Paris
Everyone
needs a quiet place to escape. A place where you can be with your own thoughts
and just sit quietly for a moment. This is hard to find in Paris. There are
people everywhere. The sidewalks are
so narrow, there is barely enough room for you to walk, let alone the cyclists, hoards of tourists, baby carriages, and speed-walkers. One could lose a limb while navigating these sidewalks. Stressed already?
Then
there’s le metro: a great
transportation system when it actually works, and isn't on strike or slow due
to technical malfunctions (which tends to be everyday). But this is where the cliché
of the foul-smelling French was born. Because if your face isn't plastered against
the glass window, it is most likely underneath someone’s raised underarm. And forget about the
romantic idea of reading to and from work. You're bound to go cross-eyed
from having your book pressed so close to your nose.
So
museums seem like a good alternative to escaping the crowds of Paris. Yet this
is where you forgot that the Parisians are escaping all the tourists by
avoiding the museums. If you've ever tried to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa,
you know what I’m talking about. It’s pointless.
There is
one museum, however, that I have discovered to be unlike the rest. Musee de l’Orangerie is museum bliss in
comparison. At the tail end of the Tuileries
gardens, the old orangery is a glass structure with a secret hidden within:
peace and quiet. Claude Monet envisioned the rooms which would shelter some of
his largest works: Les Nymphéas. He purposefully wanted to create a space that would induce tranquility, and resorted to white, well-lit, oval rooms, that don't take attention away from the curved canvas. He wanted people to enjoy Les Nymphéas, to really sit and look at them for a while. So, as
opposed to reserving these massive blends of purples, blues, and greens for an
art collector or private institution, Monet dedicated them to the “ignorant”
public. And the result was magnificent.
I have never visited a more silent museum, and the only other public place I have felt so relaxed in was the yoga studio. On a grey, drizzly Sunday afternoon, I sat surrounded by water lilies and deep blue ponds, forgetting about the people and the outside world. I had found my first haven in Paris. Given that it is free for anyone under 26, I will be taking advantage of this and resort to escaping here on a weekday lunch hour when I need to get away. It seems that Monet knew what the stressed Parisians needed.
I have never visited a more silent museum, and the only other public place I have felt so relaxed in was the yoga studio. On a grey, drizzly Sunday afternoon, I sat surrounded by water lilies and deep blue ponds, forgetting about the people and the outside world. I had found my first haven in Paris. Given that it is free for anyone under 26, I will be taking advantage of this and resort to escaping here on a weekday lunch hour when I need to get away. It seems that Monet knew what the stressed Parisians needed.
Musée de l'Orangerie
Jardin de Tuileries
75001 Paris
(metro: Concorde)
Ardena,
ReplyDeleteI've loved reading your blog! When I was in Paris last Spring, l'Orangerie was by far the most enjoyable museum. So peaceful & beautiful! You must love living in Paris with so many great places to visit so nearby. Keep sharing your adventures!