MORE TOURING WITH SISTER V...LEGION OF HONOR

On Sister V's second day in town, we started the morning with coffee with some of my Walnut Creek Masters Swim Team buddies.



Once a month, a group from our workout get together to celebrate those who have birthdays in that month.

From there, V and I headed into San Francisco to the Legion of Honor, one of the City's Art Museums.



The Legion is located on the West side of San Francisco in Lincoln Park. The building is a replica of the French Legion of Honor in Paris. It was built to commemorate California soldiers who died in World War I.



The views from the building are of the Golden Gate Bridge, downtown, and the Pacific Ocean. The weather the day of our visit was spectacular, as were the views.

V was particularly taken by the large glass sculptures by artist Dale Chihuly.



There is one in the outdoor courtyard



and another in one of the galleries.

We went to the Legion to see the Annie Liebovitz Photography exhibit, which ended May 25, 2008. We wound up spending most of the day here. I especially like the Legion for the diversity of its collection. I always enjoy the Rodin sculptures, especially the larger Thinker in the front Court of Honor (great place for a photograph). The European Decorative Art collection includes furniture and decorative items from the French Baroque and 18th Century English periods...and much more. The lower level gallery filled with English porcelain is easy to miss if you don't know it is here; it is worth seeing out. The Legion's European Painting collection runs the gamut from the 14th through the 20th centuries.

One of the Legion's major exhibits for Summer 2008 (June 12-September 21) is Women Impressionists: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassat, Eva Gonzalès, Marie Bracquemond. The works featured in this exhibit come from the Schim Kunsthalle in Frankfurt and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

We stopped for lunch in the museum's restaurant.



V broadened her culinary experience by ordering the Meatball Bahn Mi Sandwich, a Vietnamese sandwich of pork meatballs with a tasty sauce. Her plate was garnished with a daikon and carrot salad.



My choice was a Veggie Wrap. In true San Francisco Bay Area fashion, the Legion of Honor Cafe's menu features seasonal dishes made with ingredients that are grown or produced by small family farms and artisanal producers who are located within 150 miles of its kitchen. Diners get a true taste of the Bay Area when they eat here.

We made one final and sobering stop outside of the Legion at The Holocaust, a sculptural memorial by Pop Art sculptor, George Segal.