At the risk of repeating myself, it was another gorgeous day in Paris. You couldn't ask for better weather. Our host, Herve had told us about an the exhibit at the Hotel de Ville about the resistance and liberation of Paris from the Nazis, so we took a bus across town to the Hotel de Ville. I've seen several plaques around the Latin Quarter commerating resistance fighters killed in August 1944, so I was interested in the exhibit. After The Normandy landings in June 1944, the allies wanted to go around Paris to get to Berlin as quickly as possible to reach Berlin before the Soviets. However, the French military General, Le Clerc wanted to liberate Paris first. Fortunately, the Germans had begun evacuations after D-Day, and after the Free French called a strike and a call to arms on August 20, by August 25 the Germans surrendered. The exhibit has great footage of the barricades, and fighting in the city. This beautiful city was spared destruction by a German Genaeral Von Choltitz who refused Hitler's orders to blow up the city, by the brave resistance fighters, and the American, British, and Spanish allies.
Today was our lucky day...the much anticipated invitation to a special viewing of the Perugino exhibit at the Jacquemart-Andre (JA) museum arrived in Herve's mailbox this morning. The JA is a jewel of a museum on Haussmann Blvd. in the 8th arr. built at the end of the 19th century, the JA family built an art collection that included Delacroix and other Barbizon school artists, as well as Fraggonard, Canaletto, Botticelli, Mantegna, and many others, including Perugino. This exhibit brings together several Renaissance artists who we're working at the same time as Perugino (1445-1523).
Tonight...dinner with my UCR college days friend, Randy, and his wife Patricia. We'll meet them at Pere et Filles in St. Germain at 8:00 pm.
A bientot, David
So much to see, so little time. But it sounds like you are making the most of it. When do you start south?
ReplyDelete