A Chimney Sweep in our Taxi

 SONG - Chim-Chim-Cher-ee by Dick Van Dyke

Day 31 - Thur. May 30

Got up late as we both had a bad night on our last night in York. I think we are both missing home a bit. Relaxed in the morning and then went across the street to Paul’s & had sandwiches and a strawberry tart. 

Found a good old fashioned London taxi which took us to the Tate Britain to see the John Singer Sargent & Fashion show. Fabulous. They had the real dresses to match some of his paintings.

Sargent was an incredible artist.  So happy we made to this show!

A cold drink outside at the cafe there until it began to rain & then inside to see some of their other paintings including a David Hockney!

And here is the David Hockney “A Bigger Splash” 1967

Got a taxi ride home with a Cockney guy who shared stories the whole way home about seeing the Queen on several occasions, Prince Philip, King Charles, traveling around Europe for a year with his wife in a travel trailer. Fun stories. Then he said people think he talks like Dick Van Dyke as the Chimney Sweep in Mary Poppins. He did too! Told us that his parents said God Blimey often and that it really means God Blind Me. Google it and it’s true!

Came back to the hotels sitting room for a drink and met a guy & his girlfriend from NY. He had lived in London 20 years ago. He never stopped talking. They are going to a friend’s estate near Inverness that they are staying at for a week. He told us about places to see near London and the expensive places where they are dining. He also told Mr. B privately how he loves a good honor bar because he doesn’t have to write his name down for drinks. Jerk! We decided to dine at our hotel’s restaurant. We had dined there before in 2017 and it was not good but they have a new chef who has a Michelin Star and since it was supposed to rain soon we decided to give it a try. It was much better and our guy, Ondre from Slovakia wasn’t a singing Italian waiter but he did dance a few dishes to our table! 

New Exhibit

I paint with a group of amazing women artists and occasionally we hang exhibits together. 

After waiting 2-3 years for a show at the Orinda Library Gallery BASA's name finally came up.

We were due to hang on March 31st and then the pandemic hit.

So with Covid-19 on everyone's mind we decided to take what we have been working so hard on and give you a virtual show. How creative is that!

Here is the link: Click Me!

During this stressful time I hope our video gives you a moment to relax.

Stay well......Jeanette

Art in the City

Song - Are You in the Mood by Django Reinhardt covered by Zak Martel

Yesterday, Mr. B and I drove into the City to see the James Tissot exhibit "Fashion & Faith" at the Legion of Honor.  It was a beautiful clear day and we could see the ocean, the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and downtown from the knoll in front of the museum. 

Above is an early self portrait of the artist and is painted rather loosely and impressionistic. Tissot was a French painter and lived in France and London from 1836 - 1902.

 

This is a painting of his muse - Kathleen Newton who lived with him from 1875 until her untimely death from TB in 1892. And while his "style" is not to my taste, I found the show delightful. It was interesting to see how he rendered people in work and play. 

The young girl playing croquet was one of my favorites but unfortunately I had left my "real" camera at home so all of these shots were from my cell phone so they are not very good quality.

Tissot rendered fabric with great care as he was well acquainted with drapes and folds coming from a father who was a successful drapery merchant and a mother who designed hats.
As a painter, I would go crazy rendering all of the pinstripes on this woman's gown!!!  But it was beautiful to look at.

 Afterwards we headed upstairs to the Legion's regular exhibit and I found some of my old favorites like "The Bath" above by Jean-Leon Gerome

And "The Absinthe Drinkers" by  Jean-Francois Raffaelli

 "Shelter on Montmartre" by Vincent van Gogh

 "Sewing Party at Loctudy" by Edouard Vuillard

 And after all of that eye candy we went around the corner for some dim sum that was excellent!

After the busyness of the holidays, it was nice to spend some quiet time together on a beautiful day!

"Part of the secret of a success in life is eating what you like 

and let the food fight it out inside."

--Mark Twain

Called On Account of Rain

Song - All We Do - Oh Wonder - Cover by Sierra Eagleson


It's raining again here in California, so Mr. B and I decided to head to the art museum in San Francisco to see the Monet exhibit.  We timed it perfectly so we wouldn't get stuck in commuter traffic or the Giant's home opener traffic.  Off to the Legion of Honor! 

I showed the lady our online tickets, picked up our audio guides and went to walk in and saw.......

