...Assumption Day, freely acknowledged by Parisians to be the deadest day of summer. We hope at least one Sunday market will be up & running as usual.
Today the streets were very quiet, except near tourist gathering places, and even in a well-known and well-loved neighborhood bistro the lunch crowd was sparse.
We lingered a long time over lunch because a spell of heavy rain sent water running down the streets and splashing off outdoor tables. When it finally stopped, the afternoon turned bright and clear.
Museums are open even if the shops are not. On Thursday we went to Rouen, to see the cathedral, and also to see a special exhibition at the Musee des Beaux Arts - "Impressionists in Rouen." Someone had a brilliant idea to assemble paintings by all the Impressionists - famous and otherwise - who spent time in Rouen, and the result is attracting visitors from all over.
Highlight of the exhibition is the room which features at least 10 of Monet's pictures of Rouen Cathedral, painted at all different times of the day to show how light changes the look of an object from hour to hour.
Two of the cathedral paintings belong in Rouen (part of the museum's excellent collection of Impressionists) and two or three are from the Musee d'Orsay. One came from the Getty, another was visiting from Boston, and still another is on loan from the Serbian National Museum in Belgrade. It was exhilarating to look our fill at the paintings, then walk a few blocks down the hill to the cathedral itself, which is undergoing a careful cleaning process to restore the original colors of its limestone facade.
Rouen is worth a trip, with or without a special exhibition. In spite of heavy damage during WWII, its medieval center survives, and there are imaginative new buildings to fill in some of the blank spots. We stayed overnight in a small hotel near the center, and particularly enjoyed a lunch of the local specialty - crepes (both savory and sweet.)
No comments:
Post a Comment