Quartier de la Madeleine

Today I went to the Age d'Or Hollandais (The Dutch Golden Age) exhibit at La Pinacothèque de Paris in the Quartier de la Madeleine. (No, I didn't see any vampires, French III.) After exiting the métro station, I was thrilled to see that the Pinacothèque was directly across from me. I walked over to see a loooooooooooong line. I got in the line (after asking the lady behind me if I was indeed in line for the exhibit) and waited for about 40 minutes. Fortunately, the Église de la Madeleine was right across the street so I snapped pictures of that like a tourist. No shame, no shame. (By the way, that church is on the list of things not to waste your time on in Paris. I agree. See Notre Dame and Sacré-Coeur and leave this one alone.) When I got up to the door, the security guard (a tough looking bouncer type) put his hand out to cut off the people going in and I put on a really sad face, and he told me I could go on in and then he cut off the line. Mwah ha ha ha. I received a student rate and set off for a pleasant museum experience.

Unfortunately, visions of the Mona Lisa came screaming back to me. The museum was PACKED full of people. It was literally like herding cattle. By the time I reached the Vermeer painting that I wanted to see, I was up on my tip toes trying to see it. I finally just started acting like everyone else and squeezed in between two people with as much grace as I could possibly maintain. However crowded the museum was, it was nothing compared to the gift shop, which, of course, I had to go in because if there is a gift shop anywhere, I'm there. I pushed my way through to get 4 post cards and waited in line for 10-15 minutes to pay for them. While it was a very nutso environment, I did enjoy the exhibit.

Enjoy the pictures:


Église de la Madeleine (Madeleine signifies Mary Magdalene.)


The large poster out front announcing the exhibit, which featured original Rembrandt and Vermeer paintings among other great Dutch artists. (This exhibit was made possible in cooperation with the Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam.)


The line...



In other news, a man got on the métro today and sang "I Just Called to Say I Love You" by Stevie Wonder. My métro face nearly cracked. However, by looking out the window and biting my lip, I maintained the cold stare.