June 24

From Vivaldi  to  Vincent (Van Gogh)

THE VIVALDI PART

Rewind  a bit back to Saturday, June 22nd. We had dinner at home and then  at 8:00 took a walk down the Seine to Saint Chapelle. Last time we were there in 2000, it was Christmas week and we froze waiting in line for two hours to see the chapel. This time, we simply stood in line to buy tickets to be treated to a six piece string classical concert in this magnificent setting. 

The concert was Vivaldi...not just Vivaldi but theFour Seasons.....not just the Four Seasons but played spectacularly....not just played well but in a stirring setting.  The last time the music and its venue engendered  such magic was in 1977 seeing the Vienna Boys Choir sing in the 12th century Cathedral in Durham, England.

The lead violin played with the speed and finesse of the finest rendition of the Flight of the Bumblebee. The light was still subtle through the stained glass though the chapel was dark.  The entire audience was mesmerized (well maybe not Steve but he liked it).  And probably for the umpteenth time in the past three weeks I pinched myself to make sure it was all real.

SKIPPING AHEAD TO VAN GOGH (will fill you in on  our Sunday of St. Ouen, jazz and Pierre Cardin on a light news date in the future)

This was the day to see if any of the Paris art had rubbed off on us. Taking our sketchpads and six pencils, we hopped on the Metro, 2 lines, 10 stops total, and arrived at the Academie de Port-Royal for our open studio session. 

I  guess we were hoping for some instruction, encouragement or HELP but instead were squarely in the middle of a studio of artists, a passel of easels and a very thin ballet dancer nude live model and her green turbaned, eyeliner wearing violin playing model partner ( not nude, only barefoot). For the next two hours they together struck poses from simple to elegant to acrobatic, changing poses every few minutes and not leaving much time to get their forms onto paper.  

It was challenging to say the least, and demoralizing  at best if you stole a glance at your neighbor's sketchpad. Most in the studio, with a few strokes of their pencil or charcoal or ink, captured the muscle and proportion of the nude female beautifully. Although I felt like I got the hang of it as we went along, towards the end of the hours Steve was sketching the stool instead.

Needless to say we opted for a great lunch at Yard  instead of a second studio session.  Lunch was lovely, we are eating way too much meat let alone tartare, and the bottle of wine was great.

Food stopping/shopping on the way home for the requisite baguette and the almond croissant treat for tomorrow's breakfast. An evening stroll along the Seine was to be watching a fireworks spectacle but alas, the fallacy of Internet info, and it was not true.  We passed on Berthillon's glaces in the 50degree night air but found instead Village St. Paul, a small warren of streets and shops with a 12th century medieval wall to which we will return another day.