Picasso, Wine, Walking and Dining with Les Philosophes (June 8)

6/8/17

Picasso, Wine, Walking and Dining with Les Philosophes


Picasso Museum in Paris is in a converted palace/mansion, a very beautiful building, about 4 stories, and very conducive to meandering through the rooms.

Olga Picasso was a major theme of the exhibit—wife of Pablo Picasso for about 20 years. They had a son Paul. A home movie showed Olga playing bullfight with Paul; he was all dressed up in a toreador outfit.

The portraits of Olga in the very first room of the exhibit were enjoyable. I later bought postcards of Picasso’s “The Bather” and “The Acrobat”, a few of his more abstract renderings. The exhibits said Picasso first studied drawing and that skill formed the basis for all that followed. He worked in many forms, including sculpture, but somehow we admire Picasso’s drawing ability and that seems to allow all the experimentation that followed.

My favorite Picasso era is Cubism, and he one of the principal founders along with Georges Braque “in Paris between 1907-1914. Picasso’s cubist paintings manage to be beautiful, textural and philosophical all at the same time. A very revolutionary art form…

Picasso and Olga made a huge social rise as he became recognized as a great artist.

Back to mundane, quotidian, traveler’s concerns. We had a hearty lunch at Les Philosophes, famous for their onion soup. I also got a bunch of ham and cheese sandwiches on baguette. This being a restaurant and all I was not expecting such a huge portion of sandwich. Happy with that.

June 8 was the famous 10 mile walking in a single day! Here’s how it happened:

1)   The day stated with Reed and I walking to Caves du Marais, the wine shop given great reviews by Rick Steves. The shop did not disappoint. I teased the owner, telling him he was famous and known around the world. Thanks to Rick Steves, this was true. I figured everybody loves a compliment. Being a shrewd business owner he did not give in to my praise. He had walls stocked with great wines and they spilled over piled-up boxes. He did pull out a map of France and recommended wines and explained regions and grapes to Reed. I brought a backpack and before long we had several wine bottles and one of champagne stuffed in the bag.

2)   Reed and John circle Notre Dame, enjoy the performance of Django Reinhardt guitarist and his band, and return to the apartment.

3)   Molly, Dana, Reed, and John walk to lunch at Les Philosophes restaurant and the way to Picasso Museum and then on to the museum.

4)  Our group travels the streets to a canal jutting from the Seine River and returns home to rest.

5)   Later that evening we leave the apartment and again walk in the direction of the Picasso. We stop at a sidewalk pizza place as most restaurants seemed jammed. We order two pizzas, including Arugula. Never order an arugula pizza!

·      Les Philosophes restaurant

o   Known for onion soup

o   Fresh salad, salad vert, was very fresh. Dana ordered the Green Salad w/Smoked Salmon and I recommend this dish!

o   The restaurant seems devoted to a Farm to Fork movement, so the diner knows exactly where the food is coming from. Some of our group knew of the backstory. A food delivery system developed where dinners were being prepared outside of Paris and transported on trucks to the Parisian restaurants. The food would be heated at the restaurant and presented to customers as if prepared in-house. This apparently caused a scandal, and I’m not surprised given the high standards for French dining.

o   Restaurant is light, bright and airy.

o   There are stone walls and a big mirror which reflects the entire restaurant from a slightly elevated position. Somehow this adds to the cheerfulness.

o   Our waiter seems a bit haughty upon our arrival. We were still rookies at this point and everybody can smell a rookie. He warmed up as the meal developed and he could see we were mood to enjoy the meal.

Travel diary: June 8, 2017