Paris: The Museum Installment

The Louvre

Have you ever read the DaVinci Code by Dan Brown?  It's a great novel that mostly has nothing to do with our experience in Paris, except that it was my first exposure to the Louvre - arguably the most famous museum in the world.  There are many things to say about the Louvre.  I have never been to a larger "place of looking".  Everywhere you go - outside the museum, inside the museum - people are just looking.  Adam Gopnik once made the observation in his book Paris to the Moon that people in Paris prefer things that have light shining on them (the Louvre) as opposed to light shining from them (Time Square).  Gopnik has spent much of his life living in Manhattan, so that obvious difference was not lost on him when he moved to Paris in the 90's.  It's an insightful observation, I'd say, about Paris as a hole, and the Louvre is a shining example of how Gopnik's statement is true.  

Standing before the Louvre, the first glaring observation we made was that in addition to being very pretty, the building is absolutely enormous.  The second observation was that there were a lot of people staging jumping pictures in front of it.  Most jumpers did their leaps with the famous glass pyramid in the background, most were under the age of 23, and most were actually able to clear the ground.  I'm not going to tell you how many out-takes our photo shoot had, and I still haven't determined if my apparent lack of a vertical is due to Fritz's photography skills or the fact that I'm a 30-year-old white girl with messed up ankles.  Oh well.  We tried.  

Here's another view looking out at the glass pyramid, which serves as the official entrance to the museum, with the Tuileries Garden behind it where you can just make out the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Ferris wheel.  

Touring the Louvre in its entirety could have easily taken us the full 6 days of our Paris trip.  As it is, we spent the better part of a day winding through the colossal museum's numerous galleries.  We did our best to hit the Louvre's most famous installations.  Antonio Canova carved Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss out of marble in 1777, which might have been my favorite piece there.    

One wing of the Louvre contains the preserved apartments of Napoleon III.  He remains the longest-serving French head of state since the French Revolution and is best known today for his grand reconstruction of Paris.  He was a very influential figure during his time and he lived lavishly at one end of the Louvre. 

Image downloaded from the internet

Now open google in your browser and type in "Mona Lisa".  Or you could just ask Siri to "find images..."  If you do, you'll find something much like the what you see pictured above.  I downloaded that image from the web.  While it is true that in this modern technological age, the Mona Lisa is always at your fingertips, you haven't really been to the Louvre until you have seen the Mona Lisa in person.  It hangs behind a sheet of thick glass surrounded by a ten-foot rope preventing visitors from getting too close.  Even with all of these restrictions in place, a sea of museum guests overwhelms the gallery to peer at Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting every day.  This means that when you try to get your own pic of Ol' Mona, you end up with photos like this...

... because trying to get a clear shot of the portrait without someone's selfie stick in your photo is next to impossible.  Scratch that, selfie sticks are not allowed in the Louvre (thank goodness).  So instead, you can stand and watch as everyone admires "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world" through their 4.5 x 2-inch screens.  

Like these people.  They all are so happy to be eternalizing the most famous piece of art so they can forever carry that questionably lovely countenance of Lisa Gherardini in their pockets.  A few paragraphs ago, I suggested that you google "Mona Lisa" because if you do, there is a very good chance that your view will be just as good, if not better than mine was when I was standing in the Louvre.  And it is certainly better than a cell phone picture taken from 15 feet away.   

Considering all these things, one is led to consider that perhaps visiting the Mona Lisa is less about appreciating art (for many), and much more about "making it," as Fritz puts it, in life.  Every day, people come from all over the globe to see this one painting.  And for this reason, a crummy cell phone picture, even if Siri could produce a higher quality image from a bathroom stall in Maysville, Kentucky, is invaluable; perhaps even as priceless as the Mona Lisa itself.  

It's actually best if you take a Mona Selfie.

The other notable part of the Louvre is that the entire museum is now accessible via a specially programmed 3D Game Boy! 

The Louvre: brought to you by Nintendo.  The interactive map was extremely helpful, allowing us to navigate through the building with ease as we sought out our art pieces of interest, tracked down the bathrooms, and located the nearest in-house café.  

Plus it had hours of commentary and education on all the featured works of art.  We just had to remind ourselves to look up from the hand-held virtual Louvre every now and again so as not to miss the real museum.  These things have a way of sucking up all of your attention.

We were fortunate enough to be in town on Museum Night, a magical evening when the museums of Paris open their doors from 8pm to midnight for free access.  Fritz and I went to the Musee d'Orsay, which is located in a converted railway station on the left bank of the Seine.  It houses the largest collection of Impressionist masterpieces in the world!  

