Grand Palais Éphémère and Petit Palais

One of the gems of of Paris I finally visited in 2020 is the Petit Palais. It is the art museum of the city of Paris and it is free to the public. I blogged about it in February 2020 so a more complete description can be found there. I was able to revisit it with my dad, James and Kelly in February. And I returned with my cousin Shauna and her daughter Anna when they came in early March. 

The Petit Palais and the Grand Palais across the street were built for the World's Fair in Paris in 1900. The Grand Palais houses temporary exhibitions and it is closed right now for major remodeling before the Paris Olympics in 2024. Unfortunately, a smaller temporary Grand Palais for exhibitions, the Grand Palais Éphémère, has been erected right near our apartment on the bottom of the Champ de Mars in front to the École Militaire, blocking the view of the Eiffel Tower. It was actually constructed around the statue of Maréchal Joffre, the WWI war hero, at the bottom of the Champ de Mars.

Kelly and Luna at École Militaire

Grand Palais Éphémère with Maréchal Joffre
statue inside

Grand Palais Éphémère and Tour Eiffel

During the month of January, the Eiffel Tower had blue lights at night to celebrate France's presidency during 2022 of the European Union.  

Eiffel Tower reflected in back side of
Grand Palais Éphémère

Kelly and Luna

The Seine side of the Eiffel Tower had the EU circle of yellow stars. We couldn't get enough of that blue Eiffel Tower. It was so pretty when it sparkled.

The Grand Palais Éphémère will be used in 2024 for some Olympic events such as judo and wrestling, then thankfully torn down.

We had a lot of cloudy days in February and March. On our way to the Petit Palais with Shauna and Anna we finally saw some sunshine!

Hello Sun!

My favorite part of the museum is the inner courtyard. There is a semi circle covered colonnaded promenade around an inner courtyard. Because it is protected and warmer, trees bloom in early February. There is a restaurant and outdoor dining when the weather is warm enough.

Colonnade

Amazing ceiling

Every direction you looked the views of the building and courtyard were stunning.

Kelly, James and Dad

Inner Courtyard

View of back of Petit Palais

Anna and Shauna

The building is also gorgeous inside.

Entry Hall in Petit Palais

My favorite painting in the museum is by Monet. The Marmottan Museum in Paris has the painting by Monet titled Impression: Sunrise. It is the painting that gave the Impressionist movement its name. Monet painted this scene many times, including at sunset. Of course a picture doesn't do the richness of the colors justice. They have a bench conveniently placed in front of the picture to sit and contemplate.

Sunset on the Seine at Lavacourt, Winter Effect
by Monet

My other favorite is a bust of Benjamin Franklin by Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828), the French sculptor. Houdon created more than 150 busts of personalities of his time such as Napoleon, Voltaire, Lafayette, Louis XVI, Voltaire and Rousseau. They are so lifelike.

Houdon was sympathetic to the ideals of the United States and spent time with American politicians living in Paris such as Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. When the State of Virginia decided to erect a statue of George Washington, Franklin and Jefferson asked Houdon to come to America. In 1785, Houdon crossed the Atlantic (it took 48 days), and in two weeks, after studying Washington and following him around to understand him better, he modeled the bust of Washington in Mount Vernon. Then he returned home to finish it. I love the gentleness of his bust of Benjamin Franklin.

Terra Cotta Bust of
Benjamin Franklin

Another favorite painting is a self portrait by Rembrandt--the only one he painted where he was standing. Evidently he did not like the position of his legs, so he went back two years later and painted a dog in front of them to hide them.

Rembrandt Self Portrait

I liked a pair of paintings of the Prodigal Son painted by James Tissot, a French painter in the 19th century. He lived in Venice for a time. The first painting of the Prodigal Son leaving is inspired by the Venetian painter Carpaccio. The second was painted in the style of Henri Leys from Antwerp. You can see the son leaving his parents to join his friends on the boat in a very Venetian landscape. In the second painting, the background is a Flemish village. The father runs to greet his son while the brother hangs back, looking a bit skeptical.

This museum is a little gem often overlooked. It is the perfect casual Sunday afternoon activity and I highly recommend a visit.