Day 6 in Lisbon out and about with a local

Friday 30 January

Another leisurely morning in Lisbon and our last full day in Portugal's capital will be spent seeing the city with a local. Richard and Pauline connected us up with their friend Graça who, after many years in England, returned to her home in Lisbon a few years ago. We arranged to meet her at the nearby Hotel de Chiado (Shee-ah-do) for coffee and a pastel de nata - and the city views from the rooftop cafe.

We left the apartment at little before 11 am and walked the two or three minutes to the hotel where Graça was waiting for us in the lobby. We had a few minutes to chat there before the rooftop restaurant opened which gave us an opportunity to reintroduce ourselves. (We had met Graça at Richard and Pauline's home in West Hampstead many years ago.)

After getting caught up a bit the three of us took the elevator to the top floor where we savored incredible views of the city before sitting and enjoyed a coffee and pastry.

After enjoying the cafe and sweets we took a taxi to another hotel, the Macam located a bit west of the city center.

But this hotel had a unique twist: originally a school for children, today besides being a five-star hotel it is also a museum with several galleries of modern and contemporary art. 

Graça and Susan in front of two Untitled pieces by José de Almada de Negreiros

detail

detail of Seascape by João Vaz

gallery 1

We especially enjoyed the works in Gallery 1, such as:

Muted Music by Amadeo de Souza-Cardosa

The Crockery Man by Eduardo Viana

After spending a little time in one of the galleries it was of course time for lunch. The museum/hotel had a lovely little cafe overlooking an interior garden. Susan and I each had a delicious chicken salad and Graça had a hamburger.

Untitled (White Deer) by Miguel Branco

the poinsettas -- live! -- were still in place from last Christmas

After a leisurely lunch we took a taxi -- they are so inexpensive in Lisbon as are the Ubers -- toward the Belem district. Home to some of the city's important monuments and museums, it is located along the waterfront and includes the Jeronimos monastery which we had visited early in our stay.  

We had hoped to spend more time in this part of the city -- I especially wanted to see the Monument to the Discoveries --  when we visited the monastery, but it was pouring rain that day and we opted to head back to our apartment instead. Today was very sunny but windy and Graça wanted us to see the Cultural Center which was just across the street from the Monument, our first stop. 

Monument to the Discoveries

There is an observation deck at the top of the monument which can be accessed by an elevator. It was so terribly windy we opted to skip that however.

Prince Henry the Navigator in the lead

In the open space in front of the monument is a large map showing the places and years of discoveries by the Portuguese.

From the monument it was a very short walk across the street to the massive Cultural Center of Belem. Home to numerous cultural events it also houses a museum of modern art as well as a bookshop and cafe, which we made use of. We also enjoyed the garden overlooking the Monument and riverfront.

my favorite navigatrix

The Thumb by César Baldichini - a huge copy is in La Defense in Paris

cafe

a machine to rent a power bank to charge your phone

After coffee in the bookshop we headed off across a lovely park to the taxi stand across from the monastery.

The taxi dropped us in the Campo Ourique, Graça's neighborhood where she showed us around a lovely little park and past several shops selling sweet treats. 

Az de Comer shop

just one of many examples of local architecture from Art Deco to modern

At the Mantegaria shop we could watch one of the staff filling the tins for pastel de nata, so many tins! 

It was just a few steps to the entrance to Graça's building and we were soon comfortably ensconced in her living room. After an aperitif we removed to the dining room for a delicious light supper of egg salad,  meat croquettes, chicken pie, and greens.

We chatted a while after dinner but there was no mistaking the reality - we had to get back to the apartment and pack up for our train to Porto the next morning. 

Graça kindly walked us to the taxi stand just around the corner from her apartment and along the park where we said goodnight and promised to give her regards to Richard and Pauline on Saturday.

The taxi ride was short but circuitous, like the city of course, and before long we were back home.  It didn't take Susie long to pack us up and ready ourselves for our departure to Porto Saturday morning.

Day 5 in Lyon

 [14 April]

Located in a former abbey on the Place Terreaux close to the Hôtel de Ville the Musée des Beaux-Arts is quite impressive. There's plenty of art with something to appeal to just about everyone. We spent about an hour-and-a-half focusing primarily on the art that appeals to us (see the photos that follow). In fact, we skipped the entire 1st floor  (antiquities) -- we could only take so much culture in one fell swoop!

The courtyard is a lovely space with its own circle of sculpture and a wonderful place just to hang out.

We also tracked down the most famous of the city's murals, the Fresque des Canuts and ended the day with a walk through vieux Lyon (old Lyon) at the base of the hill overlooking the city (at the top of which is the basilica).

