Paris Day 2

Today was a day of relaxation. It began with a trip to the laverie (laundromat). We encountered a lady who happened to be the buyer for the San Francisco Opera boutique, so she and Gregory had a lot to talk about. I went back to the neighborhood patisserie to get more croissants, pain au chocolat, e quiche Lorraine. When i returned she and gregory were deep in conversation. She was very nice.

And as she left a family came in. They were speaking Italian, and we were able to help them with the laundry process. We had an occasion to speak with the mother who was Greek, since her husband was Italian, and they lived in Rome, they spoke Italian. She was vey sweet and even offered to help us fold our laundry--what a mom! Her daughter was here on her first day of college, and she was clearly quite proud and excited for her. We weren't expecting the laundromat experience to be fun or entertaining but it was and we had some nice conversations and met some nice people.  It was a fun morning.

In the afternoon we went to a small cafe near our hotel. Gregory had probably the RAREST hamburger in the world and I had a sliced beef spmthing with whole peppercorns. It was delicious! I even braved the French espresso and even that was good!

We went to Le Centre George Pompidou, which is the musee d'art moderne. This was definitely Gregory's cup of tea. I really enjoyed it too. Though I love certain things about all periods of art, Gregory really likes the modern stuff.  We saw Dali, Matisse, Pollock, Picasso, Duchamp, Manray, and many others. There was a display of women in art, which was very interesting. Something I found paticularly notable was the argument of women artists displayed in museums versus number of female nudes, or some other bullshit. Okay. Here's the thing, women: the world is obsessed with naked women. Naked men are more interesting to me personally but the world at large is IN LOVE with the female figure. You have those curves and those breasts that are so drawable. Trying to draw a man's junk is quite time consuming.  Boobs are easy. And easier still of that's your proclivity. But even beyond men, who tend to dominate the art world and who love the female form--and let's face it--naked women, women are fascinated with their own bodies. I saw one penis! One! Out of all that art, only one gratuitous takeaway. The rest of it was rooms with movies of you in front of a camera naked on a beach with a hula hoop made of barbed wire, or doing parkour through your house in heels. Or large 12 foot by 12 foot oils or massive knitted sculptures of vaginas or interpretations thereof. I hate to be the one to tell you this but an entire floor of the George Pompidou Center in Paris, France dedicated to installations of your vagina is not going to stop the art world from focusing on the vagina!!!

You are not helping! The next time you start to make a vagina, don't.

We ended our day at the ultimate restaurant: Pain, Vin, Fromages (Bread, Wine, Cheeses). The second we entered, we knew this was the place, the entire restaurant smelled like cheese. We ordered a cheese plate and raclette which is a cheese potato and meat dish where you melt your own cheese in a small pan and the pour it over your pommes de terre (literally "apples of the earth" or as we call them in America, potatoes), and eat it with meat. This restaurant also had THE BEST cheesecake in the world. EVER. Do not argue with me.

There was another couple there from America, from San Diego in fact, and we talked with them for about an hour after dinner. Turns out they live a ten minute walk from our favorite restaurant in San Diego.

I guess that's about it. Not too many pictures today since the camera is kind if a thing to lug around. Since most of today was taken up with laundry, we just kept it nice and light. Especially knowing that tomorrow will be a busy day: Loree, the oboe store, and the Louvre!