One of the lovely apartment buildings on the way to the Jardin de Luxembourg, in our neighborhood.
What a glorious day to begin our Paris sojourn. We start out at 9-ish, having eaten our Parisian breakfast. We did buy eggs, and I made scrambled with lardons, but we had to have it with a croissant! ..c'est la vie! non?
What better way to start out Paris experience, and Waz's first visit, than a walk through the Luxembourg Gardens? Our lovely apartment is just around the corner, but when we opened the window to check the temperature, the result was getting rugged up. The wind was cold, and a scarf was necessary! We had bought Waz a man scarf in Ploermel, and he was wearing it! Brrr....
As we turned into the Jardin, at this lovely statue, we met with a large group of students from Shirley, Christchurch, NZ. They had hardly any clothes on...in anticipation, they said, of the 22C temps later in the day...ha! I doubt it got past 16C. They sat in the sun a little later, to enjoy the scenery:) They were a French Language student group of years 11 and 12. We enjoyed chatting with them and getting their impressions of their student exchanges, in the past two weeks. They had learned a lot and said that the trip encouraged them to travel when they had finished their education:) To travel IS to get an education! That is the whole point of it!
This statue was built at the beginning of the 1800's to celebrate exploration to the four corners of the world, especially by Marco Polo. The four characters in the middle statue, carrying the world on their shoulders, represent those four corners. It is at the Montparnasse end of the Luxembourg Gardens.
A closer look. Yes, that is an American Indian head dress on the right hand one. The discovery of the America' is one of the 'characters' here.
Mostly, you cannot walk on the grass, in Paris. Here, this portion of the grass is available to walk and play on. A man was playing badminton with his young son, and a couple of young adult males were playing soccer, in the limited space.
The Jardin du Luxembourg or the Luxembourg Garden, is located in the 6th arrondissement or district of Paris, and was created beginning in 1612 by Marie de Midici, the widow of King Henry IV of France, for a new residence she constructed, the Luxembourg Palace. The garden today is owned by the French Senate, which meets in the Palace. It covers 23 hectares, and is known for its lawns, tree-lined promenades, flowerbeds, which were past their bed, at this time of year, but lovely nonetheless....and there are model sailboats on it's circular basin and for the picturesque Medici Fountain, built in 1620, which has a rather Faerie -like quality to it. It is highly ornate.
This is the first view we got of the Palais de Luxembourg.
You can just see the Eiffel Tower in the background, above this very healthy Palm Tree.
The front relief on the Palace was wonderful. It's ornate figures are something to behold.
There was a changing of the guard, outside the Palais, and we witnessed the handing over of the Machine Gun! lol.
The aforementioned Medici Fountain. The light was lovely, and it gave the fountain a rather ethereal quality. It is that Faerie quality I was speaking of earlier.
We walked towards St Germaine des Pres, as we are on the Left Bank, that wasn't far away. Our goal was to reach and walk along the Seine River.
I rather like the juxtaposition of the new fashion on the model, with the reflection of the old dome on the church across the road from this Haute Couture shop.
Apparently this is what the bride is wearing in Paris, this year!
I got a kick out of the hat shop....well displayed, me thinx:)
We made our way past the Church of St Sulpice, (Sool Peace) which used to be black with soot. It is now, happily, much cleaner. There were large groups of boy and girl scouts gathered, perhaps for a church service? The fountain of some famous person looked straight at the front of the church.
In 1981 I came to a musical concert here in St Sulpice, and was saddened by the state of this lovely church, which is very different in its architecture. There is much restoration work to be done, but she is looking pretty good now:)
Our first glimpse of the Abbey of St Germaine des Pres. This is the oldest church in Paris. It is a Benedictine Abbey which was founded in the 6th century. Under Royal Patronage, the Abbey became one of the wealthiest in France. Until the 17th century, the Abbey owned most of the land of the Left Bank, west of the current Blvd St Michel. It too has had a bit of a facelift since I was here in 2004, with my youngest son. Good to see so much restoration work.
We peeked through the iron gates at the restoration work inside. Can you see? We couldn't enter, or course, but again happy to see this work taking place. See the pigeon feather?
As we walked the streets, this Sunday, we peered into the closed shops and admired whatever was within...or not!
In this case, it is the hand painted wallpaper! WOW! fabulous. You should see what was on the other wall, which didn't photograph well.
Eventually we came to the Left Bank shop of the famous tea rooms of Laduree (Lar doo ray) which is not only famous for its delightful and sophisticated tea rooms, but for it's Macarons.
