Beaubourg VII: Chagall and the Surrealists

From previous year's visit to the Beaubourg or Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris - the collection of Chagall...and his other peers of the period.

Chagall: Bella au col blanc, 1917

Otto Dix: Bildnis der Journalistin Sylvia von Harden, 1926

(Portrait of the journalist Sylvia von Harden)

Otto Dix: Erinnurengen an die Spiegelsäle von Brüssel, 1920

(Memories of the mirrored hall in Brussel, 1920)

Balthus: La toilette de Cathy, 1933

On Biomorphisme- Max Ernst: Fleurs de coquillages, 1929

Giorgio de Chirico: Ritrattro premonitore di Guillaume Apollinaire, 1914

(Premonitory portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire)

Yves Tanguy: A quatre heure d'été, l'espoir, 1929

(At four o'clock in summer, hope)

Chagall: Les mariès de la tour Eiffel, 1938-39

(The bride and bridegroom of the Eiffel Tower)

Pelur or Jungle Attap Palm, ecological roofing material from nature

I was doing my usual trek when I came upon an Orang Asli Semai couple preparing palm fronds by the open trail. When asked, the husband said it is called "Pelup" but the wife insisted "Pelur". The husband grudgingly nodded and I supposed that is the correct name....

This is a common palm that grows in disturbed and pristine forests from lowlands till mid-elevation. We used to use its rather pulpous stems as building material for bird traps in our childhood days. Todays' kids will never get the chance to do these - they'll be lucky to even know one exists....The Orang Asli uses this palm frond, dried, as the material for their thatched roofs. They can be differentiated from the other similar palms by its lack of spines along the frond and a waxy, whitish underside of the leaflets.

Once cut, one side of the leaf is folded to the other side much like folding a napkin...

They are then stacked nicely...

Restaurant La Charrette

Last end of summer in France, against my friend's advice, I went ahead and sampled this restaurant situated at the edge of the Boucle de Doubs at Besancon...well, to be honest, I couldn't resist the "country" charm of its facade. What's inside, well...BTW, la charrette simply means "bullock cart"(no pun intended).

The tables are quaint and rustic...

Don't like the exposed clothes hanger though - could have have a more enclosed closet for this...

The salade was copius but too "wild" for my taste...they were trying to capture the essence of summer but I think they don't have to litterally put everything on the plate!

The farmer's chicken was average. Hated the common trap of average restaurants using oversized plating trying to be artsy. They are just plain clunky on the table.

the biggest serving of crème brûlée I've seen

if one likes the sun while eating...

My personal rating:

Service - 7/10

Food - 5/10

Value for money - 5.5/10