May 6
Dear Liza,
When we get to any city, of course we find the art museum. In France, these are called Les Musées des Beaux-Arts. So the other day, we set out for an arty adventure.
The Musée in Lyon is on the Presqu’île, the peninsula that is formed where the Rhône River and the Saône River both run south for a bit before converging. We crossed the Rhône on the Pont Morand and walked right into the middle of the city!
Le Musée is on a wide plaza called Le Place Terreaux, which also has the Hotel de Ville, or City Hall. The first thing that catches your eye is this magnificent, roaring, complicated fountain. Sculpted by August Bertholdi (who also did the Statue of Liberty), it shows France as a woman, riding a chariot pulled by four wild, energetic horses.
The horses represent the four great rivers of France, the Rhône, the Loire, Seine, and the Garrone, with France controlling them in a gushing, turbulent flood. We walked around and around, amazed at the details.
The building that houses the Musée is hundreds of years old and is as beautiful as the art inside. The first staircase is topped with statues that represent the Beatitudes ( “Blessed are they that …” verses from Luke in the New Testament), and were so interesting that it took us twenty minutes to get past them!
I won’t try and tell you about all the art, just let you know that their oldest item is from an early Egyptian dynasty thousands of years ago, and their newest is some crazy ceramics from the early 2000s.
Of course, I loved the paintings, but the variety of sculpture really knocked me out. This tall fairy like person, called Abandoned Psyche, was beautiful, sad and sweet.
This wind-swept figure is called Power of the Will and shows how we all feel sometimes, just standing as straight as we can in the winds of circumstances.
And on our way out, I found the one sculpture I would take home if I could. This slightly larger than life sized dog, resting sweetly, waiting for whatever adventure comes next. I can imagine he would be very satisfying to pet, after a long crazy day.
Because he’s a good dog.
Love,
Grandma Judy
Dear Liza 