Last week I went to a couple of museums in Paris, as a part of the accelerated tour we were giving a Cuban friend who was visiting the city for a few days.

Of course, Musee d’Orsay was on top of our list of things to do. We went straight to the 5th floor to start with the Impressionism. This friend is a painter who studied and works in Havana and one of his friends from Colombia, who studied with him and lives in Paris also joined us. There is nothing like visiting a museum with painters. They know all the little details and stories behind the paintings and this info is not a part of any audio guide in an art museum. The visit was fun and educational.

The highlight of the visit was the moment when my friend stops in front of Renoir’s Bal du Moulin de la Galette and points to the Cuban dancing in the crowd. I laughed and did not believe him until he confirmed that indeed he read this a while ago. It turns out that the guy is a Cuban painter and friend of Renoir named Cardenas. Then I searched on the internet and all the characters were really associated to Renoir in one way or another.

Here is a picture of this famous masterpiece. Spot the Cuban, he is wearing a straw hat and dancing with a girl (Margot) right in the centre of the painting.