Watching an American in Paris in Paris

I have all the musical sensibility of a rock.  Michele, on the other hand is like a bloodhound on the hunt for a fox when it comes to top class musicals.  She locked onto the trail of a cast member for the first night of "An American in Paris", here in Paris.  He had this logo on his jacket:

By following the actor we found our way to the Chatelet Theatre.  However we were turned down at the theatre due to some sort of internet snafu.  I was not too devastated, thinking an early night would not be such a bad thing.  However Michele was not to be deterred.  She went to the box office at the back of the theatre and by some miracle managed to pick up two great seats that showed up on the computer as being cancelled at the last minute.  The show itself proved a huge success with standing ovation, five curtain calls, etc etc

 

Scandal in the Paris Salon circa 1863

We saw this painting at the Musee d'Orsay.  Edouard Manet was shocked, shocked I tell you, that the Paris Salon rejected this work as being scandalous:

What could be scandalous about a woman taking her clothes off in the park and sitting down with two fully clothed men while looking at the artist?

 

Musee Nissim de Camondo:  The short, tragic story of the Camondo family

The Camondos took their Constantinople fortune and moved to Paris in the middle of the nineteenth century.  In Paris, they joined other glittering Jewish Belle Epoque banking families, like the Rothschilds and the Ephrussis, in sponsoring the ground breaking artists of their day such as the Impressionists.

 

The scion of the family, Comte Moise de Camondo, was broken hearted when his son Nissim lost his life fighting for the French air force in 1917.  The death of his son and heir prompted the Comte to bequeath his house and all the artworks therein to the French government.  This misfortune benefitted posterity.  If the house had still been in the family's possession it would have been looted during the war.  As it is the public is now able to see a meticulous 1912 assembly of art and furniture from the late eighteenth century:

 

  

 

 

 

Air BNB makes Ile Saint-Louis (a quiet "village" in the heart of Paris) affordable

Staying in the Ile Saint-Louis is weird in a good way.  There are all the butchers, bakers and cheese shops that you would expect in a thriving village.  It safe and quiet at night and yet you are only a few hundred yards from Notre Dame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course all these advantages do not normally come cheap.  However AirBNB has brought the price down to 100 Euros a night which is actually extremely reasonable by Paris standards.

 

True, the place we got was not all that spacious.  In fact if we ever need to sell our own house it would be worth it to fly the photographer over from Paris.  Here is a picture taken from their website (https://www.airbnb.ie/rooms/14845?s=9qUE) :

 

 

Despite the cramped quarters, I would not hesitate to recommend the place given the price and location