Nate was pretty tired today, so Dieter and I went out on our own. We went to the National Museum of Modern Art at Centre Pompidou. Dorinna and Nate had gone there earlier in the week while I was working, and raved about it. The building itself was pretty interesting, with color-coded pipes and electric conduits outside the building.
The entrance escalators were outside too, and gave great views out across the city.
View of Sacré-Cœur from Centre Pompidou. We’ll visit Sacré-Cœur on day 20
The top floor had a special exhibit of a famous French architect/artist Le Corbusier that I hadn’t heard of before. Nice, but not exceptional.
The main exhibit was where the action was. Matisse, Picasso, Delaunay, Kandinsky, Klee, Braque, Bonnard, Miró, Dalí, the list went on and on. Every time I thought we were finished, we found another set of rooms leading to more. Without Nate there, I was really able to stop and appreciate it. Arguably this was my favorite museum in Paris. My favorite piece was probably Gelb-Rot-Blau by Kandinsky, although there was lots of other great stuff there.
When we finally finished the floor, we went downstairs to another floor. This one held the ultra-modern stuff that I’m not a big fan of. I remembered often the phrase that Dieter taught me while touring the Museum Ludwig in Köln- “Ist es Kunst, oder solte Man es wegwarfen?” This translates to “Is it art, or should you throw it away?” Dieter enjoyed the floor, but I thought there was a lot of wegwarfen.
Apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks like this. I recently ran across this article: Modern art installation removed by cleaners who thought it was party aftermath
Hungry and tired, we traveled back to the apartment. Dorinna and Dieter headed out to go shopping while Nate and I rested with Bugs Bunny cartoons on my laptop. It was after Duck Season, Rabbit Season that we got the call to join them for dinner.
Nate and I traveled to the St. Germaine-des-Prés neighborhood, and reunited at La Petit Bentoit. This turned out to be a lovely restaurant, with a friendly waitress and excellent food. Nate and I started with frog legs, to try them out more than anything else.
My main course was leg of rabbit in a light mustard sauce. I finished the meal with a bowl of chocolate cream (agreed by the table to be the best dessert). A long but fun day.
Das Haus von Ruh 
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