The rest of the week playing tourist has flown by. We visited our favorite places, Notre Dame Cathedral, Ile St. Louis, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Arc de Triomphe, Invalides (Napolean's Tomb), the Daumesnil Market, Rue Mouffetard, and St. Germain de Pres neighborhood. We were treated to a wonderful "concert" in the Saint Germain Des Pres church, as we happened upon a chamber orchestra rehearsal, accompanied by a soprano and tenor. The Rodin Museum has maintained its First Place position on my personal "best museums" list, perhaps with a small assist from the sun, as we visited on yet another glorious day. Rodin's bronze sculptures are displayed in park-like setting, with old shade trees, and lots of space. I had forgotten that Rodin's former home (a small hotel during his day) was also on the sculpture grounds, and that his personal art collection was on display. On our visit, there was also a special limited exhibition of his sketches, which contained early drafts of the pieces that would eventually become the "Gates of Hell" (pictured below). There were also three Van Gogh's in Rodin's personal collection. This was wonderful foreshadowing for our upcoming trip to Arles, in the South of France, where Vincent Van Gogh lived for a brief period of time during which he generated 200+ paintings of his most famous work, including the three hanging on Rodin's wall!
While waiting for a metro train on one of our outings we noticed a new playbill going up on the wall: Cirque du Soleil Toruk, based on James Cameron's Avatar. The dates were perfect, opening in Paris on April 4 for ten days, at the Accorhotels Arena, which is just one metro stop from our neighborhood. I had never been to a Cirque du Soleil before and Dave & Beverly insisted on treating us as a thank you for our serving as tour guides. We ordered tickets on line, printed them at home on the little printer Ron and I purchased when we first arrived, and off we went. It was fun to hang with the locals, queuing up for two security screenings, the first a "coat and bag" check as we entered the plaza, then a metal detector. We had virtually no wait time at all, as this has become the new normal everywhere. We had wonderful seats, and because we were a little early, we had a wonderful chance to people watch, and just catch up. Then the show started. I can honestly report that it was best Cirque du Soleil I have ever seen - LOL!
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