Wearing out our shoes on our 8th day in Paris

I write this post for you...with fabulously sore calves.  It is the evidence of how much Adam and I have walked over the last couple of days, and consequently, how much we've seen!  We are thinking that we might need relaxation time after this vacation! 

Today,  we set our sites on the Centre Pompidou. It is Paris's "inside-out" modern art museum, notably the largest in Europe, with air conditioning ducts and escalators on the outside. 

The first gallery we saw was entitled "elles@centrepompidou",  a vast representation of women artists of the twentieth century.  This is where we spent most of our time.  It was incredibly moving and insightful to see the artistic output of women over the last century, as freedom of expression and also in response to the struggles they have gone through and still go through to have their art valued in the same way as their male counterparts. 

There were many fascinating pieces.  The one below is constructed entirely of toothpicks and stands at about 3 feet tall.  The artist's goal was to use the strength and stability of the toothpicks and essentially balance them against eachother to create this square structure.  She made the point of not using anything artificial, such as glue, to hold it together.  Only 4 people were allowed in the room at a time, due to the fragility of the piece.  What a shame if it was ever bumped!
Many more cool pieces can be seen in the slide show. 

We made our way to the top floor of the Pompidou, via the outdoor, but enclosed escalator, in order to get a great view of the city.   Seeing the Sacre-Coeur up on the hill never seizes to take my breath away.  This view on the top floor was our last stop in the Pompidou before heading down to the Fontaine de Stravinsky in the courtyard below, but not without briefly walking through the cool but expensive gift shop.  We gave our feet a little rest as we sat by the colourful statues in the fountain.

 

After Centre Pompidou, we directed ourselves towards the charming Marais district, jam packed with museums, shops, and cafes.  It being after 9 pm, a lot of the shops were closed, but the restaurants were quickly filling up.  We stopped for dinner at Little Italy Trattoria.  This definitely goes down as one of our favorites.  It was so busy, we sat at a table, just about elbow to elbow with the diners next to us.  Adam had a fantastic gnocchi dish, and a nice, light Italian beer, Moretti, to accompany it.  I started with an aperatif, the house Kir, and then enjoyed Tagliata balsamico.  It was a mouthwatering dish of balsamic-marinated, medium-rare steak, with pasta in a light balsamic sauce, with greens.  I can't not show you a picture!  We ate up the tiramisu so fast, that there is no picture to show of it! Trust me, it looked and tasted delicious.

Tomorrow's plans are a no-brainer.  We are going to party hard and celebrate Bastille Day alongside the locals, and undoubtedly, alongside tourists like ourselves.  Bonne nuit!