Reading and Preparation:

For Paris, I only brought my Moleskine Paris notebook and a Red Map. Haven't been able to buy any Paris travel books after the first trip 9 years ago, just as I had never been able to buy a NYC guide book before moving here-- it's just a too-depressing reminder of not living somewhere. (Except the Paris Méconnu book which is good but too heavy to carry around). Did some online research on Garnier, Eugénie, and Winterhalter, which led me to Chateau de Compiegne. There are two free audiotours of the chateau to download from audiovisit.com, one for adults http://www.audiovisit.com/visite_detail.php?visite_id=49 and one for kids http://www.audiovisit.com/visite_detail.php?visite_id=113 (the latter is also useful for adults who are trying to learn French). There was a Napoleon III photo exhibit at the Met Museum recently.

It was difficult to find much information on Moulins either online or in books, except for the costume centre's website http://www.cncs.fr/ and this blog which has photos of architectural details and some entries on restaurants and cafes:
http://dominique03.over-blog.com/categorie-10488672.html
http://dominique03.over-blog.com/categorie-10309178.html

For Vienna, I ordered a dvd of the ballet "Mayerling" from Amazon but it didn't arrive in time. Reread some parts of Alma Mahler's diaries, which talks about Klimt, Hoffmann, Moser, etc. Loved the book Adolf Loos: architecture 1903-1930. I brought Visible Cities Vienna, Top 10, and several Fodors trip reports. Thanks to all of you who helped out by answering questions as well as posting detailed reports, especially to yk who was kind enough to mail me her Jugendstil walks book to read in advance.

Hi Fifi, welcome home! I've been looking forward to this- can't wait to read more

Yes, it sounds like it's going to be wonderful.

Fifi, welcome home. I look forward to reading your adventures (and seeing your photos). [I forgot it was me who posted that thread...]

Fifi, waiting patiently for your report.

Fifi, more, please!

Looking forward to the report.

Thanks for your encouraging comments and sorry about the slow start-- I had an unfortunate mishap this week. Just as I was almost finished copying photos by all three of us onto one flash drive, renamed files, corrected exif time/dates, organized into folders by date, deleted bad ones, and rotated the vertical ones (the last part goes at a snail's pace on my old computer), something fell from the desk, bumped into the flash drive which was still inserted into the front of the computer, and bent and broke it! Had to start all over, plus get mom to send me her photos again. Hoping to get back onto to Fodors tonight.

Please remember to back up your photos immediately, not wait until you're editing them! And better to insert your flash drive with an extension USB cord so it lies flat on your desk or the floor, not sticking precariously out of the front of the computer. Luckily in this case, nothing is permanently lost except time.

OMG, thank goodness your photos are safe! I had a mishap too on my recent trip - I tried a new (to me) feature on my camera and I didn't realize that meant deleting ALL the previous photos on the memroy card! Fortunately, I had just uploaded the photos onto my netbook the night before, so I only lost about 4 photos. My moral of the story is: don't try new features on a camera if you're not familiar with them.

Yikes! And so frustrating after all that work Glad to hear you didn't lose any photos though.

These are good reminders about cameras and downloading. I'm a bit afraid of my camera and have to be careful with pressing buttons and things because I have no idea what any of them mean.

Day 1 (Halloween): arrival in Paris and trip to Moulins sur Allier

A couple of years ago, when Paris' Musée de la Mode et du Textile was having a retrospective on the 20-year anniversary of my idol Christian Lacroix, a magazine article mentioned a related show at a newly-opened, huge costume center in Moulins: the Centre national du Costumes de Scène (http://www.cncs.fr/). I've been eager to visit it ever since, but their exhibits never coincided with my trips until now. This time, I was able to catch the Rudolf Nureyev exhibit shortly before it closed. Although a day-trip later in the week would be more convenient, a guided tour of the centre is only offered on the first Sunday morning of each month, so I decided to go straight down on my arrival day (Saturday) and stay one night in Moulins.

From CDG, I took the Air France bus to Gare de Lyon. In hindsight, the RER would have been a better choice in price, speed, and frequency-- I waited half an hour for the AF bus, and the one to Gare de Lyon cost quite a bit more than the one to Etoile. Sure, it was the only direct route to the gare, but I was way too early for my afternoon train anyway. After locating the blue/yellow sections and their track numbers and reloading my Navigo Decouverte card in the Metro, I considered going into the beautiful Train Bleu for lunch, but the weather was so nice that I just grabbed a pain au chocolat from a Brioche Dorée and went outside. Across the street are many of those grand iron-balconied, zinc-topped apartments which say "Paris" more than any tower or arc. http://images54.fotki.com/v202/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1074-vi.jpg

CDG:
"Degas" toilets http://images54.fotki.com/v556/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C0951-vi.jpg
"like nowhere else" http://images54.fotki.com/v564/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C0954cr-vi.jpg

Gare de Lyon:
http://images52.fotki.com/v734/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C0994e-vi.jpg
http://images24.fotki.com/v764/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1079cr-vi.jpg
http://images46.fotki.com/v1432/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1084-vi.jpg
http://images109.fotki.com/v788/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C0970-vi.jpg

Strolled across the river to Jardin des Plantes and back, watching people and taking photos. Got a big package of roasted chestnuts from a street vendor. I didn't know before that Pont d'Austerlitz was the bridge leading to Jardin des Plantes-- from its name, I had assumed that it was the train-only bridge that goes into Gare d'Austerlitz. (So, what is the name of that bridge?) There's a crowd waiting to go into the Natural History Museum. Again, it's amusing how so many Europeans-- adults, kids, even dogs-- pause to pose when they notice a stranger's camera.

http://images54.fotki.com/v563/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1020e-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v563/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1022cr-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v555/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1039cr-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v729/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1041cr-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v304/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1351cr-vi.jpg

There several bookstores/newsstands inside Gare de Lyon selling many detective novels as airports and train stations usually do, and I tried to find a copy of Siménon's Les Inconnus dans la Maison, which was set in Moulins, but they seemed to have every other Siménon except that one.

After a 2 1/2-hour train ride, I arrived in Moulins shortly before dinner time. Checked into Hotel Kyriad (for which Expedia had a discounted rate of 38,50 euros), rested a while, and went to a lovely art nouveau restaurant called Le Grand Cafe. I had chosen to it mainly to see the original 1899 decor, but the food turned out to be excellent-- one of the best meals on this trip! From the prix-fixe menu, I had a cocotte of escargots with garlic cream as appetizer, Parmentier de canard confit for main course (those of you who read my TR last year know I've been curious about this dish since then), and the Tentation de Patissier which was a 4-dessert sampler of chocolate mousse, crème brûlée, an almond cookie, and some crumbly apple thing topped with ice cream and cream. All that plus a café crème and a bottle of local sparkling water came to a total of 28 euros.
http://images35.fotki.com/v1127/photos/8/852267/6927210/F11C1110small-vi.jpg
http://reseauartnouveau.centerblog.net/1755947-Patrimoine-Art-Nouveau-Moulins-03-Auvergne-

MmeFifi,
LOVE your photos and your report(s)!

I'm in awe of your sense of detail, though. You "see" so much everywhere you go, and make the experience - and each of the moments, big and small - come alive. I really do feel as if I'm savoring the moments with you when I read your reports.

Paule

ttt

You could have a second career taking pet portraits.

Great report. Looking forward to more!

What a great start. I can't wait for the rest! (the hotel rate is incredible!)

Degas toilets at CDG! The couple of times I've flown in and out of CDG, the toilets were always in some falling apart/under renovation/construction area. I like the ballet master's pink suit

Looking forward to more!

Day 2: Moulins

Sunday morning I got up early to do a few things before the 10:30 tour of the costume center. This was the view of the town from my hotel window:
http://images52.fotki.com/v737/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1114-vi.jpg

Darn, according to the restaurant listing in one of the brochures, the place I had planned to go for breakfast-- the Café Américan, another AN building-- is closed on weekends this time of year. I wish I had walked by to see the outside anyway; here's a photo someone else posted online: http://a10.idata.over-blog.com/1/63/03/23//Moulins---la-Belle-Epoque-00136.JPG. Can't remember what I ate instead; come to think of it, maybe I was so anxious to visit the candy shop that I forgot to pick up breakfast that day.

Many of Moulin's streets have charming names such as Allée des Soupirs (alley of sighs), rue du Cerf-Volant (that's a kite, not flying-deer as I had thought), and rue des Crinolines. There's also a rue des Grèves-- how did it get that name-- was that where strikers gathered?

On rue de Paris at the corner of cours Anatole France is the confiserie/chocolaterie B. Serardy, better known by the name of its specialty "Les Palets d'Or", which are small thin chocolate discs with assorted fillings. The marzipan mushrooms in the window are adorable.

colorful mosaics:
http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1131-vi.jpg
the Palets d'Or:
http://images53.fotki.com/v420/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1127-vi.jpg
mushrooms:
http://images52.fotki.com/v734/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1133-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v563/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1134-vi.jpg

But why isn't the shop open?! It's Sunday hours are supposed to be 9:30 to 12:30, and it's a little past 9:30 now. Hoping they're just running late this morning and not closed for Toussaint, I took a walk up this street which is lined with 17th and 18th-century architecture. Dominique's blog talks about the use of red and black bricks for criss-crossing patterns characteristic of this period and how most of these facades were built onto existing old houses, with the back parts remaining medieval. http://dominique03.over-blog.com/article-29534200.html

rue de Paris:
http://images53.fotki.com/v425/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1136e-vi.jpg
Palais de Justice:
http://images54.fotki.com/v556/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1159e-vi.jpg
Lycée Banville, with Déscartes and Cicero on the facade:
http://images43.fotki.com/v1330/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1154e-vi.jpg
L'automne: http://images54.fotki.com/v563/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1145-vi.jpg (Unlike Victor Hugo, I welcome this happiest time of year).

When I came back down the street, the chocolate shop had opened. The owner offered several samples to taste and wrapped my purchase in pretty cellophane paper printed with flowers and autumn leave, tied with their signature orange ribbons and loops of twine strung with multicolored wooden beads.

the shop's ornate 1898 facade:
http://images53.fotki.com/v432/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1163e1-vi.jpg
the goodies inside:
http://images54.fotki.com/v563/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1165e-vi.jpg
the cheerful floral ceiling:
http://images54.fotki.com/v564/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1166e-vi.jpg

With the orange bag of goodies, I dashed through town and across the Allier River to the Centre national du Costumes de Scène just in time for the guided tour. There are more frequent tours of the exhibitions, but this more detailed 2-hour tour of the centre itself is only offered once a month. The docent began with a slide show on the history of the town and this building. Tiny and unknown before, Moulins was chosen by a Bourbon duke to become the capital of Bourbonnais because of its convenient location at the intersection of two important routes-- one from Paris to the south, and I forgot what the east-west path connected but it passed right through where Pont Régemortes sits. (Sorry, this was all in French, which meant I only understood when I concentrated, but I'm easily distracted around old architecture and costumes, so I'm sure there was a lot more I missed or misheard). Quartier Villars, which houses the costume center now, was built in the late 18th century for a cavalry regiment. It was nearly torn down in the 1980s and rescued at the last minute-- demolition had already begun on the facade when the the grand staircase became classified as a historic monument, saving the rest of the building.

CNCS was inaugurated in the summer of 2006. Its own website is only in French, but the Nureyev Foundation's site has an English page on about the Centre. http://www.nureyev.org/costumes-stage-cncs-museum-costumes
http://images18.fotki.com/v674/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1187e-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v304/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1178e-vi.jpg

The top floor, where our tour begins, has a library or "Documentation Centre" with books on theatre, set design, and costume history (mostly in French but also in some other languages), as well as collections of videos, magazines, photos, press kits, and programs. On the far end of the ground floor past the store and cafe is an auditorium showing archival footages and dance films.

The archive of over 9000 theatrical costumes dating from the 19th century to the present (given by the Bibliothèque nationale, the Comédie-Française, and l'Opéra national de Paris) is stored in a windowless temperature- and humidity-controlled environment, the modern concrete and steel building added beside the main house. http://images116.fotki.com/v697/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1185e-vi.jpg These garments, carefully cleaned and wrapped, will not be worn again and are taken out only for conservation/repairs, exhibitions (here or on loan to other museums around the world), or to be studied by costumers. Obviously, the storage area is not open to tours, but I found these videos on the France2 TV website which give a peek inside: http://culture.france2.fr/mode/expos/Le-Centre-National-du-costume-de-sc%C3%A8ne-de-Moulins-43934403.html
(Click on either of the two videos on the upper right side of the page).

The first floor is the large exhibition space. So far there have only been the biannual temporary expositions, but starting next year they will also display a permanent collection of Nureyev memorabilia, donated by the Nureyev Foundation. The exhibition I came to see, «Rudolf Noureev, 1938-1993, la trame d'une vie», was definitely worth the trip from Paris. There's not just his costumes but also those of his former partners including Margot Fonteyn and Carla Fracci, as well as newer ones worn by current dancers such as Sylvie Guillem and Agnès Letestu in his ballets, and lots of old photographs, posters, and film clips.

