San Francisco and The Impressionists!

It was a rainy day, a foggy day, but that did not stand in our way of going out into it and having a good time. The promised storms were not so bad. The drive to San Francisco was pleasant enough. We picked up my brother on our way and ventured into the City.

click on photos to enlarge Arriving at the de Young Museum (the tall tower at the left top) having parked but a block away...where we visited the gift shops, looking for Robin, not finding her, and waiting for our turn at 10:30 a.m. to go into the exhibit. (Unfortunately, Robin and I did not firm up our meeting times well enough to make it happen this time, perhaps at a later date we will get to meet in person). And finally to go inside. I cannot express my feelings well enough to share how it felt to stand in a room full of Van Gogh's paintings; or to stand in front of Gauguin's Tahitian Women that towered over me in size with it's vibrant colors exploding off the wall. It felt like I was eavesdropping on a quiet moment between these two women...It was so much to take in. I thought Starry Night would have more swirls around it's stars...silly me. So many of the paintings were large and almost overwhelming in color and brush strokes. It made you want to go right home and draw and paint.

We were not allowed to take photos inside the exhibit so these are pictures from a magazine I brought home with me...poor quality paper, but at least gives you an idea of some of the paintings we did see.

Afterwards we stopped at the warming hut under the Golden Gate Bridge (seen in the top collage from a window) where I had hot/spicy chili, fresh squeezed orange juice, and a big round oatmeal cookie! We warmed up and found this to be a good celebration of my dear husband's birthday!