Moving On
Newsletter 12.10.2023
Bienvenue and welcome back to Musée Musings, your idiosyncratic guide to Paris and art. I am happy to report that turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving 2023 are almost a thing of the past. And we are (almost) ready to turn the page and begin thinking about Christmas Dinner, I mean the leftovers that will grace our table starting on Boxing Day.
I do have one final recipe report. The soup I made one night, with defrosted turkey broth and what was left of the unadulterated gravy (aka, no thickener added). It was a Samin Nosrat recipe for Turkey Pho (which is pronounced FA, as I’m sure you know). Pho is a Vietnamese soup usually made with beef or chicken. It’s one of my favorites. We ate it nearly every Saturday for lunch when we shopped at 22nd and Irving for our fruits and vegetables. That’s before we got fancy and started buying everything at the Ferry Building. And before we got lazy and started ordering boxes from Dirty Girl (Fig 1) which, btw, was our favorite fruit and vegetable stand at the Ferry Market. We only loosely followed Samin’s recipe (for example we substituted tofu for turkey and lemons for limes) But I think that as long as you have fish sauce, the soup is Vietnamese. (Fig 2)
Figure 1. Dirty Girl vegetable box delivered weekly
Figure 2. Turkey Pho, recipe by Samoan Nosrat
In other news, our tree is up and it’s as minimalist as anything gets around here with Ginevra calling the design shots. Instead of our normal ornaments which are basically a history of Christmases past, a tiny felt bird from a tree decorating party I went to in Washington, D.C. when I was a Smithsonian Fellow to the simple Marimekko birchwood apple we bought in Sydney the night before we left for Christmas in Fiji, and on and on and on. This year Nicolas presented me with a dozen gorgeous hand blown glass ornaments that he made. (Fig 3) Ginevra decided to focus on them and so she hung only the tiny Eiffel Tower key chains that I have been bringing home for the past few years (knowing that there was a design epiphany there somewhere).
Figure 3. Nicolas putting his hand-blown ornaments on our Christmas Tree
In other news, Ginevra and I are going to walk the Camino next October. Well, some of it. She may decide to walk portions of it for another 40 years, but since I don’t know if I will, our walk will be the final 100 km on the French route (Fig 4) so that we can get our Camino Certificates.
Figure 4. The options for walking the final 100 km on the Camino to Santiago de Compostela
Our goal is Santiago de Compostela where we will celebrate Ginevra’s birthday with at least one overnight at the parador (Fig 5). Have you ever stayed at a parador in Spain? They are (mostly) five star hotels that are either restored buildings of historical significance or modern hotels in places of historic significance. The first time my husband and I traveled to Spain we stayed at a beautifully restored castle in Ubeda and a modern hotel that had as its vantage point, the spot from which El Greco painted his View of Toledo. (Figs 6, 7)
Figure 5. The Parador de Santiago de Compostela
Figure 6. View of Toledo, El Greco
Figure 7. View from Parador in Toledo
Ginevra and I were in Santiago de Compostela a few years ago, at the end of a trip to Portugal which included Lisboa (they say it looks like San Francisco, it doesn’t but it’s full of scary WWII history), Coimbra (a beautiful university town) and Porto (where you can keep tasting port until you realize you don’t like it!). That time, we stayed at a modest hotel, a converted monastery across the street from the parador. We went to the parador’s restaurant to treat ourselves to a hot chocolate. This time, we want to walk into the restaurant from our bedroom and have hot chocolate as part of the breakfast that is included in our Pilgrim rate!
And now when we walk, we walk with purpose. We’re in training for the Camino! My friend Caroline walked a portion of the Camino in October. She got ready by taking her dog Sassy on long rambles in the countryside. Our ‘go-to’ walk is along the Land’s End trail, which has lots of steps, mostly up on our way and mostly down on the way back. Then we walk into Sea Cliff all the way to Bakers Beach. And then turn around and do it in reverse (Figs 8, 9)
Figure 8. The view from Land’s End trail
Figure 9. There are lots of steps at Land’s End, here are a few
One day we incorporated our walk with a visit to the Legion of Honor Museum in Lincoln Park. It has stellar views of the Golden Gate Bridge, when there’s no fog and there wasn’t the day we were there. (Fig 10) The building, as its name implies, is a reproduction of the Legion of Honor in Paris, across the street from the Musée d’Orsay. (Figs 11, 12) The woman who convinced her wealthy husband to underwrite the cost of building this museum hadn’t seen the original. In 1915, Alma de Bretteville Spreckels fell in love with the French Pavilion at San Francisco’s Panama-Pacific International Exposition, a replica the Legion of Honor. Thomas Jefferson was in Paris when the building, then the Hôtel de Salm, was under construction. He was, according to himself “violently smitten” with it. A statue of our 3rd president stands approximately where he would have as he watched it go up. (Fig 13)
Figure 10. View from Legion of Honor, Lincoln Park
Figure 11. Legion d’Honneur (Hôtel de Salm), Paris
Figure 12. Legion of Honor, San Francisco
Figure 13. Statue of Thomas Jefferson looking at the Legion of Honor, Paris
We were at the Legion to see a temporary exhibition of drawings by the Italian Renaissance master, Sandro Botticelli, (Fig 14) whose works are, for most people, (judging by the size of the crowds when we were there in May), the biggest draw at the Uffizi. The exhibition begins with a video introduction by curators at both the Legion of Honor and various institutions in Florence. It’s a good idea but there are some contradictions in it. Guess they should have taken a bit more time editing! The exhibition includes some beautiful drawings and a few paintings by Botticelli and his teacher (Fra Filippo Lippi), his contemporaries (Pollaiuolo and Verrocchio, who was Leonardo’s teacher), and his studio assistants. among them Fra Filippo Lippi’s son, Filippino (don’t ask). (Fig 15, 16, 17, 18)