At the cafe, the appetizer of goat cheese feuilleté over green salad was absolutely delicious, but the main course and desserts were mediocre and quite expensive. The guided tour included a quick look through the exhibition, but after lunch I went back through the first floor again at my own pace. The highlights for me were the three dresses (red, white, and black) designed by Cecil Beaton for Fonteyn in "Marguerite and Armand", the spectacular leafy Von Rothbart cloak worn by Nureyev, and the Giselle Act I costume that Carla Fracci wore in the enchanting performance I only recently discovered on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeO2evl8az8

Coming across the Pont Régemortes this morning, I was in such a hurry that I didn't have time to look at it or the river. Now on the way back I had a chance to slow down and enjoy the view.
http://images53.fotki.com/v431/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1202cr-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v728/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1211e-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v555/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1217-vi.jpg
http://images18.fotki.com/v674/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1218-vi.jpg

Back at the town center, I strolled by some landmarks such as "La Mal-Coiffée" with its funny-looking roof, the cathedral, and the clock tower Jacquemart which has four figures on top: Jacques and his wife Jacquette sound the large bell on the hour, while their children Jacquelin and Jacqueline hit two smaller bells each quarter-hour.

la Mal-Coiffée:
http://images52.fotki.com/v733/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1267e-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v420/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1271e-vi.jpg
cathedral:
http://images53.fotki.com/v426/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1274cr-vi.jpg
random buildings:
http://images52.fotki.com/v644/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1246e-vi.jpg
http://images18.fotki.com/v674/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1277e-vi.jpg
le Jacquemart:
http://images47.fotki.com/v1403/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1291e-vi.jpg
http://images18.fotki.com/v673/photos/7/852267/8166588/F11C1288e-vi.jpg

There's too much to fit into one day; I didn't get to any of the museums such as the Musée du Batiment (http://musee-batiment.planet-allier.com/pages/page_d_accueilpag.html) and the Musée de la Visitation (which had an exhibition of embroidery from the 12th century to the present) or the cathedral's famous triptych (which was closed for the holiday today anyway). It doesn't matter because I'm sure I'll be back for some future exhibits at CNCS. For the Diaghilev fans here, their next show « Opéras russes: à l'aube des ballets russes » will run from mid-december through next May. (I don't think I'll be able to go back that soon).

After dark, it started to drizzle, so I returned to the hotel to retrieve my luggage and took a taxi to the train station. Soon, I was settled "back home" in the same cozy little garret apartment as last year, ready for (nearly) a week of Paris.

Wonderful shots. Moulins looks wonderful. Looking forward to more.

Beautiful photos, Fifi. The Nureyev exhibit sounds so interesting, I'm glad it was worth the detour.

I was wondering if you stayed in the garret again this trip- I miss that little place and Paris in general of course. Can't wait to hear about Paris next. Come back soon!

What a lovely town Moulins is! Thanks for the photos.

Day 3: a slow start in Paris

For once, my schedule in Paris was relatively unplanned. I read about many things I wanted to do and noted down what's closed on which days and what stays open late on which night, but other than my morning dance classes, one prepaid movie, and one ticket at Opera Garnier, nothing was set in stone. This unstructured way worked fine the first couple of days but caused panic toward the latter half of the week when time was running out and a gazillion things I still wanted to see had to be crammed into the last moments. I don't think I'm capable of ever becoming a true "slow traveller" who just goes somewhere to relax and not care what's missed.

Anyway, today started out not only slowly but with some wheel-spinning due to a few air-headed careless mistakes. I take classes weekday mornings at the Centre de Danse du Marais, which I described and photographed last year. (http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/mllefifis-week-in-paradis-with-a-side-trip-to-nancy.cfm#comment-5315991). My usual teacher M. Casati wasn't there Monday, and I was quite relieved to have the substitute teacher because between sleep debt and a week away from classes, I wasn't strong that day.

After class, I was digging in my handbag for change to buy goodies at a boulangerie and found, oops, two stamped and addressed envelopes-- checks I meant to throw in the mailbox before leaving for the airport. And not for just any little unimportant bill-- one was my apartment lease renewal. The post office counter at the Centre Pompidou doesn't open until the afternoon, but the self-service machine was multilingual and easy to use. I played with it in English first and than did the real transaction in French. It doesn't dispense real stamps but metered stickers-- more colorful than the ones from USPS and with "Republic de France" printed on there (which should have reminded me of another step...); I carefully peeled off my US stamps, affixed the new stickers, and tossed the letters into the mail slot. Oops again! As soon as they fell in, I realised that the pre-written address of course didn't include the country. (Can I hope that the person who handles them at the post office will have a stereotyped assumption of where "dumb tourists" come from?)

Went to a few places nearby-- stocked up on sunblock for a year and a few toiletries for the week at the Parashop in Les Halles and photographed the head at St Eustache. Don't know how I kept missing it all these years walking around this area-- I kept seeing it in other people's vacation pictures but never noticed it in person. It was bigger than I imagined.
http://images53.fotki.com/v431/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1331e-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v555/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1326cr-vi.jpg

After strolling around and getting some pastries and a salmon sandwich for lunch, it was near the mail pick-up time posted at the Centre Pompidou, so I went back to try my luck and see if the postman would take pity on me and let me fish out my two letters when he opens the box. By then, the counter had opened. In bad French, I explained my stupid mistake, and the woman was kind enough to come out and unlock the mailbox and patiently go through a whole bunch of letters to find mine, right before the postman came to take everything away. Just to be sure, I added both "Etats-Unis" and "USA". (They ended up getting to their destination very quickly).

By the way, don't get intimidated by the seemingly long line outside the Centre Pompidou-- it moves very quickly-- this http://images53.fotki.com/v425/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1318-vi.jpg line only took about five minutes, since it's only for bag inspection. There's a slower line inside to buy tickets for the museum, but you don't have to stand in that line if you're only going in for the restrooms, wifi, post office, bookstore. etc. There's a computer center which is free to use, but many people just bring their laptops and sit in the lobby.

Still paranoid, I decided to go back to the apartment and call the management company (of my apt. back home) to let them know that my checks may arrive a week late. They didn't seem to mind at all-- said it just had to be postmarked before the 10th. (Wow, really?!) I'm glad I came back though, because I had never explored the neighborhood around the apartment (11th arrondisement) before-- I always went out early in the morning before class, stayed out the whole day, and came back after dark. This afternoon, I saw many interesting shops on Avenue Parmentier, such as that of Henry Launay, "le médecin des poupées", who has been repairing dolls here since 1964. The window display is kind of creepy, with eyeballs and limbs all over.
http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1344e1-vi.jpg
http://images19.fotki.com/v26/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1343-vi.jpg

A few doors over is a bookstore:
http://images44.fotki.com/v1488/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1348e-vi.jpg
Did you notice someone behind the door beckoning you to go it? Here's a closeup:
http://images115.fotki.com/v692/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1347sm-vi.jpg
Outside one of the medical buildings, someone had drawn faces on these stones:
http://images17.fotki.com/v28/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1354-vi.jpg

A local grocery store, also on Av Parmentier (not Leader Price but the one closer to Goncourt Metro-- I can't remember its name) sells my favorite chocolate bars--Poulain 76% Noir-- for so much cheaper than some other places, less than half what Bon Marché's Grande Épicerie charges. In the same grocery store, I also found a very good vanilla yogurt drink by Michel & Augustine-- it's so good because it doesn't really taste like yogurt-- it actually tastes exactly like... cheesecake!

Later, I went to nearby Père-Lachaise Cemetery. That's another place I kept seeing in movies and other people's photos but had never been myself. The afternoon sunlight was beautiful, and since it's just after Toussaint, there were fresh flowers everywhere. Didn't see a single cat-- where did they all go?

http://images52.fotki.com/v644/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1364-vi.jpg
http://images18.fotki.com/v674/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1366-vi.jpg
http://images51.fotki.com/v749/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1419-vi.jpg
Balzac:
http://images52.fotki.com/v728/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1378-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1372cr-vi.jpg
Apollinaire:
http://images52.fotki.com/v737/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1393-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v563/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1394-vi.jpg
Georges Rodenbach:
http://images17.fotki.com/v372/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1429e-vi.jpg
and, of course, Oscar!
http://images52.fotki.com/v638/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1417str-vi.jpg
(No, I did not kiss it).

It turned dark at 5:40pm, so I never found the grave I really came to see-- that of the 19th century ballerina Marie Taglioni, which is somewhere on the NE corner farthest away from the entrance. For decades, people thought she was buried in Montmartre, and dancers from all over the world left piles of pointe shoes there, but someone discovered a few years ago that the Montmartre tomb is not Marie's but her mother's, and Marie herself has been in Pere Lachaise, identified only by her married name "Contesse des Voisins." Since then, a few shoes have been placed at Pere Lachaise, but nowhere near as many as on the "faux" tomb.
http://www.landrucimetieres.fr/spip/spip.php?article84

Now I cannot remember at all why I ended up in St Germain after Père-Lachaise, but after looking at a few menus on Blvd St Germain, I ended up eating dinner at Vagenende. It wasn't as pretty as in pictures I had seen online. I ordered from one of the fixed price menus. The oysters were good. The main course-- some kind of mixed seafood-- was nice but not memorable, and the dessert -- ile flottante-- looked dramatic but tasted so-so (or maybe I just don't like meringue). The first turn-off was that they brought an English menu (no other restaurant did that the whole week), but the worst was when they pulled the dynamic currency conversion trick, which I didn't notice until after signing the CC slip. I posted the details on this old thread at the time: http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/dynamic-currency-conversion-what-happens-with-refunds.cfm. It wasn't a big difference (probably only a dollar or two) but just soured the experience.

Day 4: focusing on Charles Garnier

Morning: M. Casati is back in class. I love how he doesn't just say but sings out some of the steps-- "Rond de jambe un, rond de jambe deux, rond de jambe trois, je plie quatre..." -- so you know exactly which step goes on which beat of the music. Ballet classes everywhere in the world use French names for all the steps, but here they use a few special terms that I haven't heard elsewhere, my favorite being "couronne" for the arm position we know as "5th en haut." Warmed up from yesterday, I danced a little more easily today and really enjoyed the combinations in the center. Unlike most American studios which are wide but shallow, this room is narrower but very long from back to front, and when we move down row by row to the stately music, it feels almost as grand as the défilé processions with which POB opens its seasons.

Garnier's name instantly brings to mind the image of his most flamboyant masterpiece, but besides the opera house he also designed other buildings in Paris, Provence, Monaco, and Italy. This afternoon I went to three of his lesser-known, more modest creations, starting way out at the northwestern edge of the Périphérique with Ateliers Berthiers-- the warehouses for constructing and storing stage sets of the Paris Opera-- built in 1895 and still in use today. I like 19th century industrial buildings; although this is a warehouse with none of the palais' marble and gilding, the brickwork is full of intricate details. It reminds me of old New York buildings.

http://images52.fotki.com/v737/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1496e-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v556/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1498-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1492e1-vi.jpg
http://images26.fotki.com/v890/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1502e-vi.jpg

Next is La Maison Opera, a mansion at 5 Rue du Docteur-Lancereaux behind the Musée Jacquemart-André. Don't be confused by the sign next to the door which says "Cochin, architecte"-- it's a Garnier building (1865-70), and an architect named Cochin is the current resident. It looks like an apartment building but is in fact one huge house, with an indoor swimming pool. If you want a peek inside, there's a video by Sotheby's Realty on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj39odSp_eA

http://images52.fotki.com/v639/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1536e-vi.jpg
http://images45.fotki.com/v1480/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1542cr-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v304/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1540-vi.jpg

The last stop on my Garnier trail today (my pre-trip researched somehow overlooked the Théâtre Marigny, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%A9%C3%A2tre_Marigny) was the Cercle de la librairie (1879) at 117 blvd St-Germain, where syndicates of the publishing industry used to meet. It is decorated on top with gold and colored mosaics and names having to do with inventions in printing technology: Gutenberg, Montgolfier (parchment), Didot (stereotyping), Senefelder (lithography), etc.
http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1559e1-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v420/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1568-vi.jpg

I did not visit Garnier's most famous work today because I'll be going to the ballet there Thursday night, but here's a photo of Palais Garnier from later in the week:
http://images53.fotki.com/v432/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1820cr1-vi.jpg


Some random street shots from this afternoon:
http://images52.fotki.com/v642/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1579sk-vi.jpg
http://images17.fotki.com/v372/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1582-vi.jpg
How people move:
http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1585e-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v734/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1587e-vi.jpg
a veil of trees:
http://images53.fotki.com/v426/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1599cr-vi.jpg

The weather reports threatened rain all week, and since it's not raining now, it's a good time to for a boat ride. Someone painted eyes all over one of the bridges.
http://images53.fotki.com/v425/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1788e-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1781e-vi.jpg
another bridge:
http://images52.fotki.com/v639/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1738cr-vi.jpg
Pont Neuf:
http://images54.fotki.com/v563/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1743cr-vi.jpg
http://images17.fotki.com/v372/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1613e-vi.jpg
http://images17.fotki.com/v372/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1641e-vi.jpg
Pont des Arts:
http://images17.fotki.com/v372/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1630e-vi.jpg

In the evening, my very nice landlord and landlady invited me to stop by their place for a drink. I enjoyed chatting with them so much that I lost track of time and was 20 minutes late to my movie, "La Danse, le ballet de l'Opéra de Paris" at MK2 Beaubourg. The movie is a mix of French and English, and there were French subtitles for the English parts (but not vice-versa). Some of the translation seemed a little strange, such as "jolie" for "nice"-- is that right? It's a very different feeling watching a movie about Paris in Paris-- none of the sad nostalgic sighs of "Oh how I wish I were there" or "wonder when I can be there again" thoughts. For any New Yorkers here, Film Forum has extended their run of this movie to mid-December. http://www.filmforum.org/films/ladanse.html

Lovely pix and words! I envy your dance lessons. Saw a similar doll shop in Rome-my notes say "sleazy-looking parts around"!

