Museums and Such in Paris

Trip Date: Feb 2024

When I saw that the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris was putting on a retrospective of Mark Rothko I really wanted to go- I had never been to that venue and Rothko is one of my favorite American artists. The exhibit only went from the end of 2023 until April 2024 and I already had multiple trips booked during that time and the budget was drained. But then Air France had a sale on flights booked with mileage and then Chase had a 25% transfer bonus to Air France! I found a flight from Seattle to Paris in Business class for just 41,250 miles. So I transfered 33,000 points from Chase & was awarded 8,250 more and paid $202 in taxes and fees and viola! Booked to go see Rothko and the BFF! 

The day of my trip I had a text saying my flight would be delayed 6 hours!! Luckily I use TripIt for all my travels and it alerted me that I should be qualified for compensation on any delays on a European carrier of more than 3 hours. While I hung out in the Amex Centurion Lounge and then the Delta Lounge at SeaTac I filed my claims online and included my Lyft cost since originally a friend was going to drive me to the airport. $717 ($67 for Lyft and $650 for the delay) was deposited in my bank account about 2 weeks after I got home. 

As I had taken advantage of the same sale for my return and found a 30% transfer bonus with Amex, I booked Delta One (thru Air France) for 75,000 but only had to transfer 58,000 & pay $288 for taxes and fees. So with the flight delay compensation I actually made $160! Gotta love that!

Also if you are at SeaTac and have to choose between the Amex Centurion Lounge or the Delta Lounge I will tell you that Amex has much better drinks and bartenders while Delta has better food quality. IMO. 

My Air France flight was on an older Boeing 787-9 but biz class still had a semi-private "pod", especially as I had a window seat which is a solo seat. Pro tip, when choosing a window seat pay attention to if the seat is angled the aisle or the window, facing the window gives you the max privacy, in this case it was the odd numbered rows. 

Compared to other business class, this was pretty basic. No mattress, pj's or even slippers!! There was a small amenity kit handed out after we took off and of course it was a lie-flat seat. The best part of Air France is that the Champagne flows freely (real Champagne) and the food is always great! My meal consisted of scallop ceviche, lobster salad, prime rib with demi-glace and roasted mushrooms, and a lovely Opera cake for dessert. Oh and ABK6 VSOP Single Estate Cognac. Of course!

In Paris, Forest and I had timed tickets for the Mark Rothko exhibit and arrived out in the Bois du Boulogne just a bit before our entry. From what I understand, the show was completely sold out. It was the first dedicated exhibit in France since 1999. There were 115 works from the National Gallery of Art and the Phillips Collection, both in WA DC, the Tate in London, and from private collections, including Rothko's private family collection. 

First off this building, instantly recognizable as a design by Frank Gehry, is stunning! 

The exhibit was spread throughout the LV building and was organized in chronological order, starting with paintings from the 1930's including a self-portrait and other portraits. I had never seen any of his very early art so it was surprising!

In the early 40's he decided to move to abstraction and surrealism because he thought he wasn't good at figures. 

By the mid to late 40's he was fully into the multi-forms of color he is known for. 

Over the course of the 11 galleries you could really see his progression through shapes and colors. I was excited to see the entire Tate Gallery collection from its dedicated "Rothko room". I've seen these in London multiple times and the deep reds are just so striking!

But I hadn't seen the Phillips Collection's pieces so to see that collection was awesome, especially as you could really compare the works with different years, etc. 

One of the last rooms had a selection of his very dark paintings paired with sculpturist Giacometti’s tall figures. Such a fantastic combination!

I find his work very powerful; the color always feels like it is saturating my eyes & filling my head. Rothko felt that color could communicate emotions like fear, joy, and depression and I'd add wonder to that list. That is what I felt the first time I saw one of his pieces and it's what I still generally feel. I was very happy to have made it to this. 

We also had a wonderful visit to the YSL museum one morning. From 1974 to 2002 this mansion was the fashion house of Yves Saint Laurent. In 2017 the haute couture HQ was reopened as a museum to give the public an opportunity to explore the designer's history and creations. 

Entering the mansion, we were invited up the beautiful staircase and into the designer's reception room where once clients were met; now filled with lots of his small sketches, photos, and paintings. From here we followed the progression into the special exhibit called Sheer: The diaphanous creations of Yves Saint Laurent which was a multi-space collection of his work exploring different ideas and examples of the theme.

The first gallery held the obvious; creations with lace, tuile, organza, and other sheer fabrics. Stunning and intricate work, also daring and revealing silhouettes including the first "see-through" blouse he created in 1968.

We continued upstairs to another gallery filled with beautiful dresses made of soft flowy fabrics. And into the dressmaking rooms where patterns were traced and transparency is showcased by the detailed stitching of these works of art.  

Pieces by other artists, such as Anne Bourse, Man Ray, and Picabia were also on exhibit throughout the mansion echoing the "sheer" theme. The final examples were some incredible wedding dresses. 

The museum, with it's collection of 5,000 garments and 15,000 accessories, most chosen personally by YSL for the museum, is meant to be mostly a rotating stage for special themed exhibits, which is great as you will always have something new to explore. There are some rooms in the mansion that seem to be permanent like the reception, a small room with a film about his life, and his studio, which was just amazing to walk through. 

The whole experience was highly enjoyable!

After all of that art, we needed culture of a different kind one afternoon. You might think that spending a day at the Hôtel de Crillon spa can't be compared to going to a museum, but this 18th-century palace, right across from the Place de la Concorde, has so much history that I beg to differ.  

While swimming in the beautiful indoor lap pool with its gold-tiled bottom you can think about how King Louis XV commissioned the building in 1758. And while relaxing is a cozy robe while sipping champagne you can image the finished palace being purchased by the Crillon family 1788. 

And while enjoying a decadent massage you can think about when the home was confiscated in 1791 during the French Revolution and was lived in by King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette! 

By the way if you are looking to treat yourself I highly recommend the spa at the Crillon, a stunning Rosewood property. 

All photos of this trip to Paris here. 

Other post from this trip:

36 Hours in Luxembourg