I woke up at 8:50 this morning and had no trouble getting myself up and moving. I figured that I'd eat breakfast at my desk while I studied in an attempt to get myself out the door faster. I ended up seeing a hotel from my mom and then skyping her. I finally booked my hotel in Venice a few hours later after much coaxing and reassurance from my mom.
All of this hotel business really set me back schedule wise. I didn't start studying until almost 10. I had already had my coffee while talking to my mom so I finished my breakfast with a few madeleines. I looked at the images for histories and then proceeded to read the Thompson article. I'm not really sure what the main point of the article was (it was all related to medicine), but I found it fascinating. Who knew that associating Mercury with medicine was a mistake.
Next I turned my attention to writing my french presentation about my weekend using le passé composé and imparfait to talk about my visit to the Rodin Museum (which I had yet to leave for) and then use le futur to talk about next weekend. I finished that fairly quickly and then edited my histories paper. I'm so glad that Christina has a rewrite policy. By this time it was a little after noon. I got dressed for my excursion and headed to gare de lyon.
I had to take the one to Champs Elysée-Clemenceau and then switch to the 13. I've never been on the 13, but I wasn't worried. I knew the direction I was going in so I went to the appropriate side of the track. I was only taking the train two stops to Varenne, but when I got on what I thought was the right train, I saw that the light up map said I was going backwards! We were headed towards my stop, but it was about eight stops away. I settled in to wait. I just happened to look at the window after two stops to see the name of my station on the wall. I was bewildered but hopped off the train anyhow. There's only one exit: Musée Rodin.
I got into the museum for free using my student card. I was barely inside the entrance when I realized that this was going to be my new favorite museum in Paris. The website pictures made it seem boring and not really worthy of a special adventure. My first impression was so wrong. The gardens are absolutely beautiful, and the paths are small so that you are actually near the multitude of roses that grow on the property. It was a gray day today which made the gardens seem like a mystical secret garden despite the fact that tourists were swarming everywhere. I stopped to take a picture of every flower.
The entrance building
Garden with view of Les Invalides
The beautiful garden
The everywhere in the garden has a view of the huge, golden dome of Invalides in the background as well as the Eiffel Tower from one particular vantage point. Rodin's sculptures are hidden inbetween bushes in their own tiny clearings. There's also some sculptures around the house, one in an artifical pond in the back of the house, some in the forested area, and one in its own miniature water display. It was so fun to walk around and play a game of hide and go seek with the sculptures. It was like a new discovery around every turn.
Les Invalides
Sculpture in the wooded area
Sculpture in the lake
Sculpture in its own miniature pool
What I really found surprising was the subject matter of the sculptures in the garden. Rodin sculpted everything from religious figures to important men. There were also several large sculptures of just body parts (like a foot). There was another sculpture of the torsos two men, facing opposite directions, with one man putting his fist through the other man's chest. They were oddly funny.
Two men with fists into each other's bodies
Toilettes that were not completely hewn
A sweater
A thumb
A foot
A series of naked lower halves connected with the Hotel Biron in the background
Two feet connected to an arch
There's also a large glass case in the garden of Rodin's marble works. Most of the works are only partially hewn which I was not expecting. It seems like he would start working on a piece and then just abandon it when the main features were carved out. That's the feeling that I got from the whole garden. Abandoned. I think that's the way Rodin wanted it.
I ended my tour by going inside the house which contains the museum portion of the site. It's in the Hotel Biron. The building was once a school for nuns, but the nuns had to abadon it when religious teaching was outlawed. There is still stained glass and obviously religious architectural features in the building that contains the gift shop and entrance. After the nuns moved out, artists began to rent rooms in the building. Rodin started off by renting two rooms on the ground floor. He loved the building so much that he didn't want the state to demolish it so he left all of his works to the state with the intent that they would be housed in the building. Rodin's dream came true.
The museum contains other artists, which I wasn't expecting. The house itself is beautiful. There is intricate carvings on every wall and amazing lights with hanging crystals. All of the windows open out onto the garden and there are wooden benches that are attached to the walls in the nooks near the windows. I can see why Rodin was happy there. I was particularly surprised to see three Van Goghs including "The Harvesters" (or at least one version of it). I am never sick of seeing a Van Gogh. I was intrigued by Rodin's sculptures out of plaster. Some of them include branches and other objects. I did really like that there were also the clay prototypes of some of his works.
This work has newspaper at the bottom
I didn't want to leave the garden. I took a few more pictures and then sat on a bench to just stare off into space. I left after awhile.
I took the metro back with no problems. I'm out of groceries so I decided to run to Franprix to pick up some chips and madeleines. I forgot that it would take longer to get to Franprix from my normal route home from the train station. I used my navigational skills and turned left instead of right. After a few blocks I saw my familiar neighborhood, which looks slightly different from the other side of the street, and went to cross the street. Turns out there's no crosswalk, but two other Parisians and I illegally crossed the street together.
I got my groceries and paid for them with little trouble. I was, however, baffled by the door. Franprix has an automatic sliding glass door, but it was closed when I went up to it. I basically had my nose to the door and it wouldn't open. The cashier had to tell me to step back and then the door would open. That poor cashier must dread the days when I come in buying my two bags of potato chips and being a dumb American.
I came home and relaxed before studying for French. I then decided to look up some directions for my holiday. About an hour or so later I get an email saying that my hotel in Rome has been cancelled! This must be a bad omen for things to come.
I sent my mom a few ideas for potential hotels, took my shower, and then packed my bag for tomorrow. I'm going to Fontainebleau and Vaux le Vicomte tomorrow with the Accent center. Wakeup call is at 7:30 for the bus at 8:40 (I think that's a typo. Who plans something for 8:40?!). Bonne nuit.
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