Jeff Koons has a really cool show at the Chateau de Versailles and I got to see it on my last weekend in Paris. The show itself was awesome. His art hanging in the gilded salons looked so brilliant and out of place - the contrast was mucho cool.

Now, the Chateau itself is kind of a waste of time. First of, the whole thing is really just kind of gaudy. And then, this being France, everything is extremely poorly organized. You wait in line for over an hour only to be told the Chateau closes early because of a private party which will shut off the entire thing (incidentally, the party was the official opening of the Koons show). The audioguides had the most inane commentary ever. In the Galerie des Glaces, it said something to the effect "there are 13 windows, 13 big mirrors; back in the day it was used as a main corridor for the Chateau". That's it. WTF? Nothing about the gilded panels, the sculptures, the painted ceiling, etc.

Oh well. If anything the show was cool just to hear people's reactions. "You call that art?!" and "They lost their minds!" were the mottos du jour.




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Went and hit a couple of sights today, since the weather was so amazing (although a tad on the too hot side, which means a Métro smelling even lovelier than usual). Below are some pics from the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Grande Galerie de l'Evolution at the Natural History Museum.

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Tuesday was Scott's birthday and his last night in town, so we packed up a bottle of bubbly, disposable flutes, and headed for the Tower. We were met by a storm of epic proportions (which at least had the advantage of weeding out the tourists) but carried on and had a fab time.

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The stunning Promenade piece by Richard Serra at the Grand Palais. in one of the most imposing interior spaces in the city, the artist erected five 75-ton metal plates, engaging the visitor to stroll through the 14,000 sqm floor and gaze at the sun's reflections on the Cor Ten steel. Wild.

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Sorry for the lack of posts. Here's a bunch of photos from when Josh was in town.

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Since I've been in Paris, I've actually had a little more free time than when I am back home in Chicago (since here, I have no school to take up all my time), so I figured I was (over)due at the gym. Turns out I could get a one-day pass to l'Usine from work, so off I went.

Now, l'Usine is pretty much THE gym to be at in Paris nowadays. At least inasmuch as Parisians are supposed to be seen at a gym - they tend to prefer the coffee/ cigarette/ walking 5 million stairs in the subway diet. Still, the French are discovering the joys of fitness - they should be warmly encouraged in that endeavor.

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Living room and view from it (looking at the back of the Opera), and balcony on the other side of the place. Can't say I'm not spoiled :)

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Went for a quick run this morning up to Montmartre. A few quick things:

• The famous steps that run alongside the funicular are already way up in the hill, so I walked them (I do enjoy having my heart beat inside of my chest, instead of out)
  
• I am so terribly, terribly out of shape, it's not even funny
  
• The view from there, as the sun is rising, and without a tourist in sight, is well worth the effort

Now I need to find a gym that doesn't suck and doesn't cost of fortune. The two I'm eyeing (Waou and l'Usine) are EUR 450 and 650 a quarter... Yeaahh... Maybe I'll just stick to running up the hill...

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Got to Paris 5 days ago (I can confirm that Business Class really is the way to travel...) and am getting used to the home country again, even though I often feel like I'v really become completely Americanized. Take my trip to the swimming pool last night.

Now, Parisians are big on swimming, and the city offers 37 city pools that cost like a buck to get into. Most are, of course, in complete disrepair, but some are downright luxurious. And they usually have "real" lap length - 25 meters, not 20 yards... So I was really excited when I found out that there was one a block from my apartment, and that it was opened late on Wednesdays. Since they only allow Speedos (the idea being that you could potentially wear boarding shorts outside the pool, as regular shorts, so it's not hygienic - mmmkay), I tried on the few pairs I had at home in Chicago while packing my bags. They leave very little to the imagination (well, they're Speedos) and I'm really not in the kind of shape to wear them, but I tried to pick the least offensive ones and dumped them in my bag.

Cut to last night when, after a light dinner, I grabbed towel and Speedos and walked to the pool around 8pm. First surprise, it was really crowded - meaning doing actual laps would suck. The bigger surprise though came when I went into the locker room. It was unisex. With a row of cabins on one side, and a bunch of lockers on the other. And there, in front of everyone, were a few people doing the whole "I'll wrap a towel around my ass and pretend it's a cabin while I change". My Americanized mind was already tallying up the lawsuits this would cause in the US. I patiently waited for a cabin to free up and slipped into the aforementioned Speedos. I took a deep breath, and stepped out into the pool area.

As I had feared, the place was jam-packed with a bunch of people. Some people were actually quite fit, which is when Speedos really come in handy of course. There was one kid in particular, probably just old enough to vote, whose package, in pretty much full view, was almost comically, well, there. I reminded myself this was not that kind of place and refocused on the swimming part. I'm actually a fairly fast swimmer, believe it or not, and earned a bunch of gold medals as a kid (the only sport I ever not sucked at). I therefore went straight for the "fast lane", hoping I wouldn't bump into people too much. Turns out the French are full of themselves at the pool too, and the lane was painfully slow. I swam for 15 minutes and then got fed up with swimming right up to people asses and left.

I guess now I have to find a cool gym with a pool. Or go to the Ritz. I wonder if they'd let me get away with board shorts there.

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