Home again....

Always good to get home....

Pierre wants us to take him next time.....

Relaxing......

Halloween in the neighborhood.......

 

 

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Leaving Paris

As we get ready to leave for home, we know that we will come back to this city. From its great museums to its historical sites; the great metro system that gets you everywhere with easy signage to follow; the superb food be it a restaurant, cafe, bistro or market street food, to say nothing of the marvelous boulangeries and patisseries; the parks, the wonderful vibrant street life, and the friendly people - we leave with great memories. A few images from the last day we spent walking around the city:

A good jazz band playing by Ste. Germaine Church:

The counter at Laduree, known for its macaroons:

My first order of frog legs at dinner ( and they were good):

Mary's Gran Marnier soufflé:

A poem and mural in our neighborhood:

The counter at Pierre Hermes:

And the music and dancing on the square right outside our window yesterday morning:

It's been a great trip!

 

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Sainte-Chapelle

King Louis IX (later St. Louis) purchased the Holy Relics (the most famous of these rumored to be the Crown of Thorns) from the emperor of Constantinople where they had resided since the 4th century. He had this church built on the palace grounds between 1242 and 1248 to house these relics; hoping to lay claim for France and Paris as the "New Jerusalem".

The chapel has been undergoing restoration since 2008, with the work due to be completed this year.

 

 

After the impressive outside, your immediate impression of the inside is one of low ceilings - where are the soaring vaults promised by the outside view. you come to understand that you have walked into the lower chapel where the palace staff worshipped. We were lucky enough to be the only people who showed up for the free English language tour so we learned that most of the interior of the lower chapel was restored in the mid 1800's, giving it its current look.

And then you climb the spiral staircase and the magnificence of the upper chapel is breathtaking. All the more amazing when you learn that approximately 70% of the stained glass is original. The 1,113 scenes depicted in the 15 stained glass windows tell the biblical story from Genesis through Christ's resurrection (I took the guide's word for it). The relics are now housed at Notre Dame as Sainte-Chapelle is no longer used as a church.

 

 

Only the king, his family and closest friends ever saw this chapel - entering it directly from the palace via a outdoor upper terrace connected to the palace. Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie are the only visible remains of the Palais de la Cite, the oldest palace of the Kings of France.

Below is a photo of the Conciergerie, originally part of the royal residence but later turned into a prison. This is where Marie Antoinette spent her final days, and where the Revolutionary Tribunal met and passed sentence on more than 2700 people during the Reign of Terror.

There was a special exhibit in the Conciergerie celebrating the 800th birthday of King Loius IX. It included a number of remarkable items, including the original deed founding the Sainte-Chapelle.

 

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Musee du Louvre

We only spent a day here so barely scratched the surface - with over 5,000 works of art, it is estimated to take nine months to simply glance at each one. We followed the experts' advice and mapped out our route ahead of time. Our strategy was to pick a few areas to see, as well as some of the most well-known. We were lucky in that we didn't run into huge crowds and could easily see all that we had planned. What really blows you away in addition to the amazing collections is the building in which it is housed. Built over eight centuries, the Louvre was the former royal residence, and was turned into a national museum in 1793 by France's Revolutionary National Assembly.

I.M. Pei's pyramid is such an amazing space - it easily accommodates the throngs of people all rushing around - school groups, tour groups, and everyone else - and does so with an openness and reflection of the historic building that is the Palace de Louvre.

 

 

Above four photos are building/architectural elements. Below, "Liberty Leading the People" by Eugene Delacroix, 1831.

Venus de Milo - late 2nd century B.C.

We were able to get close and observe this work for quite awhile - more amusing was stepping back and looking at everyone else looking at the picture. It seems that many people's goal was to snap their pictures and quickly leave, so it was actually easy to work our way to the front and stay there while everyone bustled around us. The photo below is not a good picture of the work - behind glass and about ten feet behind the rope doesn't allow for a good photo.

Winged Victory of Samothrace - this is a stunning piece in a remarkable setting - placed at the top of a grand staircase, it is easy to imagine its original placement on a hilltop commemorating a naval victory.

The largest canvas in the Louvre - The Coronation of Emperor Napoleon - depicts the scene in Notre Dame when Napoleon crowned himself as emperor, the pope sitting passively behind him.

 

There is an amazing collection of original Greek sculpture. Above is a piece that once decorated the exterior of the Parthenon (mid 5th century BC), showing the sacred procession of young women who marched up the temple hill every four years with an embroidered shawl for the 40 foot statue of Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Even though the accompanying description took care to explain that the French diplomat was given permission to take this several years ahead of the British taking their pieces, I am sure that the Greeks see little difference and would like it back.

Below, Arts de L'Islam is a new addition to the Louvre and its largest expansion since the creation of the Pyramid 20 years ago. It is located under a cool roof set in one of the courtyards of the palace, and exhibits items spanning geography (Spain to India) and time ( 8th to 19th centuries).

 

This was made out of one piece of bronze - incredible!

 

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Montmartre

Montmartre is on the northern edges of the city, visible from most of flat Paris due to its hill topped by the white domes of Sacre Coeur. The city wall used to end where Montmartre started but was annexed to Paris about 150 years ago. This part of Paris was historically a working class area and attracted many artists and writers given its rural charm and low rents.

We took a walking tour, and met our guide and the rest of the group at the metro stop across from the Moulin Rouge. Montmartre at one time was filled with mills that supplied Paris with flour - hence the windmills.

The advantage of going with a guide is learning about things that we would probably walk right by. This was a very small tribute to Louise Michael, a leader of the Paris Commune in the 1870's when workers overthrew the government for a short time. The resulting battle was essentially a civil war resulting in mass executions, exiles and much destruction.

Picasso and other artists lived here, and the state continues to subsidize artists in this building. Evidently competition is very tough to get in to the 3 year residencies. The name means "the laundry boat", so named for the laundry that used to hang from its windows.

 

This is a sculpture based on Marcel Ayme's story "Le Passé Muraille" (the walked through walls). The author lived in the building where the sculpture is located, and visitors are encouraged to touch his hand to protect us from getting stuck while walking through walls. So far it has worked and Mary has not yet been stuck halfway through any walls.

The photo below captures some of the village charm still present away from the heavily touristed areas.

Paris actually has a vineyard, and the wine produced is high priced and not very good according to our guide. But all the money raised is used to fund social programs in the district so people buy it but don't often drink it.

The building of Sacre Coeur was begun in 1876, as both a way for the government to exert control over an area known as a home to revolutionaries and to atone for the mass executions that occurred during the chaotic days of the Paris Commune. It was controversial given that the battle between the two camps raged on - Catholic vs secular, royalists vs republicans - and Sacre Coeur was not consecrated until 1919, even then standing in contrast to the bohemian lifestyle that surrounded it.

We visited Montmartre during the grape harvest festival so there were lots of vendors and other activities. We bought some great caramel nuts from this vendor who was making them on the street - quite tasty.

Took this picture from the Musee de Montmartre which overlooks the vineyard. Obviously part of the festivities involved folks in purple dress - we assumed they had something to do with wine.

Sacre Coeur is imposing, whether you see it from afar or stand right in front of it. None of these pictures really capture the people scene outside on the steps leading up to the church - lots of folks hanging out enjoying the view of Paris spread out below.

We took the funicular down to the base of the hill, using our handy metro pass!

The view from the base of the hill:

 

 

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