Rue d'Assas

Today I went to the neighborhood where I lived in 1980 when I was on Study Abroad to see the Musée Zadkine on rue d'Assas near the Jardin du Luxembourg.  Ossip Zadkine (1890-1967) was a Russian sculptor who lived in France. The museum is in his former home and studio.



Entrance to the Museum

Zadkine's Garden



In 1920 he married an artist, Valentine Prax, and they moved to 100bis rue d'Assas in 1928.  He lived and worked here until his death in 1967.  It was interesting to see the contrast between his earliest works, which had a cubist or African feel to them, and the later sculptures in the garden.

Early Works

1965 Sculpture

His studio let in a lot of light.  It was across the garden from his apartment where he also worked.

Inside the Studio

Shutter Window Open on his Studio

It was such a contrast between this modern artist's home and studio and that of Gustave Moreau I saw yesterday.  Zadkine was born 8 years before Moreau died, and the contrast in their art is stunning.

After visiting the museum, I walked down the street to 76 rue d'Assas and the pension where I lived when I first met Kelly.  So many memories!

Le Pension Pédron on Rue d'Assas

Someone was leaning out the window cleaning the shutters on the third (US fourth) floor.  I think that was my room, or maybe the one next to it.  I really just wanted to peek inside!  The building looked like it had been recently painted and spruced up.
Our building was across the street from the marionette theatre in the Jardin du Luxembourg.  There were lots of runners in park even though it was gray and drizzly.

Marionette Theatre

Across rue Vavin from our pension was the building where we had our dinners every evening at 7 pm.  We were always excited when we had steak frites for dinner.  But we did sometimes get less appetizing meals such as beef tongue (I tried but couldn't eat the tip of the tongue I was served with all those taste buds) or brains (I escaped that meal because I was staying with a family in Pau in the Pyrenées for the week but Kelly was there).  For breakfast every morning we were given 1/3 of a baguette, jam and a bowl of milk or chocolat chaud served to us in our rooms.  Lunch was on our own.

Dinners at 78 Rue d'Assas

The neighborhood still has a lot of students around with several universities nearby.  But the neighborhood shops were definitely more upscale than in 1980.  Lots of expensive children's clothing boutiques and even a vegan hot dog joint.  But our boulangerie was still there.  That is where we learned to avoid pastries offered in little paper cups.  The cup meant the pastry was doused in liquor!

Boulangerie on Rue Vavin

It was fun walking down memory lane in the old neighborhood and seeing how Paris has stayed the same and changed in 38 years.