|
Tuesday |
4/23 |
1030am
Musee des Arts Forains (printed), Bercy Village Lunch: Brasserie de l’Isle Saint-Louis BNF Richelieu Museum
closed Monday; Tue-10a-8p; W-Su 10a-6p -I’ve known about Musee des Arts Forains for awhile
but since it is far outside central Paris, it hadn’t made the list. So it was
time to see what this place was all about. -It’s a bit of a hike from the 16th to
Bercy Village on the Metro. But the metro station lets out at the shopping
center which was clean and fresh with cute stores and eateries. We were
running a little late so kept walking to the museum. We arrived at 1003, lol,
and the tour had already departed. It was all in French but they gave us a
handout to follow along. The very nice young woman guide did not translate or
engage in English (except to tell me she loved my hair and had done some blue
in hers in the past, and to tell all non-French speakers that the race games
would be repeated so all could participate, and to give the safety
instructions for the bike carousel). She did a great job with the kids on the
tour and kept their attention. -It was a fun place to see and explore. We heard
opera from wax mannequins; rode a horse carousel; I sat on a goat; there were
waiter and horse races--they moved when a ball was successfully rolled into their
slots, I finished 3rd in my race; the bike carousel was so fun;
and dancing in the grand ballroom was a kick. The guide actually thanked me
for dancing, lol. -It was about 90 minutes long. I told husband I wish
they would record the commentary in English and make it available on the
website so we could listen along instead of having to read. We did miss a
lot! But it was fun. -We were hungry so went over to Bercy Village and
settled on a Japanese place. Pretty good lunch. Very busy place! -With no real set agenda, and the parc de Bercy right
there, we walked through it-very pretty. Climbed up over the road and looked
at the flowering plots on the other side—still too early for many blooms,
heading in the direction of the Biblioteque Nationale de France (BBF) Francois
Mitterand. I had read they had Louis XIV globes on display. -It was quite a hike (and my feet were definitely
hurting) and included crossing the Seine—it was bigger than expected out
there. -The library was enormous! The hall we went down was
lined with chairs and people working on laptops or reading quietly. Behind
the hall were the library stacks but you’d need a library card to access
them. At the end of the hall was a terrace and a café and the enormous
globes. Only 2 on display and the exhibit was closed. But they were quite
impressive. -We walked into another free exhibit about punk in
France. Then made the long walk out along a different hallway from the one we
entered (no chairs or patrons on this one). There was a small forest in
between the two long hallways. It was a massive library! -I wanted to visit the newly reopened museum at BNF
Richelieu so we found the Metro and there we headed. When we arrived, we
realized that our old favorite brunch place, Les Manufacturers Alain Ducasse,
was on one corner. We’re still sad that place has closed down permanently. -Got through security, paid our entry fee, and explored
the collection. I liked that there was a QR code with descriptions of
specific items in each room and once we figured out how to find the items
(there’s a number next to their description on the physical display board),
we read up on these treasures. One fact that blew me away was that the BNF
has 600,000 precious coins in their collection. There were maybe 100 on
display. -The Mazarin Gallery was spectacular! So many
precious items on display. I loved seeing the original manuscripts like Zola’s
J’accuse, for example. -We saw the oval reading room and it was as
impressive as I remembered. When we saw it the first time, the museum was
closed and under renovation and they had some sad little displays in another
building. The new museum is great and I would recommend it to anyone. -Outside, we walked into the cute Square Louvois with
the statues of French Rivers and little girls gawking at my hair, lol. -We had drinks at Earth K, packed with youngish
locals. -Then grabbed the Metro to have dinner at Brasserie
de l’Isle Saint Louis again. Better seats this time, in the middle of the
restaurant. Got crowded. Husband loved his burger again. I had the salade du
jour and his fries. Fun. -Back home for the 11pm sparkle show and a
spectacular full moon. Was a long day! |
Paris |
No comments:
Post a Comment