The wind and rain and cold drove us indoors again yesterday, this time to the Pompidou.
Modern art is my favorite, but we hadn’t been back to the Pompidou since our first visit to Paris in 1995. For some reason then I decided I didn’t like it—I don’t remember why. It almost seems like we must have seen some special exhibit I didn’t care for and missed the permanent collection.
I’m glad the rain (Did I mention wind? And cold?) drove us in so I could revise that opinion. It’s an astonishing collection, far too much to take in in a single day.
The logistics at the Pompidou are a little confusing. We waited in a long line to get through security, then another long line for tickets, then a third long line for the cloakroom, where they had only one person checking umbrellas and bags of all those people who waited through the other lines.
It wasn’t until after I had my ticket that I read the fine print that said we had an assigned time for the special Louise Bourgeois exhibit… seven hours later.
I’d already been walking for a few hours in the morning, while Frank had made a fruitless trip to see the Catacombs, which turned out not to be open for the season yet, so even after a long break at Georges on the top floor, we pooped out at least an hour before our assigned Louise Borgeois time. Too bad—I would have loved to have seen it. At least they had one of her wonderful giant bronze spiders in the lobby, and another of her pieces at the entrance to the main collection.
Earlier in the day I walked over to visit Dehillerin and a couple of other cookware stores recommended by Clothilde on her Chocolate and Zucchini blog. Interesting to see, but I wasn't tempted to buy. With the current exchange rate, not to mention luggage weight and space, I can get anything I need at home.
