musee dorsay

I first visited the Musee D'Orsay in 1989 when it first opened
as a museum. Prior to that the building had been a railway
station but even then it had a varied history ; Orson Welles
directed Kafka's Trial here and De Gaulle announced his
return to once again save La France during the time of the
Algerian problem. The top floor houses the collection of
Impressionist paintings that we all know so well - The Bar of
The Folies-Bergere, Sunflowers, Lautrec prints and so many
others. Although they are beautifully situated in several rooms
which open onto a balcony with views across the Seine, in many
ways it is a shame that they were ever moved from their
original home in the Jeu de Paume overlooking the Rue de
Rivoli. The Jeu de Paume as an art gallery was just a ground
floor room but there was an certain ambiance enhanced by the
atmosphere of the ancient building. The Jeu de Paume had a
twin on the opposite side of the entrance to the Tuileries
gardens - The Orangerie housed Monet's famous Water Lilies
in a circular room with the painting all around.

Hermann Goering was fascinated by the paintings in the Jeu de Paume and he spent many happy
hours in there picking out his favourites to be shipped to Berlin to "keep them safe for future
generations" on comprends. Burt Lancaster wasn't too keen on this and kept blowing up the trains.
For a view of the old gallery and the Impressionist paintings as they used to be take a look at "The
Night of the Generals"starring Peter O'Toole. Playing a nazi general O'Toole, emulates Goering
by choosing paintings from the Jeu de Paume {even down to having them packed in the same ante -
room} and the old gallery is preserved on film for all time.

The six ladies seated at the rear of the parvis have
always fascinated me. They are at first glance your
common-or-garden, classic Greek statues but take a
closer look and they come over as quarrelsome,arrogant,
in-your-face Miss World contestants, awaiting the
winner to be announced. Statues with attitude no less.
they are in fact allegorical representations of the six
continents - Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South
America and Oceania and incredibly each one has been
sculpted by a different artist.

They are also ladies with a past and spent their formative years decorating the first Palais du
Trocadero built for the Great Universal Exhibition in 1878. The Trocadero, flanked by gilded
statues, swarming with tourists and skateboarders and the air full of whirring, plastic birds has
been re-designed but remains the finest vantage point for views of the Eiffel Tower. The famous
picture of Hitler on his hols. was taken right here.

The elephant in the foreground is being
attacked by a leopard which is on the
other side of the photo while the
formidable ladies can be seen in the
background. Since this picture was
taken the queues have grown longer and
longer and if you are planning to visit
then go early.

Strangely, Parisians have always had a soft spot for elephants and over the years there
have been many representations around the city. One of the most famous was a huge,
plaster model on the site of the Bastille. Victor Hugo recalled it in Les Miserables when
he made it the home of Gavroche who lived in it's belly. Thousands of rats poured out when the elephant was finally dismantled.

The horse and the hippo had been removed last
time I looked in 2001 when the parvis was being

refurbished. The good news is that they will be
back when work is completed.

These sculptures are also remnants of the Great
Exhibition--as is the elephant. Great Exhibitions
seemed to be a fashion around the turn of the
century and there is memorabilia scattered all
over Paris if you care to look.

We once arrived in an old Hotel on the
Rue Monge. The lady proprietor
offered us a coffee and commented
"vous etes de bonne heure". For many
years I thought she had said I looked
like Maurice Chevalier. It was quite a
let down when it was explained that
she had said we were early and I
wasn't debonair after all.