 ....this....

....and this.....oops.....that does not look like Monet!  It was a Rubens exhibit......did we miss it?
Nope.  I had the wrong museum!  So while we did take a quick peek at the Rubens show (not really our cup of tea) we quickly headed over to the deYoung to see Monet.

 Now that's better.......

 Just look at all the colors he used in this close-up........

The exhibit was titled - Monet: The Late Years and included about 50 pieces of art that he did from 1913-1926, where he spent most of his time at home in Giverny, his home near Paris France.

 He loved his garden and was passionate about his Lily Pond. He would often paint the same view at different times of the day to see how the colors changed.

 Once again, amazing color on top of color.

 In his later years he developed cataracts and eventually had surgery to correct his vision.  His palate changed from blues and greens to orange and yellows.

 But still powerful color....

 Also at the deYoung was a Gauguin exhibit that was interesting and is the first one at the Fine Arts Museum dedicated to the work of Paul Gauguin.

 He met and married his wife, a Danish women, Mette-Sophie Gad and they had five children.  After 11 years their marriage fell apart when Paul Gauguin decided to paint full time. 

This is a tiny portrait of his wife - about 3 x 4".

 Paul Gauguin - 1848-1904

 Similar to Monet, Gauguin had layer upon layer of color.

Amazing color in the water..... 

While Mr. B and I did get to see three amazing exhibits, we did miss our first home opener with the Giants in 19 years.  While returning home we saw the fireworks from the freeway and I had my camera ready for the fly-over (my favorite!) but alas we either missed it or they did not do it this year.

The only fly-over I saw was a big black crow flying over our car!

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers." 

--Claude Monet

So Much to Do - Day 23

Song - Napoleon - Viva La Vida by Coldplay

April 30, 2018

 Having taken photos of window, doors and door knockers all over France, I find the best one right across the street from our hotel.  Not sure about the symbolism but I like the whimsy of it!

 Another rainy day in Paris so we decide to take an Uber over to the Musee Jacquemart Andre to see the exposition "Mary Cassatt - an American Impressionist in Paris".  After being dropped off on Boulevard Haussmann I decide that I need some meds for my cough which is keeping me awake most nights and walking to the pharmacy we passed these amazing flowers at a shop.

 I do love Peonies!

 This was the advertisement for the exhibit and unfortunately I was not allowed to take any photographs once inside.

 Inside the Musee Jacquemart Andre before getting to the exhibit.

 This is a painting of Mary's sister from a postcard that I purchased there.

 We decided that it would be nice to get our three son's some bread knives from Boulangerie Poilane.  I bought one for us many years ago and it's a very special knife.

 And right next door is the newly remodeled and expanded Comptoir Poilane which just happened to have an open table just as we arrived. It was pouring rain outside so it was nice to be somewhere warm and cozy.

 They serve tartines or open faced sandwiches both hot and cold on Poilane's famous bread. I don't know why but it tastes so incredibly delicious this way.

 Luckily we dropped our knives off at the hotel before heading over to Napoleon's Tomb at Le Invalides because........

 .....machine gun toting police were doing body scans and bag searches!

 Mr. B nor myself have ever been here before and while it was an amazing building, once was enough.

 The marble floors were richly decorated...........

 And the tomb is built of red quartzite and rests on a green granite base.

Several of Napoleon's family are buried here as well as important military hero's. Now we are off to E. Dehillerin to do some more shopping!

 Dehilleran's is a chef's store in the Les Halles area of Paris and noted for their fine copper pans.

Which I purchased a cute little shaped sauce pan that just spoke to me.  It has sloping sides that help hasten the process of reducing or thickening sauces!

Next door was a cozy bistro named Loup and since it was still raining, we decided to head inside for a glass of wine and to give our feet a chance to rest.
 

 We are seated near this massive rotisserie full of golden brown meat going round and round...
.

The chef decides that the Prime Rib is done and takes it into the kitchen.

 But returns with this little smiling piggy......

...that every time it went around it's little tail would go "plonk"......too much for me!

Le addition s'il vous plait!

Check please!

The hotel had made us reservations at Brasserie Lipp but we canceled because...well....they serve trotters.....

We had dinner around the corner from our hotel at Cafe Louise and it was perfect!

"You won't realize the distance you've walked 

until you take a look around and realize 

how far you've been."

 --Anonymous