Betsy's Briefings: The Montmartre Cemetery and Musee de L'Orangerie

The Montmartre Cemetery is within walking distance of our apartment. We were there three years ago, and felt like it was worth another look. It's one of four municipal cemeteries built outside the city of Paris and this one opened January 1, 1825. There are very new graves and very old graves, side by side.

Some of the older graves have fallen into sad disrepair.

Some graves are very grand but most are simple.

Some are unique and really stand out.

We discovered Margaret Kelly Lebowici, "The Little Bluebelle". She was the founder of the Bluebell
Girls, who danced at the Follies Bergere. She and her dancers became famous at the Lido.

Among the monuments we found was Edgar Degas, a painter, sculptor and one of the founders of
Impressionism. More than half of his works are of dancers.

Not far from Degas, we found Jean Bernard Leon Foucault, a scientist known for attaching the ball to the ceiling of the Pantheon to demonstrate the movement of the earth.

All the cats are the guardians of the cemetery and

if you live in these apartments, at least you'll have very quite neighbors!

We find a bus to take us to the Tuileries just as it starts to rain. As we got off the bus the rain stopped. There was a lovely outdoor restaurant in the Tuileries where we each got a cheeseburger and a beer.

It started to pour, again lunch in the rain!

Umbrellas up, we're off to the Musee de L'Orangerie.

Before entering we came upon a Rodin.

We saw this one before too, but it's the best place to see so many masters up close, and the centerpiece--Claude Monet's "Water Lilies". The rooms (2) were designed by Monet to create a space between the hustle and bustle of the city and his works. There are eight panels in these two rooms to show the passing of the hours from sunrise to sunset.

We also saw the Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume's Collection that included works by Renoir, Cezanne, Modigliani, Matisse, Picasso, Derain, Soutine and others.

PIERRE-AGUSTE RENOIR 1841-1919