Spring Greets Carl Larsson at the Petit Palais!

Sorry about the delay in a post. We've been a bit busy and the weather has been just gorgeous here.  So, that means a little less time indoors and more outside. But not to fear, I took my handy dandy camera.

A little bit ago, Mr. K and I looked out our window and saw that the courtyard tree had blossomed, so we decided we'd go to Paris for the afternoon. See what we could make of it.

So pretty! It's an ornamental plum tree.

Of course, once we got there, we had to stop by our favorite place, Bertie's Cupcakery, for a snack

I got Strawberry Lemonade and he got Red Velvet.

The weather was too fine not to enjoy them in a park, which is exactly what we did before heading along the Seine to see anything that struck our fancy. (Lazy strolling days are the best.)

Like this, for instance!

A duo playing Jonny Cash songs on a bridge. So funny to hear Folsom Prison Blues in Paris.

And this:

A garden boat!

But the best of all was when we discovered that the Petit Palais was doing an exposition on Carl Larsson!

I may have been a little excited. You see, my family has Swedish roots (my great grandmother was Swedish and we still have cousins over there) and my grandpop was very proud of it. I was given a set of mugs for college that showcased this artist's work and we just had to go.

We'd never been into the Petit Palais (Little Palace) before so it was a first for both of us.

As you can see, it was gorgeous. Cool thing about it? It's free to wander and look around in. You have to pay for the special exhibits, but you are very much allowed to enter, check out the art, and go into the gardens for free.

After getting our tickets for Carl Larsson, we headed downstairs and waited to be let into the rooms. I took some pics of the wall panels while we were waiting.

I never knew that Larsson came to Paris to paint and show off his stuff.
Makes sense as he was an artist during the Impressionist period.

Ah, Sweden.

When we got into the rooms, the amount of paintings on the walls blew me away. You could clearly see how much the French Impressionist painting influenced him. Some works looked like a Monet. And then, he broke away and focused on his watercolors and drawings which we know and love today.

This is the only shot of the inside. I was promptly told by the guard that photos were forbidden after I took this. In my defense, there were no signs to indicate that it wasn't allowed (I always check and I never use flash). Oh well, at least he allowed me to keep the photo.

Let me assure you, Larsson was already high on my list of painters I liked, but now, I can proudly say that he is my absolute favorite. His way with watercolors and subjects (He liked to paint his home and family) is wonderful. Mr. K liked it a whole lot too. We couldn't get enough of them and we were sad, when at the end of an hour and a half of looking through the expo, we found there were no more works to see. But that's alright.

We have the mugs at home which we brought with us when we moved to France.

After the expo we walked around the rest of the Palais, but decided that we just wanted to see the gardens and maybe get a cup of tea. So on we went to find their cafe.

So glad we did. It was just heavenly with the afternoon sun and a slight chill in the air. (The museum was very hot.  They hadn't cut off the heaters yet.)

We managed to squeeze into the cafe before they stopped serving for the day (yay!) and then strolled around the pavilion. On the ceiling of the rotunda were gorgeous gilded paintings. I think we may have been the only people actually looking up. The pictures don't do it justice.

I took one look back before we quitted the gardens. A truly gorgeous place. *happy sigh*

We weren't quite finished with our day then, so we decided to hop the metro from Les Invalides and go to Le Jardin du Luxembourg for a stroll before heading home.
From the Petit Palais, you cross the Pont d'Alexandre III (one of my favorite bridges in Paris).

The gold horse statue is the beginning of the bridge and the big building is the Grand Palais, where they do large art exhibits. One day we'll go there too.

From this bridge, you get a nice view.

Just one of my favorite shots. *smile*

And then, voila! We were in Luxembourg Gardens!

Everyone was out and about. This is a classic Paris afternoon when it's fine weather.

We had heard that there was a mini Statue of Liberty located somewhere in the gardens, so we went on a scavenger hunt to find it.

Lo and behold, there she was, in the very back, amidst the trees.

It only took us half an hour to find her. Hehehe. But, it was definitely the perfect day for it.

Mr. K heartily agreed.

After that, both of us tired and hungry, we hopped onto the RER B and headed home. It's so nice being so close to Paris.

Anyway, Until next time!

Bisous