Love the photos of Père-Lachaise with that warm afternoon light.

This is wonderful Fifi. I remember that doll repair shop and thinking it was kind of creepy!

Those moving photos are so...unexpected (by me). I had never thought about it before. And I too have walked past that very same doll shop.

Looking forward to more!

Leely, the first time I came across one of those moving contraptions was on a blocked road on the way to the airport-- the shuttle driver honked and cursed for a while before managing to squeeze past by a hair.


Day 5: Museums

Another good class in the morning, but on his way out afterwards, M. Casati said he'll see everyone on Monday, which means he won't be teaching his Friday class, and I won't see him again until next year.

As a prelude to Vienna, I revisited the setting of "The Merry Widow", Maxim's. Most people know about the restaurant and the store next door, but there is also a museum upstairs with Pierre Cardin's "Collection 1900", by guided tour only. http://www.maxims-musee-artnouveau.com/ On display are Tiffany and Gallé lamps and vases, Lautrec paintings, and Majorelle furniture. One room, recreating a Belle Epoque courtesan's apartment, has a silver vanity set which belonged to Sarah Berhardt. Besides the usual hair brushes and hand mirror (which was passed around so we each had a chance feel the heavy handle and peer into the tarnish surface to see ourselves where "la Divine" once gazed), this set also includes a larger, heavy-bristled brush for scraping mud off skirt hems, a reminder of the less glamorous side of that pretty era. One floor had a temporary exhibition, « A la Table des Présidents », of of menus from state banquets-- some illustrated by artists such as Chagall and others woven in intricate silk brocade. Salmon mousse and foie gras recur frequently.

objects:
http://images53.fotki.com/v425/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1847-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v726/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1837e-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v555/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1911-vi.jpg
http://images21.fotki.com/v516/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1839-vi.jpg
stained glass:
http://images54.fotki.com/v564/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1925cr-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1879-vi.jpg
the dark, atmospheric salon:
http://images51.fotki.com/v732/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1937-vi.jpg
brocade menu from a banquet for Felix Faure:
http://images38.fotki.com/v1276/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1918-vi.jpg

Continuing along this timeline, I go on to the Musée de la Mode et du Textile for its Madeleine Vionnet restrospective. With over a hundred gowns plus photos, sketches, and ads spanning a quarter century from 1912 through 1939, this exhibit displays a far wider range than the frumpy '20s dresses usually associated with her in fashion history books. Most interesting to me were the diagrams and videos accompanying a few of the more complicated constructions showing how the pattern pieces fit together. The museum's website has a large slide show: http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/francais/mode-et-textile/expositions-70/actuellement-447/madeleine-vionnet-puriste-de-la/diaporama-2228 I also had another look at my favorite Lalique and Gallé accessories in the permanent jewelry collection but did not have time to cross over to the furniture section in the adjoining Musée des Arts Decoratifs before closing.

Wednesday evenings the Louvre stays open late, and after stopping in the Carrousel for an overpriced but tasty green salad with mixed cheeses and a tarte, I went to the Titian/Tintoretto/Veronese show which had been in Boston earlier this year. The blockbuster exhibit is immense, with lots of impressive pieces from all over the world, but with the packed crowd and stuffy air, it was difficult to concentrate on anything. The rest of the museum, by contrast, was quite deserted, and I spend some quiet time with Eugénie in the Napoleon Apartments to set the mood for tomorrow's day trip.
http://images52.fotki.com/v737/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1958e-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v726/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1967e1-vi.jpg

>>>One room, recreating a Belle Epoque courtesan's apartment, has a silver vanity set which belonged to Sarah Berhardt. Besides the usual hair brushes and hand mirror (which was passed around so we each had a chance feel the heavy handle and peer into the tarnish surface to see ourselves where "la Divine" once gazed)<<<

This is a wonderful image, I love it1

I am in awe of how well organized your touring is. Very much enjoying your report!

omg I can't believe I actually typed a 1 instead of an exclamation point.

Ha ha!!111!

Apres Londee, I have the opposite problem-- instead of missing the shift key, I keep absentmindedly hitting shift to type numbers, which turns them into curses!

Thanks for reading-- I thought the focus of this trip might be too "girly" to have an audience-- glad to see others with similar interests.

Day 6: Winterhalter at Château de Compiègne

Skipping class Thursday morning, I went to the Gare du Nord ticket counter and asked for an "aller-retour pour Compiègne" (how often do you get to use a phrase straight out of those language CDs?). I thought I'd have to figure out what train to board and which stop to get off and was surprised to learn that it's a direct train with that being the last and only stop. Maybe many of its residents commute to Paris for work? About 40 minutes later, I walk across the Oise River and spot a boulangerie called la Tour de Beurre. Can any pastry addict walk pass a tower of butter and not go it? Madame at the counter was very friendly, and I buy a pain chocolat-amande (flakey almond croissant with chunks of dark chocolate mixed into the gooey almond paste-- the best in a long time) for breakfast and a pistachio cream puff for later.

Unlike Paris most of this week (and Vienna to come), Compiègne had a vibrant blue sky with beautiful clouds this morning. On the way to the chateau, I pass the town's main square with its fairytale castle-like Hotel de Ville and a statue of Joan of Arc (who was captured here). At the Eglise St-Jacques, a group of lucky kids are gathered for a field trip. Across from the church, a huge poster of Karita Mattila hangs in the window: opéra sur grand écran-- the HD live performances from the Metropolitan Opera which we've been discussing here at Fodor's Lounge-- small world.

riverside:
http://images53.fotki.com/v432/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C1991-vi.jpg
Hotel de Ville:
http://images54.fotki.com/v555/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2028e-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v420/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2048-vi.jpg
detail on a house:
http://images52.fotki.com/v304/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2059-vi.jpg
Eglise St-Jacques:
http://images17.fotki.com/v297/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2056cr-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2164cr-vi.jpg

The Château de Compiègne has three sections: the Grands Appartements (covered in the audioguide link in my second post above), the Musée du Second Empire, and the Musée de la Voiture. You can choose to visit the Appartements either guided or freely, while the other two sections are by tours only. Because I had listened to the kiddie audioguide so many times at home and had brought my MP3 player, I was going to do the Appartements alone but, because of time constraints and knowing how easily I get sidetracked, decided to take the guided tour to be better paced. I'm so glad I did-- no one else showed up for the morning tour, so I had a fascinating private tour (free too!) with an enthusiastic and knowledgeable docent who was clearly interested in the chateau and its history. Definitely a highlight of the day. The guide pointed out the view out the back door of the chateau: Napoleon had the gardens done to resemble the view from Schönbrunn Palace, for his second bride Marie Louise who grew up in Vienna. It was in the forests of Compiègne that he saw her for the first time, after which he cancelled a big banquet to have a quiet dinner with her in one of the rooms on this tour. A table in another room has some scratches-- it's a date carved by the little prince Napoleon Eugene Louis (son of Eugenie and Napoleon III) when he was upset about being grounded. These detailed stories make the place come to life and seem less museum-like.

view from the chateau:
http://images53.fotki.com/v431/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2092-vi.jpg
view of chateau:
http://images52.fotki.com/v726/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2093str-vi.jpg
white and yellow gold leaf detail on the staircase:
http://images53.fotki.com/v432/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2106-vi.jpg
the blue salon:
http://images53.fotki.com/v426/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2131-vi.jpg
first peek of the ballroom:
http://images52.fotki.com/v642/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2140cr-vi.jpg
During WWI, the chateau's ballroom was used as a make-shift hospital for the wounded. Imagine having this view above your hospital bed:
http://images52.fotki.com/v733/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2142e1-vi.jpg

Lunch was at Le Palais Gourmand one block down Rue du Dahomey. For entrée, I ordered Cuisses de grenouilles à la provençale. Although I'm not squeamish about food and had eaten frog plenty of times at a Vietnamese restaurant in New York before, these were a little unsettling because instead of individual legs (which usually resemble chicken wings), these were left attached in pairs so they looked like dancing frogs. The main course, duck confit with half a garlicky tomato, was delicious but the best was dessert-- a big sampler plate of three different crèmes brulées.

After lunch, I walked around the town center before returned to the chateau for the afternoon tours. There is one area with a cluster of medieval houses, the oldest being la Vieille Cassine from the 15th century, formerly the house of the Maîtres du Pont but now a gift shop.

la Vieille Cassine:
http://images54.fotki.com/v556/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2182e-vi.jpg
flowers:
http://images52.fotki.com/v638/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2200-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v563/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2005-vi.jpg
window display:
http://images53.fotki.com/v432/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2167-vi.jpg
chateau in the rain:
http://images53.fotki.com/v420/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2221e-vi.jpg

My second tour at the chateau (not all to myself this time-- there was quite a big group waiting in the afternoon) was for the Musée du Second Empire which contains what brought me here in the first place: Winterhalter's painting "Empress Eugenie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting" (1855), which was on the cover of the textbook for my first costume history course. I had been somewhat afraid of being disappointed by some tiny Mona Lisa sized thing, but this painting turned out to be huge with life-size figures. http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/7/852267/8176630/F11C2268e-vi.jpg

Although separate by nearly a century and many changes in fashion, this painting somehow reminded me of Cecil Beaton's famous photo of the gowns of Charles James (http://artblart.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/charles-james-gowns-by-cecil-beaton-vogue-june-1948.jpg). Pulled up the photo when I got home and saw many similarities in the composition and poses: compare the pose of the model in brown (gazing at the far left mirror) as well as the reflection in the far right mirror to the lady in brown next to Eugenie, and the central seated model to the empress herself, and the poses of the two far right figures in both picture, and a back view of a light silver-gray dress on both left foregrounds.... Was this painting the inspiration behind the photo? When I posted a discussion on Facebook weeks later, a friend informed me that Beaton has indeed been called the "20th century Winterhalter".

The third and last tour was for the antique cars and carriages in the Musée de la Voiture. Lots of kids in this group. I only went through the first half and had to leave early to catch the 18:04 train back to Paris for a long-awaited evening at Palais Garnier.

I enjoyed the chateau very much, but overall, Compiègne was not as interesting as Moulins; it felt like Sausalito, Tiburon, and all those other upscale suburban towns in Marin-- pretty but full of gift shops and pricey boutiques.

This continues to be a fascinating report. Thanks.

Very interesting info about the Maxim's Pierre Cardin's collection. I looked at the website, which has an English version, but I can't tell if they offer tours in English too, or are they all in French only?

Sorry, the hyperlink for the Cecil beaton photo got messed up; it should be this:
http://artblart.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/charles-james-gowns-by-cecil-beaton-vogue-june-1948.jpg

Thanks Julie.

yk,
Maxim's museum does have some English tours but not at every time slot (nor even at set times, I think). Call or email in advance to ask. The other time I went (back in 2005), I just showed up last-minute, not knowing the museum was by guided tour only, and the docent was already getting ready to begin a tour for the only other person there (a Frenchman), so she just informed me that that tour was in French. Back then, I understood much less French than now, which is partly why I went back again this year. There was a much larger group this time, mostly French people except for a mother/daughter pair who asked for English, so the docent did both-- went through each room first in French in more detail, and then briefly in English for those two. That was perfect because it gave me extra time to take photos without missing the commentary. (In 2005 I just assumed that photography would not be allowed and didn't even bother to ask, but this time another woman asked and was told it was permitted as long as she didn't use flash, so I went to town on that!)

Day 6 continued: an evening of gems at Palais Garnier

As a budget traveller, I usually go for cheap nosebleed seats. This time, after the long wait to get my vacation request signed, all the decent cheap seats were already sold out. Rather than waste money on a bad seat, I decided to splurge on an orchestra ticket. Can't remember whether I had seen exactly where the seat was on a chart when I purchased it online-- if so, I had forgotten. The Garnier orchestra seats just have a number, not a row letter, so it's not obvious from the ticket what row you're on. Handing the ticket to an usher, I was elated to be shown to the second row! There was no problem with feet being cut off from view as at the front rows of some other theaters because this stage is raked. Here's how the stage looked from my seat (photo unzoomed and uncropped):
http://images41.fotki.com/v195/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2352-vi.jpg

Tonight's program is the full-length Joyau (French title for Balanchine's Jewels), with new costumes by my idol Christian Lacroix. I was especially looking forward to the first section, "Emeralds", because not only is it the most rarely-seen portion of this 3-part ballet (the other two are often performed separately in galas and mixed bills), it's also the part inspired by French ballet (while "Rubies" and "Diamonds" represent American and Russian styles respectively). Although I wasn't familiar with any of the dancers in the first piece, the performance was absolutely mesmerizing. This is the least showy of the three acts but also the most beautiful.
http://images52.fotki.com/v729/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2358cr-vi.jpg

During intermission, I fantasized about how cool it would be to have a mixed cast for this ballet, with POB doing "Emeralds", City Ballet (Ashley Bouder in particular) in "Rubies", and the Kirov in "Diamonds". Well, I threw away that silly idea after the curtain went up for Act II, because Marie-Agnes Gillot is so perfect that there can be no other dream cast! The always charming Aurélie Dupont and her partner were also a great fit for "Rubies", but Marie-Agnes stole the show. I never thought it would be possible to be playful and regal at the same time.
http://images52.fotki.com/v729/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2374detail-vi.jpg

The last section, "Diamonds", was not as exciting. Not bad at all, but lacking the magic of the previous parts.
http://images52.fotki.com/v642/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2410cr-vi.jpg

About the costumes: I still prefer the original Karinska designs (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2089/2171527411_76974ee00b.jpg ) for this ballet, but I've only seen those in old books and magazines, not in in a live performance (how I envy those of you lucky enough to have seen this with Farrell and McBride!). The Lacroix designs here definitely look better than the awful new ones at City Ballet, especially for "Emeralds".

Later, up in my garret, I pop the champagne, get on the computer, and sum up this night by declaring to Facebook friends that "heaven does exist-- on second row orchestra, under colorful Chagall creatures, where the harps play Fauré for divine dancers dressed in green velvet by the God of haute couture."

http://images36.fotki.com/v1296/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2354cr-vi.jpg

-------------------------------------------------------
Day 7: one nice surprise and one bad shock

My final class on this trip, with the other teacher, M. Lazzarelli, substituting. These two teachers complement each other very well-- M. Lazzarelli emphasizes movement and musicality, while M. Casati concentrates on precise placement and core strength. The nice surprise today is that my classmate L. (the one who went to the museum with me in last year's TR) is back from her trip to the countryside. After class, she invited me to join her and another student for coffee across the street. We had a great time chatting and catching up. But then they told me something I didn't know: the reason M. Casati hasn't been teaching much lately is that he's undergoing grueling chemotherapy for cancer and has yet to find out whether it's operable. He and I used to tell each other "à l'année prochaine!" on my last class each year; this week I didn't have a chance to talk to him at all. The comforting old studio feels so timeless that I always took for granted that it and the class would always be the same when I return year after year.... Will there be another année prochaine for us?

a photo from last year:
http://images52.fotki.com/v642/photos/8/852267/6927210/MonsieurCasati-vi.jpg

SECOND ROW! WOW! Must have been a very pleasant surprise for you.

Best wishes to your ballet teacher.

Sounds like a wonderful evening- and you can't beat that view of the stage! I've always wondered if the stage was raked. I didn't notice when I was there last year. My respect for the POB dancers just increased exponentially.

I'm hoping to go see La Bayadere next May, and now because I know the stage is raked I'm that much more excited about it (geek alert- or maybe sadist alert, actually)

Gillot and Dupont in the same piece, that is fantastic. I've only seen a live, complete Jewels once in my life- it was NYCB when I was a young teenager and I can't for the life remember who danced. I think Judith Fugate was in Emeralds, and Damian Woetzel in Rubies (back when he was the hot new thing). It's funny, I remember being a little bored by Diamonds.

I'm sorry to hear about your teacher, hopefully things will work out and he'll pull though.

ps: I love your outfit in that photo, the scarf is gorgeous.

Such a lovely report and wonderful photos! I will pray for your professeur.

Hi Fifi, waiting patiently for the rest.

Final evening in Paris

Shaken by the morning's bad news, I didn't accomplish much the rest of the afternoon. Bummed around Beaubourg (again) and Chatelet for a while. The main Repetto store was sold out of my size, so I went to their other store-- their "coté danse"-- near Notre Dame de Lorette. This branch is smaller and much plainer than the one on rue de la Paix-- no glitzy holiday vitrine or tempting jewel-tone street shoes-- but it keeps a large stock of ballet shoes, and I found the ones I needed.

L'univers de Léo, on Place Beaubourg next to Monoprix, is a good place to buy a large, sturdy, and inexpensive tote bag if you have to go home with more stuff than you came with. The bags always get compliments at home:
http://images17.fotki.com/v374/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2437-vi.jpg
http://images108.fotki.com/v1540/photos/8/852267/6927210/DSC00167-vi.jpg

cafe tables:
http://images52.fotki.com/v642/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1467e-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v726/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2458-vi.jpg
Mona Lisait:
http://images52.fotki.com/v729/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2461e-vi.jpg
birds:
http://images54.fotki.com/v556/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2501cr-vi.jpg
http://images41.fotki.com/v195/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2471e-vi.jpg
Notre Dame de Lorette:
http://images54.fotki.com/v563/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2517cr-vi.jpg

Being so close to Montmartre already, I thought I might as well make a detour to the Abbesses Metro, which had been completely covered in scaffolding when I saw it before. Took the stairs to see the station's paintings on the way up and photos on the way down, and stopped by the unusual Church of St-Jean de Montmartre across the street. Four years ago, I was kicked out of there for snapping a photo in the stairwell, so it's surprising that they now allow a VERY LOUD tour guide to give a talk to her large group right in the center of the church.

Abbesses Metro, stairs going up:
http://images53.fotki.com/v432/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2540-vi.jpg
entrance:
http://images54.fotki.com/v563/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2615-vi.jpg
stairs going down:
http://images46.fotki.com/v1493/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2626e-vi.jpg

Eglise St-Jean de Montmartre:
http://images18.fotki.com/v438/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C260708m-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v638/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C259960m_2-vi.jpg
http://images51.fotki.com/v424/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2565-vi.jpg
http://images17.fotki.com/v374/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2582e-vi.jpg
Funny that the letters S and J superimposed looks like a $ sign:
http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2560cr-vi.jpg

The Rodarte show at Collette, which had been hyped on Women's Wear Daily and various websites online, was a disappointment, with very few garments on display.

Distracted by too many little things such as these locks http://images52.fotki.com/v638/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2699-vi.jpg on Pont Solférino, I arrived at Musée d'Orsay too late, minutes after they stopped letting people in (1 hr before closing). The detailed sign outside says the coat room accepts "des petits bagages" but another sign by the entrance warns that large suitcases are not allowed; it doesn't specify how small is petit and how big is too big, but I'll try my luck tomorrow before going to the airport.

In the evening, after a visit to my classmate L's home, I went to Musée du Luxembourg to see the "Louis Comfort Tiffany, Couleurs et Lumière" exhibit, which became another unexpected highlight of this trip. I was only expecting the typical lampshades but there was so much more, including furniture and huge windows, many from private collections. Most memorable were the cobweb lamp, the Jugendstil-looking bronze suspension lamp, the "agate" vases, a pair of windows with sea creatures from the Dallas Museum of Art, the magnolias window from the Hermitage, and the window of a mermaid riding a seahorse. No photos allowed, and photos could not have captured the glow and translucence of the works anyway; these pieces have to be seen up close in person-- the 3-D effect of the magnolias, and the multiple layer on the mermaid window, where the waves were done separately on an overlay so she appeared to be underwater. For anyone who can't make it to Musée du Luxembourg before January 17, this exhibit will travel to Montreal in February and then to Richmond after the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts reopens in May 2010.

All around town there were posters up for a Russian/French movie called "Le Concert" opening this week, and I went to see it tonight after the museum closed. I figured that with a music movie, like the dance one before, I'd be able to enjoy it even if I didn't understand 100% of the dialogue. It turned out to be entertaining and very easy to understand, because all the Russian characters' lines were subtitled in French even when they're speaking French (is the French audience not able to understand French with a foreign accent?), and I read much better than I listen.
http://images20.fotki.com/v366/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C1547-vi.jpg
http://www.leconcert-lefilm.com/

--------------------------------------------------------

Day 8: au revoir Paris / an unintentional misdemeanor / first sight of Vienna

Trips to Paris always end too soon, but today is not as depressing as other departure days because at least the vacation is not over yet, and I'll be flying to another dream destination. After some last-minute cleaning and packing (all the chocolates fit, even the ones from Moulins with their elaborate giftwrap, and I didn't need the extra tote afterall-- even that was packed away, but I'm sure it will come in handy next week and not go to waste), I took a last look from "my" window http://images18.fotki.com/v673/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2770-vi.jpg , went down the 102 steps, and rode a bus and RER C to Musée d'Orsay, hoping they'll let me in with the luggage.

Long security line to get into the museum, but no problems checking a fully-stuffed carry-on bag at the coat room. I've been to this museum many times before, but there's always something new to see, partly because there were always some rooms closed and inaccessible each time. I quickly went through the "Art Nouveau Revival" special exhibit, then went to the permanent collection of art nouveau furniture and decorative arts (which was closed for renovations on my previous try). There was so much to see there-- Guimard, Gallé, Majorelle... -- that I ran out of time and missed the Ensor special exhibit. Also didn't have time to revisit any of the Manets upstairs or the Winterhalters in the basement either.

http://images54.fotki.com/v563/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2881cr-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v420/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2931-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v638/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2887-vi.jpg
http://images18.fotki.com/v438/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2903-vi.jpg
http://images108.fotki.com/v1540/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2848cr-vi.jpg
http://images41.fotki.com/v209/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2851-vi.jpg

In a rush after spending every last minute at the museum, I ran to catch the RER C back to St-Michel, worried about getting to the RER B on time. It was easy to find -- there were blue footprints all along the corridors and stairs indication the way to RER B, and I quickly got on the right train for the airport.
http://images52.fotki.com/v8/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2966sm-vi.jpg
http://images112.fotki.com/v184/photos/7/852267/8164448/F11C2968e-vi.jpg

It was only when exiting the station at CDG that I realized my mistake-- without thinking, I just touched my hand bag to the sensor as I had gotten into the habit of doing all week, and of course the thing (what do you call that-- it's not exactly a turnstile-- gate?) doesn't open because I'm way outside the Zones 1 and 2 covered by my Navigo Découverte. Sure I know CDG is Zone 5, and I always knew to get a different ticket when returning to the airport, but this time transferring from another line I completely forgot to EXIT at St-Michel, get a ticket, and reenter. As I looked around for a machine or counter to buy a ticket (there were none), a man thought I was lost trying to find a train to Paris and asked if he could help. When I told him what happened, he said I'll have to wait for someone exiting the gate and follow closely behind. Now, not only do I know there are huge fines for getting caught doing that, I always get incensed seeing cheaters share their unlimited-ride Metrocards, but what else was there to do at that point? Even if I had enough time, which I did not, it would have been ridiculous to ride all the way back to Zone 2 (maybe getting caught without a ticket on that train) and back again. A woman came up the stairs and was walking toward the exit, the man gestures for me to hurry up and follow her, and I did, got out, and was in the airport on time for my flight to Vienna. (The woman didn't even turn back with an annoyed dirty look as I would have). Should have followed Robespierre's advice years ago and bought a whole carnet of RER tickets to CDG and be prepared on every trip.

If you have to wait for someone after arriving at VIE, stay inside where there are nice shops and cafes-- do not go straight to the baggage claim area, where there's nothing to do and you can't turn back. I sat and stared at the luggage conveyor belts (and I didn't even check any) until my sister's delayed flight got in, and we shared a taxi into town. Half a block before the taxi pulls up to our hotel, we see an enormous, majestic building, filling up a whole block, beautifully lit up at night-- the Staatsoper, far grander than in photos or on TV, and I know it's going to be a magical week.

Love the photo with the locks on the gate, little things like that can so interesting. Enjoying this through and through. Can't wait to hear about Vienna!

Thanks Apres. That's actually not a gate but the side of the bridge. I had read about lovers leaving locks on bridge in Florence but didn't know they did that in Paris too. The lock which caught my eye was the top center one-- instead of two peoples names or initials, simply says "Toujours Paris"-- now that's the love affair easiest to identify with.

(uuurgh, typos everywhere-- I wish we still had the old editing trick)

Just skimmed this report quickly. Didn't realize that Titian show was the one from Boston, which I missed also. It's on one of the critics best of 2009 lists for either NYT or WSJ.

The Ensor show at Orsay was at MoMA, I think, when I did a quick walkthrough. I guess you didn't see it while it was here?

Looks like you didn't go for the Soulages show. Was it open yet? I'm hoping to see that mid Jan.

So the locks are lovely and romantic (and here I was thinking maybe people left them for their bicycles- I'm such a nerd :/ )

And I want to say 'thanks' too because I'm learning so much about Art Nouveau from your trip reports (and yk's too). The other day I was inspired to get a huge, gorgeous book on Art Nouveau design i found at a used bookshop and I'm cross-referencing your trip reports as I read through it.

I don't have time to look at your photos tonight, will save that for tomorrow. But a quick question: Do you find yourself get "saturated" with Art Nouveau objects after seeing so much in such a short time?

Your description of the Tiffany show sounds scrumptious. I can't recall what the sea creatures windows (from DMA) look like, even though I've been to DMA at least dozens of times over the years. I'd love to see that exhibit but Montreal in Feb or Richmond doesn't sound too enticing.

The Vienna Staatsoper... all I can say is sigh! I can totally see the image in my head, and who knows when I will get to see it in person again. [And you get to go back there in a month!]

P.S. Apres, I learn about Art Nouveau mostly from reading Fifi's trip report.

Fifi's going back to Vienna next month??? Well now I'm really jealous But I guess that means another trip report so it's okay

Love your new set of photos. The locks are so unique - I've never seen those in Paris.

I must have never used the Abbesses metro stop, the murals are really cool.

Are the photos from Musee d'Orsay taken from objects in the permanent collection of art nouveau furniture and decorative arts? I don't think I've ever seen those.. all I recall is painting after painting. My last visit there was 2005 I believe, was it closed then?

I'm glad you didn't get caught or fined at the CDG RER station. Looking forward to Vienna.

111op,

I didn't know the Ensor show was here in NY! I must start paying more attention to what's going on nearby. But honestly, I wasn't familiar with Ensor's work until near the end of this trip when we saw a lot of it in the "Munch and the Uncanny" exhibit at the Leopold Museum-- that's when I regretted having missed the Orsay show.

Looking at the Pompidou website now, the Soulages show had already opened in October, but I didn't know (only stopped by the Pompidou Centre to use the post office and didn't go into the museum this time). Anyway, I was mainly focusing on the 19th century on this trip, and Soulages with Eugenie would make a strange combination. Looking forward to reading your report on it.


Apres,

Which book did you get?

Partly why I've been so slow with this is that I have tons of work to do before the second Vienna trip. At this rate, I may have to lump both reports together.


YK,

Since most museums have very small Art Nouveau collections (with the exception of the Musee de l'Ecole de Nancy), they simply don't have enough pieces to "saturate". Even the renovated section at Musee d'Orsay, which has much more furniture on display than I remember seeing on my first trip with Mom many years ago, is only a few small rooms, not like the blockbuster Picasso exhibits filling an entire floor of a large museum. Plus, the AN sections are usually uncrowded, which make them less overwhelming. When I said the Tiffany show was huge, I meant relative to, say, the few display cases at the Met, but nothing approaching the scale of the Titian show.

Jugendstil doesn't look like Art Nouveau to me-- though they share the same time period, the Hoffmann and Moser designs with their use of straight lines and squares look closer to Art Deco, so the Paris and Vienna weeks were not at all repetitive.

Yes, the Orsay photos are from the reopened part of the permanent collection (no photography allowed in their temporary exhibits). The decorative arts are on the second floor (if you saw only paintings, you were probably on the top floor, with Manet and all the Impressionists, right?)

The DMA pair of windows are in shades of blues and greens-- one has starfish, but I don't remember what's on the other.

There's a coincidence that I forgot to mention in the last post about our arrival day, November 7. When I began rereading part of Alma (then Schindler) Mahler's diaries before this trip, I randomly opened to a page which happened to be from November 1901. Her entry for November 7 of that year:

"Card from Alex! ... God, how I long for him! ....
This evening: ... Met Mahler."

(According to the footnotes, poor Alex Zemlinsky wasn't at the party that night because he was conducting a concert at the Musikverein).

Mom, Sis, and I did not encounter any famous composer / future husband that evening, but we did have an unforgettable time strolling along Graben, admiring its grand buildings and festive window displays. Though partially covered in scaffolding, Stephansdom was still brightly lit up. Did you know buildings could cast shadows in the night sky? http://images17.fotki.com/v374/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C2984-vi.jpg
It was long past Demel's closing time, but I got my chocolate fix when we went for a late supper at Le Bol Patisserie/Bistro which served a dark, rich chocolat chaud Valrhona.

---------------------------------------------
Day 9: Karlsplatz and Secession

We're staying at the Pension Suzanne, walking-distance to most sights. Our first destination today is the Wien Museum Karlsplatz, free on Sundays. Of course I had been told that the part of Vienna inside the Ring is small and walkable, but it didn't seem so on the maps, maybe because there's so much concentrated there. Just on the short walk to the museum, we pass by the Staatsoper, Otto Wagner Pavillons, Karlskirche, Musikverein, and even, further down a street in the other direction, a glimpse of the "golden cabbage" of the Secession! All these near-sacred places I had only read and dreamt about for decades, almost on our doorstep.

Unfortunately the Otto Wagner museum is closed this time of year (November through March), but the pavillons are photogenic, sort of mirroring the shape of Karlskirche's dome. The exterior of the Musikverein is much plainer than the Staatsoper-- it looks more like the outside of Italian opera houses. There are no concerts this week, so I will have to wait a couple of months to experience the interior that I've watched religiously on TV every New Year's Day.

Wagner pavillons:
http://images52.fotki.com/v638/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3056e-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v202/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3055e-vi.jpg
http://images47.fotki.com/v422/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3059e-vi.jpg
http://www.wienmuseum.at/en/locations/location-detail/otto-wagner-pavillon-karlsplatz-1.html
Karlskirche with flowers:
http://images54.fotki.com/v556/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3150e-vi.jpg
under Brahms' statue:
http://images51.fotki.com/v177/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3071-vi.jpg
Musikverein:
http://images51.fotki.com/v751/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3065-vi.jpg

Outside the Wien Museum, there's a huge banner with a photo of an antique red satin shoe, advertising the costume exhibit "Grand Entrance: Fashion in the Ringstrassen Era" which I had read about online and was so disappointed to miss-- "bis 1.11.2009" means it ended a week ago-- and I grumbled to Sis saying why do they torture us by advertising shows that we've already missed. Inside, a nice surprise: a sign by the ticket counter says the show has been extended for three more weeks. There were shoes, gowns, hats, corsets, silk stockings, fans, even a set of "fingertip shapers".

http://images53.fotki.com/v426/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3075e-vi.jpg
http://images42.fotki.com/v1377/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3088e-vi.jpg
http://www.wienmuseum.at/fileadmin/user_upload/PDFs/Ausstellungen_2009/WIEN_MUSEUM__Grosser_Auftritt.pdf

Among the permanent collection is the portrait by Klimt of Emilie Floge in a blue dress, used this year on the posters for the "Salute to Vienna" 2010 New Year's Day concert at Avery Fisher Hall. http://www.salutetovienna.com/ At the concert last January, the program booklets had an insert from the Austrian tourist board with the slogan "Vienna awaits you", and I remember hoping at the time that this would be the year we finally go instead of always saying "someday," and here we are. Appropriately, their new slogan is "Now or never"-- just like my upcoming waltz.

After coffee and desserts in the museum's cafe, we walked over to the Secession. The indescribable feeling some people get when seeing the Coliseum or Eiffel Tower or Jerusalem in person for the first time, that's what this was for me. Imagine attending an exhibition here 110 years ago and seeing new works by Klimt, Moser, and Hoffmann. Inside, the Beethoven Frieze is smaller than I expected but no less dramatic. Having only seen flat reproductions in books, the three-dimensional details (such as on the jeweled belt) and the depth of colors were a surprise. The best thing about travelling in winter is having spaces like this all to oneself while playing Symphony No. 9 on headphones.

the golden top:
http://images51.fotki.com/v423/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3164e-vi.jpg
snakes and lizards on the front facade:
http://images17.fotki.com/v297/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3185e-vi.jpg
owls by Kolo Moser:
http://images38.fotki.com/v231/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3188e-vi.jpg

This far to the east, the sun sets much earlier than in Paris. We had an early dinner (or very late lunch?) at the Cafe Museum across the street. My sister's order, Eiernockerl, looks and tastes like my favorite Singaporean dish, scrambled turnip-cake. I'll have to go back some time and have that too.

http://images47.fotki.com/v1477/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3225e-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v426/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3213-vi.jpg

Your latest entry is bringing back so many lovely images for me!

Glad to have time to catch up on your report and to read that Vienna lived up to your expectations.

P.S. I really like your green/black patterned scarf!

I guess I don't know much about Ensor either -- I've already forgotten that he was Belgian. Just in case, I assume that you know about the current shows at the big museums already (Kandinsky at Guggenheim, Bauhaus and Orozco at MoMA and Robert Frank's "Americans" at the Met).

I think that they should all be worth seeing. I've done a quick walkthrough of the Bauhaus show, which is actually quite interesting. Reviews have pointed out that the show is good about introducing the diverse origins and influences of the Bauhaus movement. I think that you'll find this one interesting if you haven't gone already. I'll have to go again before the show closes in a few weeks.

I am planning to catch the show on the "Americans" before it closes this weekend. It's one on Robert Frank's seminal photobook first published in the 1950s -- easily one of the most influential photobooks ever published.

It's interesting that you choose fried turnip cake as your favorite Singaporean dish, as it doesn't strike me as especially Singaporean. Have you tried Michael Hyunh's latest restaurant called "Obao" in Midtown East? I went there with a friend recently, and I had a dish that was like fried kway teow, but with the kway teow replaced with turnip cakes (or something like them). The online menu on menupages doesn't seem to list this, though there's what sounds like the usual kway teow dish.

http://www.menupages.com/restaurants/obao/menu

Have you been to MAK or is it on your itinerary this time?

http://www.mak.at/e/jetzt/f_jetzt.htm

(There's a reason why I am asking this question )

It's official- Fifi has the best scarves!

OMG, we just watched the New Year's Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic on PBS. The 90-min concert is like a condensed version of this trip report:
classical music, waltz, J Strauss, ballet, Valentino, Kuntshistoriches Museum, and cake/chocolate from Demel!

Fifi, I can totally see you waltzing inside KHM with your earbuds on listening to Strauss!

I love the dresses by Valentino, esp the pink one with the big flowers.

In case anyone missed it, here's a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUH-zMfnFXk

yk,

I was so excited about the live New Year's concert at Avery Fisher Hall today that I completely forgot about the PBS one until 45 minutes into it! Did turn it on just in time to catch the ballet in Kuntshistoriches Museum (imagine dancing on those marble stairs, and on pointe too!) but didn't know the dresses were by Valentino.

Whoever the director was seemed to have read my mind-- this afternoon at the New York concert, I was thinking how all the music instantly conjures up images of Vienna and its buildings on Graben, except the "Blue Danube" which for me is forever linked with a different part of the river-- Szabadsag Bridge, Gellert Baths, and that magnificent sprawling Hungarian parliament-- and that's what they showed on TV just now.

Leely,

Interesting that you brought up the issue of expectations. I was actually afraid before the trip. Maybe the probability of its not meeting near-impossible expectations was what made me wait so many years to finally go. I wondered if the Vienna I imagined from books, movies, songs, and paintings existed anymore or ever did. Fortunately, my worst misconception was debunked in time-- I read that the Danube doesn't run through the city center as rivers do in Prague, London, Paris, Florence, etc., or else that would have been a huge disappointment! (So glad my first sight of the Danube was in Budapest). Photos of Vienna which popped up on a Google search were not promising. I thought Budapest was a difficult city to photograph well, but Vienna is even more so-- it looks spectacular up close but none of my pictures do it justice.

yk and Apres,

Thanks! That scarf should have been a travel souvenir but isn't. I stood in one of the Grands Magasins (don't remember if it was Printemps or G.L.) staring, touching, thinking, wavering, ... and didn't buy it. Then regretted it when I got home and ended up finding it in NYC. Don't remember if the sticker prices were comparable, but here there's add sales tax instead of VAT refunds. Lesson on indecisiveness.

111op,

I knew the Kandinsky exhibit ends before my next trip but didn't know the Bauhaus was ending so soon too! A friend had been raving about the "Americans" show. Guess I'll have to try to squeeze everything in this weekend. Thanks for the reminder. Does the Guggenheim get packed during these "pay as you wish" Saturdays?

Yes, we did go to MAK, and maybe I'll take my friend there on the next trip too. Why do you ask?

I had to look up the conductor because I didn't recognize him. It's George Prêtre. What a curious choice! But apparently it's the second time he's conducted the orchestra in a New Year concert:

http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/index.php?set_language=en

Hey Fifi, I thought you were celebrating New Year in Vienna for some reason. But you are going to Vienna again this year, aren't you?

I was thinking of asking you to pick up something for me at MAK, but it's probably too inconvenient for you. It's also odd for me to ask since we've never even met! Maybe we can do an exchange of favors -- I can try to find that scarf for you in a few weeks, but it's probably gone already.

By the way, you do know that there's a Demel among the shops at Plaza Hotel, don't you? Of course it's not the same as the one in Vienna, but you can pretend. Now writing this, I hope it's still open. I've noticed a number of shop closings lately.

Happy New Year everyone!

The Bauhaus show closes on Jan 25. It looks like the Guggenheim has changed their late opening times? I think it used to be open late on Fridays? I've never been there so late on Saturdays, so I don't know, but I think that I've seen people queue in the past for the free hours (like at MoMA). The lines move quickly though.

I actually spent the day in DC and Philly catching up on two art shows that are closing. I went for the Anne Truitt at Hirshhorn (closes Sunday) and Arshile Gorky (closes next Sunday). I'll have to head to the Met (and the Guggenheim -- maybe tomorrow to take advantage of the late hours? Thanks!) over the weekend before the Frank show closes.

111op,

re: <<George Prêtre. What a curious choice! But apparently it's the second time he's conducted the orchestra in a New Year concert>>
Not as curious a choice as Julie Andrews replacing Walter Cronkite (how sad), but it's the second time she's done that too.

I probably will go go the MAK store next trip to pick up some Hoffmann mocha spoons. What do you want from there?

You went to DC and Philly on the same day? (Well, I guess it's not surprising compared to pulling off the Prado thing).

If I get enough sewing (for Vienna) done tomorrow morning, I'll be at the Guggenheim tomorrow night.

Hey, the piece is quite big and it will be very inconvenient for you. I'll tell you about it over e-mail. My email is op 111 op 111 hotmail.com (remove the spaces).

