A Pessimist and an Optimist, so much the Worse; so much the Better… Jean de La Fountaine (1621-1695)

Today we will visit the museum we had planned to see yesterday. The weather has turned more challenging- alternating windy and rainy. We wait out a passing rain cell and when it clears we head to the metro. The Musée Marmottan Monet is located in the 16th arrondissement. It is a neighborhood we have not explored much and has been advertising a special exhibit – so we decide to check it out.

As we exit our train station and start to explore. The neighborhood is beautiful. It feels more residential than the 5th. The houses and apartment buildings have the archetypal iron railings on curved balconies, with planters or vines covering some while others are white and clean or golden stone. There are people out enjoying a break in the rain and while the sun peaks through, we walk through the park on our way to the museum.

Not to disappoint, the park, now beginning to flower, has a surprise in store for us, an amazing statue. We are so taken by it, though not immediately recognizable to us. The large man, with long curls holding a book and looking amusedly on the large crow at his feet, who in turn is craning it’s neck to peer down at the fox climbing the stairs toward it, was mystifying. An inscription on the side of the stone base read J Dumilatre. Intrigued we decide we must discover more.

We continue on to the museum as the clouds are rolling back in and as we approach the street we see the line stretching down the stairs and along the street to the corner. This is perhaps the longest line we have seen at a museum given this time of year. It is then that we realize all the signs advertising the special exhibition that we have been noting around the streets and subways… give today’s date as the opening…, ergo the line. Oh well, this is why we came. The wait affords us time to research our statue in the park while we stand in the very slow moving line.

The line eventually moves forward and we enter. The museum is a little overwhelmed today by the crowd. The special exhibit is of Cézanne and features his inspiration of Italy (though he never actually travelled there, but rather interpreted the artworks of others to crate his view of Italy). Alongside his works are the artists who then drew inspiration from Cézanne. And the impact of art on a culture and an individual is evident. The accompanying descriptions of the younger artists’ perspectives of Cézanne and of their own art was thought provoking.

The museum boasts the largest collection of Monet’s and many works by other impressionists. The room down stairs had many of Monet’s pieces and a small exhibit of Tyson (an English painter) paired with select pieces of Monet , titled The Unexpected Dialogues Tyson/Monet. Here the contemporary artist uses Monet as his muse to create two new paintings reflecting the “impressions” in a new more contemporary context.

When we leave the museum the line is even longer and the rain falls even harder. Sprint to the bus stop and head home to warm up and reset. And much like before, as we approach the stop, the rain stops. The skies brighten, and for awhile, there is a beautiful late afternoon. Just enough to allow us to saunter through a neighborhood antique market.