Quai Branly....

The new museum by Jean Nouvel is a total triumph. While it's gotten some bad press, I couldn't find a thing wrong with it. Even the much-discussed long lines weren't there. We waltzed in without waiting.

You walk up a long curved ramp to arrive at the darkened galleries. The art is collected in four regions, representing the four continents they come from. Snaking around the galleries is a leather banquette where you can sit and watch interviews with artists, or watch short documentaries about the cultures represented.

The morning we spent at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, which I went to sportingly, just to accompany Ira. I ended up having a terrific time, both for the history of design objects, mostly furniture, and for the building, which is at the absolute end of the Louvre building. You get right up in the attic of the top-most floor.