And speaking of photos this post has more than 70 of them!

Musée des Beaux-Arts

Susie at work

the main entrance

Victor Hugo by Louis-Ernest Barrias

We began our tour of the museum by heading down a level to the sculpture wing and found ourselves overwhelmed, and I mean that in a good way. Stunning works of art by sone of the world's greatest artists. 

playwright Henri Becque by Auguste Rodin

I was particularly struck by two pieces that I have seen before, in Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, and one in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first is by Alfred Boucher:

In the Fields by Alfred Boucher

Ferdinand Barbedienne tomb in Père-Lachaise D53

Perseus and the Gorgon by Laurent-Honoré Marqueste

This next one should look familiar to fans of the Meijer Sculpture Gardens in Grand Rapids, Michigan:

Eve by Auguste Rodin

The third sculpture that I've seen before in a setting for which it was designed:

Monument aux Morts by Albert Bartholomé

Père-Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, D04

1st Communion by René de Saint-Marceaux

Venus with a Necklace by Aristide Malliol

Lying Bacchante by Denis Foyatier

Odalisque by Jean jacques dit James Pradier

The Nymph of the Siene by Jean-Baptiste Vietty

Juliette Recamier by Joseph Chinard

We then made our way up to the top floor and wandered through the many galleries of paintings from Italy, France and the Low Countries (pays bas) from the 16th-19th centuries.

Portrait of a Madwoman also called The Monomania of Envy by Théodore Géricault

Magdalena Bay Spitzbergen by by François-Auguste Biard (detail)

Antoinette Oudiné by Hippolyte Flandrin

A Soldier healed by a Nun in a cloister by Claudius Jacquand

A French Soldier's Farewell by Michel Genod (detail)

Lavinia Sweeting by Thomas Lawrence

Portrait of a Woman by Palma Vecchio

Young Girl with Blue ribbon by Auguste Renoir

Dancers on the Stage by Edgar Degas

Young Woman among the Flowers by Edouard Manet

Marguerite Gauthier-Lathuille by Edouard Manet

The Entrance of Grand Rue in Argenteuil, Winter by Claude Monet

Rough Sea, Étretat by Claude Monet

Young Peasant Woman from Nice, Celestine by Berthe Morisot

Sailboats at the Harbor, Deauville by Eugène Boudin

Trouville, The Harbor by Eugène Boudin

And we've been across this bridge at least twice:

The Entrance to Guillotière Bridge in Lyon on a Rainy Day by Nicolas Sicard (detail)

A Wedding at a Photographer's Studio by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret (detail)

Adagio Appassionato by Albert Maignan (detail)

The Reading by Henri Fantin-Latour

Leaving the museum I was struck by the juxtaposition of the museum door to the wonderful Bartholdi fountain across the Place.

Created in 1987 the fresque des Canuts (Mural of the Canuts) covers some 1200 square meters and represents the life and spirit of the Croix-Rousse neighborhood. This must be seen to be believed!

everything you see on the end of this building is trompe-l'oeil

Leaving this truly awesome creation we retraced our steps to the Metro and back home, stopping at our neighborhood boulangerie for a sandwich and a loaf of bread (thinking of breakfast tomorrow). 

After a bit of down time it was back out, this time heading across the river to vieux Lyon. Before reaching the river we passed the Theatre des Celestins.  

Theatre des Celestins

It was a short 5 minutes or so to the Pont Napoléon Bonaparte. Once over the river we were in the heart of old Lyon. (We had been here briefly once before when we came to take the funicular up the hill to the basilica.) 

the Place in front Saint-Jean church

The tiny meandering rue Saint-Jean is home to a wealth of eateries, many touting themselves as genuine Lyonnais  Bouchon, and of course to shops hawking jewelry and various souvenir bric-a-brac. Still, it's a very quiet place to walk once you're away from the crowds on rue Saint-Jean. To do that we slipped through the door at no. 54. . . 

entrance to the traboule at no. 54 rue Saint-Jean

one of the interior courtyards

. . .  and through the shortcut to rue de Boeuf

We followed the street until it met up with rue Saint-Jean which we took back to the Metro, taking our time because we can. 

We sat outside the church for a few minutes to do a little people watching. It was a very short walk to the line D to Place Bellecour and then up rue de la Republique and home.

This evening I prepared cod in a hobo pack (foil packet) with sesame oil, soy sauce and persillade (a delicious mix of dried parsley, shallot and garlic) accompanied by leftover rice and green bean mix.

Tomorrow we hope to take the hop-on/hop-off bus tour around the city and perhaps see one or two other locally famous mural paintings. Oh, and back to Les Halles for a proposed Susie project. 

Stay tuned!