On this trip, I decided to go to the other side of the Eiffel Tower, Trocadero. It's a long metro ride from where I am, about 11 stops. But I do better on subway systems than on streets, especially in these cities where streets just change names for no reason or go off in another direction. Also, there's just too many "places" here, those circular traffic areas with statues in the middle. Once all the streets converge at one of those places, they can resume in any direction. It's confusing.
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| One of those Pesky Places--this one's Republique |
On the way, I got a seat on the Metro right away. The trains going to the Eiffel Tower are old--no lights to tell you which stop you're going to and no announcements. This line had the "Franklin Roosevelt" stop which Lola said she would never ride on again since how they say "Franklin Roosevelt" is unintelligible; but she could have gone since they didn't say it at all. Getting out of the Eiffel Tower stop is easy with an escalator and sign that says "Eiffel Tower."
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| Eiffel Tower from Trocadero |
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| My first (and probably last) selfie; turns out it's all about me, not that Tower |
After wandering around for awhile, I decided to go to the Palais de Tokyo since I had never been there and it's just a short walk on Avenue du President Wilson. That street is right across from the Eiffel Tower; at the place, of course, it continues on the other side of the street. Still, it was fairly easy to find.
The art is ultra-modern in this museum. Currently, there's an exhibit called "Inside" which promises to take you inside the art. You walk through room by room, not knowing how many rooms they'll be. It was a little creepy because I didn't know how anyone could get out if they decided they didn't like the exhibit. There were lots of different types of art and also film installations. Inside the rooms where the films were playing were two kinds of floors--some had concrete floors which I could see and some had black floors which I couldn't see. There were a few chairs in each room. I experienced a new "old age" phenomenon of being afraid to walk across the black floor because I couldn't see if the floor was flat or there were steps. I tried to let my eyes adjust but they never did...so I just followed in another person's footsteps. It occurred to me that it was unlikely that I'd fall into an abyss...but you can't be sure.
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| One of the interesting displays--these white figures are based on the images mental patients drew when asked to draw a tree (I read that in English) |
At one point walking through the maze of rooms, you round a corner and are confronted with a strobe light which, as we all know, can cause a grand mal seizure. No warning, no nothing. It occurred to me that anyone so afflicted would be stuck there, since it was almost impossible to retrace your steps.
After I finished my tour and I will say, there was a lot I liked in that exhibit, I overheard a great conversation between a nice-looking, young American and a museum attendant. As a preface, in Nicole's theater group is a man from Bosnia who immigrated to the US after years in Germany. He speaks about 5 languages. He is always complaining that all the French can speak some English; they're just stubborn when they don't. I have noticed that a little but it has never bothered me. Here's the conversation:
Young American: Do you speak English?
Museum Dude: No.
YA, somewhat sarcastically: What? You work in a museum. Aren't you trying to promote tourism?
MD: It is a choice.
After YA started to walk off in a huff, Museum Dude got out of his chair and asked him what he wanted and helped him find the rest of the museum. He seemed apologetic, unlike the Museum Dude I talked to in the Pompidou.
I've noticed that the restaurants and touristy stores seem to hire young people who speak a little in several languages while the museums seem staffed with older French guys who just don't want to try. It doesn't bother me since I rarely try my limited French. But, in YA's defense, I will say, if you don't want to cater to English speakers, why are all exhibits and tourist places explained in both French and English?
On the way to that museum, I realized I had walked to the Metro stop just prior to the Eiffel Tower stop. So I got on there, figuring it wouldn't be as crowded. That turned out to be wrong. I didn't get a seat for about 5 stops. The romance of riding the Metro wore off after the first day here but as I sat on that train for 20 minutes, I appreciated how really quick and efficient it is and for me, much less confusing than walking and reading a map.
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