Getty

On the Thursday, I headed off to the Getty Centre to indulge in some high culture before heading to Hollywood and indulging in low culture.

The Getty Centre was one of the better art museums I have been to. It managed what seems to be the impossible aim of most galleries these days. Ie it is architecturally interesting in its own right AND has some works of art actually worth looking at.

It has become a right of passage for a modern city to get itself an architecturally stunning modern art museum. Tate Modern and the Guggenheim Bilbao started the trend, which has spread to remote corners of the globe such as Christchurch. However such is the paucity of modern art, that there simply isn't enough to go around, and many collections can be disappointing.

Having a multi-billionaire benefactor in the 70s gives the Getty an advantage... They were able to get their hands on the good stuff before the prices went crazy in the 80s. Getty is not just a modern art museum though. It has a range of art across the centuries and I enjoyed perusing the works. In particular, the gallery is renowned for owning what was at the time the most expensive work of art ever bought, namely £32 million worth of Les Irises by Van Gogh. It was hung on the wall with no more security than any of the other paintings. It was protected by glass, but that was all, and the curators were more than happy to allow visitors to take photographs.