We’re often reminded of the myriad advantages of living in an incredibly big, high paced, cosmopolitan city. Conveniences we now take for granted are almost unheard of back in our home town, and I’ve decided that, far from a hardship, we’re decidedly spoilt most of the time. One such time happened on Saturday when we decided on a whim to re-visit the Taipei Fine Arts Museum as we hadn’t been for a while.On Friday afternoon, I was left all alone by my usual friends! Cass was working late at school, Wal had a date, SBF had to take care of some anti allergy medications and Lewey was struck down by a flu and was trying to rest up for his golf game the next day. I decided to head across to the big golf driving range to hit a few balls. I had a fantastic time after scootering over there nursing my two clubs, tied together with a metal bread tie, between my knees. Of course, I didn’t know when enough was enough, so managed to come home with blistered hands, partly from bad technique, partly gripping too hard, but mostly from hitting too many balls over the course of three hours!
The weekend’s glorious weather which began on Friday afternoon continued through to Saturday. After waking relatively early, we decided to go out for breakfast: it always feels so decedent for some reason. Wendel’s does a very tasty line in various breakfasts, so we wandered down the road. It was delicious and we marveled on the way at some early morning workers putting up some bamboo scaffolding…traditional is still the best! When we got back home, Cass had to do a little schoolwork, but we were determined to get out and about to enjoy the weather and couldn’t decide on Yangminshan hiking, scooter riding somewhere nice for some afternoon tea or a visit to the art museum.
We decided to hop on the train and travel the few short stops to the museum, taking the time to walk through the park on the way. The Taipei Floral festival is penciled in for 2010 and 2011 and it must be an incredibly huge event as work crews are busy dismantling the lovely parks and gardens and building huge pavilions and structuring garden plots already. We were not disappointed when we reached our destination, however, as the museum was showing an exhibition straight from the Pompidou Centre in Paris! We were very excited to stumble upon this exhibition and inside, we were surprised to find a stellar array of treasures. On our first visit to Paris, the Pompidou Centre was closed for renovation, so we’ve been determined to feast on its contents in subsequent visits. To see a beautiful selection in Taipei, just minutes from home, was a completely unexpected bonus. Exquisite Picassos of many eras took centre stage with alongside various signature works from Chagall, Kandinsky, Ernst, Dufy, Jacquet and Braque. The stunning piece de resistance was a room holding two outsized Matisse works known as “Océanie, le ciel” as well as Joan Miro’s classic 1961 stunner, “Bleu II”. We reveled in the clever selections of lesser known works as well. Taipei’s contemporary artists have always drawn heavily on French influences apparently, so the exhibition was highly appropriate. We spent a few hours of great pleasure there before sitting in the magnificent late afternoon sun in the forecourt doing some people watching: real art!
Today, we drove across to the coast to catch a few beams and enjoy the flourishing growth on the mountain. We weren’t disappointed as the greenery was lush and thick and the rice paddies were a stunning verdant shade looking so neat and clean and idyllic, ironically considering the insanely hard labour that goes into the cultivation of rice (according to my last book, “Outliers”!) The surf was pretty good too and Cass found her favourite perch high on the cliff top in the sun while I fluffed around in the water. A very successful weekend, but one of those where you’d kinda like another one tacked on, just to relax. Photos: a small wave at the cliff, shades of 9/11 at the art museum, various poses inside and out at the Pompidou exhibition, bamboo scaffolds, Cass and cats, and a curious Taiwan sight. On the winding mountain road, we often see kids allowed to stand up on the seat of moving vehicles and watch the world go by through the sunroof: only in Taiwan! Dave reading "Stealing Fire from the Gods" and Cass is reading "Sea Glass"