Don't you love the Micro-macaroons? and the colors and flavors. No, we didn't indulge. We would have put on a lot of weight if we had indulged in all the goodies.
In another shop full of beautiful pens and writing equipment was this lovely quill set.
I need to go back one shop....Laduree has a lovely selection of Patisserie, and so beautifully presented that I just had to take a photo....and all the staff nicely moved out of the way so I could do so:) How nice!
As I have a thing for door knobs, this one rather took my fancy.
The object of the morning was to get to the Seine and then see what happened. We achieved that goal well before lunch time. Here we are looking across the River that runs through the middle of the city and which was the reason the City began here in the beginning....well, it all started on the Ile de la Cite, to be exact. That is where the Notre Dame Cathedral is located. The buildings that line the famous river are fabulous, and the ornate nature of the stone carvings are testament to the eternal need for man to decorate his surroundings, both inside and out. It is also testament to the immense wealth that is generated in this glorious city of light. We marvel at the architecture, and the craftsmanship, the like of which you don't find today...what a shame!
For a few years now, it has become customary for couples to attach a padlock with their names and the date they attached the lock to the bridge. The weight of these padlocks is so great as to be destroying the bridge! eh? and people think this is something good to do? I just don't understand this. It is a bit like those who carve their names into trees, and or bronze statues that have stood for centuries, and now bear the scratchy name of some narcissist, who just couldn't resist defacing something beautiful. Bah!
Stunning, isn't it?
We stopped to talk to a couple sitting on the front of this barge. They were Americans who had rented the barge for their vacation in Paris...just a few days. I asked them if they knew anything about the lovely old barge, but they didn't. I happen to know it was a Dutch working barge, which I think they call a Tjalk.
Notice all the different heads?
The twin spires of Notre Dame de Paris, in the background.
You can rent these electric cars by inserting your credit card. We watched people do this, and were fascinated. We could have too, but neither of us wanted to drive in this city of crazed drivers.
This young Chinese woman was part of a tour group, but she showed such obvious delight at feeding the pigeons with corn in her palms, that I just had to take a photo. She is beautifully dressed, as most of them are.
One of my most favorite Sculptures of all time. This is the large statue of Charlemagne, just to the right of Notre Dame, on the apron, alongside the river Seine. I am fascinated by the dress of the foot soldiers, and the paraphernalia they carry and wear. The Middle Ages are a passion of mine, and Charlemagne was one of the great leaders of those times.
Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great or Charles I, was King of the Franks who united most of Western Europe during the early Middle Ages and laid the foundations for modern France and Germany. He took the Frankish throne in 768 and became King of Italy from 774. From 800 he became the first Holy Roman Emperor — the first recognized emperor in Western Europe since the fall of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier. While Charlemagne already ruled his kingdom without the help of the Pope, recognition from the emperor of Christendom granted him divine legitimacy.
When I was here last in 2004, much of Notre Dame was covered in netting and scaffolding. Today she is looking pretty clean and bright, thankfully. She was not in a good state at all, back then. The line to enter the church was a very long one, and we didn't really want to go inside on such a wonderful sunny day...although that cold wind never really let up, at all.
I never cease to be amazed at how the architects in this city and of these precious buildings did what they did, and all by hand. The huge vision, the craftsmanship and the audacity to just go ahead and try something that hadn't been done before. So many lost their lives in the process of creation, but isn't that what happens? I love that you can see where those craftsmen and laborers have put their mark in that stone, and I cherish that legacy.
The garden alongside the Notre Dame. The best of the summer flowers are almost gone, but it is still worth a photo.
Look at ALL that detail. Glorious!
Pope Jean Paul 11 was beatified and stands beneath the incredible Rose Window in Notre Dame de Paris...well, his Statue does.
How incredible is this!
We peeked behind a fence and saw the Spare Parts Department at the back of Notre Dame:)
The bronze figures on this yet to be cleaned spire, are three deep.
This photo illustrates what I was saying about the river dividing. Boats come down this way on the left, and go back up on the right. The Notre Dame dominates the Ile de la Cite.
On the bridge to the left of the Cathedral they were making a movie.
and on the bridge to the right, this Sunday, they were making music:) Delightful and thoroughly Parisian!
This man was a master of the Accordian.
Oh Paris...How I do love thee! This is one of the most glorious European cities...but we will go to others more glorious, I am sure. We met a young Russian woman from St Petersburg who said that her city beat Paris hands down. I'm sure we will agree, once we have been there.:)
Such a typical Paris scene....and we walked straight past it and took a photo:)
By this time we were hungry and stopped at this restaurant, which had a family group having a Sunday lunch..Dejeuner...and we opted to have the Prix Fixe menu. Sorry! That isn't available on Sunday...hmmm...then why is it advertised everywhere on the menu boards??? Well we had a very forgettable meal there, and don't recommend it to anyone! I couldn't even finish my meal, so bad it was.
