John and Mary Kormendy in Paris (June 25-30, 2024)
This private web site contains the pictures from our five-day stay in Paris after our Aurora Expeditions cruise from Iceland to and around the Svalbard archipelago. This web site is essentially finished, although I might add a few more pictures.
Rodin Museum
Derniere vision (Last vision) -- Auguste Rodin ~ 1903
Mary at the Rodin Museum
Rodin -- and now the Rodin Museum -- owned this painting by Vincent van Gogh of his paint supplier, "Le Pere Tanguy". According to the museum's explanatory plaque, "Rodin saw [van Gogh] as an admirable demolisher of academic formulae". This is something that Rodin did regularly, too, as evidenced by the few works that I illustrate here and by an astonishingly admirable collection of other works on display in the museum. Rodin must have been a man of remarkable vigor as well as unparalleled artistry.
The Gates of Hell by Auguste Rodin, commissioned in 1880 and worked on until Rodin's death in 1917. This monumental work is -- with only 2 or 3 others -- one of John's favorite works of art. John cannot imagine coming to Paris without seeing it and paying his respects. The Gates of Hell depicts scenes from Dante's Inferno, from human history and mythology, and from Rodin's imagination. It contains 180 figures, many of which have become highly regarded independent works of art. The Rodin museum and grounds contain many studies of its individual pieces, some as plaster studies and others as finished works of marble or bronze. A well known one is "The Thinker", replicated "full size" elsewhere in the gardens and illustrated below.
The Burghers of Calais is the other master work by Rodin that has my special respect. Quoting the museum: "In 1884, the city of Calais commissioned a monument commemmorating an episode from the Hundred Years' War (1337 - 1453): six dignitaries sacrificed themselves for their fellow citizens by surrendering to the King of England. The figures are shown in individualized poses, wearing the tunics of condemned prisoners and nooses around their necks. Placed at ground level, their monumentality and expressiveness confront the viewer with "the image of misery and sacrifice". This is a bronze cast by Alexis Rudier, 1926, from Rodin's model of 1889. I wish that the museum provided a simple flat background to highlight this work.
The Burghers of Calais (detail). Jean d'Aire carries the keys to the city, to be given up to England. The pain of the seige of Calais and of the expected sacrifice of the Burghers' lives is evident.
Eustache de Saint Pierre was the first volunteer and leader of the group. All expected to die. Wikipedia says that England's King Edward III was persuaded by his wife Philippa of Hainault to exercise mercy and spare their lives.
Rodin's The Thinker, in a full-size bronze casting and photographed from the only (uncomfortably constrained) direction that works best for the piece. It is one of the figures on the Gates of Hell.
Mozart's Opera "Cosi Fan Tutti" at Palais Garnier
We were extraordinarily lucky on June 26, our first full day in Paris, that a very few seats were still available to tonight's performance of Mozart's opera Cosi Fan Tutti at the Opera Garnier. And we were even able to get front-row center tickets! All this was made possible by the extraordinarily efficient and helpful manager of the Hotel Saint Andre des Artes, Mme Caroline Nguyen. So we snapped up those tickets! And we arranged with her to solve another problem that we now have, which is that Mary's back is so painful that she can hardly walk 100 m. Mme Nguyen arranged a private car to take us to and back from the opera. So on our first day in Paris, we managed both to visit the Rodin Museum and to see an opera at the Palais Garnier. It was a superb start to what turned out to be a wonderful 5-day stay in Paris.
Selfie of us in our seats at the very ornate Opera Garnier
This production of Cosi Fan Tutti turned out to be unorthodox and interesting. Each singer had a "shadow dancer" who expressed the emotions at play in the singer. For example, the character Don Alfonso (at left, above) orchestrates a trick on his friends, Ferrando and Gugielmo. They are in love with sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi, and they are convinced that the girls are rock-solidly true to them. World-wise Don Alfonso wagers that the girls will not stay true. Ferrando and Guglielmo wager that they will stay true. Devious Don Alfonso arranges a trick such that Ferrando and Guglielmo -- who are army officers -- are sent away to war ... but in reality, they stay, impersonate "Albanians", and try to seduce each others' girls. When Alfonso's plan starts to work, he exults in his wisdom and power, in song, of course, and -- as shown above (scanned from the program) -- his shadow dancer exults much more dramatically in dance. This can be a little distracting. There is a lot going on, on stage. But it actually works pretty well in this largely cerebral, emotion-driven opera. It would not work as well in an opera that has a lot of action, such as Tosca or Aida. Given that there are always twice as many people on stage as are singing, and given that the dancers need room to express their singers' emotions, it is less obnoxious than it would otherwise be that the stage is bare and not an actual period-consistent setting. Normally, we like traditional stagings, set in the time and place that the composer intended. A very few "modern" productions end up "working" for us. This one will be happily remembered.
