My son loves photography and is quite accomplished in his own photographic body of work asked, “What are we going to do today, Ma?”  I replied quickly with a wonderful suggestion.  We were to walk over the bridge to the Petit Palais, which could be considered a hike to some and to others a decent walk.

I read that they were having a special exposition of the famous father and daughter photojournalists, “The 100 Photos of Pierre and Alexandra Boulat.”  The Petit Palais, Musee des Beaux-Arts, Ville de Paris, was built in 1900 at the same time as the Grand Palais just across the street.   It is located on the Avenue Winston Churchill.  As you see here there is a beautiful bronze dedicated to him just outside.

Pierre, the father, was a photographer for magazines such as Life. His daughter Alexandra, a war correspondent known internationally has photographed the main conflicts for over the past twenty years and was published in such magazines as Time, Newsweek, National Geographic among others.

My son was wondering why I picked the Petit Palais at first, but when we arrived and he saw the sign, he was thrilled to see it was a special photography exhibit which was on through 27 February 2011.

Entrance into the museum is free and it is just beautiful.  There is even a lovely semi circular courtyard, garden and wonderful cafe.  The web site is here,  Petite Palais.

This was the sign as you entered and on the right a picture of the garden.

I took this photo of my son downstairs where some of the permanent collections are located.

The museum has a remarkable collection of paintings and sculptures.  Needless to say, no photos were allowed inside of this special exposition, sorry.  I can tell you that it was organized and displayed beautifully. On one side the work of father Pierre, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease and eventually died in 1998 at the age of 73.

The other side displays the daughter Alexandra’s photos, who died in Paris in 2007 of a ruptured brain aneurysm.  She lapsed into a coma and died several weeks later at the young age of 45.  Her obituary is here if you would like to read it, Obituary of Alexandra Boulat.

If you would like to take a peek of this special exhibit, just click here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj9KYimvxXw&feature=related

Outside I am standing near the entrance, with the beautiful gold doors while holding the book we just bought featuring the photographs of Pierre and Alexandra Boulat.