Wildenstein Gallery - Monet Exhibit

Yesterday was the first of the "summer Friday's" that I get to enjoy this year. My workplace allows each employee seven Friday half-days (paid) from Memorial Day to Labor Day in which to choose from. I got to leave at 1 o'clock, and headed uptown to the Wildenstein Gallery for the Claude Monet exhibit. I found out about this exhibit from a travel forum, and thankfully, got there a week before it was to end.

Anyone who was around yesterday knows that it was hot, hot, hot. In the city, it's even more of a killer, and being uptown near all the traffic and all those emissions, made it absolutely unbearable. I didn't realize there would be a long line to get in. And standing there waiting with the sun beaming down on you, makes one even more irritable. Especially once they get inside and are herded like cattle throughout the whole entire exhibit. Regardless, it was exquisite and I'm glad to have gone.

So, there were sixty, count 'em sixty, Monet's on display! These spanned from his early works right on down to the later ones. A few of the later works somewhat resembled Jackson Pollack's (to me anyway) and were far removed from the Monet's that many (including myself) are accustomed to seeing. The later works were not really to my taste, but still, there were some classics and some drop dead gorgeous paintings.

Back to the forum. I had to laugh when one poster accused some of the pieces in this exhibit of being "not of museum quality". What!? Since when is a Monet not museum quality? Okay, there are bound to be some that aren't to one's taste, but, come on!

I had to laugh when a forum member posted this in response to that silliness: "Suddenly it's all very clear . . . Maybe next time you're in town they can trot out a nice Thomas Kinkade for you."

Another highlight of the day, was that I discovered I was near Le Pain Quotidien, a Belgian bakery/coffeehouse. Since I love all things Belgium, and I wanted to try this place out, I figured I'd stop in and grab a sweet. By this point, I was too tired to eat in, but I took note of the atmosphere (they utilize a communal table for dining) and made a mental note that I would definitely stop in again sometime soon. I ended up ordering an Pain au Chocolat with a Brussels tea. Both were lovely, and I need to practice my future orders in French. There were some French speaking staff behind the counter, and frankly, I felt a little self conscious that I don't speak any language other than English. And I hardly manage that with considerable ease!