[14 April]
Located in a former abbey on the Place Terreaux close to the Hôtel de Ville the Musée des Beaux-Arts is quite impressive. There's plenty of art with something to appeal to just about everyone. We spent about an hour-and-a-half focusing primarily on the art that appeals to us (see the photos that follow). In fact, we skipped the entire 1st floor (antiquities) -- we could only take so much culture in one fell swoop!
The courtyard is a lovely space with its own circle of sculpture and a wonderful place just to hang out.
We also tracked down the most famous of the city's murals, the Fresque des Canuts and ended the day with a walk through vieux Lyon (old Lyon) at the base of the hill overlooking the city (at the top of which is the basilica).
And speaking of photos this post has more than 70 of them!
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| Musée des Beaux-Arts |
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| Susie at work |
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| the main entrance |
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| Victor Hugo by Louis-Ernest Barrias |
We began our tour of the museum by heading down a level to the sculpture wing and found ourselves overwhelmed, and I mean that in a good way. Stunning works of art by sone of the world's greatest artists.
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| playwright Henri Becque by Auguste Rodin |
I was particularly struck by two pieces that I have seen before, in Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, and one in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first is by Alfred Boucher:
This next one should look familiar to fans of the Meijer Sculpture Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan:
And we've been across this bridge at least twice:
Leaving the museum I was struck by the juxtaposition of the museum door to the wonderful Bartholdi fountain across the Place.
Leaving this truly awesome creation we retraced our steps to the Metro and back home, stopping at our neighborhood boulangerie for a sandwich and a loaf of bread (thinking of breakfast tomorrow).
We followed the street until it met up with rue Saint-Jean which we took back to the Metro, taking our time because we can.
We sat outside the church for a few minutes to do a little people watching. It was a very short walk to the line D to Place Bellecour and then up rue de la Republique and home.
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| In the Fields by Alfred Boucher |
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| Ferdinand Barbedienne tomb in Père-Lachaise D53 |
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| Perseus and the Gorgon by Laurent-Honoré Marqueste |
This next one should look familiar to fans of the Meijer Sculpture Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan:
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| Eve by Auguste Rodin |
The third sculpture that I've seen before in a setting for which it was designed:
We then made our way up to the top floor and wandered through the many galleries of paintings from Italy, France and the Low Countries (pays bas) from the 16th-19th centuries.
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| Monument aux Morts by Albert Bartholomé |
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| Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, D04 |
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| 1st Communion by René de Saint-Marceaux |
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| Venus with a Necklace by Aristide Malliol |
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| Lying Bacchante by Denis Foyatier |
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| Odalisque by Jean jacques dit James Pradier |
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| The Nymph of the Siene by Jean-Baptiste Vietty |
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| Juliette Recamier by Joseph Chinard |
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| Portrait of a Madwoman also called The Monomania of Envy by Théodore Géricault |
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| Magdalena Bay Spitzbergen by by François-Auguste Biard (detail) |
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| Antoinette Oudiné by Hippolyte Flandrin |
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| A Soldier healed by a Nun in a cloister by Claudius Jacquand |
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| A French Soldier's Farewell by Michel Genod (detail) |
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| Lavinia Sweeting by Thomas Lawrence |
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| Portrait of a Woman by Palma Vecchio |
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| Young Girl with Blue ribbon by Auguste Renoir |
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| Dancers on the Stage by Edgar Degas |
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| Young Woman among the Flowers by Edouard Manet |
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| Marguerite Gauthier-Lathuille by Edouard Manet |
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| The Entrance of Grand Rue in Argenteuil, Winter by Claude Monet |
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| Rough Sea, Étretat by Claude Monet |
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| Young Peasant Woman from Nice, Celestine by Berthe Morisot |
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| Sailboats at the Harbor, Deauville by Eugène Boudin |
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| Trouville, The Harbor by Eugène Boudin |
And we've been across this bridge at least twice:
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| The Entrance to Guillotière Bridge in Lyon on a Rainy Day by Nicolas Sicard (detail) |
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| A Wedding at a Photographer's Studio by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret (detail) |
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| Adagio Appassionato by Albert Maignan (detail) |
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| The Reading by Henri Fantin-Latour |
Leaving the museum I was struck by the juxtaposition of the museum door to the wonderful Bartholdi fountain across the Place.
Created in 1987 the fresque des Canuts (Mural of the Canuts) covers some 1200 square meters and represents the life and spirit of the Croix-Rousse neighborhood. This must be seen to be believed!
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| everything you see on the end of this building is trompe-l'oeil |
Leaving this truly awesome creation we retraced our steps to the Metro and back home, stopping at our neighborhood boulangerie for a sandwich and a loaf of bread (thinking of breakfast tomorrow).
After a bit of down time it was back out, this time heading across the river to vieux Lyon. Before reaching the river we passed the Theatre des Celestins.
It was a short 5 minutes or so to the Pont Napoléon Bonaparte. Once over the river we were in the heart of old Lyon. (We had been here briefly once before when we came to take the funicular up the hill to the basilica.)
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| Theatre des Celestins |
It was a short 5 minutes or so to the Pont Napoléon Bonaparte. Once over the river we were in the heart of old Lyon. (We had been here briefly once before when we came to take the funicular up the hill to the basilica.)
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| the Place in front Saint-Jean church |
The tiny meandering rue Saint-Jean is home to a wealth of eateries, many touting themselves as genuine Lyonnais Bouchon, and of course to shops hawking jewelry and various souvenir bric-a-brac. Still, it's a very quiet place to walk once you're away from the crowds on rue Saint-Jean. To do that we slipped through the door at no. 54. . .
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| entrance to the traboule at no. 54 rue Saint-Jean |
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| one of the interior courtyards |
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| . . . and through the shortcut to rue de Boeuf |
We sat outside the church for a few minutes to do a little people watching. It was a very short walk to the line D to Place Bellecour and then up rue de la Republique and home.
This evening I prepared cod in a hobo pack (foil packet) with sesame oil, soy sauce and persillade (a delicious mix of dried parsley, shallot and garlic) accompanied by leftover rice and green bean mix.
Tomorrow we hope to take the hop-on/hop-off bus tour around the city and perhaps see one or two other locally famous mural paintings. Oh, and back to Les Halles for a proposed Susie project.
Stay tuned!
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