Boxing Day in Paris

A very shaky and wobbly Paris Adèle headed out in Paris today.

Maybe one glass of champagne too many yesterday after having the New Yorker over for Christmas lunch that turned into dinner had me thinking I was fine until I reached the long corridors of Chatelet Metro.

The long corridors and people, people everywhere, I realised I wasn’t quite ok and then I saw a horse hanging from a ceiling and the Pope crushed to death by a meteor.

Probably not the best way to start a wobbly day after Christmas.

Well, it sounds weird … because it is and no, I wasn’t hallucinating.

A fabulous temporary exhibition at the Monnaie de Paris, located opposite the Pont des Arts, the bridge that once had the dreaded, so called love locks, had a cool and unique exhibition but maybe it wasn’t the best choice with a Christmas hangover.

Do I need to tell you that that is a horse hanging from the ceiling. This was my entrée as I climbed the grand marble staircase.

And next – the pope killed by a meteor in an absolutely stunning room with chandeliers, afternoon light streaming in through the windows and a view of the Seine – and of course this, in the middle of the plush red carpet floor!

The exhibition,  entitled Not Afraid of Love by controversial Italian born artist Maurizio Cattelan, was spread out in the lush, sparse rooms of the former mint, founded in 864.

A combination of the grandeur of the Monnaie de Paris and the somewhat confronting but mesmerising exhibition was a sensory overload, especially in my state of mind.

Probably one of the most shocking and thought provoking for me was that of a small boy kneeling at prayer.

Quiet and alone but the presence of the attendant, ensuring we don’t get too close to the exhibits, nonchalantly staring out the window, appearing to ignore the small boy seemed to give the installation an added punch as I moved around to look at the child’s face.

Shock horror, but who do we have here,  no other than Adolf Hitler.

Maybe it is best to let that one sit with you for a little while.

Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the exhibition but also the opportunity to admire the Monnaie de Paris.

Next on the agenda was Bibliothèque Mazarine, it was closed and after that the school of fine arts – closed.

Never mind, one thing for certain about Paris,  there is always plenty to do!

Located on the petit and pretty Place de Furstenberg is a small museum that I have been meaning to visit for years and I have either not got around to it or it was closed but finally, today I visited the Musée National Eugène Delacroix.

The last apartment that the French Romantic painter and muralist lived in before his death in 1863 is a charming dedication to his life and art and his great friendship with George Sand.

And an added bonus a pretty garden.  It was much larger than I thought and although I do prefer to see a few rooms of former homes decorated in a way they would have left them to give me a sense of their life, I enjoyed it all the same.

Determined to get a shot of the bright yellow and ancient Buci News and a few other items on my list before the rapidly fading light disappeared also saw the light fading from me too, I was losing my sparkle.

It seemed only fitting that I take a pre-dinner drink at La Palette to warm up and rest my weary body before heading home to my cosy apartment for Christmas left-overs and an early night.

Do they call the day after Christmas Boxing Day because you feel like you have been boxed …

It was time for Paris Adèle to call it a day.