Samuel Beckett Bridge over the River Liffey

We arrived Monday in Dublin, to a great house we're renting in the nice suburb of Clontarf, about 3 or 4 miles from Dublin city center. First order of business was groceries, so a walk to the SuperValu store. They have a separate off-license store within the store, I went for some wine and looked at the California selections - oh my...not a winner in the bunch! All off-brand, factory wines, almost as if they're downplaying our great wine. Instead, I picked up a couple of delightful French bottles. I didn't see any Irish wines, hmmm. But I did get some Guinness and Bailey's Irish Cream (for Eileen's Guinness cake recipe...mostly). 

Tuesday we made our way via double decker bus and tram (light rail) to the National Museum of Modern Art, located in a former Royal Hospital founded in 1684. The modern art was not the best we've seen, in fact not that good, to my taste. The main exhibit consisted of some very weird video installations, mostly of people doing hand gestures and poses. But there were some great outdoor sculptures, and some nice paintings. There's also a large courtyard, and an open space/park area where we walked. 

217.5 Arc x 12, Bernar Venet

We then made our way to the Temple Bar District and enjoyed some great Irish guitar/vocal/violin music at Fitzpatrick's Temple Bar (not to be confused with the, oh, 4 or 5 other pubs with "Temple" in their names!). Irish coffees were in order! This is a pretty touristy kind of area, there's a Hard Rock Cafe, so you get the picture. But overall it has a good vibe, lots of people in the street, and we enjoyed the music. We're looking forward to the much more traditional pub and Irish music at smaller, off-the-beaten-path places in our upcoming travels. 

(BTW we came back to Fitzpatrick's a couple of nights later hoping for similar music - but all we got was a guy from San Diego on acoustic guitar playing Credence Clearwater Revival hits, with a drum machine...Toto, we ARE in Kansas!)

There are several National Museums in Dublin, each with a specific focus (including the modern art one mentioned above; all free, btw). We visited the National Museum of Decorative Arts and History, housed at the former Collins Barracks. That explains why there is a section on military history, including weapons, tanks, war planes, etc. That was pretty cool, but the art pieces were fantastic. We especially liked the section featuring the work of Eileen Gray, an Irish artist/furniture designer/architect who spent time in Paris (we saw her apartment there, in fact that's how we 'discovered' her). She was active in the early 20th century art nouveau and art deco periods (and later). Very individual and unique, mainly known for her furniture design.

The Ireland National Museum of Archeology was next. Wow - so much great stuff! An ancient dugout canoe from 2500 BC, remarkably preserved fishing nets from about 5000 BC, lots of other primitive stuff. Gold work, statuary, Viking artifacts including those horns they always blow in movies and TV, medieval items...and the main event: a collection of bog men, from about 400 BC to 400 AD. Incredible. I hope I have that much hair when I'm 2,500 years old.

Clonycavan Man ca. 300 BC

Gallagh Man, ca. 300 BC

Model Gold Boat, 100 BC

Bronze Viking Horns, ca. 700 AD

Dugout Canoe, 2500 BC

Wooden Block Wheel, 400 BC

Corleck Head, three-faced stone idol, 100-200 AD.

We visited EPIC the Irish Emigration Museum. Is there such a thing as too much interactivity, too many touch screens, too many videos...? In my opinion, after seeing EPIC, the answer is yes. I'm simplifying, but this is basically an overview of the trials and tribulations that led many Irish to emigrate to the US and elsewhere, before, during, and after the famine in the mid-1800s. Followed by a whole bunch of "hey, aren't we great now?" exhibits of all that Ireland has accomplished, its favorite sons and daughters, etc. Well, maybe better for youngsters...

Much more interesting than EPIC is the Chester Beatty Museum at Dublin Castle. An absolutely stellar collection of manuscripts, documents, ancient writings, decorative arts, books, and more from Europe, Asia, the Middle East. The centerpiece right now is fragments of papyrus from Roman Egypt, as Christianity spread to that part of the world. Just fantastic. The Beatty is not as well known as the many other museums, and, I think, is under-appreciated. By the way, the castle itself is just ok - but the garden, and the Beatty, are incredible.

Bifolio from the Gospels, 3rd century AD, Egypt

Portion of a scroll from the Tale of Benkei, Japan, ca.1575

Mark from a Gospel Book, ca: 13th century AD

Pilgrim's Flask, ca. 4th-6th century AD, Egypt

Note about the flask: the museum text says that pilgrims purchased souvenir flasks stamped with an image of a saint, filled with holy water or oil to bring home. So even in 500 AD, swag for your favorite celebrity was available! 