Guests can have a coffee in the attic of the building while looking out through the old clock face to see Sacre Coeur, the elegant white church perched on the distant hill. 

In addition to the incredible collection of art, we heard that there would be live jazz music played all evening in front of famous art pieces.  This trio is playing in front of Monet's depiction of the Tuileries Garden. 

The finale was a 30-minute concert featuring a 15-piece ensemble playing Dave Brubeck!  Gathering with hundreds of people to enjoy art and music was a breath of fresh air, especially considering how many of the guests were in our age range.  It was wonderful to see that in our modern world, art continues to be valued and appreciated.  

Eiffel Tower at night

Fritz and I walked home, hand-in-hand at the end of the night through the illuminated streets of Paris.

The full moon made its presence known, peaking between the clouds above the Louvre as lovers traded secrets in the grass.  

Sibs in Berlin: From Macarons to Mauerpark

More Sibs!!!  Becca and Chris arrived 3 days after Jarrod!  We collected them and brought them for a tasty Greek dinner after their rather long flight and 6-hour layover in Iceland. 

We were all refreshed by the next morning and went over to Makrönchen Manufaktur in Charlottenburg.  If you'd like to know, this little cafe belongs to our friend Laura and happens to be the home of the BEST macarons in all of Berlin.  I'm not kidding.  Laura is a baking legend!  She is even in books about the sweet spots of Berlin!  She also happens to hang out in my favorite cafe a lot so I've gotten to know her quite well.  She actually lent us extra towels so all of our visitors can use more than a dishtowel to dry off after they shower.  She's so nice!  And her macarons are sooooo yummy!  Thanks for a beautiful brunch Laura!  

From there we headed over to Mauerpark.  Fritz and I had heard about it, but this was our first time visiting so it was a new experience to the whole gang.  "Mauerpark" means Wall Park because the it is located on the border of East and West Berlin which was divided by the Berlin Wall.  We learned that on Sundays, Mauerpark becomes a destination unlike any other.  

There is a giant market that would have taken hours to walk through.  In addition to antique and "junk" vendors, there were tons of artists and crafts people with booths displaying all kinds of unique goods.  

It was packed in the market and we weaved and bobbed our way through from booth to booth. 

Fritz carried my new hula hoop that Jarrod and I got together the day before.  He bought juggling balls when I got the hoop so we could put on our own little sibling show. 

There was a separate section of the market that had a mega assortment of delicious food!  The boys each got their very own fish, which they had to de-bone before eating.  Becca and I got ice cream.  Everyone was happy. 

Outside the market there was a large stretch of lawn where people just set up whatever it was they wanted to set up, from barbecues to banjo bands.  The guy in the picture above had a microphone and some background beats and just started rapping his heart out while a crowd gathered around him.  I'm not usually that interested in rap music, but this guy had some very thoughtful lyrics.  

Beyond the lawn is a slope leading up to the old Berlin Wall which you can see in the background. 

The slope made for a perfect amphitheater.  A huge crowd packed themselves in to surround a circular stage where a man sets up karaoke every Sunday.  

This was completely unbelievable.  

I have never seen so many people just loving karaoke performances.  Brave singers from all over the world got up to share their "talents."  Some were good, most were bad, but the people loved them all the same.  My personal favorite was a shy-looking Korean girl who belted out Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You."

A man wearing a curly wig did a great job rapping in German.  He was quite animated and had the entire thing memorized!  

Sometime after him, two guys from Spain sang the Macarena.  They encouraged people to join them on the stage to dance.  As quickly as I could, I hopped up on the stage and hoop danced in front of the biggest crowd I've ever stood before in my life.  I don't know what got into me!  But it was fun! 

Our First Berlin Visitors

After our week in Ireland, Fritz's parents followed us back to Berlin for a short visit.  

We were excited to show them "our city" complete with a trip to the famous Brandenburg Gate, a view of the federal buildings, a walk past Check Point Charlie, and a pass by a remaining section of the Berlin Wall. 

Mike happily allowed himself to be absorbed into the magic of the "moving statue woman." 

And the spring birds nibbled the budding trees. 

We took the train to the East Side Gallery, one of the largest and longest-lasting open-air galleries in the world.  It is an international memorial for freedom painted on a strip of the Berlin Wall stretching 1.3 kilometers.  105 paintings by artists from all over the world were completed in 1990 after the fall of the Wall in 1989.  

