MuseumChick | Danee Gilmartin

Bastille Day in Paris kicked off with a parade down the Champs Élysées, which I have to admit, I skipped. It poured and I melt in the rain so…

…while it was raining and people were parading, I was eating Chinese food. I know, that sounds like a very un-French thing to do on Bastille Day- maybe I'm supposed to have been eating in a cute French café or bistro, but I decided a while back to stop doing what I'm supposed to be doing and to just do want I feel like doing. This may seem like a simple idea, but when I first started traveling, I found myself doing "must do" agendas instead of "want to do" agendas. Over time I learned to tear up the "must do" list and just do what makes me happy. It has made my travels (and life in general) much simpler and more enjoyable. Let me give you an example- I've lived in Paris almost a whole year and I'm whole block away from the Eiffel Tower and I still haven't been to the top. I understand this is something I'm supposed to do while in Paris but I really don't care to, so I haven't.

So, back to how I celebrated my first Bastille Day in Paris, starting with Chinese food, then continued on to check out the action and military displays at Les Invalides. It was still a bit soggy outside but that didn't stop the crowds of festive people from coming out and kids climbing on the tanks and helicopters. It was a celebratory atmosphere down the Avenue du Maréchal Gallieni leading over the ornate bridge, the Pont Alexandre III. 

Mr. M and I decided to walk to the Place de la Concorde to walk up the whole length of the Champ Élysées towards the Arc de Triomphe, which was proudly showcasing the largest French flag I've ever seen.

As it got closer to 11pm, massive crowds (even larger than I saw on New Year's Eve) started to form around the Eiffel Tower and on the bridges for a clear view of the Trocadéro, where the fireworks would be displayed. The video I shot of the fireworks finale doesn't do the show justice. The whole show was about 30 minutes long with theatrical displays of music, lights and a tremendous amount of fireworks. It was the best fireworks display I've ever seen.

©2010 Danee Gilmartin All rights reserved

This was my first time visiting Poland. It was an impromptu decision. I was going to Germany and Poland happens to be their neighbor. I love pirogies, wanted to visit Auschwitz and wanted to learn more about Poland than pirogies and Auschwitz. I arrived just in time for the final week of Krakow's PhotoMonth Event. Being one of Poland's oldest cities and a UNESCO world heritage site, Krakow is a dynamic setting to display contemporary artists photographs at various locations around the city. PhotoMonth is more than a month of photo exhibits; it's accompanied by workshops, outdoor events, concerts.

There were too many exhibits strewn around the city for me to able to see them all, so I decided to check out the exhibit at the Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery. I followed the bright red banner, announcing PhotoMonth, up to the art galleries crowded cafe to the entrance of the Bunkier Sztuki.

Even though I hear the cafe makes a mean pirogi I decided to skip it and headed through the main entrance to Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery. I would have to go pirogi hunting later.
 

Inside the Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery is sparse, white walls, vinyl flooring and a metal stairway to the upper floor. The exhibit was by a British artist, Anna Fox, called "Cockroach Diary and Other Stories".

Those other stories seemed to be ones of women in precarious positions and with nice shoes. 

This series by Fox is called Country Girls.

And stories of turbulent family life. In this series of photos called "My Mothers Cupboards and My Fathers Words" pictures of typical kitchen objects  (flowered teacups and blue cleaning products) are accompanied by quotes from the artists father, such as "She's bloody rattling again. Can you stop your bloody f-ing rattling"  (I have censored this even though I'm sure most of you are over 18).

And stories about a women named Linda in a series called "Pictures of Linda". Linda seems to be an eccentric women with a story on how not to dress. Or maybe she is just an agreeable muse.

And my story does not involve cockroaches but it does involve fresh, grilled, cheese filled pirogies oscypki with a small dollop of homemade preserves. The best pirogies oscypki I found in Krakow were at this quaint stand in the middle of the Main Market Square.

©2010 Danee Gilmartin All rights reserved