More of Paris under the Commune. Note Georges Brassens in the foreground with his guitar - he was a writer, poet and singer whose appearance in this mural is anachronistic as he was not even born until 1921.
Friday, August 27, 2010
23-8-2010
The Paris Commune was a period of insurgency in Paris which lasted about two months in 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class in industrial Western Civilization (Thank you, Wikipedia).
23-8-2010
Paris Over Time
Three of the panels are dedicated to the Paris Commune, the fourth one depicts Paris at the turn of the 20th century with Georges Brassens playing his guitar in the foreground, Paris in the ’50s, in the ’90s, then in the modern era.
Three of the panels are dedicated to the Paris Commune, the fourth one depicts Paris at the turn of the 20th century with Georges Brassens playing his guitar in the foreground, Paris in the ’50s, in the ’90s, then in the modern era.
23-8-2010
Before the rain started, we had our windows open and I was barely aware of a bell ringing in the distance. It sounded like an old-fashioned telephone bell, but this was steady instead of being intermittent, and I hardly gave it a thought until it grew louder and began to intrude on my consciousness. I looked out the window and watched a gentleman push a cart around the corner and onto our street, ringing his bell. As he approached, I scrutinized his cart and realized he was a knife sharpener. He never called out, only rang his bell. As he approached our window, I tried to take his picture, but he turned away. I retreated, but tried again when he was standing under our apartment. Again, he deliberately turned away. I suppose he figured that if I wasn’t going to spend money to get my knives sharpened, he wasn’t going to allow his photo to be made, so I had to settle for a shot of his cart and his backside. He got no takers on our street – evidently most of the people are a work.
Our colds - bummer!
Monday, August 23, 2010 Day 54
Roger caught a cold on Friday or Saturday. He seems to have passed it on to me today. I struggled against it with zinc and Listerine but it seems to have overtaken me nevertheless. To add insult to injury, it rained much of the day. Roger read the forecast and said rain was only scheduled for the afternoon, but the clouds forgot to read the forecast, as the rain started in the morning. It was light in the morning but turned heaver in the afternoon.
After the rain stopped, we went for an evening walk on a street beneath some rail tracks near our apartment. This is a street we have been on at least twice, as it has the lighthouse on it. As we walked along, we realized there was a mural on the wall which we had missed in our previous visits. I managed to get some pictures of it, but I had to break them down, as the mural is too large to be able to accommodate much detail. It is called Paris Over Time. There are six different tableaux.
Roger caught a cold on Friday or Saturday. He seems to have passed it on to me today. I struggled against it with zinc and Listerine but it seems to have overtaken me nevertheless. To add insult to injury, it rained much of the day. Roger read the forecast and said rain was only scheduled for the afternoon, but the clouds forgot to read the forecast, as the rain started in the morning. It was light in the morning but turned heaver in the afternoon.
After the rain stopped, we went for an evening walk on a street beneath some rail tracks near our apartment. This is a street we have been on at least twice, as it has the lighthouse on it. As we walked along, we realized there was a mural on the wall which we had missed in our previous visits. I managed to get some pictures of it, but I had to break them down, as the mural is too large to be able to accommodate much detail. It is called Paris Over Time. There are six different tableaux.
Monday, August 23, 2010
22-8-2010
This sphynx appears to have lost his foot, but I found it right around the corner. You'd think they would be able to get these things together at the Louvre, but maybe the place is so big that they don't know what they have!
22-8-2010
Listen! This guy is in front of Eglise Saint-Eustache and is big enough for kids to climb on.
