Of Paris, Picasso and a Pipe

What better way to start the day in Paris than at a Picasso exposition ... and at one of our favourite galleries, the Musée D'Orsay.  The exposition - Picasso Bleu et Rose - displays a body of work created between 1900 and 1906, connecting Picasso's blue and rose periods.  The blue period - paintings of distressed and dying women, including inmates of Saint-Lazare prison, prostitutes, emaciated figures - are really moving ... sad, shade upon shade of blue.  In 1904, Picasso met and became part of the poetic world of Max Jacob and Guillaume Apollinaire, and the rose period evolved.  This period includes a wonderful series of paintings of a family of acrobats - in French, referred to as "saltimbanques" - where the focus of the paintings, in a mixture of blue and rose, is the characters' off-stage moments of introspection and intimacy.

Loved it all!  For me, the paintings of the blue period were incredibly moving.  During this period Picasso painted most works by candlelight during the night, and you can feel the "night" in the paintings.  It seems hard to believe that many of these paintings were painted on cardboard, and they still exist today!

Then it was a walk through the Tuileries and a metro over to the Marais for a wander.  We both love returning to the Marais ... we spent so many of our trips to Paris in this neighbourhood, it feels like coming home.  It really is one of the most picturesque areas of Paris ... in my humble opinion!

A walk-through Le Bon Marché on the way home, and skateboarders were performing in the "pipe" that is part of the current installation.  Agile young men, cheered on by young girls ... it was very entertaining!  The "pipe" shuddered with every jump of the skateboard and I wondered how safe the staff felt working underneath!

Baguette, a dinner ready-prepared by Gouts, and home to put our feet up!