The Courtauld Gallery: Short and Sweet

London cabs all still look like this.

October 20: The London cabbie estimated an 8-pound fare to reach the Courtauld Gallery, so we got into the cavernous passenger compartment of the black taxi. He rushed through the traffic and got us through the traffic so quickly that the meter showed only 6.8 pounds. We gave him 8 pounds anyway for doing what every taxi driver should: taking his passengers to a destination in the shortest route and in the fastest time. (You can compare this to our experience with a French taxi driver in Caen.)

I have to agree with the Gallery's advertising as being "one of the finest small museums in the world." Located in the stylish 18th-century Somerset House, the museum displayed art from the Renaissance to Post-Impressionism. It was also small enough for viewing every painting in one visit, with enough time to enjoy the modern central fountains, which varied its spray patterns in rows and columns. (The gallery occupies a wing of the mansion.)

The museum's Impressionist/Post-Impressionist collection was particularly exciting:  Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Seurat and Gauguin, among others.  The highlight was Manet's A Bar at the Folies-Bergère. We can all relate to this woman's feeling for her job: