Today is un jour férié en France – a public holiday. It’s Ascension Day, a Catholic festival day marking the official end of the Easter season. In Paris, they tend to lengthen these holidays through weekends, making them 4-day mini-vacations.

I mention this because it means a lot of things are closed or they’re just really non-specific about their hours of operation. For example, I was planning to go the Musée d’Orsay because there are two expositions there that I want to see. But when I checked online, the hours were listed like this:

Thursday 9:30AM – 9:45PM

(Ascension Day) – might affect these hours

It doesn’t get more « French » than that, does it !

Normally, they have extended hours on Thursdays, but they’re noncommittal today since it’s un jour férié. I laughed out loud, and decided to make other plans.

While I would never miss a chance to go to le Musée d’Orsay for their outstanding permanent collection (Impressionists alone!), they also have some of the most wonderful temporary exhibits, and it just so happens that they will be featuring pastellistes from Jean-François Millet to Odilon Redon, including Degas, Manet, Cassatt, Lévy-Dhurmer, and others.

…some hundred pastels from its collection of around 500 works in all.

“The 18th Century is regarded as the golden age of pastel. A medium second to none when it comes to rendering the effects of texture and velvety complexions, use of pastel was often restricted to portraiture. Although it fell out of fashion at the tine of the French Revolution, pastel enjoyed a revival between the second half of the 19th and early 20th century. “

“Neither drawing nor painting, pastel is a unique art providing an immediate relationship with the material. Composed of pure pigments, it rests in suspension on the paper’s or canvas’ grain. The resulting vibration is what creates its beauty, as well as its fragility. “

www.musee-Orsay.fr

There’s more to read on the museum’s site, as well as another lovely write-up on www.sortiraparis.com

The last time Orsay featured their collection of pastels was 2009, so I feel really fortunate to be here for this show as a pastelliste myself.

Alas, not today with those vague hours, plus it’s likely to be very crowded too, since it’s a public holiday.

Another exhibit at le Musée d’Orsay while I’m here will be featuring Manet and Degas, and I cannot wait to see that, as well.

My American friend Jennifer, is living here again (she jets back and forth, depending on Visa issues), and she’s in the 6th arrondissement as well this time, so we’ll be doing a lot of art things together. We’re planning to meet – prendre un verre – to catch up with each other’s lives, and then decide which day to visit le Musée de l’Orangerie (famous for Monet’s gigantic paintings of the water lilies) to see an exposition on Matisse. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of get-togethers!

On the home/apartment front, let’s just say it’s been challenging. You’ve read about the lack of curtains, heat, electricity, wifi, and TV, right? Well, I don’t have hot water either. So, yes, j’ai dois prendre une douche froide, which was PAINFUL. Everyone at the agency is working on everything – but I have had a pretty long list. (It takes a lot to upset me, but I was getting close.)

Let me add here, that this is the most lovely apartment I’ve stayed in to-date. It is beautifully furnished and appointed. It just was not ready for me when I arrived. Someone dropped the ball, and now they’re scrambling to set me up. I promise I’m fine, and making the best of it. It’s all part of the adventure – and I get to practice a lot of French. I worried they’d be closed for the holiday, but they answered when I called the main office. Honestly, they were alarmed by the hot water situation. I assured them I’d been receiving attention from the worker assigned to my case, but I admit I called the main number so they’d step it up a notch. I just made sure to say the employees were responsive and doing all they could.

For now, je pense que je ferai des œufs avec du fromage Brie, des oignons, et des tomates in this fabulous little kitchen.

I hope the stovetop works.

Update: It took me 30 minutes and countless videos to figure out how to turn on the fancy induction stovetop. It was not “registering” the pan I had set on it. When I finally thought to try the back burner (smaller) it started working immediately. It’s really not complicated, I just made it that way by trying the same burner over and over and over. LOL! No doubt it’s a safety feature. And the cooking itself is fast, NEAT, and super easy to clean. I get it.

LATER THAT SAME DAY…

Since as I’ve mentioned it’s un jour fériée, I was surprised to see the scaffolding workers back outside my window. They started late. But I was more surprised when they knocked. OK, here we go.

They motioned, asking me to CLOSE the window (push it forward), but to me in revers it looked like he wanted me to PULL it, which I did, and which opened it. They really laughed. So I introduced myself and we had a nice conversation. I am unfamiliar with these windows and how they lock so I literally asked the guy to come inside and show me, which he did. Then he exited and I locked it behind him. They needed to do some cleaning or whatever and needed the window to be firmly shut.

One of these gents was wearing a NY Yankees hat, and I asked if he liked baseball. Well, he said, I like the logo. LOL! Can’t disagree; it’s iconic.