Musee Eugene Delacroix

 Bon jour, mes amies,

I'm back early for two reasons. One, I thought I deserved an easy day, and two, I wanted to be back for the bike race because Il Giro d'Italia starts today--in Hungary even though it's the Tour of Italy, but they'll end up in Italy next week.  I have not been able to watch this race for years, so I'm excited.  I am a major cycling fan and know the terms in five languages.  If I seem distracted while composing the blog you'll know why.

I mostly like Eugene Delacroix's work, and I thought that a visit to his old house would be easy and fun, and it's on the museum card.  I consulted google maps and worked out a route.  Being me, I missed my turn and took the long way around.  Also being me and a woman of my age, I sometimes develop an urgent need for facilities.  In the United States finding them is easy, but this is Paris.  I ended up going into a nice looking hotel and asking humbly, and I was directed very kindly to what I needed.  Parisians can be very gracious.

The Musee Eugene Delacroix is not very imposing.  It sits in a corner of  pleasant quiet square, and the artist lived and worked there for many years.  After his death, his friends had to move fast to keep the house from being torn down.  The museum is not very large because he lived in a smallish house with a garden.  One enters into a courtyard and then into the house.  The visit starts up stairs and from there one goes outside to his small studio and then the lovely garden full of roses, which was designed and planted by Delacroix himself.

His grand works are in other places.  I'll be seeing some tomorrow at the Louvre if all works out.  What is mostly on display are works he did for fun or to develop some techniques.  He was a tremendously skilled artist, so even his scribblings have a life and power to them.  I would not mind having any of them on my wall at home.  He was also fascinated or even obsessed with tigers and other big cats.

Evidently they want to encourage visitors, so even if you don't have a museum pass, your admission to the Louvre also includes this museum.

I got back in plenty of time to drink water, make some green tea (research suggests it bolsters the immune system, and I'll take all the help I can get), and take my shoes and contact lenses off.  For apero I have a hard cooked egg and some olives to go with my kir royale.  I'll have tuna for dinner.

Ok. Citadines needed to test their alarm system.  When I looked outside, a very nice young man reassured me everything was ok.