Mar 16, 2008 21:26
Then on the fourth day God said, Let there be modern art. And there was. And it was wonderful. The George Pompidou Centre is a building that's built inside out, so all the tubes and pipes are on the outside and the inside is all building. I got lost in the first ten minutes of being there because I couldn't figure out where the hell the artwork actually was! Once I started paying attention to the crowds, I followed them up the escalators to the third, fifth and sixth floors where all the exhibits were. On the way up, you can see the entire Paris skyline. Needless to say, it's amazing.
Got in there, and had the second greatest art experience since being here. Really appreciated the temporary exhibit of Louise Bourgious with all her installations about memory, sexuality, and the body. Right up my alley. Minus all the deflated penises in cages. But especially the deflated penises in cages. Then it was on to, y'know, the Picasso room, the Pollack room, the Kandinsky rooms. I was beside myself I was so happy. Got to see some of the work I learned about in Performance Art classes, and really just loved every minute of it. So glad this nonsense exists in museums in France for nutjobs like me.
Came home to take a two hour nap. Woke up to go to a Moroccan restaurant with Emily's friends in the French program. We fit twelve people around two short, tiny round tables that were piled high with dishes and glasses. We all managed to finish off huge tagines of cous cous and meats despite being cramped and doubled over on our benches. Not the most comfortable arrangement, but fantastic food.
From there, we went to the home of one of the lady's apartments, which was in the same neighborhood as Notre Dame. It was the oldest, cutest, in the middle of the city apartment I've ever seen. And it was huge. She lives with an older couple who have been in that house for 100,000 years, so it made for a very restrained birthday celebration. Everyone went out drinking at a nearby nightclub, but my feet and jetlag dictated I go home instead to sleep immediately. Apparently, there was a lot of vodka in a VIP lounge that led into the wee hours, but I'm quite pleased about my decision since Emily looked like death all day long the next day at Sacre Couer and beyond.