A Day at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco

 After recovering from our holidays in Paris, we got home to take care of business.  After getting all in order, we decided to take in a show at the Asian Art Museum in SF, about Japonsime.  As the sign says, how Japanese art influences western artists, particularly the Impressionists. 

 Most of the objects shown were made for the European market, and would not have been found in a Japanese household. 

 Below, a desk set -- completely unknown to the Japanese except as a product for western customers. 

 My favorite was this luminous vase.

What was interesting was not just the effect of Japanese art on western artists, but the reverse -- how Japanese artists were inspired by the works from the west. 

Back to Berkeley

A la prochain, Paris!

So tonight, the evening before our departure, we finally did it – we finally got to the Grande Roue, the gigantic ferris wheel in the Place de la Concorde.  

Unlike the last time we happened by on New Year’s Day when there were mobs of people snaking around in lines, we walked right up to the ticket booth, and waited perhaps 5 minutes to clamber into our car.  I have barely enough time to get out the camera.  

And it was grand!

The Eiffel Tower

 The L'Arc de Triomphe at the far end of the Champs Elysee

 The Petit Palais in the foreground, the Grand Palais beyond

 The Louvre

 The Musee d'Orsay

  and our home turf, Sacre Coeur. 

And back to earth… a lovely end to a lovely sejour in Paris.