I considered flying and taking the train, but the tickets were too expensive, so I decided to take the bus. I spent about 9 hours on three bus rides. The Truitt show was interesting though. I'm glad I made the effort.

Interestingly enough, Georges Prêtre was the conductor when we attended the Vienna Philharmonic concert at Musikverein in 2006. http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/yks-trip-report-to-vienna-with-a-24-hr-stop-in-london-nov-2006.cfm#comment-4377162

Fifi, I'm sorry you missed half of the New Year's concert. I remember you mentioned that it's something you look forward to every Jan 1st, so I just assumed you wouldn't forget!

BUT!!! I looked up WNET's schedule, and it will be re-aired:
Sun Jan 3rd at 12:30pm on Thirteen
Sun Jan 3rd at 3:30pm on WLIW21

Don't miss it. I think you'll love the first dance segment too!

I think Julie Andrews is a reasonable "replacement". At least it's easy to associate her with Austria. [Didn't like that light purple sweater she wore in the last segment though.]

P.S. I started a thread on the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's concert over on the Lounge, so I won't hijack your trip report thread here.

I think the only time I remembered hearing about Georges Prêtre is that he's the conductor of Callas's 1960s "Tosca" recording (not her famous recording from the 1950s, but the one that everyone says to avoid because her voice is already wrecked):

http://tinyurl.com/yhv65uw

How odd that the average rating on Amazon is 4.5 stars for this recording! (I haven't heard it myself.)

Thanks for your e-mail, Fifi. I've e-mailed you.

Okay, so we are presumably all recovered from New Year's Eve and can now get back to writing and reading the report? Oui?

Fifi's too busy watching the re-run of the Vienna Philharmonic New Year's concert on TV, and eating her Demel cake at the same time!

...and frantically sewing a fluffy confection much like the flower dress on TV, complete with 27 yards of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and peachy-pink tulle for the sequel to this!

Day10: Composers' monuments, Wagner's bank, Hundertwasserhaus, and more desserts

We enjoyed the hotel breakfast-- hard and soft-boiled eggs, cold cuts and cheeses, cakes, breads, and little packages of assorted patés and some nutty paste. It was fun trying to figure out the German horoscopes on the sugar packages.
http://images28.fotki.com/v998/photos/7/852267/8136537/P1000591cr-vi.jpg

This morning began with a rare deep blue sky, perfect for our visit to Strauss. (YK, re your facetious "which one" comment on an old thread, Salome comes later in the week -- and the other Wagner too-- but first the king).

Not knowing how close we were to Stadtpark, we caught the #2 tram. I found out later that we could easily have walked there, but I'm glad we arrived by tram because that entrance, Weiburggasse on the west side, turned out to be the best approach for a dramatic view. At first glance, the winding paths and dog walkers look just like those in Central Park, but a few more steps in on the right, behind a colorful floral clock, is the Kursalon where the Strauss brothers once performed. A second curvy road from the left is lined with original lamp posts and benches by Otto Wagner. Straight ahead, these two paths converge at the golden statue of the Waltz King framed by swirling nymphs. Though pictured in countless guidebooks, it's much more striking in person. I liked the atmosphere of Stadtpark with its rich autumn leaves, crisp air, serene lake, and ducks and dogs. There are statues of many other artists, including Alma's father Jakob Emil Schindler. On the way out of the park, Mom asked if I had heard of someone named "Flehar." No, but, suspecting that's not what she really saw, I ran back to have a look, and, sure enough, between the first two condensed all-caps letters was a barely noticeable little dot-- the composer of my favorite operetta of course!


"Unsere Garten" clock:
http://images112.fotki.com/v173/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3259-vi.jpg
Strauss:
http://images108.fotki.com/v1540/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3258e-vi.jpg
http://images112.fotki.com/v189/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3267e-vi.jpg
F. Lehar:
http://images17.fotki.com/v522/photos/7/852267/8136537/L06584797e-vi.jpg
http://images108.fotki.com/v1540/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3273-vi.jpg
ducks and dogs:
http://images30.fotki.com/v481/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3294e-vi.jpg
http://images12.fotki.com/v252/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3307e-vi.jpg
http://images51.fotki.com/v423/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3304cr-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v443/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3278cr-vi.jpg

Exiting from the north side of the park, we passed by MAK and checked out the lovely Cafe Prückel across the street but decided to go back another day because the weather was so perfect outside. we walked to Otto Wagner's remarkable Wiener Postsparkasse. Though austere compared to Odon Lechner's flamboyant Post Office Savings Bank in Budapest, Wagner's Jugendstil building also has lots of decorative details way up on top where "only the birds can see". Inside, this is still a bank now, but in the back there is a museum section showing Wagner's furniture, hardware, architectural models, and the small banking hall where you can go behind the beveled glass and pretend to be a teller. The glass floor tiles of the large cash hall serve as a skylight for the lower level where the safe deposit boxes are kept; we could not find a way to go down there-- maybe that's not open to the public.

exterior:
http://images52.fotki.com/v738/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3355cr-vi.jpg
http://images47.fotki.com/v1588/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3344-vi.jpg
http://images52.fotki.com/v738/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3463-vi.jpg
interior:
http://images19.fotki.com/v275/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3388-vi.jpg
http://images21.fotki.com/v194/photos/7/852267/8136537/L0733e-vi.jpg
http://images51.fotki.com/v424/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3393e-vi.jpg

museum website:
http://www.ottowagner.com/ow-werk/index.html

In the afternoon, we saw the fairytale-like Hundertwasserhaus and the similar but more geometric Kunst Haus Wien. The Annie Leibovitz exhibit there sounded interesting, but, again wanting to make use of the remaining daylight, we skipped it. Too late-- by the time the tram went half way around the Ring (about 4:30pm), the sun had set behind Rathaus and the Senate, and when we got back "home" to the Staatsoper it was already dark. On the pavement, we stumbled across stars of composers such as Mahler, Berg, R. Strauss, and Verdi. Starving from having forgotten about lunch, we went back to Graben and had many little sandwiches at Trzesniewski and cakes at Demel before another evening stroll. Loo's House and the Manz bookstore were beautifully illuminated, and Graben itself, with its Christmas decoration and tonight's misty reflective sky, resembled the interior of a high-ceiling, chandeliered palatial ballroom.

Hundertwasserhaus:
http://images51.fotki.com/v1584/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3480cr-vi.jpg
http://images51.fotki.com/v424/photos/7/852267/8136537/P1000686-vi.jpg
http://images21.fotki.com/v194/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3502-vi.jpg

I love this building next to the Hundertwasserhaus, with globes on top; anyone here know what it is?
http://images108.fotki.com/v1540/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3491-vi.jpg
Kunst Haus Wien:
http://images108.fotki.com/v1540/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3552-vi.jpg

Staatsoper:
http://images45.fotki.com/v1199/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3587-vi.jpg
http://images9.fotki.com/v450/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3582-vi.jpg
Demel's kitchen where, in the daytime, you can watch the pastry chefs at work:
http://images112.fotki.com/v184/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3638-vi.jpg
the long-anticipated cake:
http://images53.fotki.com/v440/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3643cr-vi.jpg
Graben at night:
http://images12.fotki.com/v236/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3669-vi.jpg

Yay, you're back to finish this! I LOVE the evening photo of Staatsoper.

Sorry-- of course that should have said Parliament, not Senate, above. As another recent Fodor's post goes, "don't know if that was a Freudian slip". I did not like the Greek/Roman style of that building, nor its placement so close to traffic on the Ring Road, compared to magnificent Hungarian Parliament sprawling over the Danube.

I'm so glad to see more of your report! Your photos are just gorgeous, the Graben looks like a stage set- I love the white against the grey-blue sky.

This recent set of photos is just lovely, MlleFifi. Looking forward to more.

Day 11: from Sisi to Salome

Walking to Hofburg Palace, we stopped and admired the fountain and statues outside the Albertina without knowing what they were. I wish I had more time to read before this trip-- only much later did I learn that those were the allegories of Vienna and the Danube, accompanied by the alcove figures representing ten other rivers.
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fde.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FAlbrechtsbrunnen&sl=de&tl=en

The "Hofburg Ticket" covered the Sisi Museum, the Imperial Silver Collection, and the Imperial Apartments. I did not care much for the endless rooms of silverware, though there were a few interesting glass and porcelain pieces. I had to see the original memorabilia (letters, paintings, gloves, boots...) in the Sisi Museum but found the overly theatrical display distracting and the gown reproductions not well done (I do understand that original gowns would be too fragile for permanent display, but if they couldn't make better replicas, I'd rather see good photos or videos, or even muslins, instead of bad copies in cheap lace). The highlight for me were the Imperial Apartments, especially Sisi's dressing room with her gym equipment and Franz Joseph's study with the two Winterhalter portraits of the long-haired empress.
http://www.hofburg-wien.at/uploads/tx_extmarginimages/TurnToilettzimmerKaiserin_TD_15x15_02.jpg
http://www.hofburg-wien.at/uploads/tx_extmarginimages/ArbeitszimmerFranzJosephs_JW_02.jpg

After lunch at the Jugendstil Palmenhaus, we went to the Kunsthistoriches Museum. Most arresting were the Bruegels and Cranachs and the building itself with the ornate marble staircase topped by early Klimt murals.

Michaelerplatz:
http://images18.fotki.com/v673/photos/7/852267/8136537/L0915cr-vi.jpg
Library roof detail:
http://images51.fotki.com/v1548/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3699cr-vi.jpg
Fiaker:
http://images17.fotki.com/v374/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3703e-vi.jpg
Butterfly House:
http://images18.fotki.com/v437/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3734e-vi.jpg
Palmenhaus:
http://images52.fotki.com/v734/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3755e-vi.jpg
my delicious duck:
http://images18.fotki.com/v437/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3753-vi.jpg
In the rain, the ground turned into a mirror.
http://images19.fotki.com/v276/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3768e-vi.jpg
Kunsthistoriches Museum:
http://images29.fotki.com/v1013/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3791e-vi.jpg
For better views of this hard-to-photograph interior, see this New Year's concert video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQOC7PBch4Y

After passing by the Staatsoper every day, we finally got to go in tonight, for R. Strauss' Salome. Although not one of the more popular operas, I liked the music very much, and this production was visually stunning with its deep teal/blue Klimt-inspired sets. Herodes and Herodias, in their vermillion costumes, could have walked straight out of a Cranach portrait.
http://images53.fotki.com/v420/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3902e-vi.jpg
I was hoping to get a snapshot of the sets during the curtain calls, but unlike huge ballet casts which do their bows on the whole stage, these singers only had curtain calls in front of a closed curtain.

An old black-and-white photo of the sets and costumes:
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/82092865/Hulton-Archive
There is a short video clip on this page:
http://www.staatsoper.at/Content.Node2/home/spielplan/spielplan_detail_werkbeschreibung.php?eventid=497976

At a gift shop across the street, a sweet feline version of what we'll see tomorrow:
http://images52.fotki.com/v1564/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3846e-vi.jpg

I really enjoy your trip reports--you not only bring back wonderful memories of Vienna, you enhance them. Thank you so much.

Bookmarking to read later!

I'm glad to hear the food at Palmenhaus is good. I hope to eat there next time I'm in Vienna (skipped it last time as I thought it was quite pricey).

Day 12: Face to face with that painting

I approached this long-awaited day with a bit of trepidation. Fortunately, the museum I was most eager to see did not disappoint. From the entrance hall with its unusual statued pillars and intricate vaulted ceiling, to the grand staircase facing huge arched windows, up to the stunning Marble Hall (with comfortable seating by the windows overlooking the garden) and galleries on the first floor, the Upper Belvedere is all harmonious, spacious and airy; its paintings are well-arranged, with nothing cramped or cluttered. IMO, this and Rome's Borghese Gallery are the two most pleasant museum experiences. I started at one end with Hans Makart's Five Senses, then went slowly through the two large rooms whose highlights include some Manets, Carl Moll's dark Dämmerung, Segantini's Die bösen Mütter, and a Munch portrait of two men.

Many of the frames are impressive works of art too and must have been custom-designed for each painting-- I wish the frame-makers were identified. A few looked like they could have been by Josef Hoffmann or Kolo Moser. Too bad photography was forbidden, postcards rarely include frames, and my memory is inadequate. Next time I must bring a sketchbook.

Before reaching the last doorway on the north side, I circled back around counterclockwise to see the Gerstls, Kokoschkas, and Schieles, saving the gem for last. From this direction, we reach the smaller of the two Klimt rooms first-- the one with colorful pieces such as The Bride, Adam and Eve and various portraits. Finally, we come to the large room of Klimts-- the elaborately dressed Fritza Riedler and Sonja Knips on each side of the door, then a row of four large landscapes on the left, then the exquisite Water Serpents I (so much tinier than I expected, but utterly precious!) and dramatic Judith by the window, and lastly, on the east wall, The Kiss. Relief-- this is no little Mona Lisa under puke-green florescent lights comically surrounded by mobs of pushy tourists flashing away. Not at all. It is behind glass, but completely clear non-glare glass, and well lit.

Absolutely beautiful. Everyone in the room is silent. No one is cutting in front of anybody else or making inane commentary. I take my time to peruse the square composition from afar (it looks very different life-sized than on a little coffee-table book or even a poster) and, when the other people were done, move up close. The gold is three-dimensional and the colors glowing. I've seen Adele Bloch-Bauer I (aka "our Mona Lisa") many times and am still always mesmerized by the texture of the paint on her dress, but this is even more vibrant.

