We took the train back into Paris, and then the Metro to Le Centre Pompidou for the Musée National d'Art Moderne (the largest in Europe). This was an unscheduled stop. When we were at the art museums the day before, Adam wondered where the Picassos and such were. It hadn't even occurred to me to visit Le Centre Pompidou as I'm generally not a huge modern art fan. But this was the good kind of modern art (mostly), and the kind I hate (installation art, "found art," etc), we skipped.
The building itself is really interesting as it looks like a giant hamster cage with tube tunnels which are actually the escalators to take you to different floors.
The museum is open until 9 pm every night, so that worked out well for us. It was only about an hour long visit, but we saw a lot. Adam and I both commented that when you see so much amazing famous art in one place, it almost loses it's significance. Because there's just so much of it. Like a room full of Picasso's.
Portrait de jeune fille by Picasso
Femme Algérienne by Matisse
Guillaume Tell by Dali
Mobile sur Deux Plans by Calder
(Adam declared this to be "not art. A kid could make that!"
La Muse by Picasso
Jaune, Rouge, Bleu by Kandinsky
Someone was ready to be done!
After Le Pompidou, we took the metro over to Avenue des Champs-Élysées. We strolled down the busy avenue to the Arc de Triomphe. This triumphal arch honors those who fought and died for France in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. Unlucky for us, the lift was undergoing maintenance while we were there, so we got to climb up more stairs. I'm so over stairs right now because of this trip!
The night views from the top were beautiful, including the sparkling of the Eiffel Tower at 9 pm.
Once we got back to the area of our hotel, it was almost 10. But we were starving, so we had a nice dinner at La Terrasse. Eating that late in France is not at all unusual, and the restaurant was still busy.
I started with a bellini, and soupe l'oignon. I also had moules frites which came with a ridiculous amount of mussels. Even with Adam eating half of them, I still couldn't finish! Adam had steak frites which he also enjoyed. I really wanted dessert, but was much too full to order any. Bummer!
By the time we finally headed back to our hotel, it was quite late. We packed up our stuff and then crashed. So much for a more laid back day!
Highlights of the day:
Stef - Versailles, especially Le Petit Trianon & Hameau- All the amazing art at Le Pompidou
Adam - Versailles
- Dinner at La Terrasse
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