Memorials in Washington, DC

We love DC!

My grandson loves visiting the monuments and memorials in DC. Here are two photos from a recent visit. We went to the Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. We also drove by the Washington Monument, the White House, and the Capitol.

Christian took a photo of me in front of Thomas Jefferson inside the Jefferson Memorial. It was a bitter cold day and I am freezing! Can you tell?

I took a photo of Christian in front of the statue of Lincoln inside the Lincoln Memorial. I warned him that he would look like an ant!


When the weather gets warmer, I plan to take him to visit the FDR Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the WW #2 Memorial, and the Air Force Memorial.

Frogs at the National Geographic

Do you like frogs?

The National Geographic currently has a marvelous exhibit of 150 different kinds of frogs. The frogs come in all sizes and in all colors. It is an exhibit that both adults and children can enjoy. I went with my husband and my 5-year-old grandson Christian. He took most of the photos of the frogs. I highly recommend this exhibit!

This golden frog is very poisonous. It has enough poison to kill 10 people!

Here is a little turquoise frog.

And here is a little blue frog with his tiny friends.

Rasika: An Indian Restaurant

I met my friend George at the National Gallery of Art and we saw an interesting exhibit of photographs by British photographers. We then had a lunch in a very nice Indian restaurant at 6th and D Streets, NW. We ordered five vegetarian side dishes. Each one was delicious! We also enjoyed an order of naan bread.

Here are two views of us inside the restaurant.

George and Christine

Christine and George

Here is a photo of me standing in front of the restaurant:

Christine

In the Forest of Fontainebleau: National Gallery of Art

Entrance to the Exhibit

I went to the National Gallery of Art this morning. I saw the new exhibit, In the Forest of Fontainebleau. There were both photographs and paintings in this exhibit. The majority of the paintings were by Corot and Millet. It was a nice exhibit but a bit monotonous. The painting I liked the best was "The Bodmer Oak, Fontainebleau Forest" by Claude Monet.

I have fond memories of Fontainebleau as my son earned his MBA at Insead, and we spent many happy hours wandering among the trees and climbing on the rocks in the forest with his sons, Arthur and Paul.

Green Papaya Vietnamese Restaurant

Another meeting of the Dinner Club took place last night. Our restaurant of choice? Green Papaya, a Vietnamese restaurant in Bethesda. As usual, the conversation was scintillating and the food was delicious.

The address of the restaurant is 4922 Elm Street, Bethesda. We liked the atmosphere and the excellent service in addition to the tasty food. We were also very impressed with the charm of the surrounding neighborhood with its many restaurants. You might want to visit this area if you are looking for an interesting place to eat. (I know, I know! If you live in Virginia, Maryland seems to be on the other side of the planet.)

Here we are!
The Club: Michele, Mary, Synthia, Christine, Jodi

Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party

This evening I went to the Freer Gallery, one of the Smithsonian museums on the National Mall.

I attended a talk by Susan Vreeland. She talked about her latest book Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Party: Portrait of la Vie Moderne. Coincidentally, I had just finished reading this fascinating book when I noticed that the author would be in town to make a presentation. I enjoyed this event very much. How lucky we are to live in this area with so many wonderful cultural opportunities!

If you want to know more about the author, go to her website at http://www.svreeland.com/

If you would like to see this very famous Renoir painting, it is right here in Washington, DC! It is at my favorite art museum, The Phillips Collection. To see a picture of it, click here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luncheon_of_the_Boating_Party

To learn more about the Phillips Collection, go to the official website at http://www.phillipscollection.org/html/collect.html

You might want to visit the Freer Gallery. Admission is free and it is located only a very short distance from the Smithsonian Metro station. To discover what the Freer Gallery has to offer, go to the website at http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/default.htm

Peter and the Wolf at the Kennedy Center

My husband and I took our grandson Christian to the Kennedy Center today to see a performance of "Peter and the Wolf." It was incredible!

After the performance, we met Maestro Mouse and took Christian's photo with him.

If you are interested in the children's book about Maestro Mouse, go to this website.
http://www.vspbooks.com/index.php?submenu=stars&src=gendocs&link=maestro&category=Our%20Stars
Maestro Mouse lost his baton and takes children on an adventure to find it. Along the way they learn all about the instruments of Maestro Mouse's orchestra.