The last free Sunday

I have milked the free Sunday option dry today. Got to Paris by 9 today morning all set for the Orangerie...only to find that it opens at 12-30 :-(. In retrospect, it turned out to be a good deal. I had nothing to do and decided to cover the Musee Rodin. May not have had the enthusiasm to go there any other day. Good fun. Saw a version of 'The Thinker', 'Burghers of Calais', 'The Kiss', 'The Embrace' and also all his sketches. Some of the statues could have been painted men - thats how realistic they are! have tried to capture a few but as always, the real thing is better.
11:30 and I still had time. Started off in the direction of the Panteon. Believe it or not, no Line! I was amazed. I'd gone with a lot of trepidation because by this time it had started to drizzle and I thought I would have to line up in the rain. Pantheon - worth seeing for free. Didnt get to see the crypt but did get to see a demo of the Foucault pendulum. Good revision of school physics.

And then with a pain au raisin and a croissant tucked into my tummy, finally the Orangerie. Thats when my luck ran out. Long line - it was almost a km long. I had thought I would be the only nutter around but unfortunately there were others like me. Jackets, umbrellas, caps...waiting.....one gentleman asked me if it was free today. All I had to do was point at the line. Anyway, slowly, braving the elements, we inched towards the entrance.

45 minutes later I enter this stark white hospital like hall which has only two desks - one for tickets and the other for audio phones. Right in front is a ramp like projection with a lot of literature along it. There was a throng of people trying to read so I decided to give it a miss and go straight to the waterlillies.

Let me take a break here and try and explain what I was expecting. I have seen some of Monet's waterlillies at Musee D'Orsay and I thought he must have made a host of similar compositions which are all being displayed together. Something along the lines of the cathedral at Rouen. What I saw was totally unexpected!

Its a huge hall like room - light cream walls and all along the walls are these continuous huge productions of waterlillies. They are like panels throughout the room. It was absolutely astounding! You go close to try and understand the brushstrokes - forget it - you cant even understand the colours. I understood with such an impact why he is known as the father of impressionism. There was nothing with clear outlines except a tree trunk but you can visualise everything - the water, the moss, the leaves and most of all the waterlillies. Want so much for Tweedledum to see it. Have got pictures but they do no justice to the first impact of the display....

Besides the waterlillies, there were various other painters at the Orangerie. The growth of impressionism into abstract and all the art forms which came thereafter. Some of Picasso's works, quite a bit of Cezanne, Derain and another name which I am going to google for.

Dead tired as my feet were, by this time, I was feeling really gung-ho and decided to spend some time at the Picasso Museum also. I dont understand his work but I thought maybe seeing how it evolved may help. It didnt. I should read a little about it. There's got to be some point to it - whatever that may be. However, if you are ever feeling fat and self conscious, just take a look at Picasso's women.