Yesterday
From lunch, you wander to a Roman Temple (via a brief trip into a covered market which is in the process of packing up). The temple is supposedly the best preserved of its kind, possibly anywhere but certainly in France. It has Corinthian columns all around and is mostly impressive due to its age.
Next to this is a modern art gallery/library in a building designed by Norman Foster. This building is well done - full of space inside, despite the many staircases and offices. Lots of untinted glass giving the place a very airy feel.
The exhibits are mostly dull or nightmare-ish. One room consists of about forty small dead animals on thin metal poles, each with the head of a child's stuffed toy covering its real head. It is horrifying.
Another room is taxidermy perverted. One chimera is a gnu's body with a swan's head; another is a sheep's body with a doberman's head. It is nothing if not striking.
The art you like in the exhibition is a series on bull fighting - mostly by Picasso, but many by others. These are brutal and sexual, sometimes explicitly so. Not beautiful at all, but stirring.
Next to this is a modern art gallery/library in a building designed by Norman Foster. This building is well done - full of space inside, despite the many staircases and offices. Lots of untinted glass giving the place a very airy feel.
The exhibits are mostly dull or nightmare-ish. One room consists of about forty small dead animals on thin metal poles, each with the head of a child's stuffed toy covering its real head. It is horrifying.
Another room is taxidermy perverted. One chimera is a gnu's body with a swan's head; another is a sheep's body with a doberman's head. It is nothing if not striking.
The art you like in the exhibition is a series on bull fighting - mostly by Picasso, but many by others. These are brutal and sexual, sometimes explicitly so. Not beautiful at all, but stirring.