The Palais is a lovely building in a park - my poor photo of this entrance gate doesn't do it justice and sadly, there were no photos allowed inside.
Jeanne Lanvin was a famous Parisian couturier in the 1920's, '30s and early '40s. She was a contemporary of Louis Vuittton and Elsa Schiaparelli at the height of Art Deco. Her perfume house still operates today and still produces her signature perfume, Arpège.
The exhibition was excellent and we spent more than two hours examining seams and hems, beading and embroidery, taffeta dresses for young girls and black moiré silk evening gowns and velvet coats that I could wear today. Great design is timeless.
Walking out through the front door of the Palais, I was surprised to see the tower, having forgotten how close we were because we had entered from the Metro at the 'back'.
We crossed the road to the Palais du Tokyo and decided to stop for a drink, given it was late afternoon, the sun was warm and we had a view of both the tower and the river.
A little bottle of very good Côte de Rhone was a surprise, even if the stemware was plastic.
We contemplated the sign on the wall behind us. At a rough guess, the French inner urban population that we encounter on the trains and walking in the streets is a mix of about 25% people of Asian heritage, 30% dark or darkish skinned people from a broad range of cultures and 45% pale skinned people like us. Of course, that is in the city and in different parts of the city the mix changes dramatically but there is no denying the huge impact of immigration in France, as in Italy.
Wandering back in the general direction of home, every time we looked towards the river, there is that tower again.
Around this corner you could hire a red or yellow Ferrari or a yellow Lamborghini for 20 minutes, at a cost of 90€ ($128 AUD). But why choose a yellow one when red goes faster? Paul eyed them off but denied himself the experience rationalising that there was not one section of road on the designated route where you could do more than 50 k/mph and the traffic was so heavy that you would spend 18 of your twenty minutes stopped at the lights! On the good side though - the price is the same as two years ago.
Past the Ferraris, we waited to cross the avenue des Champs-Elysées just in front of the Napoleon Bonaparte's Arc de Triomphe. The flags are flying because Victory in Europe (VE) Day is tomorrow.
While we waited at the lights, Paul spotted this Mini Cooper with a green Louis Vuitton roof boot.
Safely across to the other side despite having tried (and failed) to take a photograph 'down' the Champs-Elysées from the middle of the road as we crossed. The avenue is 1.9 km long and 70 metres wide.
We visited the Peugeot, Mercedes and Citroen dealerships amidst the shops on the Champs. None had anything of interest but Citroen has a good view of the street.
I'm not much interested in shops but I am interested in plants and gardens and once you cross la Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées, there are gardens and flower beds and parks on the north side. I was admonished by the guard when I raised my camera to take a photo of the American Embassy, but the gendarme stood aside for me to get this one - le Palais de l'Elysées - the residence of the French President, albeit the back door, the front door being on rue de Faubourg St Honoré.
A nice bit of topiary with lots of Spring growth at the Espace de Pierre Cardin.
At its end, the Champs Elysées spills out into the Place de la Concorde and looking back you can see the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the rise and way in the backgound, La Grande Arche de la Défense.
On the other side of Place de la Concorde with its Obelisk of Luxor, is the bedlam around the entrance to the Tuileries. No vendors are allowed in the gardens so they are all out here.
Pull up a chair in the sun at the first lake with the Musée de l'Orangerie in the background. Built in 1852 to house the orange trees of the Tuileries, the Orangerie is now the home of impressionist and post impressionist paintings including Claude Monet's 'Water Lilies'.
Off to the side was an exhibition by a pharmaceutical company that made all sorts of products using natural perfumes - or should I say, perfumes from nature. Paul was impressed but I'm too cynical.
The second lake has a fountain, so you need to sit with your back to the wind to avoid getting damp, except in Summer.
And at the very end of the Tuileries, where it bumps into the Palais du Louvre, you can look back along the main path and all the way up the Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe and beyond to La Grande Arche de la Défense. Beautiful!
A final glimpse of the gardens (and the Pyramid) as we take a shortcut through the Musée des Arts Décoratifs to pick up brochures for another day. "The Arts Décoratifs' unique collections of objets d'art, fashion and advertising tell the story of the art of living from the Middle Ages to the present day". Can't wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment