Nay, Nay, D’Orsay

Before I start, let me just say how much I appreciated my free flu shot. Wednesday was the first day of vaccinations and I thought that getting there a few minutes before opening would save me time in line, but no, these Bo' kids are serious about their flu shots. There were about ten kids already waiting, and a steady stream followed behind me. But come on, free flu shots plus a goody bag of candies and a toy? Life does not get better than that. Unless of course, you count grandfather being released from the hospital, brother finding a job, finally narrowing down my honors topic, cafe milkshakes (that're really frappes) and the prospect of homemade paella. Those are good things, too.

The Musee D’Orsay, up until a few days ago, was my favorite museum in the entire world. People, I don’t use that phrase lightly. I’m a retired Sri Lankan textiles worker and I have seen a lot of the world. (As my mother explains, I go to an expensive school, where I have learned to like expensive things because I think expensive = good.) My eyes have seen the ancient treasures of China in its millenniums-old palaces, and also the real treasures from those palaces stored safely in Taiwan. I have seen the the Met in NYC, the Smithsonian and the Museum of Natural History in DC, not to mention Boston’s smaller offerings. The were the numerous National Galleries throughout Great Britain, the Tate Modern, the Red Cross Museum in Geneva, and there was even that random one in Quebec. I have seen a lot of museums, people. And I chose Musee D’Orsay as my favorite.

That is, until I realized that they royally ripped me off.

Take a gander at this beautiful picture I have here from the museum gift shop, a copy of Piet Mondrian’s work. It’s small. It's cheap. No one will ever mistake it for the original. But it is still Mondrian and tasteful, an affordable piece of 'art' for say, a high school junior on her first trip to France.



Until, I took the picture out of its plastic wrappings last week, flipped the picture over and remove its cardboard backing that's not even attached. This is what I discovered:


A postcard!? Masking tape!? They couldn't have bothered to at least use clear tape? To print off reproductions instead of use a postcard? Even world class museums with all the money in the world isn't above ripping its patrons off.