Frayed leather

What a devastating day! The loop that holds the shoulder strap on my Scaramanga vintage leather satchel broke today. It was very upsetting and I’m not sure I’ll get over it. I’ve written to Scaramanga to see if they can fix it.

Bag aside, I have to wonder why a world class exhibition space feels no need for a cafe. Seriously. A restaurant is fine…I guess, though, and to be honest, I wonder at the sort of person who has three courses at an art gallery in the middle of the day. But I would have thought a cafe – a very simple affair with, perhaps a lounge or two, uncomfortable but stylish bar stools and a view – would be de rigueur these days. Especially at an amazing place like Fondation Louis Vuitton with it’s remarkable architecture and multiple terraces.

Maybe Frank Gehry said he didn’t want something as necessary as a cafe in his wondrous cathedral to modern art. And the building is truly amazing. It’s all about design and looks somehow unreal.

flv01

And I went there today with Karen because we couldn’t get tickets to see Banksie’s Dismaland at Weston-super-Mare. Instead, we booked seats on the Eurostar and flew through the Channel Tunnel…as far as Lille where we made an unscheduled stop.

We were told there was a technical problem with the train and we’d have to change onto another one in order to proceed. Thinking this was too sparse an explanation, I tweeted Eurostar and asked them directly what was going on. Here is the Twitter exchange:

That was the first half of their reply. The second half read: “…they could continue their journey. You then had to change onto the faulty train which could only return the way it came. We hope that explanation made sense?” I told them it did and thanked them very much.

Karen reckoned the driver forgot his passport and had to go back to Paris. Whatever the reason, however far-fetched, it made us late getting into Gare du Nord (about the same time as it would have taken us to get to Weston-super-Mare) which was fine at the time but did mean, eventually, that we didn’t have time to see anything else in Paris other than the Fondation Louis Vuitton.

Still, we took the Metro out to Sablon and walked through a rather lovely and seemingly well-heeled part of Paris finding the gallery sitting in a corner of unbridled greenery not often seen in the French capital. I mean, normally, it’s all topiaried to within an inch of its life and the ground is covered in pebbles. Whoever decided to put it where they put it was right on the money. It looked perfect.

The building rises like a ghostly and skeletal ship as you first spy it through the trees. And then the wind hit us, Then the torrential rain. It also hit a long line of motor scooters, sending the last one flying. In fact, the wind was so strong that Karen was walking horizontally and the rain so heavy that fish started appearing on the footpath. The umbrellas supplied by the gallery were a very pleasant thought.

Safely inside, we wandered all over the place (looking for a cafe then just wandering…and wondering in my case) in order for Karen to suss it out for work. And when I say we wandered all over, I’m not kidding. We visited every square inch.

flv02

Of the art…I have to say there wasn’t a lot that really moved me. Of course, the Warhols are wonderful and there was a man standing in mud which I rather liked but the rest didn’t really enthuse me that much.

10 New York Jews by Andy Warhol

10 New York Jews by Andy Warhol

Eventually and starving, we left the Fondation Louis Vuitton and went looking for food. We found a small patisserie which prepared sandwiches and made strange tasting macaroons. This was perfect. Or at least my ham and cheese baguette was.

It was then back on the Metro, back to Gare du Nord and, finally, back to London (this time directly).

And what did I think of my Day in Paris? It was great seeing the gallery but I don’t think I’ll be in a hurry to take only a day again. It was all a bit rushed and coffee was needed.

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2 Responses to Frayed leather

  1. hankyoyu says:

    Well you didn’t tell me that on Tuesday. Mind you I agree about no cafe terrible.
    Love Mum xx

  2. Mirinda says:

    The building looks astounding – I’d love to see it and would just ignore the art.

    What kind of technical fault means a train can only go backwards?

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