The Louvre
Sunday, August 22, 2010 Day 53
This morning after breakfast and some morning chores, we set out for the Louvre. Because we had already bought our tickets, we did not have to stand in line outside the pyramid, but entered through a side door which took us directly under the pyramid and allowed us access to the museum immediately. We didn’t arrive until well after 10:00, and the museum was already full of visitors. It is big enough to handle them all! Roger and I went our separate ways, and I set off for the second floor of the Richelieu wing. I had almost forgotten about all those Dutch and Flemish painters, and I really enjoyed seeing some of their work. The religious art, not so much, but there are plenty of landscapes, still life works and other paintings to keep me busy all morning. I spent the last half hour of our morning enjoying the sculptures, which ranged from the very small to the immense. I found the treatment of the penis very interesting – in some of the sculptures it was out there in full display for everybody to see (I’m sure John Ashcroft would be appalled!), in others, there was the proverbial fig leaf or other foliage rather amusingly placed on an otherwise nude statue, and in still others, a small bit of fabric would trail over the crotch to serve as a cover. Hmmm . . . .
We agreed to meet under the pyramid at 12:30, and we left the museum to get some lunch and walk out our stiffness a bit. We ate at a random street café not too far from the museum, then walked over to the Eglise Saint Eustache to see an amazing sandstone statue which depicts a representative head bent resting on one hand. The work is titled " Listen."
We returned to the Louvre again to spend another hour and a half. On the way in, we went through the security check where they scanned my purse. As I picked it up from the conveyor belt after the scanning, I found a small cellophane block which I picked up, as no one seemed to be looking for it. It was a cake of French-milled vanilla-scented soap. This afternoon I saw some huge and amazing Charles Le Brun paintings dedicated to Alexander the Great, a sphinx with a missing foot, ancient burial urns and lots of other wonderful art. The Louvre was splendid – there is no other way to describe it. But it is too large. We were totally wrung out and neither of us covered nearly all there was to see. But Paris is that way as well – too large for us to see everything in the two short months we have allocated. We are working almost every day, however, to reap more and more of the benefits this beautiful city has to offer before we must kiss it goodbye.
This morning after breakfast and some morning chores, we set out for the Louvre. Because we had already bought our tickets, we did not have to stand in line outside the pyramid, but entered through a side door which took us directly under the pyramid and allowed us access to the museum immediately. We didn’t arrive until well after 10:00, and the museum was already full of visitors. It is big enough to handle them all! Roger and I went our separate ways, and I set off for the second floor of the Richelieu wing. I had almost forgotten about all those Dutch and Flemish painters, and I really enjoyed seeing some of their work. The religious art, not so much, but there are plenty of landscapes, still life works and other paintings to keep me busy all morning. I spent the last half hour of our morning enjoying the sculptures, which ranged from the very small to the immense. I found the treatment of the penis very interesting – in some of the sculptures it was out there in full display for everybody to see (I’m sure John Ashcroft would be appalled!), in others, there was the proverbial fig leaf or other foliage rather amusingly placed on an otherwise nude statue, and in still others, a small bit of fabric would trail over the crotch to serve as a cover. Hmmm . . . .
We agreed to meet under the pyramid at 12:30, and we left the museum to get some lunch and walk out our stiffness a bit. We ate at a random street café not too far from the museum, then walked over to the Eglise Saint Eustache to see an amazing sandstone statue which depicts a representative head bent resting on one hand. The work is titled " Listen."
We returned to the Louvre again to spend another hour and a half. On the way in, we went through the security check where they scanned my purse. As I picked it up from the conveyor belt after the scanning, I found a small cellophane block which I picked up, as no one seemed to be looking for it. It was a cake of French-milled vanilla-scented soap. This afternoon I saw some huge and amazing Charles Le Brun paintings dedicated to Alexander the Great, a sphinx with a missing foot, ancient burial urns and lots of other wonderful art. The Louvre was splendid – there is no other way to describe it. But it is too large. We were totally wrung out and neither of us covered nearly all there was to see. But Paris is that way as well – too large for us to see everything in the two short months we have allocated. We are working almost every day, however, to reap more and more of the benefits this beautiful city has to offer before we must kiss it goodbye.
21-8-2010
Our afternoon walk included a stroll through Parc Georges Brassens, where we checked out the ripening grapes in the vinyard. They have put up netting to discourage birds. Contrast these to our photo of 10-8-2010 here: http://flic.kr/p/8srwJh.
