Saturday, May 22, 2010

Walking around fully dressed

Saturday morning is a quiet time even in the City of Lights. Mr Moohoo and I went out in search of better views of the Tuileries as part of the travelogue we seem to be creating. Here he is in the role of photographer recording the morning activities at said venue. The end result may be found elsewhere on the Internet.


We crossed the Seine on foot to the Left Bank and walked along the shore. We came to Musee d'Orsay which displays art from the period 1848-1914 including several impressive sculptures on its grounds. The one pictured with M. Moohoo has a title which is loosely translate "Horse and Harrow"


Also at the d'Orsay is this line of female figures representing the continents of the earth - Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa and Oceania - generally in that order.



Further along the Seine we came across a statue of Thomas Jefferson, a one time ambassador to France and later a US president guarding one of the bridges across the Seine. He was a big favorite here in Paris M. Moohoo for scale.



And, as part of our plan to show more of the Tuileries, this sculpture and the line of shaped linden trees is included. The sculpture appears to be wood but on closer inspection is revealed to be stone.


There was much more to the day. There was the Metro ride to Roland Garros tennis facility to get the lay of the land, a trip which found us inside the tennis facility watching Gael Monfils and a few other of the competitors getting ready for the grand slam event which will begin in earnest tomorrow. We have tickets for the day's action on Tuesday and Thursday and it looks to be an entertaining couple of days. I'm again picking Serena and Nadal to win the singles competition, but in tennis, as in life, predictions are often badly misplaced. I expect to post photos of the event as it unfolds.

Sometime in the middle of the day we found a fruit market near here where we found the best tasting strawberries that I've had since my last visit to Japan. And the best mangoes ever. I think that the French have found a way to pick fruit ripe and keep it fresh long enough to get to the taste buds of the thankful consumers. If only we could do that in the North Star state.

2 comments:

Retired Professor said...

I really like the way you framed that first photo of GZ photographing the Tuileries.

I like all of the Musee d'Orsay photos -- including GZ's -- it looks like a place I'd put on my 'to do' list, should I ever go to Paris. Interesting stuff.

Love that sculpture set between the rows of trees. Interesting juxtaposition of shapes.

I appreciate the travelogue, but don't forget to enjoy the trip.

A trip to Roland Garros so soon? Good idea, though -- get familiar with the lay of the land before it gets really, really crowded.

The early morning shots are nice -- the light is good for photos then, I think.

Marchon, citoyans.

T Tousan said...

A trip to Paris is a good idea, Santini, and I hope it happens. We will marchons here this time.

TT