Almost next door was an Art Gallery with this rather lovely portrait in the window. I had to take a photo.
The scenes are now hundreds of years old. Vendors along the Seine. You can find scenes like this in so many paintings dating back to the early 1800s/
Meringues are a French thing. They are huge and they are brightly colored and flavored. We didn't try any, but they fascinated me all the same.
I really wanted to try one of these Tarte au Fruits Exotique. I'm sure you can translate that one!:) Waz wouldn't let me...we had just eaten lunch...well, he had!
On our way back home and again on the Left Bank or Latin Quartier, we went via Blvd St Michel and St Serverin, Church. I love the cloisters in the foreground, but they all looked like they were in bad shape and needed cleaning most of all.
We also found the Musee de Moyen Age, or the Cluny Museum of Middle Ages, as it is now known.
This was the only museum we went into, and it is my favorite. I went here last in 2001. There have been huge improvements since then. It is also home to my favorite Tapestry, La Dame et la Licorne. The Lady and the Unicorn. Those walls are so ancient! This is part of the Middle ages garden (Jardin) which was under construction back in 2001.
Look how ornate the scene on one of the towers to the Museum is. Lovely:)
It has housed the Middle Ages Museum since the 1800's...see below.
These 11th century heads of Kings were discovered underneath the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral, back in the late 1800's. Amazing!
I have copied this from Wikipedia for your information.
The structure is perhaps the most outstanding example still extant of civic architecture in medieval Paris. It was formerly the town house (hôtel) of the abbots of Cluny, started in 1334. The structure was rebuilt by Jacques d'Amboise, abbot in commendam of Cluny 1485–1510; it combines Gothic and Renaissance elements. In 1843, it was made into a public museum, to hold relics of France's Gothic past preserved in the building by Alexandre du Sommerard.Though it no longer possesses anything originally connected with the abbey of Cluny, the hôtel was at first part of a larger Cluniac complex that also included a building (no longer standing) for a religious college in the Place de la Sorbonne, just south of the present day Hôtel de Cluny along Boulevard Saint-Michel. Although originally intended for the use of the Cluny abbots, the residence was taken over by Jacques d'Amboise, Bishop of Clermont and Abbot of Jumièges, and rebuilt to its present form in the period of 1485-1500.[1] Occupants of the house over the years have included Mary Tudor, the sister of Henry VIII of England. She resided here in 1515 after the death of her husband Louis XII, whose successor, Francis I, kept her under surveillance, particularly to see if she was pregnant.[2] Seventeenth-century occupants included several papal nuncios, including Mazarin.[3]
In the 18th century, the tower of the Hôtel de Cluny was used as an observatory by the astronomer Charles Messier who, in 1771, published his observations in the landmark Messier catalog. In 1789, the hôtel was confiscated by the state, and for the next three decades served several functions. At one point, it was owned by a physician who used the magnificent Flamboyant chapel on the first floor as a dissection room.[4]
In 1833, Alexandre du Sommerard bought the Hôtel de Cluny and installed his large collection of medieval and Renaissance objects.[5] Upon his death in 1842, the collection was purchased by the state; the building was opened as a museum in 1843, with Sommerard's son serving as its first curator. The present-day gardens, opened in 1971, include a "forêt de la licorne" inspired by the tapestries.
The Hôtel de Cluny is partially constructed on the remnants of the third century Gallo-Roman baths (known as the Thermes de Cluny), famous in their own right, and which may be visited. In fact, the museum itself actually consists of two buildings: the frigidarium ("cooling room"), where the vestiges of the Thermes de Cluny are, and the Hôtel de Cluny itself, which houses its impressive collections.
After spending about 1 1/2 hrs there, we went home. We were absolutely walked out and information overload. A cup of tea, some home cooked dinner and bed! in that order.
but before I go....
I have to share the most beautiful of tapestries. In six large hangings, is told the incredibly fanciful story of the Lady and the Unicorn. It is famous for bridging two eras...the Middle Ages and what came to be known as the Renaissance. Its Genesis is in question, but it is still one of the most significant works of art of the period. Sorry for the poor quality of photo...it is kept in a very dark room!
I was able to point my camera just a few inches from the Tapestry to get some semblance of a decent photo of the stitches. I was watched closely by one of the many docents.
This is just one of the six tapestries of La Dame et la Licorne.
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