21-8-2010
For lunch I had another colorful salad. Contrast this to my photo of 19-8-2010. It contains the same colors, but the reds and yellows come from different sources. Delicious!
Lazy Day Redux
Saturday, August 21, 2010 Day 52
Today was a slow day, allowing us to recover from the 23,000+ steps of yesterday. We read, spent time on the computer, washed clothes and generally lazed about. It was also warmer than the days have been – when we went out for a walk in the afternoon we did not feel the need to take a jacket. Indeed, it has been cool enough that we have not been taking a bottle of water on our walks so we got out of the habit. Today we were sorry!
We spent time online planning our trip to the Louvre. It is such a huge place with so many exhibits that a venture there deserves a little planning. When we visited it 26 years ago, we saw Mona Lisa and the Reubens room and that was about it. Today I made my plans to see the early Dutch, Flemish, Germnaic and French paintings, while Roger charted the ancient Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities.
Today was a slow day, allowing us to recover from the 23,000+ steps of yesterday. We read, spent time on the computer, washed clothes and generally lazed about. It was also warmer than the days have been – when we went out for a walk in the afternoon we did not feel the need to take a jacket. Indeed, it has been cool enough that we have not been taking a bottle of water on our walks so we got out of the habit. Today we were sorry!
We spent time online planning our trip to the Louvre. It is such a huge place with so many exhibits that a venture there deserves a little planning. When we visited it 26 years ago, we saw Mona Lisa and the Reubens room and that was about it. Today I made my plans to see the early Dutch, Flemish, Germnaic and French paintings, while Roger charted the ancient Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities.
20-8-2010
Our phone was low on battery so the flash would not work, but we got some neat photos nevertheless. Note the ghost of a guy at the right with the blur of blue at his feet - he had dancing colored lights in the front wheel of each skate.
20-8-2010
We walked home, with the hour approaching 11:00. As we crossed Vouillé near our apartment, a young man in a yellow vest skated in front of us and put up his hand to stop traffic on the facing street. We realized that we were seeing more skaters, and suddenly we were overwhelmed with them! We were in the midst of Pari Roller, a weekly roller blade ride which professes to gather the largest number of skaters on the planet. They average more than 10,000 skaters (sometimes as many as 25,000!) and their ride is typically approximately 30km, or about 18 miles. It may take as long as 45 minutes for all skaters to pass a point! (In this regard, we are fortunate that we had crossed the street before the skaters came along – it might have been midnight before we got home!) They are accompanied by hundreds of volunteer staff in yellow vests, and two ambulances and police cars as well. Toward the end may be bicycles, slower skaters, skateboarders, strollers and other miscellany. Makes me wish we had brought our skates!!
Long day!
Friday, August 22, 2010 - addendum.
We returned home via bus and rested and relaxed again, the set out for a dinner of crepes. Most of the crepe restaurants in the city are located on Rue du Montparnasse in the shadow of Tour Montparnasse near the theatre district of Paris. Indeed, much of Paris is designed such that all or most of one commodity can be located in only one area of the city (although there is a creperie near our apartment, and a few others sprinkled across the city). If you want fabrics, buttons, or sewing supplies, the Montmartre area is the place to go. If you want musical instruments, music books, sheet music, guitar and violin strings and other music paraphernalia, the area just outside the Gare St. Lazare is your spot. (This does NOT apply to wine, bread, cheese, medical analysis laboratories or optical shops – these are on every corner!) We ate our savory crepes and wine and finished with some dessert crepes. Delicious! We stopped into a large (by French standards) Monoprix store for some water, and were surprised to discover that it appears to be France’s answer to Wal-Mart – there were kitchen goods (some really cute dishes), clothing, bedding and, on the lower floor, a grocery store. From there bought tickets and headed to the top of Tour Montparnasse, which offers a 360-degree view of Paris from 59 floors up. It is the tallest skyscraper in France. It is said that the Tour Montparnasse offers the best view of the city because it is the only place where one does not have to look at the Tour (Tower)! (Ironically, this is the same claim made by Guy de Maupassant, who loathed the Eiffel Tower and ate lunch there daily so that he did not have to look at the tower.) “Its simple architecture, gigantic proportions and monolithic appearance have been often criticized for being out of place in Paris's urban landscape and, as a result, two years after its completion, the construction of skyscrapers in the city centre was banned” (thank you, Wikipedia). Whatever may be said about the Tour Montparnasse, it offered us a splendid view, with the City of Lights laid out below us in every direction. We stayed until after 10:00 to see the light show on the Eiffel Tower, then headed for our apartment.
