Me and "Le Machine"~

Before we go anywhere, we have to buy more Metro tickets.  I planned to pick up our "carnets" (packs of 10) at the Metro station on the way to the Musee Modern d'Art.  But we are foiled again!!

"Non madame, le machine!"

Good grief!  We have never used the vending machines for Metro tickets...these things do everything but slice bread.

I have to admit, I panicked.  I looked at it, picking out the words I knew.  But it did not make sense.  I tried punching a few buttons but nothing I did caused any reaction in Le Machine.

So we waited for someone to come by and use le machine.  We didn't have to wait long.  The first person just swiped their Navigo Pass and le machine spit out a ticket.  That was no help.

The second person, put a credit card in the slot and used the long roller which moved the screen; she pressed the right button and out popped her ticket.  Now we are making progress.

I tackled it again.  This time using the roller bar and seeing my "choices" scroll by.  Now, if only I knew exactly what ALL the words meant.  I decided immediately that we were not going to buy a carnet.  There was no way I was going to put a 20 or 50 euro note in le machine (that's the smallest I had).  So I did what I thought was right, put in 2 euros et Voila !, a ticket popped out along with my change.  Now, all I had to do was remember what I did and get another one.

I have no idea what I did differently but when I put the 2 euros in, 2 tickets popped out along with my change.  I came to the conclusion that one was a receipt for my purchase.

20 minutes with le machine and I was frazzled.  But we had 2 Metro tickets and we were on our way.  AND, now I know about "le machine". 

So we hopped on the Metro and got off at Franklin Roosevelt (near the Grand Palais); we had 2 choices we could walk to the museum or we could make a connection, go to the next stop and be a little closer.  I thought we should just walk, by the time you walk the cavernous station to make a "connection" you could be half way there. WRONG.  We followed the SORTIE signs to the avenue where we wanted to come out of the Metro....we walked and walked and walked.  And when we finally exited the Metro we were not that much closer to our destination...ugh!

But who cares when there are sites like this.

Place de Alma.
(  This is near the place where Princess Di was killed in 1997.)
The Flame of Liberty, a 3.5 m tall gilded copper replica of the torch of the Statue of Liberty stands on Place de l'Alma.

This is also the very fashionable couturier and perfurmier district, though that was not on our agenda this time.  This area is in the 8th arrondissement.

We walked up Ave de President Wilson expecting to easily find the Museum...it is very large on the map.

And we did BUT the entrance was closed.

  There was an arrow and a sign that pointed towards the river.

So off we went. Around the corner, across the terrace, down the stairs to the street level, passed the fountain, around the building~then we turned back and retraced our steps because obviously we missed the entrance.

It was on the terrace.

The Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris is one of the free museums in Paris.  It is also the one where 5 paintings were stolen this past May.



 This museum has been on my "list" for some time.  Mr. Woody has managed to avoid it but NOT this time.  The main reason I wanted to come here was to see the Raoul Dufy paintings. 

 He was a fauvist ( meaning wild beast) and the paintings are very colorful and rather impressionistic.  I first saw his art in a small San Antonio museum when I was travelling in 2000.

The museum is spacious and the art is hung so that each piece can be viewed and contemplated.   There are Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, DeLauney, Soutine and Chagall just to name a few.  This museum begins where the collection in the lower level of the Orangerie leaves off.

Here are more works that we took notice of:

This is a large spider, very much like the one we saw in the Tuileries gardens in 2008.

I looked at this and it reminded me of an exercise we did at the Ghost Ranch Workshop.

Untitled, only a microbiologist could LOVE this!

This is a huge mountain of globbed paint.

More by our friend Etienne Martin (from the Pompidou).

by Maruice Utrillo

 by Suzanne Valadon

by Marie Laurencin

"Conglomeros" by Victor Brauner.
His stuff is so bizarre, it really made us laugh.

Titled " Pipe Alphabet"....we didn't get it.

We both agreed that this museum was definitely worth the time!  So much and it was free!

From here we walked to the Palais de Chaillot and the Eiffel Tower.  This is located at the Place de Trocedero.  This photo does not do justice to these large twin curved buildings.  The upper terrace is where you get the most spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower.  There are several museums housed in the Palais and the garden and fountains are beautiful as well.

It is usually always crowded.  When you cross the bridge Pont d'Iena to the Eiffel Tower you are immediately accosted by annoying hawkers of every possibly kind of eiffel tower kitsch.  The base of the Tower is awesome but literally packed with people, souvenir stands, food, ice cream vendors...it's a circus.   But just look up.

It's an awesome structure.


And if you walk just a few hundred yards you will be in the most peaceful, serene place.

We walked for awhile and found a wonderful little cafe, Boulangerie de la Tour Eiffel, on the rue de Bourdannaire.  I ordered our whole lunch, asked for wine and water in French and the waiter actually complemented me!  A first.   Then, again in French, I asked him where we could buy Metro tickets.  He said, at the station.  Non!  I explained le machine.  Then asked if the tabac across the street sold them and he said, "Oui".   We had the most delicious omelettes. 

After lunch we purchased the Metro tickets at the tabac; then walked in the direction of the Invalides hoping to find a Metro station..it was time for a rest.  Woody then pointed out this most unusual building down a side street.  We went that way.
What serendipity!!!  This is 29 Avenue Rapp ( you must click and see the marvelous photos).  All the tour guides mention this building.  We just never took the time to look for it.

It stands out even from a distance.

An excellent example of Art Nouveau architecture by Jules Lavirotte.  It won a building competition in 1901 for the finest facade.

I was so excited about this FIND.
Thanks to the ever observant, Mr. Woody.

We walked all the way to the Grand Palais and the #1 Metro, then back to the apt. to collapse. 3.8 miles the pedometer said....I'm beginning to think it lies.

For dinner, we walked a block to a small cafe and had onion soup; those omelettes were quite filling.

Another full, wonderful day!