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accessible foot bridges of Paris...that’s if you can find the bridge—and the pedestrian access

to tt—when you pop out of the rabbit hole that is the Metro station! Never mind that the trip
on the Metro involved changing lines four times along the way from where we started.

So, my caveat about visiting the Musée National de Céramique Sévres 1s that you should
leave yourself about half a day to travel there, find it, and actually see the collection. On the

positive side, this museum, unlike most in Paris, is open on Monday, making it an excellent |

half-day trip should you find yourself wondering what to see when virtually everything else
you wanted to see is closed. It’s also included in the Paris Museum Pass, which 1s definitely
worth getting if you’re heading to Paris for more than a day.

And what will you actually see in the Musée National de Céramique Sévres, once you finally
reach it? Rooms and rooms filled, floor to ceiling, with pots! Everything from Bernard Palissy
(whose likeness welcomes visitors to the museum) to Islamic, Japanese, Central and South
American ceramics, to extensive collections of 18th Century European porcelain (including,
of course, stunning examples of Sevres porcelain,) and Maiolica ware. That list doesn’t include
rotating exhibits of contemporary ceramics and glass, the massive porcelain pots in the halls,
the Art Nouveau and Art Deco ceramics or the ceramic installation art on the grounds.

Did I mention the museum closes at 5?

The Serendipitous

I spent half of my trip in the Bordeaux region of France. Since we stayed with friends
of the family outside of Bordeaux, we left that half of the trip agenda-less and up to the
recommendation of our hosts; there aren’t a lot of guidebooks on the area that cover much
other than the wine and food (not that great wine, duck and foie gras are hardships!), so plans
were left loose on purpose. Improvisation often proves to be beautiful.

Visiting the village of Saint Emilion for the architecture—which includes great examples
of the transition from Romanesque to Gothic styles, for those with some art history
background—I stumbled across a pottery museum in the most unlikely place: a rock quarry
dating to the 12th and 13th centuries.

Saint Emilion is famous for its wine, but it should also be famous for the Musée Souterrain
de la Poterie! Not to mention for the owner of the collection: Alain Querre. He’s worth
the trip, even without seeing the incredible pots he’s spent a lifetime gathering. French, but
married to an Irish woman for 50 years, Alain Querre is a bilingual historian, storyteller and
astoundingly enthusiastic ceramics collector. In twenty minutes of listening to him, I learned
more about Alienor of Aquitaine and the history of western France through pots than I ever
imagined possible. Better still, 1 met a ceramics enthusiast with a fire of passion that would
ignite a love of pots in all but the most cynical.

What of the museum itself? The setting is breathtaking all on its own, but filled with
a collection of pots—almost entirely collected by Alain Querre himself—and ranging over
twenty centuries, this museum truly knocked my socks off! (And no, twenty is not a typo.)
There are pots dating back to the first century c.e. in the Musée Souterrain de la Poterie.
That in itself is amazing to see, but the fact that they are displayed in the open— not behind
glass—so that, were you daring enough, you could reach out and touch them...that puts it
over the top!

Not only is this incredible secret filled with pots, ancient to 19th century, but there 1s also
a gallery of contemporary work inside as well. I was most impressed by the work of Michel
Wohlfahrt, whose figurative ceramic sculptures presented in the quarry space like destiny
provided for them to be shown there.

The Musée Souterrain de la Poterie is worth goimg back to France for all on its own.

Check it out online: www.saint-emilion-museepoterie.fr/. While you’re online, go to
the Musée National de Céramique Sévres’s site, too: www.musee-ceramique-sevres.fr.

Now, start planning your trip! a Amber Kennedy

7 ——— rrr EEE 0) (2)

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POTTERS

GUILD
«BRITISH

Musée national de Céramique Sévres

Alain Ouerre, Musée Souterrain de la Poterie (nith A. Kennedy)