Folio from the Canons of St. Basil, ca. 9th century AD, Egypt - zoom in!

Angels from parchment manuscript, ca. 3rd century AD

Note that the angels are wingless - according to the museum text, wings didn't appear in images of angels until the 4th century.

Page from illuminated choir book, ca. 1450 AD

Monday we leave for another base of operations, a bit north of Dublin in the area of Newgrange, where we'll stay 3 nights, and then we head south toward the Waterford area.

Well, we have really tried to made our final week in Paris count. Great weather (mostly), some nice sunsets over the river, a couple of unique museums, a church or two, more jazz at 38Riv, the marvelous Monet gardens at Giverny, and a canal/river cruise  (fair warning that this post is a bit video-heavy - of course they'll look best on a larger screen). It's with some sense of sadness that we are leaving Paris Monday after three months here, but we're excited about experiencing Ireland. I'll be posting updates from the Emerald Isle.

We've enjoyed some warmer, really beautiful weather this week. At sunset (lately approaching 9:30), we often walk out to Pont Louis-Philippe, about 30 seconds away, for a great view down the river toward Pont D'Arcole. Along with dozens of other people hanging out on the bridge, we took many sunset shots. I think the poor air quality in Paris contributes to the colorful sunsets, by the way...

Still on our quest for lesser-known museums, we went to the one at La Monnaie de Paris. Created in 864 (!), the Monnaie is essentially the coin mint in France. It also has other monetary functions, so everything they do is about money. We skipped the museum covering the more technical explanations of manufacturing coins, medallions, and decorative metals, and instead went through the exhibit L'Argent dans d'Arts - Money in the Arts. Very interesting, covering this subject from both the historical and modern-day perspectives. Be sure to enlarge the third picture to examine the detail of the satirical engraving/cartoon.

The Battle of Piggy Banks and Safes, Pieter van der Heyden, ca. 1550

The Pinault Collection at the Bourse de Commerce is an absolutely stunning collection of contemporary modern art - it's the best modern art we've seen in Paris. The Bourse de Commerce itself is a beautiful circular building originally built in about 1767 to serve as a grain storage and exchange facility. The highlight for me was a video installation called Presage, by Hicham Berrada, featuring projections on a screen perhaps 50 yards wide. Various reactive metals are dropped into a solution, with incredible results. Take a look at the video and the photos below - this piece of art is unreal! 

Another incredible piece must be seen via video to be fully appreciated! This one is called Waterfall, by Robert Gober.

And one more video - this exhibit is by Anicka Yi, called Biologizing the Machine.

From the somewhat extreme nature of the modern art at Bourse de Commerce, we swung to the opposite by visiting Monet's garden, house, and water lily-filled pond at Giverny. Eileen and I, along with our daughter Gillian and her friend Teddy, took a one hour train ride to the town of Vernon, where we rented bicycles and then cruised along a breezy five-kilometer path along the Seine under blue skies and soft white clouds, to Giverny. The bike ride was such a wonderful experience, rewarded by the overwhelming beauty of the gardens. As you might guess, I took way too many pictures... here are just a few, and a couple of fun videos.

   

  

Near the Bourse de Commerce is a huge gothic church, St. Eustache, probably the last church (of so many!) we'll visit in Paris.

Our boat cruise started on Canal St. Martin, went through three locks to get down to the level of the Seine (and went through a two-kilometer long tunnel, including underneath Place de la Bastille), then traveled on the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, turned around, and dropped us at Ile de la Cite, for a short walk home. It was great to get that somewhat different perspective of the monuments and buildings with which we've become so familiar, from the street view. Below is a picture of one of the locks, and another looking back at Pont Neuf (Paris' oldest bridge over the Seine). I've included a short video taken in the tunnel; you'll see the light coming from large air vents, and I like the reflection of that light from the canal water, dancing on the tunnel wall.

 

Oh, I almost forgot, in the plaza in front of Notre Dame last week was the Fete de la Pain - the bread festival at which the best boulangers are selected. Here's a clip showing the right way to convince your croissant dough to form that flaky crust...

BONUS VIDEO I have gone to our local jazz club 38Riv at least a dozen times, and I'm really going to miss it! It's been incredible to have consistent high quality jazz just a few minutes from our doorstep, available seven nights a week. 

My final visit there was Thursday night, and I saw this wonderful trio called Quartz. Here's a clip.

Ok then! That wraps up our three-month apartment stay in Paris - next week I'll be writing from Dublin, Ireland, as we start our seven weeks of moving around to a half-dozen or so different areas in that beautiful country.

