The Rogue Stitch

From Paris, the first Sunday of the month:

They say nothing's free in this world. [insert joke here about Tibet and/or sex.] But perhaps they are just cynics in the American bastion of unfettered capitalism, haunted by a puritanical ethos, expecting a buck to be made whenever and however possible. Perhaps they were indoctrinated at a young age, with lemonade stands and paper routes. Well, at least the imprint of socialism in France ensures that, for one day each month, entrance to the national museums doesn't cost a thing.

The Stitch took full advantage of the monthly event today, first hitting up the Centre Pompidou. Now, I'm not particularly fond of modern art in all its forms and guises. But I do like the CP--both inside and out.

Bruno Perramant, Revolution #1

Georges Braque, Grande nature morte brune

Alfred Mannessier, Morte-eau (my favorite)

That is water, btw, and the words are printed on glass.

By the "outside" of the Centre Pompidou I really meant not only the building's facade but the fountain at the Place Igor Stravinsky. This place is money after dark. Great place to take a date.

Next up was the Rolls Royce of Parisian museums. A veritable circus as well on a day like today.

The Louvre's just one of those places. It's so friggin' big, and houses so many masterpieces, that many people overlook the little guys whose names were forgotten centuries ago. So I did my best to focus on the the smaller objets d'art, which basically serve as filler in between major works. Granted I ran through the Denon Wing for old times' sake (and to see Caravaggio's La Diseuse de bonne aventure), but screw The Da Vinci Code and all that has changed at the Louvre since Dan Brown took a dump and called it a book. (As if La Joconde wasn't popular enough!)