We returned home via bus and rested and relaxed again, the set out for a dinner of crepes. Most of the crepe restaurants in the city are located on Rue du Montparnasse in the shadow of Tour Montparnasse near the theatre district of Paris. Indeed, much of Paris is designed such that all or most of one commodity can be located in only one area of the city (although there is a creperie near our apartment, and a few others sprinkled across the city). If you want fabrics, buttons, or sewing supplies, the Montmartre area is the place to go. If you want musical instruments, music books, sheet music, guitar and violin strings and other music paraphernalia, the area just outside the Gare St. Lazare is your spot. (This does NOT apply to wine, bread, cheese, medical analysis laboratories or optical shops – these are on every corner!) We ate our savory crepes and wine and finished with some dessert crepes. Delicious! We stopped into a large (by French standards) Monoprix store for some water, and were surprised to discover that it appears to be France’s answer to Wal-Mart – there were kitchen goods (some really cute dishes), clothing, bedding and, on the lower floor, a grocery store. From there bought tickets and headed to the top of Tour Montparnasse, which offers a 360-degree view of Paris from 59 floors up. It is the tallest skyscraper in France. It is said that the Tour Montparnasse offers the best view of the city because it is the only place where one does not have to look at the Tour (Tower)! (Ironically, this is the same claim made by Guy de Maupassant, who loathed the Eiffel Tower and ate lunch there daily so that he did not have to look at the tower.) “Its simple architecture, gigantic proportions and monolithic appearance have been often criticized for being out of place in Paris's urban landscape and, as a result, two years after its completion, the construction of skyscrapers in the city centre was banned” (thank you, Wikipedia). Whatever may be said about the Tour Montparnasse, it offered us a splendid view, with the City of Lights laid out below us in every direction. We stayed until after 10:00 to see the light show on the Eiffel Tower, then headed for our apartment.
Les Globes de Coronelli, 1684. Earth
I put this one in to show the size of the globes relative to the silhouetted onlooker.
Paris Grand Palais Coronelli
In 1683, King Louis XIV was given a gift of two globes, one a terrestrial globe and the other a celestial globe, both specially manufactured by the monk cartographer Vincenzo Coronelli. Each measuring 4 meters in diameter, the globes represent the knowledge of that era in terrestrial geography and astronomy. Designed to pivot on themselves, they are, because of their weight and size, a technical feat unprecedented at the time. The terrestrial and celestial spheres had been shown publicly only once since the beginning of the twentieth century. They now make their home at the François Mitterand Library in the southeast corner of Paris. After we returned from Giverny, we took a metro to the library and viewed them. They are immense and really gorgeous. It was interesting to see the discrepancy between what was believed about the new world at the time and what we know as fact today – for example, California is shown as an island, there is a huge square lake in upper South America which does not exist, the Hudson Bay is shown much larger and much closer to the Great Lakes than it actually is, the Gulf of Mexico is exaggeratedly large, New Zealand was shown as part of Antarctica, Florida is shown much shorter than what it is, and the Mississippi River is shown much farther west than it actually is (this might explain why LaSalle ended up at Matagorda Bay in Texas while looking for the mouth of the Mississippi River).
Coronelli celestial globe
Coronelli's grand celestial globe - read my post above for more information. Thanks to the three photographers from whom I borrowed these photos - at the time we visited the globes, photography was not allowed.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
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