Getting to Paris is easy for me – hop on the local train to the border, then on the TGV to Gare Montparnasse where the Metro can get me anywhere in the city. Total travel time door to door (without delays) is about 6 hours. So why is it that last week was the first time I’ve had a Paris Girls’ Trip?
Instead of answering that semi-rhetorical question, I’ll tell you about my highly enjoyable adventure with my dear friend Cori, who came to Paris on her way to an academic conference in Strasbourg. While my train was 30 minutes delayed, Cori arrived 5 hours late, having missed a connection along the way. She was a good sport dealing with jet lag that first evening. We then had two full days filled with art and culture.
We were able to see the Eiffel Tower from several places on our first day. Starting at the City Architecture and Patrimony Museum on Trocadero Plaza where the views never cease to amaze.
We enjoyed two exhibits. The first “Metro! Grand Paris in Motion,” about the history and development of the Metro, was more interesting than expected. The Metro opened in 1900 and is being expanded significantly now to encompass Greater Paris with 68 new stations. (I now understand why France is not prioritizing upgrading the route between the Spanish border and Bordeaux to high speed rail – all the money is going to this Paris project and the Olympics!)
The second “Notre-Dame de Paris, From Builders to Restorers” focused on the extraordinary reconstruction of Notre Dame after the devastating 2019 fire, and the scientific and architectural techniques for doing so. The cathedral is being restored to its 19th century state, albeit with certain renovations. It should reopen by the end of the year, which is incredibly fast considering the extent of the damage and resources needed to complete the work.
We walked to lunch through the Trocadero gardens where Spring was on display.
After lunch we headed to the main event, the Rothko exhibit at the Louis Vuitton Foundation. The exhibit displayed 115 works tracing Rothko’s entire career, including the 9 Seagram Murals that are normally displayed in the Tate’s Rothko room in London. The National Gallery of Art in DC also loaned a significant number of paintings from its extensive collection. Seeing so many Rothko pieces in one place allows one to contemplate his career in an unprecedented way; however, more interesting to me is the logistics behind organizing such an exceptional exhibition.
It was a full day that started and ended with the Eiffel Tower as we could still see the tower from the top of the LVF and also before and after dinner at a traditional bistro – très magnifique!
We had plans to see the new exhibit at the Picasso Museum, but a national strike of public workers prevented that. Instead, we went to see the “Iris Van Herpen, Sculpting the Senses” exhibition at the Decorative Arts Museum. On display was a huge collection of dresses Van Herpen designed. Her creativity is off the charts! Most didn't even look wearable to me as they are made from such unconventional materials and constructed in odd ways. It was fascinating and visually overwhelming.
The transparent white creation was worn by Beyonce on the Renaissance tour and the one that appears to have arrows resembles a dress that Ali Wong recently wore to the SAG-AFTRA awards.
The Hotel de Ville was decorated for the upcoming summer Olympic games.
In a city like Paris, you never know what you might see as you wander about. I loved the decorations on this building in the Marais area. And we stumbled on a crazy moment near the Louvre: it’s not every day you see a giant horse sculpture being reinstalled!
Finally, we enjoyed Matthew Bourne’s production of Romeo + Juliet at the Theatre Chatelet. The beauty of a ballet / dance production is that the performance does not require translation. The views from the theater’s balcony were fantastic where you could see the progress made on Notre Dame.
Au revoir,
Shana
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