Not the best day for museums…

Up this morning about 7:30, and down for breakfast about 8:30 am.  I actually didn’t have a great night --- jet-lag, I’m assuming, and Robert was up and down a bit as well.  UGH!  Breakfast on -1 level was very good, just like yesterday.  Scrambled eggs, meats, cheeses, fresh fruit, yogurt, and cereals available.  Certainly something for everybody!

 

Back upstairs and out the door about 9:15 am, first over to Luxembourg RER station to re-validate our cards for today, and then over to the 21/27 bus stop to head down the hill.  We got off at Les Ecoles and walked from there to the 63 Cluny stop.  Only had to wait a few minutes there, and we were whisked away to the Institute of the Arab World.  I was worried that we would be late for our 10 am reservation, but with the rapid bus service, we actually arrived 5 minutes early!  

 

There are two different exhibitions going on now, and we hit the Gaza exhibition first.  This presented briefly over 5,000 years of Wadi Gaza history in stories and artifacts.  Turns out that Gaza was initially an important seaport on the Mediterranean, at the center of caravans coming in from India and the silk roads as well as Turkey and Mesopotamia.  Eventually, though, Gaza was bypassed by other routes – primarily maritime ones, making Gaza a much less important village.  Many civilizations passed through that way though – Philistines, Greek, Persian, Byzantine and Muslim among them.  There is currently sporadic excavation being done at an ancient Monastery, which was well presented visually, but most work now – when any can be carried out – is in the form of rescue archaeology, trying to save whatever has not already been destroyed by war.  Very, very sobering to view.

 

Iron age artifacts from Gaza

Roman era

Roman era

Roman era

Muslim era

From this exhibition we went upstairs to see Cleopatra – and here, I have to admit, was where the Institute really and totally let me down.  I have known for a long time that there has never been a great deal of information about Cleopatra VII, the last leader of the Ptolomy line of Pharohs in Egypt.  (Alexander the Great included Egypt in his world domination, and when he died so unexpectedly in the far east, his domain was divided up among his generals at the time.  One of these generals, Ptolomy, was “given” Egypt and proclaimed himself Pharoh at that time.  Cleopatra VII was his descendent.)  To summarize briefly, she somehow disposed of at least two “brother” husbands, and when Julius Caesar came to call, she ended up bearing his child, Caesarion (Caesar, Jr.)  After Caesar was assassinated, Cleo VII returned to Rome and eventually took up with Marc Anthony, with whom she had three children.  They eventually squared off against Octavian in the battle of Actium, and lost – and eventually both Cleopatra and Marc Anthony ended up committing suicide.  The Egyptian empire was lost to Octavian, who then proclaimed himself as Emperor Augustus.  

 

So … as we all know, history is written by the Victors, and Augustus wasted no time in proclaiming and writing that Cleopatra was certainly, as the saying used to be “no better than she should be.”  Where in fact, Cleopatra VII was a very strong and powerful ruler who did well for her people and tried very hard to protect the sovereignty of Egypt. 

 

Unfortunately, very little remains of Cleopatra.  Her palace is believed to have been destroyed by earthquakes, although archaeologists have found the remains of what may be part of her palace submerged off the coast of Alexandria today and are attempting to salvage various pieces.  Additionally, the joint tomb of Marc Anthony and Cleopatra has never been discovered.  So … mysteries galore!

 

Don't forget the snake...

An Egyptian crown in gold

This exhibit, I regret to say, was very poor, and certainly not what I would have expected from a world-class museum.  First of all, there was a display of Ptolomaic luxury items that Cleopatra “may” have seen/used/known of.  This included a bit of jewelry as well as cosmetic items.  Then there were several busts of Roman leaders and possibly Cleopatra herself.  This was about as close to Cleo as we got, as we then drifted on to various French paintings of the stylized and mythic Cleo – and let’s not forget the snake!  Moving on from that was a HUGE screen showing clippings from all the Cleopatra movies made over time, starring primarily Liz Taylor front and center.  However, did you know that Claudette Colbert was also once Cleo?  I didn’t!  As was Theda Bara and Sophia Loren!  There were others of course… After that came a display of Cleo costumes on stage and screen, and we drifted into Cleo on blinged water bottles and phone cases and finally, Cleopatra in advertising.  By this time, I just wanted out.  Sorry to say, but I was completely turned off by what I had hoped would be a serious presentation!  But, as my friend Anne always says:  Oh well! 

 

Back out onto the gray and raining streets of Paris, and bused back to the hotel!  In now for a nap, and then out a bit later to do some walking before we head to Lazare for dinner at 6 pm.  

m

xxx

 

Bonjour!  Back from a simply sensational dinner!  But first, the journey there!  I had read about Bistro Lazare in the NY Times, run by chef Eric Frechon, a Michelin starred chef.  It sounded wonderful, so I booked a table for us this evening at 6 pm.  We set out about 5 for the 27 bus, wanting to make sure we had enough time … well … good thing we did!  As we crossed the street, there were 3 Number 21 buses there, and they all had unloaded all their passengers!  Upon inquiry, we were told that there was a “manifestation” and that was it for the night!  So!  Then came our bus, a 27 – which did the same – with the same excuse!  So, what’s going on!?  The receptionist at our hotel explained that a “manifestation” was a Protest!  But on what and where and for how long, who knew?!  So, at the suggestion of our receptionist, we headed instead to the Luxembourg RERstation on the other street, and down into the bowels of the earth.  Took the RER-B 2 stops to Chatelet, which seems to be a HUGE crossing point for everyone – no train station involved – just hordes of people and lots of changing points!  Had to walk about 5 minutes to get to the 14 Metro Line, which took us in three stops to Gare St. Lazare.

 

Once in St. Lazare, there was a huge shopping mall encompassing the train station, with very little signage, but I inquired in a pharmacy, and the young girl there told me I needed to head down one level – and le voila!  There was Lazare!  Seated in a nice location, although, like Entrecote, there must have been all of 3-4 inches between tables, if that!  There were two guys already eating next to us and the wall, who seemed to be very much enjoying their meal – always a good sign!

 

We were started off with a portion of very tasty hummus and bread; yummy.  I had a glass of champagne with it, and R had a glass of St. Emilion.  We both ordered from their “signature menu” – appetizer, entrée and dessert for 49€ each.  For starters, R had their Royal sea bream carpaccio, lemon olive oil and pink peppercorns, and I had their chicken and foie gras pate en croute, with pickled beetroot.  We both ordered the same main course:  Golden seared chicken breast, mushrooms and baby potatoes – incredible!  Truly, the French have the best chicken on the planet!  For dessert, I ordered the chef’s specialty, Paris-Dauville, which is a cake with a caramel sauce; very light and delicious!  R had their candied apple with butter and sugar, and vanilla ice cream.  Truthfully, everything was amazing!  I also had a glass of Sancerre with my chicken, which complimented it beautifully.  Absolutely NO room for anything else!

 

Our hummus starter

My fois gras

R's sea bream

Fabulous chicken!!

My Paris-Deauville cake!

R's baked apple!

Turns out the fellows next to us were dining prior to going to tonight’s France vs. South Africa (Springboks) rugby match!  We had a delightful conversation and a very, very enjoyable evening!

 

Back then on the Metro 14 to the RER-B and home by 8:30 pm.  Now I need to get this posted and then pack everything up, as we leave for CDG tomorrow morning at 4 am … UGH!

 

So, that’s it for today!

Lots of love,

m

xxx