Saturday, 5/21

Rebecca and I walked over to the Marais to see an Art Nouveau synagogue, this morning. It was designed by Guimard, the same artist who was responsible for the metro stops. Security dictates that the public can't just walk in, so we had to content ourselves with the exterior view. The street is narrow, so I was unable to back away far enough to get a shot of the entire building. But you can get the idea of the Art Nouveau sensibility.

We were hungry for breakfast, so we stopped in to the American Cafe. 

And then we decided to climb to the top of the Pantheon. It's the final resting place of the founding fathers and bigwigs in science, art, politics, etc. if you were an important male Parisian, and died, you might be buried there. For years, the only female was Marie Curie. By the way, it was here that it was first proved that the earth rotates. 

How about the view from outside?

We strolled a couple off blocks to the Marie Curie Museum. We saw her office, which hasn't changed, and her lab, which has been decontaminated. Silly me, I forgot to take a picture.

We met Blossom's and our old friend Jonathan for lunch. Currently living in Glasgow, he flew to Paris to say hi, and to catch up.

Anyway, it was a great lunch, and a fine visit.

Jonathan and Rebecca and I set out, through the Marais, for the Pompidou Center, where the post-1906 art is housed. Along the way, we spotted this guy.

Worth another look, don't you think?

The Pompidou Center put all the stuff that's usually hidden behind walls, on the outside of the building. 

The gallery space is excellent, and they have an extra-ordinary Modernist collection. As a ewsult of misreading a sign I took only one picture, and it was of the one work that was not to be photographed. Here it is. 

Then we walked to the home of our old friends, Marianne and Pierre Lubek. They are Julien's parents. Marianne cooked a wonderful dinner for us. 

And we enjoyed talking of grandchildren, children, families, old times, and current events. I wish we could see them more often.