Paris: July 16

Villa Savoye, Musee de Orsay,
& Arc de Triomphe
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Thursday July 16, 2009

We head off in the morning to take a train, followed by a bus to the Villa Savoye. Villa Savoye was designed by Le Corbusier in 1928. It is built following the 5 points of architecture thought by Corbusier to be the basic principles of modern design. It was supposed to be the perfect house. We get there and I am surprised to see that it is not much more that a rundown white box. It’s interesting to walk around the house and I am amazed to think that he designed this modern building that would still be cool today, so many years ago. I don’t really appreciate the whole thing until I sit down and sketch it. As I start looking at the shapes, I see how the bottom floor just disappears to make the 2nd floor look as if it is floating among the trees. It is very beautiful.

Our entire group goes out to lunch at the restaurant Kong designed by Philippe Stark. It is crazy. Faces of girls stuck on clear ghost chairs, pink and florescent green paint, and a large poster of a Chinese girl on the ceiling. It is very funky and really fun, but very different. Josie, Becky and I sit with Darrin and Suzie and we all order the cheeseburger. It is great, exactly the food I’ve been craving.

We finally make it to the museum that I have been waiting for, the Musee de Orsay. It is filled with paintings by Edgar Degas, Vincent Van Gogh, Mary Cassatt, Georges Seurat, Claude Monet, Renoir. Paintings that I have loved all my life. Artists that have been my idols, whose paintings I have tried to mimic. It is a fulfilling moment in my life. I feel as if I am the luckiest person to be able to experience art in such a personal way, to be able to see these pieces that have influenced my life, that helped inspire me to a path of art and design, a path which has defined much of who I am.

In the evening, Josie, Scott and I walk down the Champs Elysees toward the Arc de Triomphe. We hike up the hundreds of stairs to the very top and watch as the sun sets over Paris. It is so beautiful and peaceful. Four years ago, I stood in the same spot, and it was the best and most vivid memories I have of Paris, and I was so happy to do it again.