" where the french go vuitton "

tuesday, march 31st

In the mid 1850's  the glorious French people used to travel in style with trunks that had a round top, generally to offer water run-off,  as most probably the French would visit the British Islands where sunshine was provided in a hectic way.  So those looked like these :

Then a gentleman, named Louis Vuitton created a travel trunk with a flat top, so trunks could be stacked, and this provided the instant success to Mr. LV back in 1854.

In 1892,  poor Louis passed away,  and the reins were in the hands of his son George, who toured the United States in 1896, smart guy. So skipping some years, we have now the  Fondation Vuitton which  building was started in 2006, and opened late 2014.  So, our ever courageous Reporter decided to come close and see what it was like for the purpose of nourishing the ever increasing hunger of her readers.

Here is an AFP pic :

First the Reporter asked her friends what they thought of it and if they liked it.  They shared that they had many thoughts about it,  as in, that "  ca prend un espace... "   which only meant " takes lots of space" so it was pretty big,  and then "  Mais y a pas grand chose a l'interieur !"  which only meant " But there isn't much inside !" In other words you didn't have to secure a lot of hours to visit it.

Then they would say something like "  C'est assez interessant comme architecture."  which means simply " It's rather interesting architecturally speaking."  When the French say that, even though  it sounds a somewhat medium warm compliment,  you can bet it's going to be pretty good.  

And then you ask, sort of innocently,  well how did you like it overall, inside and out ?  Then they all said "  Ah aucune idee, je n'ai pas eu le temps d'y aller. Y a trop de monde."   which again, simply means, " ah no idea, I didn't have time yet to go. Too many people anyway. " And then they look at you like you really are tourist minded,  and why don't you go first.

So, you just swallow your breath,  and since you do not want to look like a simpleton sightseer, you branch on another subject.  Then, in a discreet way, you decide to reserve a ticket online.

So that was the way the courageous Reporter acted,  and there,  by an extraordinarily beautiful morning,  she found herself visiting La Fondation Vuitton.

 First, because she was meeting some friends for a small lunch,  she checked into the little restaurant,  Le Franck,  which looked pretty ok, with lots of fishes hanging up,

Then she got herself into one of the rooms with pretty cool yellow paintings,

Then she decided to venture into another smaller room dedicated to her hero, Giacometti,

  

Then, courageous as ever, she did go outside, and there she was treated to this pretty remarkable sight :

with which she in fact fell pretty in love, and to calm all that emotional elation, she got back in, and checked on that Thomas Schutte guy who had created this sculpture,

The Reporter was in fact duly impressed so to soothe the extraneous elation, she got out again, and there on top of it,  she visited what was a pretty protected (?) new palms potted area :

Not sure whether this was a random act of dazzling creation, or the overanxious work of the Chef Jardinier de la Fondation, simply put,  of ' the Foundation Head Gardener', the Reporter manifesting symptoms of the Brownian Motion, got inside again,  and there contemplated this sculpture :

The Reporter went close to the bench and would have enthusiastically picked up the two heads hat, but there was guard close by, and he said, softly, " Ne pas toucher"  which of course means, " Do not touch.'  Whisper those words, in french, and you will scare anyone, believe me. So pretty regretfully, we have to say, the Reporter didn't pick up the double head,  and walked onwards.

She then walked all the way down to check on the water spilling over a grand staircase, alongside mirrors where the egomaniac French can exercise their narcissism, 

   

So, after all those emotions, shared  by few other  visitors, 

the Reporter decided to leave the  Fondation, and then went to a Salon de The,   or what is simply called here a Tea Shop, and there meeting the only friend who had been in fact to the  Fondation,  they put their heads together, and debated whether it was really awesome, medium awesome, just a little awesome, or a perfect fail.  It was agreed, after a short debate, that it was a pretty cool thing, and that they both could agree to that statement,  since they were sort of not French, who know very little about the real world of the French.

The Reporter's friend asked her what was going to be her next move as a Reporter, and the Reporter said for the moment she had none, and her friend said with a horrified expression, " Well, you should always have a plan B ! "  The Reporter argued that she couldn't have a plan B,  since she didn't have yet a plan A, and her friend looked so troubled that the Reporter quietened her, and said in fact she  did have a plan B, and it looked like that :

And that is when her friend swooned in the middle of the Salon de The.

So till the next time, dear Reader, with plan A,

With all love, 

The Frog