"Many small people who in many small places do many small things that can alter the face of the world."

Unfortunately, we got caught in a downpour so there is still a stretch of the East Side Gallery that we did not get to see.  

Mike and Ellen were pleased to see how popular their son's name is in Germany.  "Fritz" is all over the place... from a sausage stand, to a popular soft-drink company, to the name of our wifi provider.

The Definition of "Coincidence"

Coincidence: noun 1. a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.

And remarkable is certainly what it was.  Please allow me to explain. 

Upon returning to Berlin, I knew Fritz would be spending most of the weekdays buried under documents in the archives.  Therefore, I would need to find my own purpose and assume responsibility for filling my own schedule during our 4 months here.  Entertaining myself has never been an issue for me.  Still, I aspire to be very intentional about how I execute each day in this lovely city.  Living life "on purpose" has always been important to me.  While moving to a foreign city can make intentional living a little easier, it still takes a conscious effort to stay fully engaged, especially since I am not allowed to get a job while we are here.  In order to accomplish this purposeful living, I set two priorities for myself.  

1.  Join a pottery studio.

2. Attend yoga classes 2-4 times a week.  

As my third day in Berlin began, Fritz and I initiated the search for a pottery studio.  Actually, I really should say that Fritz initiated the search while I slept off my jet-lag.  We assumed that most of the Berlin studios would have websites in German, but after he had spent over an hour using his German vocabulary and reading skills, he hadn't gotten very far.  At this point, I woke up refreshed and ready, fired up my own computer and entered "Pottery Studios Berlin" into the search bar. 

Feuer Zeug Keramik popped up as the first hit.  The website indicated that they have a pottery shop, they offer classes, they seem to have available studio space for experienced potters, and they speak English.  Conveniently, the studio is located one neighborhood over from our flat.  Well that was easy!  I wasted no time in emailing Cordula, the owner of Feuer Zeug Keramik, explained my desire to join a studio and wondered if I could stop by to meet her.   

I must have refreshed my inbox one hundred times in the 24 hours that followed.  Waiting for a response is always the hardest part.  Fritz had to remind me that if she owns a pottery studio, she probably isn't doing a ton of desk work and checking her email every 10 minutes.  Hands dripping with wet clay don't mix well with electronics.  He had a point.  So I had to be patient. 

The next afternoon, I opened my email and discovered the message I had been waiting for!  Cordula indicated that I was welcome to stop by the shop the next day around noon.  

I woke up that Thursday morning totally jazzed and ready to start my Berlin life.  With the first of my two Berlin priorities in motion, I decided to initiate the second; finding a yoga studio.  With any luck, I thought I might just be able to follow my pottery meeting with a zen-tastic yoga class!

Again, I returned to my laptop and typed in "cheep yoga Berlin English."  I actually even spelled cheap incorrectly.  Luckily Google doesn't discriminate against poor spellers.  I was a little worried that finding yoga in English would be tricky.  I wasn't totally opposed to German yoga, but so much of the experience comes from the meditation and dialogue a good teacher provides in combination with the physical challenge of the class. 

Unsurprisingly, Berlin is LOADED with yoga studios.  My search revealed several blogs where other young yogis had provided lists of studios that had English-speaking instructors, as well as classes that weren't too expensive.  I clicked on one of the top hits.  Yellow Yoga.  The website was inviting and clearly met all of my requirements.  This was going well.  

Now the location.  Berlin is a huge city with more yoga studios than Vietnamese restaurants (which turns out to be quite a lot!).  If this yoga studio was even in the same quadrant of the city, I would have considered myself very lucky.  Looking at the website, I found Yellow Yoga had two locations, one of which was in the very same neighborhood as my pottery studio.  How perfect!  And you won't believe me when I tell you it gets better than that.  

I had already plugged in walking directions from my flat to pottery.  It would take 1 hour and 4 minutes to walk there from my home.  I could also take public transportation and be there in 20 minutes, but it was a beautiful day and I thought the walk would be a great way to get a sense of my neighborhood.  

I switched back to Yellow Yoga's website to identify the address of the studio.  For a moment, I thought my computer was playing tricks on me.  I rubbed my eyes and refocused on the address.  It was EXACTLY the same as the pottery studio.  Was this a mistake?  

Apparently not.  Somehow, my random search for two completely unrelated activities in a huge city was bringing me to the exact same point on the map.  If this isn't the definition of a coincidence, I don't know what is.  

Of course, I still had to seal the deal with Cordula at Feuer Zeug Keramik.  She hadn't accepted me yet.  

