4th of July, Part 2

I will pick up where I left off from my last blog as that took me through until a little past noon.

Strasbourg is also known for the surprising number of art museums. I sure didn't have time for all of them so I picked the two that seemed to offer the biggest bang for the buck (or in this case, how much could I see given the few hours I had).

I decided on the Mussee des Beauz-Arts (fine arts from European Masters mostly from 1300s through 1800s, but some were as old as 1100). Once I got there and started looking at the pieces on display but I wasn't really sure what I was looking at because the placards were in French. Additionally, I didn't recognize many of the artists. I can tell you that I am sure I saw some very famous paintings. I was really struck by more then a few. Some objects in some the paintings actually looked real. True works of art. Saw some of the works of El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens, and Raphael. Also saw a couple of pieces by Rembrandt.

The second floor gallery was very big. The paintings were mostly tied to Christian themes, Christ, Virgin Mary, and the crucifixion, as well as many of the early saints. I really wished I knew more about what I was seeing, I just knew it was something special.

It was refreshing that these works were not behind glass and you were not kept 10 feet away from them. Sensors would go off if you got within 12 inches of the painting, but, at 12.5 inches away, you can really see lots of the details.

Next was the Musuem of Modern and Contemporary Art. I decided on this museum because they advertised that they had works by Claude Monet, Rodin, and Picasso. I especially wanted to see Rodin's "Gates of Hell" which turns out to be at a different museum.

Well, I never found the Monet or Rodin. The Picasso's were a bit of a disappointment. There were about a dozen drawings on paper about the size an 8.5"x11" and it seems like half of them featured testicals and a penis. I would have said "phallic symbol" but there was nothing symbolic about it. It was just testicals and a penis. I just didn't get it and I was not going to stare at it for an hour and then go on about the symbolism or how it made me feel. I simply didn't like it. I didn't need to sit on the provided veiwing/contemplating bench to determine that.

Other pieces of art that I saw included an old suit coat on a hanger suspended on a nail, a polycarbonate cube filled with scraps of paper, a wall painted orange (not sure if that was one of the pieces of the museum or just a wall painted orange), a piece of canvas painted black, an igloo made of broken panes of glass, and a piece of furniture from the '50s nailed to the wall. I suppose I was not sophisticated enough to understand the significance of what I saw. Other then "I just didn't get it", I don't know what else to say. I guess my Polish heritage and blue collar background is showing.

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Unless you are a big fan of contemporary art and "get it", then you can pass on this one.

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One piece that was very impressive was of Christ walking down some steps to start his journey to his crucifixion, soldiers holding back the crowds. This piece was probably 40' tall and 40' wide (this piece was f**king huge, sorry GOD, but it was, just think about the dimensions, how was it even worked on?). It was pretty amazing. Even with a little research, I can't find the painting online.

You thought I forgot about my "stereotype" comments earlier, didn't you. It struck me as unusual that a surprising large percentage of the male population carries a man purse/clutch like bag. Talk about not getting it. I posted a number of pics of this on my flickr site for you to check out. Keep in mind, I took all these pics in the span of a few minutes. It is not something I spent all day accomplishing.

I have never seen American men carry these things. I have never seen German men carry these things. I have not been to the UK, but I bet Englishmen don't carry these things and I am quite certain that you will not find an Irishman carrying a man purse.

I've got to wonder, what do they carry in their handbags? If I need to carry something, I put it in my trouser/jeans/shorts pocket. That is why they are there right? I don't recall ever having to carry so much stuff that I ran out of room in my pockets. Even if I had so much stuff to carry, I would put it in my wife's purse. Did they not use their pockets or was this a case of having to carry too much stuff and not having their wife around? Those man bags were some dainty little things though.

I even saw fathers walking with their sons. They both sported these man purses. Old men carried them. I even saw a guy with a tattoo on his neck had one too. Guys with neck tattoos should not carry a man clutch. It was very confusing.

I am really happy that my Dad bought us baseball gloves instead.

Great news, Jerry (Jodi's Dad), I got you a souvenier from Strasbourg. Just wait until Christmas! (yes, it is a man bag)

Stereotypes exist for a reason. They are generally not just created out of thin air. When you think about Americans, you think cowboys, pickup trucks, hard working, ambitious. When you think about Germans, you think brutal efficiency, industrious, hard working, stoic, structured. English? Tea drinking, cricket, polite, love the queen. All this stuff in pretty much true. BTW, Europeans think Americans are loud and brash. You know what? We are.

The French? You tell what the stereotype is. I will say that the wearing of proper leather footware (like in Germany) is less common. Lots of sandals here. Collared, tucked in shirts in Germany...not in France. Well groomed. Germany. More hippie like. France.

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While the women in France may, overall, be more fashionable, German women seem better dressed.

The people of France seem to embrace a more bohemian lifestyle which would be seen to have little value in Germany. I think Jodi would like France, only for this bohemian leaning society. I like Germany a lot better. It just suits me.

All and all, it was a very worthwhile trip. I really wished my wife could have been with me. Walking along the waterways of a very old European city would have been very romantic (if you have anything smart to say about that, I will hit you with my man bag).

That's all for now. Next weekend is the Grand Prix of Germany, a Formula 1 race. Probably the only one I will ever see, so I am pretty geeked.

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Be sure to check out my flickr site. I took lots of really good snapshots and added a little description so you would know what you were looking at.

Michael