I wondered where in these rooms the two Adeles used to be. All over Vienna, there are still countless traces of her-- on postcards, posters, outdated guidebooks, tote bags, scarves, murals--- everything ranging from the tastefully elegant to the most kitschy. As a New Yorker, whenever I encountered one of these images in Vienna, I was overcome with mixed feelings of pride, pity, happiness, gloating, guilt, gratefulness, sadness, and many things else all jumbled together. It's sad that she no longer sits with these longtime neighbors at the Belvedere-- how I wish I had come to Vienna years ago and seen those five Klimts displayed together with all these. On the other hand, of course I'm elated to be able to drop by Neue Galerie any time I want. I asked the guards where the two Adele portraits had been hung. The first guard had no idea what I was talking about. (He's young-- maybe it was before his time? Or maybe I mispronounced her name). The second one I asked said there was one in each room. Makes sense-- the golden Adele I must have been in this large room with Judith and The Kiss, and the blue Adele II in the other room.

The top floor (Biedemeier) and ground floor (Medieval/Baroque) were anticlimactic after the above; I skimmed through them halfheartedly, then went back for another look around the first floor before reluctantly leaving.

Staircase and the curtain I covet:
http://images17.fotki.com/v374/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3944e-vi.jpg
the garden seen from Upper Belvedere:
http://images21.fotki.com/v208/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3946-vi.jpg
outside:
http://images20.fotki.com/v527/photos/7/852267/8136537/L0969cr-vi.jpg
http://images112.fotki.com/v189/photos/7/852267/8136537/L0973e1-vi.jpg

The "Music Mile" we stumbled across outside the opera house continued into the Karlsplatz U-bahn station, where we found a few more composers' names. Janacek had a devoted canine fan who absolutely refused to budge from his star no matter how his owner pulled and coaxed him.
http://images9.fotki.com/v447/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3978e-vi.jpg
http://www.musikmeile.at/en/walk/index.php
the pi mirror, also in the U-bahn station:
http://images52.fotki.com/v737/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4075e-vi.jpg

From Karlsplatz, we rode the U4 to the next stop, Kettenbrückengasse, to see the Jugendstil houses on Linke Wienzeile. While exiting, I thought the station itself looked interesting too, but it was raining and starting to get dark so we had no time to stop and look. (Later, I learned that the Kettenbrückengasse station was also an Otto Wagner design). In addition to the two exuberant turn-of-the-century Wagner works at #40 and #38 (Majolikahaus and the house with Kolo Moser's golden medallions), this block of Linke Wienzeile has several other notable houses, such as the 1912 Versicherung der Österreichischen Eisenbahnen (Insurance of Austrian Railway) building by Hubert Gessner. I must go back some time when it's not dark and drizzling.

(Sorry for the strange hues in this group of photos-- between the rain and dusk, the lighting was too challenging for my camera even though it normally does quite well in dim light. To bring out details, I had to lighten shadows and increase contrast, which distorted the colors. I think the house with the golden Moser decor actually has ivory walls, not taupe/tan as in my picture).
Linke Wienzeile #38 and 40:
http://images12.fotki.com/v236/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4015e-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v527/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3989e1-vi.jpg
http://images31.fotki.com/v1100/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3993e-vi.jpg
Versicherung der Österreichischen Eisenbahnen:
http://images45.fotki.com/v1430/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C3981e-vi.jpg
"Life is Beautiful" (easy to say when that's the window of your office!)
http://images41.fotki.com/v209/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4016e-vi.jpg

Naschmarkt was a disappointment, with ordinary produce and annoying, pushy vendors. Short on time, we had a quick dinner at a Vietnamese noodle shop there. Not bad.

The Volksoper looked so far out of the way on a map, requiring a transfer from the U4 to the U6 line and many stops on each, that we panicked and thought we would never make it to the operetta on time. Turns out it's not a long schlep at all-- really no harder than getting to the Met or Théatre des Champs Elysées from across town; it just seemed far because everything else is so close (how quickly one gets spoiled!). It's a funny-looking house -- modern in the back and old in front.

Tonight's operetta was Lehar's The Count of Luxembourg. I had never seen it before, yet the catchy tunes sounded very familiar; must have heard the songs in some concerts or mixed CDs before. It was light and fun-- not something I'd go to see over and over again like Die Fledermaus, but enjoyable enough.
http://images56.fotki.com/v1597/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4083e-vi.jpg
http://images42.fotki.com/v1380/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4091-vi.jpg
http://images18.fotki.com/v457/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4087e-vi.jpg

Hi Fifi, thanks for posting the link to the Music Mile. I didn't know about it before; and I must admit that I've never noticed any of the stars despite my 2 visits. There's so much in Vienna that I've missed (due to rushing around) that I definitely need to return there again and again.

Here's a photo of Linke Wienzeile #38 that I took last year (with ivory walls):
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp146/y2000k/Vienna%20Apr%202009/IMG_3257.jpg

Was the Lehar's operetta performed in German? Was there supertitles? If yes, in German, I presume?

yk, looks like you had much nicer weather! Your photo came out so much better. (So now I have another excuse to go back yet again). English supertitles, but we didn't know that night-- more about them later.

Thank you again for bringing Vienna to me. The house with the fantastic flower decorations, is that Link Wienzeile 40?

Mademoiselle, your descriptions and intelligent information sharing regarding the Klimts in the Belvedere (and in the Neue Gallerie)is wonderful. This is posting that improves the entire site. Thanks so much.

(Sorry for the long hiatus-- I got sidetracked by work and other trips).


Day 13: Spiral steps, eagle roof, and the white box of treasures

Mom, who had to attend an event back home, flew out early this morning. Sis and I went up the south tower of Stephansdom. You may know from previous posts my addiction to climbing high towers (justification for more pastries). After the narrow endless spiral of St. Vitus Cathedral, everything else was a piece of cake-- Notre Dame, Brunelleschi's dome and the Giotto Tower, St. Paul's Cathedral, St. Peter's Basilica-- all so easy. Until now. Today was the first time since Prague that a climb felt strenuous, even torturous. And it's comfortable late-autumn compared to the insufferable heat wave of July 2003. I worried that something had to be wrong with me (ill or old?) but learned later that this was indeed a significantly higher climb than St. Vitus: 343 steps to 67 meters vs. 287 steps to 56 meters. Surprisingly, those other places which felt easier actually had many more steps than either of these, but their stairs were broken up into sections -- Whispering Gallery/Stone Gallery/Golden Gallery of St. Paul's, for example-- instead of all in one go. Stephansdom's stairwell does, however, have windows, unlike St. Vitus' in which once started you have no idea where you are until you come out at the top, so I rate this as the second hardest on my list. The bird's-eye view of red and green rooftops and the close-up detail of the double-headed eagle were well worth the effort.

roof detail:
http://images112.fotki.com/v189/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4180cr-vi.jpg
http://images51.fotki.com/v424/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4194-vi.jpg
http://images110.fotki.com/v565/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4189-vi.jpg
steps:
http://images52.fotki.com/v8/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4198e-vi.jpg
view:
http://images112.fotki.com/v189/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4169e-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v202/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4181-vi.jpg

After the cathedral, we walked around admiring buildings and windows before joining the crowd of tourists under Anker Clock just before noon for the parade of historical figures. The German Wikipedia lists all the characters and their accompanying music ( http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankeruhr ). From there, we continued westward and came across the holocaust memorial at Judenplatz, the beautiful Engel Apotheke adorned with Jugendstil mosaic angels, and the many stately palais on Freyung, stopping at Cafe Central for lunch. Loved this spacious place with high vaulted ceilings, marble tables, and newspapers on wooden holders. It's much better at savory dishes than cakes-- we liked the soups, sausages, and vegetable strudel, but our desserts were so-so. Even their boiled beef (can any dish sound more boring?) at the next table looked enticing, topped with crusty piped potatoes; I will have to go back to try that some time.

ornately painted building near Stephansdom:
http://images53.fotki.com/v431/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4115e-vi.jpg
cow mural on Bäckerstrasse:
http://images51.fotki.com/v423/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4256e-vi.jpg
miniature Wiener Werkstätte furniture in a shop window:
http://images17.fotki.com/v284/photos/7/852267/8136537/P1000887cr-vi.jpg
http://images56.fotki.com/v547/photos/7/852267/8136537/P1000885-vi.jpg
being a tourist:
http://images41.fotki.com/v9/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4280e-vi.jpg

Engel Apotheke with angels, sunflowers, and snakes:
http://images54.fotki.com/v552/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4367cr-vi.jpg
Palais Ferstel
http://images56.fotki.com/v1597/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4378-vi.jpg
http://images18.fotki.com/v457/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4374-vi.jpg
Cafe Central
http://images109.fotki.com/v786/photos/7/852267/8136537/P1000926-vi.jpg

We had strolled through Michaelerplatz and Graben many times this week but always at night, and today we finally saw these places in broad daylight. While Sis shopped for gifts at Julius Meinl, I went and checked out "Loos' loo" nearby. It looked similar to the Porcher toilettes at Place de la Madelaine in Paris, built the same year, 1905. Hey, is it a commentary on the language aptitudes of the genders that these Jugendstil toilets on Graben have trilingual signs on the entrance to the men's side but only a single sign, in the most beautiful foreign language, for the fair sex? http://images41.fotki.com/v1577/photos/7/852267/8290011/F11C5546e-vi.jpg

Loos Haus detail
http://images18.fotki.com/v458/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4442-vi.jpg
Manz bookstore
http://images41.fotki.com/v209/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4462-vi.jpg
Demel's window
http://images17.fotki.com/v297/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4464-vi.jpg
a meeting outside Julius Meinl:
http://images19.fotki.com/v286/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4495e-vi.jpg

It was dark out when we finished shopping for chocolates. Graben's Christmas lights, which had been hung but not turned on before tonight, were finally lit and sparkling.
http://images9.fotki.com/v448/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4507cr-vi.jpg

Walking toward the Museums Quarter, we saw the Neue Burg part of Hofburg Palace lit up in blue and, to the right, glowing in the distance behind a veil of eerie tree branches, Rathaus looking like Sleeping Beauty's enchanted castle (not the cartoon version based on Neuschwanstein but the one in my childhood fantasies, probably suggested by Act II of the ballet).
http://images18.fotki.com/v458/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4566e-vi.jpg

Thursday nights the Leopold Museum stays open late. We arrived at 5:30pm thinking 3 1/2 hours would be plenty of time, not expecting it to be huge and packed with so much to see! Most of the Schiele works I had seen before were figure drawings, but here I was captivated by his landscapes, especially cityscapes, in deep but striking colors. Foolishly assuming that cameras were forbidden, I didn't get any photos of the Schieles, but halfway through the Edvard Munch and the Uncanny exhibition, I spotted a welcome "no flash" sign-- so they do allow photography even in the special exhibits. The introduction to Ensor here made me regret not having had time for the Musee d'Orsay show the week before. Also enjoyed Bocklin and a several other artists I hadn't noticed before. The best treat was the large room full of Wiener Werkstätte furniture and decorative arts.

floor decorated for the special exhibit:
http://images17.fotki.com/v374/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4594-vi.jpg
Kolo Moser furniture:
http://images51.fotki.com/v423/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4654e-vi.jpg
Dance card for the 1909 Concordia Ball:
http://images112.fotki.com/v189/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4670cr-vi.jpg
http://images47.fotki.com/v1589/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4671e-vi.jpg

Having read bad reviews (R.S. or here?), Mom did not want to go to Cafe Sacher. I had heard both praise and damnation and had to judge for myself, especially when staying just across the street from it, so Sis and I went tonight. She and Mom had "Sacher Torte" at some other places earlier in the week and liked them, but I didn't taste those (and I never ordered it at Cafe Sabarsky because I had been holding out for Vienna), so this was my first taste of the notorious torte. I don't understand the strong opinions-- it's quite good, not too sweet, not to-die-for but certainly not bad. (The best chocolate cake IMO is still a tie between the flourless chocolate-almond cake at Balthazar in NY and the moelleux au chocolat at Comptoir du 7eme). This Sacher Torte was like The Count of Luxembourg-- pleasant enough, but I would neither rant nor rave about it. We also shared another dessert whose name I can't remember (not Kaiserschmarrn)-- small pancakes and a buttery almond crisp with plum sauce and whipped cream-- and that was very good.

