When Antonio grew up and finished high school, the only thing he wanted to do was to travel. He had developed a big interest in art, particularly sculptures. He use to spend hours just studying the statues at the Palace of Bellas Artes at the Forestal Park. He insisted so much in doing a trip to explore the art museums of Europe that finally his parents bought him a round trip air ticket to France and allowed him to go. He had not reached puberty yet and Filomena was concerned that would happen when he was in Paris.

He stayed in a very small and cheap hotel near la Gare de Nord where he needed to share the toilet and the shower with all the people in that floor. The bed felt more like a hammock because it had a hole in the middle but he got used to it.

Since there are more than 130 museums in the city limits of Paris he planned to stay a long time there.

First he spent days at the Louvre. Of course he could not understand why the Mona Lisa was not in a wall by herself. She was surrounded by other paintings. (At least, after some time they changed Mona Lisa to a wall by herself.) He would have liked very much to be taller when he found the beheaded statue of the Winged Victoire de Samothrace. So gorgeous. He was in love.

Then he went to Musée d’Orsay where he delighted his eyes with impressionist and expressionist works. He also went to the Petit Palais where he found thousands of paintings from Delacroix, Cezanne, Monet, Courbet and many others. At the Musée Rodin he saw the famous Le Penseur (the thinker). He enjoyed the strange building of Centre Pompidou where the National Museum of Modern Art is and everybody seems to go to have a coffee and talk about their affairs.

At Musée de Cluny he explored the daily life in the “Moyen Age” (medieval times). The Museum is lodged at a late 15th century Abbey that was built above a Gallo-Roman thermal bath from the 1st and 3rd centuries. The “crown jewel” of this museum collection is a 15th century tapestry, “The Lady and the Unicorn”, much admired for its sumptuous colors and allegorical symbolism.

At L’Orangerie, Antonio spent hours swimming in Nymphéas (Water Lillies), the absolutely sublime series of murals from the master Impressionist Claude Monet.

Antonio also visited the Musée du Luxembourg at the Luxembourg gardens. This museum was opened in 1750 and is one of the oldest in Europe.

When he had visited all of the best know museums in Paris, he started with smaller ones. He was totally enthralled at the Musee National Gustave Moreau. So many paintings and details!

At the Carnavalet Museum he learned about the history of Paris. The museum occupies two buildings Hotel Carnavalt and Le Peletier, and is one of the oldest museums in Paris. The majestic buildings sit near Place des Vosges in the Marais, the aristocratic district of Paris. The architect who reshaped Paris in the late 1800’s, Baron Haussmann, was responsible for the idea of this museum.

Antonio continued visiting museums full of paintings and sculptures and fountains and bottles and all kinds of things.

Some months after Antonio left, a telegram from France came to Filomena’s house. Antonio had been arrested in Paris for perversion. He was found trying to have sex with a stone statue at the museum of Antoine Bourdelle.

They could not believe what they read. What a shame, how embarrassing. Could they do anything?