The whole cast, with each shadow dancer next to his or her singer. This scan from the program shows Cynthia Loemij as the dance double of Fiordiligi (we saw her); Jacquelyn Wagner as Fiordiligi (we saw Vannina Santoni); Michele Losier as Dorabella (we saw Angela Brower); Samantha van Wissen as the dance double of Dorabella (we saw her and she was especially good); Paolo Szot as Don Alfonso (we saw him and thought he was the best singer in the performance); Bostjan Antoncic as the dance double of Don Alfonso (also the best dance double); Marie Goudot as the dance double of the maid, Despina (we saw her); Ginger Cost-Jackson as Despina (we saw Hera Hyesang Park); Julien Monty as the dance double of Ferrando (we saw him); Frederic Antoun as Ferrando (we saw Josh Lovell); Philippe Sly as Guglielmo (we saw Gordon Bintner, who arguably had the second-best voice), and Michael Pomero as the dance double of Guglielmo (we saw him). You can see what I mean when I say that the stage was busy when everybody was present. Still ..... it worked.
Tchaikovsky's Ballet "Swan Lake" at Opera Bastille
We were especially lucky to get to see Swan Lake at Opera Bastille on Thursday, June 27th. On every earlier day, ticket web sites showed it sold out for many performances to come. Our hotel's manager, Mme Caroline Nguyen, checked this morning, and 4 seats were available. So at the last moment, we got 2 seats in the 6th row just off the center aisle. Could hardly have been better. So we got to see another superb performance, our second of 4 successive great nights.
We were very happy and had a super time.
Taking photos during the performance was, of course, forbidden. But we (and many others) took pictures during the curtain calls. The performance was truly excellent, with virtually perfect timing during the many complicated dances by the corps de ballet and with seriously virtuous dancing by the three principals. The ballet was very much up to the world-class standard that one would expect in Paris.
Dinner en Bateau Mouche
One of the most romantic evenings to be had in Paris is an "excellence dinner" with Bateaux Mouches. You are picked up at your hotel and delivered back to it in a stretch limousine. The captain of the ship is supposed to seat you at the front of the ship (though our reservation this time was slightly screwed up, and we had to push hard to get the front table). You get a fine menu, with champagne and wine included. Mary gets flowers. We get serenaded. Everybody gets photographed. Above are our formal photos -- cleaned up scans of photo prints. When the mood is right, you get a wonderful atmosphere and great views of the city as the sun sets and twilight falls. The cost is commensurate ... but we don't care: This is, for us, a tradition. It is the best way to celebrate being in Paris together.
This is amusing: Parisians cannot imagine that anybody would go to such lengths and expense except to celebrate a Big Event, such as a special wedding anniversary or perhaps a graduation. "We celebrate being together in Paris" ... just doesn't "cut it". So they invented a suitable fiction -- must be an important weddding anniversary -- and delivered dessert to us with sparkling fireworks. Many people on the boat applauded and congratulated us.
And we had a superb evening in Paris!
Front facade of Notre Dame, happily not damaged by the 2019 fire. Farther back, there's still a lot of scaffolding ... and, of course, many signs of the work required to restore this gothic wonder. The church was still closed when we were there, but the hope expressed was that it would re-open in December 2024.
Notre Dame in evening sunlight. The middle of the church is still heavily scaffolded. Fortunately, the rose windows survived.
Sunset over the Seine from our dinner table
One more picture of us taken by a waiter at the start of the dinner -- it feels more natural than the formal portraits taken by the ship's photographer.
