I Love This Beautiful World

What is Paris without the Louvre? My companions were all enthusiastic about seeing the minuscule, Plexiglas covered painting of Mona Lisa so we headed into the Denis wing. This section of a fairly traditional Madonna and Child scene shows the artist's technique through unfinished business. The underpainting reveals a strong sense of light and show that is ready for transparent color. This is also a section of an early Renaissance painting. I thought the putti/cherubim were particularly fascinating. I really love this section of Cimabue's Madonna Enthroned. You only see a little bit of Madonna's blue robe but the gradient angel wings and goldleaf halo are stunning.

A typical Provencal meal. With a side of Aioli. Laduree http://www.laduree.fr/ in Paris has been making the most beautiful confections since 1862. These are truly a work of art.

This embodies many things that I love about this city. The Smart Car with is tiny by American standards, the reflection of a beautiful old building with a rogue purple octopus, and the I Heart Rien sticker on the back. When Gustave Eiffel built this structure for the world's fair in 1889 I wonder if he knew that it would become the symbol of Paris for many foreigners. This is an unusual look at Notre Dame. (Its the building on the right). As you can see the French have different ideas about protecting their monuments. Sacre Couer sits at the top a a hill in Montmarte. It's a white beacon for the city. At the Rodin museum in Paris, you'll find the famous "Thinker" in the garden as well as many examples of pieces in progress. Equally beautiful is the building and surrounding gardens.

We entered the small door of a courtyard and found this! lovely juxtaposition Inside the building-turned-gallery

This painting by Fragonard embodied the frivolity of the Rococo period. It is stylistically a bit over the top and the subject, a suitor, is enjoying an unsolicited view of the lady. While this painting lives in London, it was the influence for the next piece that I happened upon in an old ramshackle building in the back streets of Aix. This is the contemporary piece. It is about 3x5 feet of glass with the image on glass that is suspended above a reproduction of the original "Swing" As is found quite often in Contemporary art, there is a bit of subtlety but often upon closer inspection there is a bit of shock value in the content. American puritans will be far more put out by this contemporary interpretation of frivolity than their French counterparts. In the same exhibition there were a number of works that referenced comic art. This piece was created by compacting old comics. Creating bricks from comic pages is a clever way to define a new form of graffiti.

It's easy to see where artist's get their inspiration this time of year. Wisteria fills the air- it's almost impossible to concentrate when you walk through this heady aroma. Poppies are to the French countryside as dandelions are to our lawns. The sun creates paintings on walls.

The South of France has a character that is so beautiful it has become cliche. Blooming yellow mustard fields seen from the window of the TGV turn into white craggy rock and rolling hills with poppies blooming. I can see the world the Impressionists lived in while in the countryside. Monet lives right around the corner. I actually visited Cezanne's atelier in Aix-En-Provence. Narrow winding streets produce unexpected plazas and ancient buildings. The weather this time of year is 72 and sunny. I'm not kidding.