19. Paris - Modern art, Le Corbusier and rain

I'm still fiddling with the template for this blog. I don't think the photos have been displaying as well on the white background as in previous years when I used a dark layout. What do you think - persevere with the white background or change to this darker one?

That said, I don't know where to begin.

Today is Sunday. We arrived last Monday evening. It has rained non-stop since Tuesday. Between showers, or that could read, between downpours, we have undertaken several quick spurts to the supermarkets, checked out familiar spots in the 'hood, lunched at Passage 53, checked progress on the huge eight year Les Halles development on our doorstep, and mostly sorted internet/email connection issues - oh, and got started on some novels.

Boring? Yes and no! Finally, on Saturday we ventured out to the Centre Pompidou and today, the Louvre. Both are about 750 metres from our apartment.

In the late sixties, French President Georges Pompidou decided to create a major arts facility in central Paris devoted to all forms of visual culture.  

The Centre Pompidou opened in 1977 and now houses the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe. Glass and steel with suspended mechanical stairways (escalators in those tunnels) and industrial looking coloured pipes - blue for air, green for water, red for passageways and yellow for electricity.

Queuing again (90 minutes this time) for the exhibition - Le Corbusier, Mesures de l'Homme.  No 'jump the queue' tickets available here.

Le Corbusier was primarily an architect who designed residential and commercial buildings as well as churches and even a whole city. In 2013 we took the train out to one of the far Paris suburbs, on the banks of the Seine, to visit Villa Savoye, the epitome of modern architecture in 1930 and the for-runner of today's white architectural minimalist boxes. To say we are fans would be an understatement.

Le Corbusier was also a painter,

and a sculptor,

and a furniture designer.

Then it was time for a coffee and a bit of a rest before we tackled the main galleries.

                             

I'm no fan of modern or contemporary art, 

so I was more interested in the view from the windows.  This is the water feature between the gallery and the church. Those big white pipes are ventilators.

Despite the rain and poor visibility, the Eiffel Tower is just visible on the horizon on the left, about 2 km away. The huge crane you can see in the centre, is the one outside our building about 700 metres away. The clutch of skyscrapers on the far horizon to the right is La Defense, the major business district constructed in the 1970s. It is the place of work of 180,000 people each day.

Back out into the rain for a wet walk home - via the bakery. I had to carry the baguette under my coat.

Our crane and building site looked equally forlorn up close.  

It is hard to believe but this huge hole in the ground will look magnificent in another year. It will be a level, paved area with one road entry into an underground carpark, four lift shafts to the carpark and the trains, three sets of steps to the metro and regional rail stations and a huge glass arc or arch over four sets of escalators to the underground city of transport, retail and community recreational facilities like the swimming pool, libraries, cinemas and group meeting areas.  When above ground space is at such a premium (and the weather is less than optimal much of the time) it makes sense to do it underground.