Evening Concert at the Sainte-Chapelle
Panorama of the front of the Sainte-Chapelle set up for the string quartet concert on the evening of Saturday, June 29. We managed to get front-row center seats by getting to the venue 1 hr 40 min early and being first in the lineup for seats. This is surely the most magically perfect setting that we have ever had for a concert. We have twice seen performances of Vivaldi's Four Seasons here, always from the front row -- it feels very intimate to be just 3 m from the performers. This time, the Four Seasons clashed with our Bateaux Mouches dinner. But tonight's performance was nevertheless wonderful, with a selection of the best-known and justifiably (more or less) best-liked string quartet pieces by half-a-dozen composers, starting with Faure's pavane in F-sharp minor. Other pieces included the nocturne from Borodin's String Quartet number 2 and the theme and variations by Haydn that form the basis of the German national anthem. We were not given a program, so I don't remember all of the pieces. Almost all were familiar, and the performance was excellent.
Scroll right in the above and following pictures to see the complete panoramas.
Panorama of the upper level of the Sainte-Chapelle: Building a church with no walls -- with only ornate pillars that separate stained-glass windows -- is one of the glories of Gothic architecture.
Dinners at Street Cafes along the Rue Saint Andre des Artes
Lunch at a sidewalk cafe near our hotel on day 1 of our visit to Paris. John is working on a chicken and avocado sandwich ... with REAL bread.
Dinner at Cafe Le Buci, just down the street from our hotel, after the concert at the Sainte Chapelle. I did not feel cold, but unfortunately, Mary probably caught her cold -- bad, now, several days later -- at these late-evening dinners. Good food. Wonderful atmosphere.
Creperie Les Ecuries
Our favorite crepes restaurant is -- no contest! -- Les Ecuries, at 5 rue Washington, Paris 5. No trip to Paris would be complete without a stop ... or two or three ... there. This time, we made it only once. But John had his favorite Crepe Ecuries, and Mary had her crepe flambe. Parfaite!
Before we left, we got a picture of Mary with our waitress and the crepes artist.
Our bird pictures from around the world follow standard ecozones approximately but not exactly:
Birds from the USA and Canada: our house, Hornsby Bend and greater Austin, Texas, California, Hawaii, Canada,
Neotropic birds from Central America and the Caribbean: Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago
Neotropic birds from South America: Ecuador, Ecuador 2017, Brazil.
Western palearctic birds: Europe: Germany, Finland, Norway, Europe: United Kingdom, Europe: Spain, the Canary Islands, Europe: Lesbos, Greece, Israel
Eastern palearctic birds: China
Birds from Africa: The Gambia, South Africa
Indo-Malayan birds from India: North-west (Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand) India: North-east (Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya) India: Central (Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh)
Birds from Australia, New Zealand.
For our 2014 December trip to India, see this travelog.
For our 2016 May-June trip to India, see this travelog.
For our 2017 April trip to High Island, Texas, see this web site.
For our 2018 March trip to India, see this travelog.
For our 2018 May trip to China, see this travelog.
For our 2018 November trip to China, see this travelog.
For our 2019 April trip to High Island, Texas, see this web site.
For our 2019 July trip to China, see this travelog.
For our 2021 April trip to High Island, Texas, see this web site.
For the 2021 August 3 & 4 migration of Purple martins through Austin, see this web site.
For our 2021 December trip to Ecuador, see this web site.
For our 2022 January-February trip to Peru, see this web site.
For our 2022 July/August trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea, see this web site.
For our 2022 September trip to Bolivia, see this web site.
For our 2022 November-December pre-trip to Argentina (before our Antarctic cruise), see this web site.
For our 2022 November-December cruise to Antarctica, see this web site.
For our 2023 January birding in Chile, see this web site.
For our 2023 January-March cruise from Chile to Antarctica and around South America to Miami, FL, see this web site.
For our 2023 March-April birding in south Florida (after the Seabourn cruise), see this web site.
For our 2023 November-December birding to Sri Lanka, the Andaman Islands, and South India, see this web site.
For John's 2024 February-March birding in Colombia, see this web site.
For our 2024 May-June cruise from Iceland to Jan Mayen Island to and around the Svalbard Archipelago, see this web site.
For our 2024 June 25-30 stay in Paris, see the present web site.