely! This waterside restaurant on Longboat Key has been totally remodeled and is almost unrecognizable. It’s been spiffed up and is very inviting with three options for seating—inside, in the open air on a covered terrace, and fully outside at tables on the sand. We opted for the terrace and both enjoyed Cobb salads which were very fresh and tasty. Service was pleasant and efficient. To learn more, see the write-up in this week’s Herald Tribune.

If you’re enough of a stalwart to brave St. Armand’s Circle during the season, then lunch at Shore is a great choice. Located upstairs almost next door to Chico’s, the outside tables are airy with a view of the street. The menu offers lots of fish and plenty of salads and sandwiches. We three friends opted for a poke salad and the fish tacos with a green salad (instead of the menu fries). The tacos were tasty and the service super-efficient. Perfect for getting on with more shopping!

Note: Photos by JWFarrington unless otherwise noted. Header photo is a white-fronted lemur from the “Photo Ark” exhibit.

Category: Museums

France: A Day in Paris

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