I didn't get a chance to try Velib today, as I'd anticipated. For one thing, I woke up later than I'd planned. (Then again, last night--or, should I say, this morning--I stayed out later than I expected.) Then, Jay called: Isabelle was "invited" to an official function and wouldn't be able to accompany me and him tomorrow, as we'd planned. So he asked if we could see a film and have dinner today.
Of course I accepted: As much as I wanted to ride, visit museums and such, I want to see them. (Also, this afternoon brought the first rain of my trip, along with a significant temperature drop.) So we went to an old-school independent movie house--with red velour chairs and a "stage"-- called the Brady. From what I understand, it's the same theatre in which Francois Truffaut started to view, and make, films.
The Truffaut connection made sense because we saw "Armageddon Time"--in English, with French subtitles, which I read just to see how some things would translate. Isabelle is a fan of its director, James Gray and I must say that she has taste. In some ways, AT reminded me of "Le Quatre Cent Coups" ("The 400 Blows.") In Truffaut's foundational New Wave film, as in AT, a boy who is misunderstood befriends someone who shares in his misadventures. And, the final scene of each movies' protagonist had similarly enigmatic expressions upon running away.
After the film, which left all of us--and, it seemed, everyone else in the theatre--stunned, we went to a nearby bistro. I chose one of the specials for the day: a large classic Lyonnaise salad consisting of frisee (a.k.a. curly endive), lardons (chunky cuts of salt pork that are poached to remove impurities, then fried to a crisp), topped with a poached egg, two wedges of toast topped with a dollop of pate de foie gras and a light vinagrette dressing. It sounds so simple, but the flavors are intense and as a meal, it's more than satisfying. And, since I don't eat much meat and most of my animal-protein consumption comes from cheese (by choice), this was a great "splurge."
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| This chair was in every one of Picasso's studio spaces. |
Anyway, before meeting up with Jay and Isabelle I did manage to sneak in a visit to the Musee Picasso. Part of the museum, which normally contains much of its permanent collection, was closed. So, the admission price was cut in half (from 14 to 7 Euros) for the privilege of seeing three special exhibits: one detailing his working methods and spaces and two others showing works by contemporary artists influenced by Picasso.
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| Picasso |
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| Atassi |
Franco-Belgian painter Farah Atassi, who is of Syrian descent, takes Picasso's distortions of the human (especially different) direction. While he tended to give his subjects oversize limbs and to exaggerate features of the face and body, she pares the limbs of her bathers, dancers and models down to angular forms, as if to accentuate only their function--which could mean anything from actually propelling or supporting the body to simply creating another form for the artist. The bodies took on, not just the form, but the essence of their subjects: the bathers' torsos were enlarged but wavy, if you will, while the dancers' bodies were rounded or angled by whether they were dancing, reclining or sitting. And the models' bodies, like their limbs and heads, were just props for the artist, though one image suggests a "burining."
On the other hand, Pierre Moignard became obsessed with the drawings Picasso made during the last year of his life. Some of his work consists of those drawings, or parts of them, superimposed on his own paintings. Is he trying to show how Picasso might have "finished" or "continued" those works--if, indeed, they are not complete?
Then again, what do we mean by "complete?" I had planned to ride today, but didn't. But the day was fulfilling, which is pretty good working definition of completeness, at least for me.
