Last week, we bought a passport that combined the Musee Rodin and Musee D'Orsay all in one day and cheaper than buying two separate tickets to the two different museums (I think it was something like 6 euros cheaper?). We also thought that we would need the whole day in order to see everything at both museums, so we planned carefully and bought the tickets for Thursday~ Musee Rodin opens at 10AM and closes earlier than D'Orsay, which opens late only on Thursdays, until 9:45pm.
In the surrounding neighborhood, we stopped by an open-air market that opens only on select days... one of which was a Thursday! Saxe-Breteuil market is bigger than Raspail, but we were a littler sticker-shocked. A flat of strawberries was $20! Clothing that looked like at least 5 seasons ago was selling for 50 euros, and straw hats were 20-40 euros. But business is brisk and many people were there buying stuff.
We ducked into a bakery for breakfast, buying a croque monsieur for 3.8 euros. It had a LOT of stuffing, but it was mostly roux and not cheese.
Angel said it could use a little more salt, and I said it needed pepper. But I've never seen a croque monsieur made with roux before, and I definitely want to try this when we get home... preferably a white truffle roux, with cheese on top to toast all crusty (Angel likes this on her croques).
The clerks always ask me (cuz I'm the one paying ALL the time) if I want it "chaud" (hot) and I always forget the word for 'hot' as it just doesn't look sound like the word 'hot' to me. So I always reply "non non" and Angel always interjects "oui!" We've been pretty successful mangling along with our sad French, but Angel was a little late in the "oui" today, so we got a barely lukewarm croque monsieur.
Still, I think if it had been warm, I would like this one the best.
There were A LOT of people standing in line, waiting to buy tickets to enter the Rodin museum, especially since it's a Thursday morning! Lots of German and Chinese tourists (the Germans were there, I think, because there is a temporary exhibition featuring a German artist). But since we had advance purchased our tickets, we walked right through. Yet again, right when we enter the gardens, we make a wrong turn (Angel wanted to see "The Thinker" sculpture first) and ended up on the other side of the garden. Rodin's bronze sculptures are interspersed throughout the garden, and while beautifully situated amongst the trees and flowers, there's bird poop on most of the sculptures. I just think it's horrific to put Rodin's sculptures out there to face nature's beck and call, but his sculptures were meant to be put in public squares and outdoor-ish type areas, I suppose. His sculptures are at different "place" throughout Paris (usually major intersections).
The same sculpture, from a back view, as the sculpture is facing Hotel Brion. Nice butt ~__^
Hotel Brion has been a lavish meeting spot for upper-crust Parisiennes, a convent school, a boarding house for artists (such as Rodin), and when threatened with the possibility of condemnation, Rodin bargained with the French State for exclusive right to the property~ upon his death, most of his work would revert to the State. So it is appropriate that Rodin's museum is housed within a property Rodin found much inspiration in.
Rodin is known for his realistic sculptures. He spent countless hours perfecting the human form in motion, and was obsessed with detailing the movement of the hand and the significance of a hand pose.
He also was commissioned to sculpt many a wealthy woman's bust (pays the bills). I liked how he was able to perfectly capture a moment in time, a circumstance with a specific expression.
This matron looks so haughty, which I guess is why the sculpture was rejected and he had to modify the expression for the final bust.
This lady looks so whimsical, as if she is at a ball, gracefully promenading around the ballroom.
Angel liked this one, for her curious expression.
Another of his famous sculptures, The Kiss, is a story in Dante's Divine Comedy of forbidden passion. Francesca and her brother-in-law, Paolo fell in love while reading a book, and shared a kiss that led to them being condemned to death. The sculpture was originally to be a part of Rodin's The Gates of Hell sculpture, but he ultimately decided that it did not go along with the story he was trying to tell, so The Kiss became a sculpture by itself.
This painting of The Thinker is by Edward Munch, the painter who painted The Scream. In the background, is a lady in white, who is the wife of the person who commissioned this painting.
After Rodin, we went to Musee D'Orsay, which is a 10-minute walk away. Unfortunately, they don't allow you to take pictures inside~ dammit! The Renoir painting I really like is in the D'Orsay! (Moulin de la Galette).
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://smarthistory.org/assets/images/images/renoir_moulin.jpg&imgrefurl=http://smarthistory.org/renoir-moulin.html&h=442&w=600&sz=84&tbnid=J61xNC2NR9E9xM:&tbnh=99&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drenoir%2Bmoulin%2Bde%2Bla%2Bgalette&hl=en&usg=__Imo9DOGKy2h3lqp3JZ-akeCBF3s=&ei=I1PjS7yFHYOy0gSZk_y0AQ&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&ved=0CBwQ9QEwAQ
...of which we walked right past on our way up to Sacre-Coeur!
We spent quite a while in the museum, exploring everything. It's quite an incredible experience, one I recommend to anybody who visits Paris. The building used to be a train station, and the inside is absolutely gorgeous. It looks like a late 1800s train station, but the roof is domed glass, so sunshine pores onto the sculptures directly below. On the sides, are rooms to different exhibitions and art (which requires low lighting to preserve the paint). Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Metisse, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec are all prominent painters featured here, but even with how many paintings they have on display here, it only comprises a small amount of the museum. It is really that big! Angel was very museumed-out for the day (I think she was by the end of Rodin... there were English articles in the Rodin museum to guide you along and later, when I wanted to discuss, she didn't know what I was talking about! She was half-ass reading!), so her reward was a Pierre Herme macaron ALL TO HERSELF. She chose the large pistachio one, naturally (4.10 euro).
We also bought a Pierre Herme caramel mille-feuille for 6.2 euro. It was delicious, with a very flaky puff pastry glazed, caramel with nuts, and caramel mousse.
We detoured to Jean-Paul Hevin to try his macarons. He is more known for chocolates, but an online blogger wrote that Hevin's macarons are his favorite after Herme's. We bought a chocolate bergamot:
and a mango coriander:
The cookies were too crisp, or maybe the macarons just haven't sat the requisite one-day, but the ganache or buttercream inside were yummy and creamy! The mango tasted like mango ice cream and you couldn't really taste the coriander. The chocolate bergamot tasted floral and chocolate, which is one of my favorite combination.
Our walk home:
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