Louvre
The Louvre was the one museum in Paris that I had already been to (as a teenager), but it was a no-brainer to go back. The world’s largest museum is a beast to tackle even on a repeat visit as an adult. We only made it through 2 of the 3 wings, but saw most of the highlights, including the Mona Lisa (now ensconced in the center of the room with barriers in place so that you can’t get close to it even if it wasn’t mobbed by people), other beautiful paintings by da Vinci, masterpieces of the French masters, the Venus de Milo, the Michelangelo statues, and the ruins of the ancient fort beneath the museum, which was being excavated at the time of my last visit (pre-glass pyramid).
One really should allow a full day for the Louvre, but there’s so much else to do in Paris that it’s hard to find that amount of time to spend at just one place. Note: the free first Sunday admission is only valid during winter despite what guides and guidebooks say.
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Musee d’Orsay
This museum didn’t exist the last time I was in Paris, but now houses the huge Impressionist collection that previously was on display at the Jeau de Paume (now devoted to photography I believe). Thankfully, trains eventually out grew this old train station, which is now a jewel of a museum. We started with the French Impressionist collection on the top floor located near the very cool restaurant that surreally looks out over the Seine through one of the station’s huge clocks. The French Impressionist works are vast with many paintings that I had never seen, but still not necessarily the most impressive.
The van Goghs that are the true highlight of the museum were collected in a special exhibit themed around suicide and also featuring the poet Antonin Artaud. Like most in the huge line to get into the exhibition, we completely ignored the Artaud sections and focused exclusively on the van Goghs, which included 4 self-portraits and masterpieces like (one of the three) Bedroom in Arles and Starry Night Over the Rhone. Well worth it!
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L’Orangerie
This small museum is also a jewel! Located in the Tuileries Gardens that stretch between the Louvre and the Concord Obelisque, the L’Orangerie’s main-floor highlight is the two oval rooms that Monet painted water lilies in near-360 degrees (there are gaps for the entrances and exits).
The basement though is a highlight unto itself, presenting a great collection of French Impressionism organized by artist and featuring some lesser known, but still worthy artists.
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The Strange City at the Grand Palais
A map to tour the exhibit's rooms is provided and a giant speaker at the entrance fills the landscape with otherworldly music.
The rooms themselves hold a variety of display pieces, some sculptures, some models of the buildings that were in the "city."
In all, the effect is that of walking through an ancient (or futuristic), just excavated architectural site. Being drawn to installation art that totally transforms its exhibition space, it doesn’t get any better than this!
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Pompidou Centre
While David toured the L’Invalides where Napoleon is buried, I sought out paris’s contemporary and modern art museum known more for the tubes that stretch over the building's facade in multiple directions rather than the art itself. Part of the permanent collection was closed to be rehung, but what was on display was a decent overview of modern art with the small, ground-floor spaces featuring contemporary art. I was more intrigued by the museum itself as the space definitely contributes to the overall experience.
Martial Raysse exhibit
As far as special exhibits, I skipped the one on Henri Cartier-Bresson that everyone else was queued up for (I’m not really into black and white photography), but did check out the no-lines-at-all retrospective of French artist Martial Raysse.
Completely unknown to me, I ended up being totally impressed Raysse’s bold, colorful, and large-scale work definitely rooted in Pop Art. Still alive and working today, he's had a 50+ year career and it’s a shame that Raysse isn’t better known outside of France (maybe he is?).
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Ballet at the Opera Bastille
The newest of Paris’s two main opera houses is a huge, modern theatre allowing for full-scale productions while the older, more well-known Palais Garnier (aka the Paris Opera House of Phantom of the Opera fame) handles small pieces that don’t require elaborate sets.
George Balanchine/Benjamin Millepied
These two pieces, one revived and one brand new, could not have been more different. Balanchine’s Le Palais de Cristal with music by Georges Bizet is classic ballet, all about stage composition, precise synchrony, and traditional dance language with the women on pointe. Here though, couture designer Christian Lacroix smartens things up with beautiful versions of the tutu. A total 50 dancers in four different color patterns take the stage and the whole piece is traditional to a T (not that there’s anything wrong with it).
Benjamin Millepied (Natalie Portman’s husband and choreographer of the movie The Black Swan) throws convention to the wind with Daphnis et Chloe and unfortunately the whole thing comes off rather messy. The women are on pointe and the music by Maurice Ravel is classic, but the stage compositions are very loose and modern. This is one situation where a new approach didn’t trump the tried and true.
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Versailles
Having been to the palace of Versailles once before (but not the gardens), I made sure that we went during one of the few times that the fountains were turned on (during limited hours on Tuesdays and Saturdays).
Having visited similar palaces where one ornate room looks like the next and knowing that the fountains of Peterhof were more impressive (and open more frequently) than the interiors, our game plan included hitting the gardens and fountains (on from 11 am to noon) in the morning, heading over to the Trianons (the two smaller palaces on the grounds) and the Queen's Hamlet, running back for an exclusive tour of the Versailles palace (including the king’s private chambers and the opera house), back out to the remaining fountains (on again from 3:30 to 5 pm), and then grabbing a choice seat for the 10 minutes that the huge Neptune fountain is turned on right before the park closes.
Not surprisingly, it turns out that we planned it for the best as the fountains are the true highlight of Versailles (as the pictures attest). Make sure to visit when they are on!
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Coronation of Poppea at the Palais Garnier
I don’t know why I thought that there would be an English language option of an Italian opera in a French opera house, but I did (I also prepaid for a program that had no English translation!). It wasn’t a total waste of money though since the ticket did give us entrance into one of the most beautiful opera houses in the world.
The huge main hall is as ornate as anything you'll see at Versailles. Needless to say we didn’t stay long and not just because of the language barrier. The amphitheater (upper central balcony area), where our seats were located, was so hot and humid that I don’t know how anyone could stand it for the 3+ hour running time. Come on, France, embrace air conditioning like America!
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