Figure 14. Entrance to Botticelli exhibition, Legion of Honor Museum, San Francisco
Figure 15. Holy Family Tondo, Sandro Botticelli
Figure 16. Preparatory drawing of Joseph
Figure 17. Judith with the head of Holofernes
Figure 18, Study of Judith with the head of Holofernes
On Thursday evening, we walked over to see the Tree Lighting Ceremony in Golden Gate Park. (Fig 19) We had never been before but the weather was (and still is) so nice and of course, we are in training. There was a lovely interfaith vibe at the tree lighting ceremony with leaders from government (including the mayor) and a host of religions stressing the importance of praying or at least hoping for peace. It was crowded, which was a good thing, after all the awful press San Francisco has been receiving. It’s true that downtown San Francisco, except for just around Union Square, is a ghost town. But that’s not unique to San Francisco post pandemic. My friend Deedee tells me that Baltimore’s Inner Harbor is empty, too. The places in S.F. that have always been a little ‘iffy’ - the Tenderloin and Civic Center - are still, maybe a little worse. But Golden Gate Park was beautiful, there was an installation that lighted up in various ways and which could be modified by any of us with a cell phone. (Figs 20, 21)
Figure 19. Weird view of the 135 year old GGP Christmas Tree, a Monterey Cyprus
Figure 20. Entwined Tree before light show
Figure 21. Entwined tree during one of its iterations
On Friday, we went to hear Handel’s Messiah. I hate (in equal measure) being too early or too late for a timed event. We got around that problem this year by going to the Asian Art Museum first, it’s only a few blocks from Davies Symphony Hall. We went to see an exhibition that my friend Deedee had alerted me to. The exhibition, called The Heart of Zen, features two ink paintings, Persimmons and Chestnuts, which are on view in the United States for the first time. (Fig 22) They were painted by a 13th-century Chinese monk but have been in Japan for at least 400 years, at a Japanese Zen temple in Kyoto. The exhibition explores the history and significance of these paintings, their place in temple life, and how they are now celebrated as classic examples of Zen art by Western art historians. While we didn’t make it for any sessions of zazen meditation, we followed the instructions as best we could and got a little zen ourselves. (Fig 23) We also timed our visit just right since Six Persimmons and Chestnuts are displayed individually, one at a time, for three weeks each. But the works overlap from Dec. 8–Dec. 10. We were there the 8th!
Figure 22. Persimmons & Chestnuts, not my photo as no photos allowed
Figure 23. Ginevra’s Zazen meditation pose
There was also a temporary exhibition of the work of Takashi Murakami, a contemporary Japanese artist who was one of the first to collaborate with Louis Vuitton when Marc Jacobs was the artistic director. (Fig 24) I won’t say I’m a fan, but there were a few pieces that I liked very much - nearly all reference to 18th and 19th century Japanese prints. Like those of Samurai soldiers, Kabuki performers and swimming fish. There was also a riff on Japanese ceramics. (Figs 25, 26, 27) Most of what Murakami creates looks mechanical (to me) even if he hand draws most of it, at least initially. (Fig 28)
Figure 24. Murakami collaboration with Louis Vuitton
Figure 25. Kabuki performers, Murakami
Figure 26. Murakami, Fish
Figure 27. Murakami Vase
Figure 28. What Murakami is best known for
This year’s Messiah seemed less like a marathon, more like a sprint. I’m pretty sure the sung text was abridged and I’m definitely sure there was one less intermission. But it was still longer than the version I heard in Paris at Easter, which was so short, it didn’t even require one intermission. And where, to my surprise, no one stands for the Hallelujah chorus. The guest conductor, Jonathan Cohen, was making his SF Symphony debut. He conducted in front of a harpsichord, which he also played. It was very impressive to see him at one moment, seated at the harpsichord, playing with one hand and conducting with the other. At other times, but always baton-less, standing and conducting. And since we had terrace seats, we could see what the orchestra and singers did, a man who conducted with very expressive facial expressions!
I wrote about Handel and His Messiah last year, begin reading after Figure 3!
Today we walked through Golden Gate Park to Tartine, San Francisco’s premier boulangerie and patisserie, to buy a loaf of bread. It cost $14.44, an amount that reflects what’s called the San Francisco Mandate, for employee health insurance. That’s not optional, but a tip is (sort of). But here’s my question: why would you tip someone for putting a pre-ordered and prepaid loaf of bread into a bag? Everything is beautiful and delicious at Tartine, but the prices, when compared with Paris, leave me speechless. Don’t you hate it when people make comparisons like that? Sorry.
Thanks to those who commented on last week’s post. As always, your comments are much, much appreciated. Gros bisous, Dr. B.
New comments on Leftover leftovers:
Delicious..no longer can do processed meats, cabbage, red meat, hard cheese, pickles, mayo, mustard but yearning while reading this! I did have leftover turkey, cooked carrots, and mashed potatoes. Even Martha did not cook herself a turkey this year apparently after doing o many on her shows and for her crew. Dianne
Wow, impressive creativity with all your leftovers! Obviously, culinary arts are another of your interests. I love it when there are good leftovers in the freezer. Keep enjoying! Sydney, Portland, Oregon
New comment on Between Abstraction and Figuration:
Thank you so much for the comprehensive article on De Stael and the exhibit. One of my very favorite artists and so sad to miss the show. Maybe it will travel? Shirley L.