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Published: July 16th 2009
Rodin Museum
"The Thinker" in the garden.Day 10: Wednesday, July 1, 2009
PARIS, FRANCE New day, my first full day in Paris for this trip. Paris holds so many opportunities, there is so much to see and do. However, as I said in my last blog, I'd been to Paris before and wasn't interrested in doing the same things I've done before. Three objectives for this trip were
Château de Versailles,
Musée d'Orsay, and
Musée Rodin. My friend and I had agreed that today we'd visit Musée Rodin.
About Auguste Rodin (1840 - 1917):
Rodin was a French artist most famous as a sculptor. According to Wikipedia: "Many of Rodin's most notable sculptures were roundly criticized during his lifetime. They clashed with the predominant figure sculpture tradition, in which works were decorative, formulaic, or highly thematic. Rodin's most original work departed from traditional themes of mythology and allegory, modeled the human body with realism, and celebrated individual character and physicality." A few of his famous works include "The Thinker", "The Walking Man", and "The Gates of Hell". (1) To get the day started, I gave my friend a wakeup call, then took care of some business on the Internet. The sun was out and it looked like
the makings of a beautiful day. Outside my window, people on the street started going about their weekday rituals.
Once my friend was ready, we consulted the
Paris metro map. From our location in the Saint Germain area, there are no direct lines to the museum. So we decided to take the #10 line from Sevres-Babylone station to Duroc where we changed to the #13 line. This took us to the Varenne station which exits nearly next to the museum. Once we came up the stairs from the metro, there was a sign pointing the way to the museum.
It hadn't gotten hot yet, so the metro ride was comfortable. Like London, the Paris metro doesn't appear to be airconditioned. So the recent heatwave can make it hot and sticky later in the day.
Musée Rodin is entered through what is known as the Chapel. After paying the 6 euro (8.40 USD) admission fee, you step into a garden area between the Chapel and the hôtel Biron (which houses the Rodin collection). To the right is a copy of Rodin's "The Thinker" in the center of a square garden containing Rodin Roses. In the background one can see the
golden dome of Les Invalides which houses Napolean's tomb.
Tip: If you plan to visit a lot of the common sights in Paris, I would suggest looking into the Paris Pass. It's a card that acts as your admission ticket to many of the common sights. It also provides discounts and other benefits. However, you must purchase it before you travel to France. Another suggestion, look into metro travel pass. Two years ago I purchased both the Paris Pass and a multiple day metro pass before I left the USA. Worked out great and helped me save money. The hôtel Biron houses an impressive collection of Rodin's work. I was relieved to find that information was available in english (not always the case), so it was easy to get much from the experience.
After going around the museum, we stopped for something to eat in the Rodin garden cafe. Having left without breakfast, we were both hungry and hoped the cafe would have croissants. They didn't have plain croissants, but did have chocolate. That would have to due. No orange juice, so had a Coke. Not good for the stomach, but I could use the caffeine. While we
ate, little birds were constantly hopping and flying around, waiting for their moment to pounce. One brave bird hopped on the table (see picture) while all his friends watched from the safety of the bushes just above our heads. They knew there was food to be had and they aimed to have some of it.
There is garden all around the museum. So we took a stroll around before working our way back towards the hotel. Though I had all day, my friend had a train to catch later. On the way, we walked by Luxembourg Palace and through
Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens). I always liked Jardin du Luxembourg. It's a vast expanse of gardens and park lined with statues. It's a perfect place to walk and relax. Children rent toy sailboats to sail across the octagon pond. Commanding one end of the gardens is Luxembourg Palace. We couldn't stay too long, so after snapping some photos, we started walking back to the hotel.
Got back to the hotel around 2:30 pm, not bad. This gave us a little time to relax and cool off. It had gotten hot outside, so the airconditioning in the hotel felt so good.
Rodin Museum Cafe
A bird determined to get some of our food. 2:55 pm - My friend had to catch the EuroStar back to London, so it was time to head to Gare du Nord train station. I'd agreed to come along to the station. Definitely helped having extra hands to carry luggage. With the 2-day metro pass in hand, we took the #4 line which goes directly from Saint Germain to Gare du Nord station.
3:30 pm - Arrived Gare du Nord train station. EuroStar departures are on the top level. My friend's train was scheduled for a 4:13 pm departure, so we were ok. Said our goodbye at the security point.
What to do with the rest of my day? Hmmm. We had a running joke. I kept telling my friend about a church in Paris I liked, but I couldn't find it using the map that I had. So it soon became known as the imaginary church, as in "sure there is a church, are you sure you didn't imagine it?". So I set off to revisit it. This was fairly easy. Taking the #4 metro line south, I got off at the Châtelet Les Halles stop. There she was. In the Les Halles area is
a park, an underground shopping mall, and
L’église Saint-Eustache.
To me, L’église Saint-Eustache is a cathedral, but I believe it's referred to as a church. No matter what you call it, I think it's a beautiful structure. Built between 1532 and 1632, it has a gothic design that is similar to others, yet different. The interrior is spartain by comparison to something like Notre Dame Cathedral, but I find it impressive all the same.
In front of the church is a sculpture of a head in a hand. I was dissappointed to see it had been defaced with graffiti. Around this is a semi-circular series of steps on which many people sit and eat lunch.
After revisiting my old friend (the church), I wandered off to the east. Here you get into a very touristy area just north of Notre Dame. I wandered past
Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall) and Notre Dame Cathedral.
On my previous visit, I didn't walk around the back side of Notre Dame. Past the little park and across the street, there is a currious monument which I hadn't noticed before. It's a
Memorial to the Martyrs of the Deportation, those who were deported to concentration camps from 1933 through 1945.
Rodin Museum
Just a few of the sculptures found in the garden. At ground level there is a sign explaining about the monument, but to see the actual monument, you must desend a stone staircase into what seems like a prison. Down there you can walk into an underground where there is long cooridore lined with thousands of pea sized lights which represent the deportees who never returned.
In The News: • Andy Murray (Brit) advances to quarter finals at Wimbeldon.
• Controversy stirring with Michael Jackson's death. Lawyer in California has filed will.
• UK heatware alert. Temps will soar to 33 C on Thursday. The normal average is 22 C.
Notes & Misc Information: • Musée = Museum (as in Musée Rodin; in English you could say Rodin Museum).
• Jarden = Garden.
• USD = United States Dollars.
• Currency: The currency in Fance is the Euro (EUR). The exchange rate was 1.40042 USD = 1 EUR as of June 25, 2009.
• Sunrise = 5:51 am
• Sunset = 9:58 pm
• Temp High = 33 C (91.4 F)
Sources: 1. Auguste Rodin: Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_Rodin
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