Just when you think . . . .

Just when you think you've seen all the impressionist art you can stand, up pops another museum dedicated to none other than the impeccable Claude Monet. With the exception of a half dozen or so painters, Duane thinks most of the impressionist artists were posers. Monet, however, was not! He was, as the saying goes, "The Real Deal!" Today was Musee Marmottan Day. The top two floors were full of all sorts of "Art" most of which Duane and Paula thought was excessive and a little boring. But then they allowed us into the basement where they hide Monet's stuff. WOW! We just wanted to take our shoes off, sip a little absinthe and stay there all day. No matter how much Duane cried and begged they wouldn't let us stay. We have no pictures cuz they don't allow that sort of nonsense in a serious Museum. Just as they were throwing us out we ran into some old friends from our lunch date on Sunday. Paris is a huge place and once you meet someone you expect you'll never, ever see them again. That's not always the case. Bob and his partner Dave are artists from Santa Fe, NM. By accident, We had met them at lunch on Sunday when we were both trying to stay dry. We had an enjoyable conversation, said we'd look up their work in Tubac and said "Au revior." . . . So there we were deep in the basement of the Marmottan and totally enthralled by Monet's spectacular work when Bob walks up and says, "Bonjour." Good to see them again. Funny how that works. We exchanged cards and promised to stay in touch. 

So now, if you wonder who Monet is you'll just have to google him and see his work cuz we have no pictures to share. They'll look crappy on an iPad, but at least you'll get the idea. In person they'll make you cry. . . They are THAT good. 

We then turned our attention to the Fondation Louis Vuitton. This brand new museum is not even open. Yet more crying and wailing and nashing of teeth they still wouldn't let Duane and Paula in. Actually Duane was the only one crying. Still we're not in, but we did snag some pics and you can check it out on that google thingee. 

Oh! I forgot to warn you! This building is designed by none other than Frank Gehry! So there are no corners. There are no recognizable architectural features. There are no straight lines.

Frank, as is usually the case, dreams these designs up while quite buzzed. These are supposed to represent sails, or something like that. Frank's architecture is a lot like a car wreck at Taledega . . . You hate it, but you can't take your eyes off it. It'll keep you up at night trying to decide if you hate it or LOVE it! As is always the case with Frank, this building went way over budget and took over 10 years to get it completed. It will probably then leak. Still, we can't take our eyes off of the building.