<p>Op wrote:
</p>
<p>Oh, good; I just got back and can spill what I know:</p>
<p>The older Getty VILLA [Getty</a> Villa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getty_Villa]Getty”>Getty Villa - Wikipedia) is a Roman style courtyard home, with a world-class collection of Greek and Roman art. Online Reservations, by date and hour, must be made in advance due to a cap on total # visitors per hour to keep viewing enjoyable in a relatively small sized art gallery. Look into that aspect now if it’s important to you to get inside. This was Getty;s home… or one of them.</p>
<p>The newer Getty CENTER is somewhat closer in to the center/downtown of LA. Getty Center was a more recent gift from Getty for the people of LA to enjoy. [Getty</a> Center - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getty_Center]Getty”>Getty Center - Wikipedia) Richard Meier and Partners’ remarkable architecture was eye-popping. It highlights the ample grounds and sculptural botanical gardens, too. Allow time to park a car ($15/carload) and board the free tram uphill to begin your visit, unless you’d rather hike up. Once there, several buildings hold large permanent exhibitions with focus on specific times in the history of art(see their website). Personally, and I’m well-versed in French Impressionist/post-Impressionist art, the 3 Gaugin paintings there, plus Van Gogh’s “Irises” [Irises</a> (Getty Museum)](<a href=“Irises (The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection)”>Irises (The J. Paul Getty Museum Collection)) made my day. Their Cezanne? Meh. There are also changing special new exhibitions curated by the museum itself. When I was there last week, the specials included “Paris” (furniture and grooming objects concerning how French royalty got all dressed up), a photographic one-person show and other surprises. They were preparing for an evening outdoor jazz concert, too. </p>
<p>Traffic, especially from L.A. to Orange (for Chapman), is worth checking before you depart. It can range from a 45-minute trip to 2 hours, depending on rush hour traffic, construction and impomptu breakdowns by other cars. My S there consults the internet each time before he traverses those 2 points. I think he used the sites linked above in Posts #8 and #9.</p>
<p>“Rush hour” around LA surprised me by its intensity and duration; he calls it “rush hour” between 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., LOL. Also, unlike eastern cities where “rush hour” means everybody -into-the-center each morning and the opposite each evening, LA seemed to me to be going in all directions throughout “rush hour.” But I was a neophyte with LA traffic; experienced it for the first time last week from a tight backseat in S’s two-door car!</p>