Income Taxes: Doug Sneyd News Cartoons

As Americans face the April 15th deadline to file U.S. income taxes, I thought I'd share a little of Doug's humor from his popular single-panel news cartoons, which were syndicated for nearly 20 years - starting in the mid-1960s - in newspapers across North America. 

(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Centre Pompidou: Modern Art, Lunch at Georges

Although Doug and I have been to Paris a number of times since our first trip in 2005, we never visited the Centre Pompidou, opened in February 1977 and now housing the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in Europe.

On this recent trip, we decided to see some of the permanent collection and tour the building, striking for its glass and steel architecture, escalator running through a suspended glass tube and colored pipes - blue for air conditioning, green for water, red for passageways and yellow for electrical lines.  

Friends back in Orillia also told us about the wonderful view of the Paris skyline from Level 6/Restaurant Georges. 

We got an early start one morning; it was a short bus ride from our apartment in St. Germain des Pres. 

There was no need to ask directions -within minutes, we saw the unique "inside-out" architecture of Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers.

Spacious Level 0 museum shops, information desk and cafe.

View from Level 5 of the entrance piazza we crossed earlier and the Paris skyline.

Doug and I recognized a number of works in the "historic" collection on Level 5:

Matisse

La Corbusier

Kandinsky

Kupka

Picasso

During the summer tourist season, it would be impossible to walk in and hope to be seated at Georges; Doug and I, however, asked if a window table was available.

Not a problem - we followed the hostess and were seated 3 tables from the corner.

(central restaurant seating)

(window tables, main aisle from the entrance)

Yes, I was delighted with our table and the view!

Doug's soup.

My salad.

Doug's chicken.

My omelette.

Despite my limited French, the waiters were friendly.

It was also fun meeting the chef - could he possibly have thought I was a food critic from the U.S.???

(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Herge & Bernard Buffet Exhibits

An overcast Sunday in Paris meant Doug and I had ample time to visit 2 special exhibits.

The Grand Palais, built for the Universal Exhibition in 1900, hosted Herge -  the story of Belgian artist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name of Herge.  He's regarded the father of European comics because of his beloved character Tintin, who traveled around the world with his dog Snowy.

Remi also was successful with Atelier Herge-Publicite advertising posters and publicity campaigns.

The bookstore at the  Grand Palais had a wonderful selection of books on Herge's career and development of The Adventures of Tintin series.

We then spent the afternoon at the Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, between the Champs-Elysees and the Eiffel Tower, to see the Bernard Buffet exhibit.  Established in 1961, it occupies the east wing of the Palais de Tokyo, which was built for the 1937 World's Fair.

Although Buffet was accused of "crude realism and crass commercialization," he's considered one of the most famous French painters of the 20th century.

The bookstore carried a number of books on Buffet's legacy as one of Europe's most popular painters in the late 1950s.

(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)

Rembrandt Exhibit, Lunch at Musee Jacquemart-Andre

Early in our 3-week vacation in Paris, we visited the Rembrandt exhibit at one of our favorite museums:  Musee Jacquemart-Andre, once the private home of Edouard Andre (Parisian banker, politician, soldier and art collector) and his wife Nelie Jacquemart, a society painter.

It's always a treat to have lunch in the beautiful museum cafe, decorated with 18th century tapestries.

Doug and I both ordered quiche with a garden salad.

Naturally, we saved room for dessert.

Glazed-apple pie with a vanilla custard cream filling.

Fresh raspberry pie with vanilla custard cream filling.

Before starting the Rembrandt exhibit, we decided to revisit 3 of the couple's lovely private apartments (to the left of the Grand Reception Hall, windows face Blvd. Haussmann).

Painting (left) on the desk is a portrait of Nelie Jacquemart.

We walked back through the Grand Reception Hall and adjoining state rooms to the foyer at the foot of the Grand Staircase, leading upstairs to see the Rembrandt exhibit, displayed in 8 rooms on the top floor of the museum.

(blog entries by Heidi Hutson)