Week 24 comprised of many things but mainly the wonders of time with long-distance friends, IKEA hanging trays, quiet museums and watching a bunch of folks play petanque. Listened to a lot of brat.

Over the past week and this one, I visited a few of my friends who are based in London/Paris. We rarely get to hang out in the easy and pointless way that most friendships are made as kids/students, so whatever time we have to pointlessly hang out, cook, and wander about is precious to me.

Random walks (not in the probability theory type of way):

1. Richmond Park -> Richmond Hill -> Richmond Hill Bakery (great to sit outside and watch)

Wanted to see deer and then got hungry, so I looked for the closest food place and ended up walking towards Richmond Hill Bakery. I didn’t expect to pass by Richmond Hill, which has a great view and probably even looks even more beautiful at sunset. I saw the first wagtail of my life walking about outside Richmond Hill Bakery. Some guy asked me to help him watch his bike, so I did (but honestly I’d be too slow to chase after anyone if someone actually tried to steal his bike).

2. IKEA Madeleine -> IKEA Rivoli

I wanted to go find a hanging tray - or as IKEA France calls it, the PÅLYCKE Panier à accrocher (it’s very useful!!) for G’s kitchen as it has really little storage space, and went to the first IKEA I saw on Google. It was out of stock there, so I decided to check the next IKEA that was in stock and realised it was a 30 minutes’ walk away. This inadvertently ended up becoming a touristy walk as these two IKEAs are on the two ends of the Jardin des Tuileries. I also came across Koya that does a great set meal with 2 onigiri + a mochi waffle + miso soup.

Why I’m a Museé Marmottan Monet truther

Museé Marmottan Monet is dedicated to Monet, and is way less crowded than the Musée de l’Orangerie. Of course you’d have to go to the latter if you want to see the gigantic murals of water lilies, but if you’ve been there before and want to see something else - give the Marmottan Monet a go. They have a really extensive Monet collection thanks to a donation from Michel Monet and also feature other Impressionists like Berthe Morisot:

Berthe Morisot, Le Cerisier (Wikimedia)

Part of the museum experience depends on the crowd. It’s a bit hard to enjoy works when there are a lot of people around, but if you go to the Marmottan Monet on a weekday morning as I did, you are guaranteed to have seats to sit down and stare at the lilies.

Look how empty!

Monet and late blooming

In the basement where the Monet permanent collection is located, there’s this huge wall with a timeline of Monet’s life. I found this timeline weirdly comforting after reading the parts about his late 20s. Note that Monet was born in 1840.

Where this photo starts, Monet is 25. He has a pretty challenging time from 25-30 as he debuts in the Salon (“the official, juried art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts”¹), but ends up having to move back home to live with his family after having financial difficulties and also faces a few rejections by the Salon. Then the Franco-Prussian war breaks out.

The Water Lilies series which he is probably best known for was painted from the 1890s onwards. This means he started this series in his 50s (since he was born in 1840). Maybe your best work is ahead of you.

The strangeness of rest

Being able to rest and see my friends was really valuable, but also leaves me feeling very odd. I find it strange how by an accident of birth, I get to hang out with my friends and live in a place with reasonable healthcare when people are facing genocide.

There is a comfort in self-preservation that I can’t relax in. Right now I’m unemployed, and it’s really easy to make excuses about not donating or redistributing my money but it’s honestly quite flimsy and I try not to fall back on such things. I used to make excuses about how I can’t talk about my personal views because I was afraid of being fired (used to work/intern in academia/government), but that’s fallen away now too. I can give my time and money and must continue to do so, especially when states can’t be counted on to do the right thing.