Snow fell on my newly planted chrysanthemums last Saturday and Halloween has come and gone. Where does time go? And why does it always go so much faster when you are having a good time? As a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker who would move back to Manhattan in a heart beat if only we could afford it, my frequent visits to the Big Apple feel always too short.  

Art dominated the three days I spent in New York last month. Together with a couple of fellow Napoleonic enthusiasts, my first stop was the Morgan Library and its three current exhibits, each one worth the trip: "David, Delacroix, and Revolutionary France: Drawings from the Louvre," "Ingres at the Morgan," and "Charles Dickens at 200!" Just take a look at the excellent review and images in the California Literary Review, and you will want to see these extraordinary exhibitions if you possibly can. 

The Metropolitan Museum's Wonder of the Age: Master Painters of India 1100-1900 was of course a must, and once there I could not resist taking a quick peek at a few of my all-time favorites, which consumed a good part of one day. Last but not least, I was fortunate to be able to participate in Will Barnet at 100, a symposium at the National Academy of Design, which showed an artist at the top of his form, full of energy and ideas about art and the creative life. Barnet's work is informed by the old masters, and he is outspoken against "painters who throw things around."  Barnet, who championed Vermeer as a major inspiration, has had heated arguments on the subject with Willem de Kooning, whose major retrospective at the MOMA is one I had to miss on this trip but hope to catch before it closes on January 9, 2012. 

I was most fortunate to receive not just one, but two delightful contributions to this issue by my good friends Carolee Heileman and Claudine Mahin. The first concerns one of the world's great museums, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, and particularly its holdings of some of the masterpieces once belonging to Empress Josephine. The second recounts a vagabondage through Parisian streets inspired by Woody Allen's most recent masterpiece, Midnight in Paris. Thank you so much, un très grand merci, Carolee and Claudine, for these evocative articles, and for giving "The Eagle" such wonderful travel opportunities!     

This is the year of Russia for me. In June, I completed my training in French and Russian fine arts and became a docent at Hillwood Museum in Washington. Despite its importance to foreign affairs,I had never set foot in Russia, so I signed up for a tour focusing on Russia's history and culture.   

 It was definitely worthwhile, although Russia can be overwhelming. Not only is the language different, Russia uses the Cyrillic alphabet. Luckily, many of the signs have English "sub-titles" which are very helpful to tourists. The currency (roubles) is also unique so you cannot get around using dollars or euros. I visited in September so I did not have to contend with the cold Russian winters.    

I went to Russia mainly to see the Hermitage, one of the largest museums in the world. Architecturally, it could not be more impressive, but the collection is equally superb. Most people head for the extensive Impressionist galleries, but I focused on 18th century art and antiques. I read that if a visitor spent five minutes observing every one of more than three million items in the Hermitage it would take 25 years to finish!  

The Hermitage Museum and its collection expresses the fascination several of the Russian tsars, starting with Peter the Great, had with French art and culture. At the beginning of the 18th century, Peter founded the city of St. Petersburg, where the Hermitage is located. His daughter, Elizabeth I, later began construction of the massive Winter Palace that is the centerpiece of the palatial complex. Catherine the Great built the retreat she called the Herrmitage, which gave the museum its name.    

 A special exhibit in 2007, France in Russia: Empress Josephine's Malmaison Collection, brought together many of the works of art Josephine had collected which are now dispersed among several museums, including the Hermitage. The exhibition put Josephine's famed extravagance in context, focusing instead on her role as a gifted collector and patron of the arts. Thanks to the archives available on the Hermitage Museum's website we also know the story of the journey of this part of her collection from Malmaison to the Hermitage.