After some rain last night, today was much cooler than it has been. We headed back down toward the Seine for our destination du jour, the Musée de l'Orangerie. The building was designed by Monet, expressly for the display of his gigantic Waterlily canvases (actually multiple canvases stitched together). Everyone knows that Impressionist paintings look very different from close up vs. far away, and that difference is even more dramatic with these huge works. Here's one of the few recognizable objects from close up -- duh, a water lily:
And here's one of the full canvases (Sunset) from about 15 feet away:
There's even more to the Orangerie than the Waterlilies -- a whole floor below full of other related paintings. I couldn't resist snapping Utrillo's "Eglise de Saint-Pierre" because we recognized it as the church on Montmartre where St. Denis stands holding his head, posted on Day 1:
Even the trash can in this museum had design attention:
We finally left the Orangerie and walked up the Champs-Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe. The city seems to be preparing for a patriotic celebration next week (July 14 or something . . . oh wait, I know), with viewing stands and blocked-off groundling space:
and finally, the Arc:
We end this trip with one cheerful word. Thanks for reading!
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