58/9 - Pompidou and Circumstance

Wednesday 11th
Today we headed for for Les Halles and the George Pompidou centre. Les Halles was the original markets of Paris and goes back in time to the twelfth century. Since the war though it had fallen into disrepute and disrepair and by the 70s it was well on its way to being a full blown ghetto in the heart of Paris. When we were here last it had been closed and a giant renovation project was under way. It’s nearing completion…but that hasn’t stopped the homeless from taking over and once again urine is the only French perfume of the district….it’s more inexplicable here because there are public toilets open, yet I saw one man relieve himself against the toilet door. There’s graffiti galore too - but along with that there is interesting and sometimes witty sculpture; the gloriously restored cast iron arches in a parklike space; and a new shopping centre which is partially underground. In another ten years it will be just sensational…providing the French economy doesn’t crash. We’re conscious that it’s teetering and each day we discover that one or two of the shops we thought were just closed for August has gone out of business. The rest are all having sales with up to 90% off. How some of them are managing to exist we don’t know.
Off to the Pompidou Centre!!! I am not averse to modern architecture - really I’m not. If there’s a sense of style, of purpose, if it’s aesthetically pleasing, then bring it! But I have different reactions to the Sydney Opera House ( Love it) and the Guggenheim at Bilboa ( hate it) even though the former inspired the latter. There is something spiritual, birdlike about the SOH…and something dark and threatening about the Spanish Guggenheim….. Like a huge deadly insect. I even like London’s “Gherkin” ( Barcelona has one too).But OMG! The Pompidou centre has to be one of the ugliest buildings I have ever seen. Tony describes it as “ A sewer turned inside out”. It’s a matter of taste I know…For me it’s more like one of those plastic contraptions they use to choose the winning balls in Lotto. It’s big, it’s ugly and ungainly, and in no way is it in harmony with its surroundings. Its glass tunnels carry the escalators which hold thousands of tourists looking like mice in some bizarre lab experiment. I’m not ambivalent about it….I actively dislike it! It’s filled with various modern art exhibitions each one at an entry price of 12-15 Euros. Luckily there’s no Lucien Freud or Andrew Wyeth…or even David Hockney…. So we pass. After the fiasco of last night’s dinner, I’m cooking…Escalope de Dinde ( turkey) with mushrooms and cream and baby spinach. My husband is a lucky man…. Hehehe.