After our morning tour of the Marais District
and before re-grouping for our tour of the Louvre at 5:00 PM, we had a couple hours of free time. What better time to visit the nearby Centre Georges Pompidou located in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement. Known locally as 'Beaubourg,' this huge, eye-catching, High-Tech complex houses a public library, a center for music and acoustic research, and the Musée National d'Art Moderne, which is the largest museum for modern art in Europe. That's what we wanted to see. |
The building itself is a sight to behold, and we were told that the local Parisiens either love it or hate it.
Me? I loved it! The juxtaposition of the high-tech, insides-out architecture makes a bold and apropos statement for what's inside. I only wish we had had more time to spend contemplating all the art I had first learned about in Art History 101. Our one-hour tour did not do justice to the museum nor the works of art, but since we were "in the neighborhood" as they say, we used what time we had. Je ne regrette pas; I don't regret it. |