Off the beaten track

Josh, Jessica and I made a day of seeing things that were a bit off the beaten track. 

We began at the Cartier Foundation.  The building is glass and steel with trees growing inside.  Jean Nouvel was the architect.  2 floors for exhibits and 6 for offices. The foundation was conceived in 1984 to create a laboratory where contemporary artists would be able to creative innovative works.  Their exhibits would then be brought to public attention.  Once the foundation becomes committed to an artist, they continue to support their work throughout their careers.  To me, that is the coolest part. 

Cesar, who was a good friend of Jean Nouvel, is the current exhibit at the Cartier Foundation.  He was a sculptor who worked with polyurethane, metal, plastics and was a big thinker.  Honestly, I did not know of Cesar until we saw the collection.  Interesting and educational but the key is how the space plays so well in showing his work.  My favorite piece were 3 sculptures outside that were literally bricks of recycled paper.  Obviously making a statement.  You can see the enormous size compared to Josh standing in front.

As always, we got off to a late start so it was time to grab some lunch.  We headed over to Marché des Enfants Rouge which is a covered market place in the Marais that houses a variety of small owned restaurants from pizza
to Moroccan to Japanese.  We went to Chez Taeko.  3 Japanese women appear to run the place.  I love that the menu is on blackboards written in Japanese and French. We got there around 2ish and they had already run out of a few things on the menu.  We all ended up with the tuna
sashimi and a small bowl of poached fish in miso to split.  Delicious.  I liked how they served the tuna.  Small slices of raw tuna that had been marinated in ginger served over tiny slices of cucumber and warm rice with a pinch of ginger and a dollop of wasabi on the top side of the bowl.  It was a nice change of pace from what we have been eating.  Even had the black sesame ice cream for dessert that was sprinkled with green tea powder.  A huge thumbs up. 

We wandered through the area as we have many times before and ended up not only getting Josh a very cool pair of sneakers but found a bunch of great photography stores.  One particular store had many vintage cameras for sale.  Might have to return.  Between the galleries, the stores and the cafes, I really like this area of town.  The
motorcycles are everywhere here.  They really rule the road.  We saw this one parked on the side walk with the Obama ’08 sticker which we all got a kick out of.

We also walked down Rue de Rosiers where all the Jewish bakeries are.  Supposedly, Goldbergs, which is now closed (you can see the building just boarded up) was the only Jewish deli/bakery that last through the Holocaust.  Very sad to see it closed.

It was imperative to get in one more museum before the day came to a close.  We went over to
the Museum Les Arts Decoratifs.  I’d have spent some more time there but Josh had already hit the wall so we went to see what we came for, the Valentino exhibit.  If you love fashion, as I do, you’ll love this exhibit.  Breathtaking.  Clothes from different genres that are so beautiful and creative.  The workman ship is a total wow.  I’d love to take one of the gowns home, put it in my closet and just take it out daily to gawk at.  I was able to sneak a picture in and then was scolded by the guard. 

Got home, relaxed a bit and got ready for dinner.