 

This week we visited a few more of the smaller museums that are still on our list. We feel like each of these is a great discovery! Plus, a few more jazz shows (of course), a modern dance performance, a cathedral visit, and the Paris Opera. And food...did I mention the food here is pretty good?

From the workshop of Alberto Giacometti

First, the Institut Giacometti, in the workshop of sculptor Alberto Giacometti. He was part of the surrealism and cubism art movements, and while his work is not "pretty," it is certainly interesting and engaging. This is a very small museum - the smallest we've visited so far (we still have to go to the one-room Chopin museum here on Ile Saint-Louis, which I think will grab that distinction). We actually went through it in about a half hour or so - that's actually part of its appeal.

Then came the Musée Bourdelle, featuring another sculptor, Antoine Bourdelle. And, coincidentally, it is also temporarily exhibiting the work of Philippe Cognée, whose contemporary art we discovered at the Musée de L'Orangerie last week. 

Bourdelle was active in the late 19th century, and created an incredible array of statuary, some of which can be described as monumental, while others are smaller scale. Many of his pieces at the museum, which I visited during rather stormy weather, are in two gardens and one outdoor promenade. The combination of few visitors, the dark skies, overgrown vegetation, and the constant rain created a wonderful atmosphere in which to enjoy his work.

St. Bernard, Philippe Cognée

The Cognée works there are wonderfully modern, consisting mostly of paintings (plus a few sculptures). He uses beeswax-based pigments, then covers the piece with plastic and uses an iron to spread the colors. Often his work consists of painting over photos of existing artwork or things that he's photographed himself. The result is truly fascinating and unique.

Supermarché, Philippe Cognée 

Clearing,Thomas Demand

The Musée Jeu de Paume, located in the Jardin Tuileries opposite L'Orangerie, focuses on contemporary photography and video art forms. It's difficult to describe the main exhibition...artist Thomas Demand re-creates various cultural, natural, or social settings - from the backyard of the Boston Marathon bombers, to the Fukushima nuclear plant control room, to a forest clearing (for which he created 270,000 fake leaves), or an underground grotto (using 36 tons of cardboard), to the room where the Florida recount of the 2000 election took place (note the 'blank' nature of the items in the image). All are made at full scale, then photographed. The commentary with each is political and activist. Very odd stuff, but truly engaging. 

Poll, Thomas Demand

The CentQuatre-Paris is a multipurpose art space and venue which hosts and showcases artist residencies and artistic productions. We went there for a modern dance performance, which featured dancers from the Lyon Opera Ballet. Unusual, very creative, remarkable physical prowess and artistry by the dancers, and engaging contemporary choreography. They asked that no video be taken, so here is a short YouTube clip of one of the pieces performed that night (choreographed by William Forsythe; performed in this video by a different dance company). 

We took a train to the city of Chartres, about an hour away, to see it's magnificent Notre-Dame de Chartes Cathedral, a gothic wonder. It's full of bright, beautiful stained glass and marvelous sculptures (some dating back to the 16th century), with an exterior that just left us in absolute awe. And as if that wasn't enough, nearby is the Centre International du Vitrail de Chartres - a stained glass museum and workshop. There, they had not only some excellent examples of ancient stained glass (that we could examine from just inches away), but also contemporary modern stained glass by artist Kim En Joong. Remarkable! I'll let a few pictures speak for themselves...

Our terrific waiter at Aux Enfant Gâtés 

After a fine lunch at Aux Enfant Gâtés (which imho should be on its way to a Michelin star) - and then a short nap - we went with Eileen's brother Patrick and his wife Nan to a performance of La Bohème at the Paris Opera (at Bastille Opera House). 

In this version, instead of taking place in the early 1800s with four poor, struggling bohemians in Paris, this rather surreal version takes place in the future on a space ship and on another planet. Really! Eileen and I are not big opera fans, nor do we know much about La Boheme, but we loved this and we're told by others who know that this 'final frontier' staging worked and was more or less faithful to the original. Wonderful venue with excellent acoustics, great symphony and music, and the singing...the lead tenor and soprano were just incredible, hitting those crescendos that give you shivers. The English (and French) supertitles were helpful! Yeah, we may be budding opera fans now. 

Here's a picture I snuck during the show; and here's a link to a YouTube teaser video from the first time this version was produced, in 2017, to give you a closer look of this production. 

And finally, a return trip to the Musee des Arts et Metiers, to finish up what we missed the first time we went there. A few highlights:

Early laptop PC

Early DJ equipment used by
Thomas Edison at early raves

Early semi-portable iPhone camera

Early bellows-powered synthesizer

Solar oven, circa 1880
(this one's for real!)