Cordula said I could come anytime between 12 and 5pm, so I started my walk at 11am.  

Naturally I took pictures along the way.  The day was perfect for walking and discovering Berlin.  For example, I learned that Berliners love to make pole-warmers as you can see above.  Someone took a lot of care in knitting this multicolored, cozy pole-warmer.  If you look closely, you might even notice that decorative buttons have been added for extra pizazz. 

The bright Berlin buildings looked quite cheery under the blue sky. 

I must have passed 15 playgrounds on my walk today.  Fritz told me that Germany has an aging population, but Berlin seems to be crawling with young families.  And therefore, loaded with playgrounds like the one in front of this church. 

I crossed over a lovely river.  Many of the Berlin sidewalks are made from cobblestones or bricks.  Here the street is also nicely cobbled.    

There were a bunch of people taking pictures on this bridge. 

When I looked over the other side of it, I saw that it was loaded with swans!

For a short time, I was strolling along the canal.  I was impressed by the apartments on the opposite side.  

The street art and murals of Berlin continue to catch my attention.  Some of them are so vibrant!

I was almost sorry to reach my destination after such a  lovely walk, but at last, I had reached Feuer Zeug Keramik.  Cordula was waiting for me inside.  It was a cute shop with lovely pottery on display and two potter's wheels in the middle of the showroom.  Cordula and I talked for a few minutes and I explained that I'd be living in Berlin for the next 4 months.  I was very interested in spending as much time working on the wheel as possible. More than that, I wanted to be a part of a studio where I could help with upkeep; carry out the laborious and often dreaded tasks of recycling clay and mixing chemicals for glazes.  "Sign me up for mopping floors," I told Cordula.  Really, I'd do just about anything to be a part of a studio.  

"I'm not really in a position to pay anyone," she said.  I quickly assured her that I was not looking for a job.  She told me she would think about it seeing as the studio was quite small and the space was limited.  In the meantime, she invited me to check out her other studio space that has a few more wheels.  It's where she teaches her pottery classes.  

"It's only about a 20-minute walk from here.  It's in the back of a wine shop that my brother owns.  He opens at 2 today and will let you see the studio if you want to check it out.  Just tell him I sent you."  Of course I wanted to see it!  She gave me the address and we arranged to meet again later in the week after she had some time to think about whether she might have a place for me in the studio.  

With my pottery goals in motion, I checked the schedule for Yellow Yoga.  An "advanced beginners" class was starting soon so I headed to the back of the building and up the stairwell to yoga.  

Appropriately, an open yellow door with a meditating buddha statue marked the entrance to a bright open room.  The signs on the door and floor indicated that visitors should remove their shoes and put them on the rack before entering the studio. 

That class was perfect.  Equal parts relaxing and refreshing.  If I didn't already have good energy flowing through my body, I did now.  We ended the class with a love meditation, during which we were invited to focus our attention on sending loving energy out into the world.  I try to do this regularly, but it helps to be reminded sometimes and it seems more powerful when I'm doing it with a group.  After the traditional exchange of "Namaste," my fellow yogis and I quietly shuffled out of the studio. 

Time to find the wine shop.  

Here I met Constantine, Cordula's brother.  He was lovely and happy to show me the secret studio in the back.  It was glorious in that it looked exactly like a pottery studio.  Potter's tools were neatly stacked on a shelf, the kiln was nestled in the back corner of the room, and five wheels sat in the middle of the floor, throbbing with potential if only the right potter would sit down and set them spinning.  

I thanked Constantine for the tour and asked if he could recommend a white wine to go with a vegetarian meal.  Conveniently, perhaps even coincidentally, I was planning on cooking a meal when I got home with a recipe that called for 2 tablespoons of white wine.  Funny how the day brought me directly to a wine shop, don't you think?  Will the coincidences never cease?  

Constantine was quick to select a lovely German riesling.  After paying him, I packed the wine away in my bag and started home.  

I'll share a few more photos before closing out this post. 

You might have noticed that in Berlin, bikes are parked almost everywhere.  

Similarly, you don't have to look far to find a little graffiti... or a lot of graffiti.  Here is a Berlin phone booth.  I haven't ever seen anyone using one, but they are still scattered around the city. 

Colorful children's art is also scattered here and there. 

Basically, if there is something to paint, it will be painted.  

Well, that about sums up my start to Berlin life.  I promise there will be more to come soon on how the happenings of this serendipitous day played out in the days that followed.