Day 14: Rathaus to Die Fledermaus

The Wiener Werkstätte Textile Museum is an archive in the basement of the Backhausen fabric shop just around the corner from our hotel. On display are old swatches and sketches such as Otto Wagner's velvet upholstery design for armchairs in the Post Office Savings Bank. Replicas of many of these designs are still sold in the store today. Upstairs, a whole floor full of tempting new materials from opulent brocades to diaphanous organzas made me drool, but as a poor tourist with carry-on luggage and not a lucky resident with hundreds of annual balls to choose from, I had to limit myself to just a half-meter piece, reversible with blue and brown circular patterns, reproduced from a Josef Hoffmann design.

original swatches:
http://images20.fotki.com/v534/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4762e-vi.jpg
my souvenir:
http://images20.fotki.com/v527/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4777-vi.jpg

Rathaus (city hall) is shown by guided tours Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 1pm (in German only; English descriptions are available from http://www.wien.gv.at/english/cityhall/tours.htm -- click on the name of each room for more info). This was not the way I wanted to see this place-- I would much rather come to Blumenball in January, when Rathaus will be decked out in the most lavish flowers of the ball season, but, sadly, I will miss that by just ONE day on my next trip. The grand staircases reminded me of those in the Budapest Parliament. What euphoria it would be to float up those stairs in a ballgown and waltz through that long, magnificent Festsaal! I'm distraught and furious.

the staircases:
http://images9.fotki.com/v450/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4905e-vi.jpg
the Council Chamber with its tutu-like chandelier:
http://images26.fotki.com/v960/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4851e-vi.jpg
Festsaal:
http://www.wien.gv.at/english/cityhall/images/festhall3.jpg

Outside there were decorations and an advent calendar on the arched windows, and a Christmas market was being set up on Rathausplatz.
http://images19.fotki.com/v276/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4820e-vi.jpg
http://images9.fotki.com/v450/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4826e-vi.jpg

After lunch, we were too late for the Burgtheater tour and only saw the outside.
http://images53.fotki.com/v419/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4816-vi.jpg
http://images9.fotki.com/v450/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4815-vi.jpg

votives with lampposts:
http://images41.fotki.com/v305/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4835cr-vi.jpg
lacy details on the Votive Church:
http://images52.fotki.com/v1552/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C4968-vi.jpg

Following the Otto Wagner Wienplan map/guide that I bought at the Wien Museum shop, we went looking for Wagner architecture nearby. http://www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/sights/art-nouveau/otto-wagner-in-vienna Well, turns out that though it has nice little photos and interesting historical information, this map is not practical for a self-guided walking tour. Not only is the map (zoomed way out and without street names) nearly impossible to see, it's not even accurate: item numbers 17, 18, and 19 on the map -- Miethaus Rathausstrasse 3, Miethaus Stadiongasse 10, and Miethaus Landesgerichtsstrasse 4 -- are in fact just three sides of the same building, and not even one of his more interesting ones. From that unproductive detour, I was still not willing to give up looking for Wagner works and suggested going over to Landerbank. That would have been a nice spectacle had we arrived in time to see daylight streaming through the skylight, but by 4:45 it was already dark out, so none of my photos came out well. Someone else posted much better photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7706602@N02/sets/72157614481890805/show/

"Dinner" tonight was pastries and coffee at the whimsically decorated ODC.
http://www.a212.com/2009/10/restaurant-odc-orlando-de-castello.html

Die Fledermaus was, as far as I can remember, my earliest introduction to anything Viennese. Every New Year's Day, starting when we lived at home and continuing when we went back for the holidays, my father always put on a very old videotape (on Beta-- I must get that transferred to DVD soon!) of the operetta which remains one of my favorites. Thrilled that the Volksoper was performing it during our trip, I splurged on front orchestra seats.

To answer the recent questions on this forum about Vollksoper seating and supertitles: the house is not very deep from front to back, so there's not much difference between front and rear orchestra views. Having sat in both sections this week, I think the rear section is a much better deal. However, if you care about supertitles (which are in English when the operettas are sung in German), note that they are not visible from the back rows of the orchestra. That's why we did not even know that there were supertitles when we saw The Count of Luxembourg the other night. But that does not make much of a difference either because their supertitles turned out to be rather useless, just a very general summery of each scene, much like reading the synopsis in the back of the program. Some of the arias are translated word for word, but most opera goers are already familiar with the arias; it's the talking parts where we need detailed translation-- the parts which change from one production to another, often with allusions to current events thrown in, such as in the scene with the drunk warden right after the ball, or at the Eisensteins' house in the beginning, where all we got in the supertitles was a brief "Adele is trying to get the evening off" with no clue of what Rosalinde was saying about Adele's supposedly sick aunt to make the rest of the audience burst out laughing.

Anyway, I loved the music and the singing, so despite not understanding the jokes and not being accustomed to Orlofsky as a "trouser role" (the prince was sung by an old man in the version I grew up with), it was a delightful evening.

http://images54.fotki.com/v242/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5008e-vi.jpg

Hi Fifi, I'm so happy to see that you've continued on with this wonderful trip report. You're transporting me back to Vienna again with your descriptions and photos. That is a very lovely fabric/souvenir that you got. Are you planning to make it into something?

I'm sorry to hear that the Otto Wagner Wienplan is a dud. It looked/sounded so promising on the website.

Last full day: MAK, Lemon Hill, and a fiery end

Because it's free on Saturdays, Mom went to MAK (the Museum of Applied Arts) the morning before we arrived last weekend, and we went today. In hindsight, that worked out very well, as she disliked this museum and did not stay long, while I adored the furniture collection and remained for hours (could have spent days if I had the time).

Unlike the Leopold Museum, MAK does not allow photography. It does have a large database on its website where you can look through thousands of prints and sketches, but very few photos of its furnitures are on there. I especially enjoyed the room with the 2 rows of chairs silhouetted behind screens http://www.mak.at/e/sammlung/schausammlung/raum04_06.htm , the Wiener Werkstatte archive http://www.mak.at/e/sammlung/schausammlung/raum06_01.htm , and the Moser furniture.

Here was some confusion: I know from Fodorite YK's trip report that Klimt's drawings for the Stoclet Friezes were not on display when she went in spring 2009. Mom, when declaring the museum not worth visiting earlier this week, also said that "the Klimt drawings" were not there (and I assumed she meant the Stoclet panels). But we did see them today-- all but one panel was there, unless I mistook some temporary replacement for the real drawings? I did look around carefully, and there were no signs saying they were reproductions, so either Sis and I got really lucky and they were put back just this week, or Mom missed a whole section while jet-lagged (but I thought she said she asked a guard, who said they weren't on view). Aren't those the frieze drawings on the right side of this photo? http://www.mak.at/sammlung/schausammlung/images/raeume/197x197/jad.jpg

Before leaving the museum, we stopped at the design shop where I was going to buy this salad set http://www.makdesignshop.at/index.php?cat=9&id=193&offset=5&limit=1&view_mode=pic , a 1906 Josef Hoffmann design, whose price here is about half what Neue Galerie's shop in New York charges. Tip: if you want to shop at MAK, browse through the website before you go, because much of the merchandise is not displayed on shelves but stashed away in drawers-- they will show you if you ask, but you have to know what to ask for. The salad set turned out to be much bigger and heavier than I expected, so I decided to put off the purchase until my next trip, when I'll check a suitcase. Besides the serving set, they also had a lot more goodies stashed away that weren't shown on the website, and Sis, who cooks and entertains more, bought sets of Hoffmann flatware for eight. Now I wish I had at least gotten a pair of mocha spoons.

From MAK, we went across the street to Cafe Prückel. This place was half butchered by a "renovation" in the 1950s. Fortunately, however, its airy Golden Hall in the back has been restored back to its 1903 Jugendstil splendor, and that's where we sat for lunch, surrounded by people reading foreign newspapers and patient furry companions resting at their feet. I can't remember the name of the dish I ordered-- shrimp with something similar to gnocchi (but not called that), and Sis had sausages wrapped in crispy bacon. Both were good.

Gold Jugendstil leaves on the ceiling:
http://images43.fotki.com/v1389/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5037e-vi.jpg
lunch:
http://images20.fotki.com/v527/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5041e-vi.jpg
http://images109.fotki.com/v791/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5043-vi.jpg
under a table:
http://images53.fotki.com/v52/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5032-vi.jpg

In the late afternoon, we dropped off the heavy loot at the hotel and took a long ride on bus 48A, out to the edge of the Vienna Woods. While the laurel-leafed top of Olbrich's Secession building was nicknamed the "Golden Cabbage," critics compared the dome of Otto Wagner's Church of St. Leopold am Steinhof, built in 1907 for the mental hospital on Baumgartnerhöhe, to a lemon. The area became known as Lemoniberg, and "going up Lemon Hill" was a euphemism for a psychiatric referral. The hospital is still in use today, and some websites say you may occasionally run into "colorful" characters on the grounds. The church is only open to the public on Saturday afternoons between 3 and 5pm.

the ornate lemon top and external details:
http://images9.fotki.com/v450/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5053e1-vi.jpg
http://images12.fotki.com/v213/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5060e-vi.jpg
http://images42.fotki.com/v1447/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5065e-vi.jpg
interior:
http://images110.fotki.com/v559/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5092e-vi.jpg
http://images18.fotki.com/v457/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5070e-vi.jpg

When we came out again, the church had a very different look, spot-lit against a dark blue sky, with Kolo Moser's stained glass backlit from within. http://images9.fotki.com/v448/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5102e-vi.jpg
http://images56.fotki.com/v547/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5101e-vi.jpg

Half way down the hill, in front of a theater, we wondered what the graveyard-like installation with tidy rows of glowing yellow sticks was. A search online revealed that it is a memorial to victims of medical experiments.
http://images18.fotki.com/v674/photos/7/852267/8136537/F11C5112-vi.jpg
http://www.lomography.com/magazine/locations/2009/07/29/steinhof-vienna

Interesting article online about the restoration of Steinhof:
http://download.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS014067360003556X.pdf?id=4d037fefcb72946c:16926def:127d122b55a:-6d2a1270524840302

Back in Innere Stadt, we stopped by the Staatsoper, where Act I of Gotterdammerung was already underway, to see if it's still possible to buy standing room tickets. The usher said there were still some tickets available, but I'd have to come back when the box office reopened at intermission. Patiently adding up the lengths of the acts, he figured out for me the exact times for the each intermission.

We then walked to Oberlaa Cafe for a dinner of salmon tartare and vegetable strudel, with an Esterhazy torte and
Kaiserschmarrn for dessert. And an Einspanner. How are we supposed to go back to regular coffee after tomorrow?

By the time we finished dinner, it was long past the first intermission, and the remaining standing-room tickets were sold out. Mom had told me that Rick Steves advised buying standing tickets from those leaving early. The second intermission was about 20 minutes away, and just as I was wavering over whether to wait or give up, three women came out. I asked to buy one of their tickets but they gave it to me for free. (Sis went back to the hotel to start packing; I never see the point of resting up for the flight home).

Most of the standing spaces had already been staked out, with a scarf tied across each. I found an unclaimed space on the back row next a side aisle. That turned out to be a good space because when I got tired of standing, I could sit down on the floor, lean over toward the aisle, and still see part of the stage. Wouldn't work for a ballet, but for an opera with more to hear than see, it's fine. (Months later, I learned from a Fodor's post that sitting on the floor/step is not allowed, and people have been thrown out for that, but this evening, with a 5 1/2-hr opera, the ushers must have given up half way through). In this production, the fire and Rhine water were videos projected on scrims-- very dramatic ending with the stage framed by swirling fire before being completely engulfed in waves.

cast and video clip:
http://www.staatsoper.at/Content.Node2/home/spielplan/spielplan_detail_mitwirkende.php?eventid=570199&archiv=

Day 16: Auf Wiedersehen, plus a pretty little detour

Sunday morning we had to leave. After a breakfast of Wiener Melange and Sacher Torte at VIE airport, Sis and I parted and flew home to our opposite coasts, but my vacation is not completely over yet-- there's still a little more sightseeing left.

My KLM flight from VIE landed a little early for my 6-hour layover at Schiphol, and I took the train into Amsterdam for a quick look. It was gray and rainy at the airport, but by the time I got to Centraal station the sky had turned bright blue, with the ground still glistening, and during the canal boat ride I was treated to wonderful glimpses of dramatic back-lit clouds as in Dutch Golden Age paintings.

Amsterdam Centraal:
http://images17.fotki.com/v374/photos/7/852267/8160218/F11C5213-vi.jpg
an unusual parking lot:
http://images52.fotki.com/v729/photos/7/852267/8160218/F11C5384-vi.jpg
canal boat ride:
http://images17.fotki.com/v297/photos/7/852267/8160218/F11C5241-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v563/photos/7/852267/8160218/F11C5266e-vi.jpg
http://images21.fotki.com/v194/photos/7/852267/8160218/F11C5316-vi.jpg
http://images17.fotki.com/v374/photos/7/852267/8160218/F11C5326-vi.jpg
http://images30.fotki.com/v477/photos/7/852267/8160218/F11C5338str-vi.jpg
http://images19.fotki.com/v276/photos/7/852267/8160218/F11C5350e-vi.jpg
http://images51.fotki.com/v424/photos/7/852267/8160218/F11C5351e-vi.jpg
http://images51.fotki.com/v751/photos/7/852267/8160218/F11C5372e-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v425/photos/7/852267/8160218/F11C5313str-vi.jpg

Of course, Auf Wiedersehen literally means au revoir, not adieu: another JFK-VIE ticket had already been booked, departing in exactly 2 months. A shorter sequel with a different focus and very different weather coming up soon.

Thanks for finishing this. What a nice bonus to do some sightseeing in Amsterdam.

I didn't realize the MAK shop has the online items stowed away. Next time I'll make sure to check the site online before I go.

It's great that you managed to visit the Church of St. Leopold am Steinhof. I wasn't able to fit that in on my trip.

Aren't those the frieze drawings on the right side of this photo? http://www.mak.at/sammlung/schausammlung/images/raeume/197x197/jad.jpg

Yes. When I was there, the area was roped off and nothing was on that wall.