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Thursday October 17th -- Museums!

We had no trouble waking up on time this morning as it's Laurie and Mercy's last day in Paris. They are taking the Eurostar tomorrow back to London and flying home to Arizona on Saturday. I booked my flight to Dublin for Saturday so I have a whole day on my own tomorrow. I didn't do it on purpose, I originally thought they were staying until Saturday but I am glad I have the extra day. I have been having so much fun here in Paris, I am not ready to leave yet, although I will miss their energy and their company. We have laughed so hard about things, wondered at things. As I have written before, I have realized on this trip how much Laurie is like me and how much she is also her own person. And how much I love her and Mercy.

 As per our plans, we were at L'Orangerie right at 9:15 a.m., just after it opened. We decided to stop at the café for a croissant. Beautiful café, expensive pastries and, according to Laurie, a very decadent restroom with special commodes and toilet rolls. I was intrigued but time was marching on so we went to the rooms that house the Water Lilies. What can I say about them? They are so famous, there are photos all over the Web. In real life, they are mesmerizing. How Monet painted them like that, how he captured them but, more than captured, how he represented them so that they speak to so many people. Including me. The rooms were built especially for the painting, they are two connecting ovals that symbolize infinity. Peaceful, just as Monet intended.












Photos can't capture it. In fact, I understand that some people think it's almost sacrilegious to take photos instead of just looking at the paintings and drinking them in face to face. Some people think that cameras break the concentration I guess. I do look at the paintings very closely and carefully. But I also find that all of my photos, especially now that I have put them into blogs, bring memories back quite strongly, more strongly than if I was trying to call them back in my mind. Smells can be strong but paintings don't smell :) Nor do they have sound. So it's all visual and, for me, cameras are the next best thing to having them physically in front of me. Truthfully, although I have dated this blog on the day the events happened, I am actually writing this in December. So I rely on my photos to remind me of what happened and when. Why did I take this photo? Which ones am I going to choose that will most reflect how I was feeling?

Looking at the Water Lilies photos though, the camera really doesn't do them justice. Go see them because, like the Renaissance painters such as Raphael, you don't really understand their power unless you see them in real life.

Now on to the Louvre where, once again, capturing what it was really like is going to be a challenge.

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