Margie and I woke up early, dressed and, since we had made plans with Maureen the night before to meet her at the louvre at noon, we let her sleep and were out the door with almost no noise. We got better at it each day with more practise!We walked across the bridge to the metro and took it to the louvre stop. We found a little cafe and had breakfast. The washrooms were the thing that I remember most about this cafe. Like lots of places in Paris the washrooms are downstairs. While waiting my turn in the narrow hallway I spied an open door with more old stone stairs leading down to who knows where. There was oddest sign on the wall inside, a person sitting down and looking quite asleep or dead. The sign said Danger D'Asphyxie en cas de fuit.??
We found our way to the pyramids by 830 so that we would not be in line or at least at the front of the line It was a misty kind of morning and there were almost no people there at all. We went up to the guards inside the pyramid and found out that the Louvre was Closed on Tuesdays. The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays ???
It was by this time misting heavily. What to do? We decided to go to the Musee D'Orsay, just across the river.
Through the lion gate and across the river we sallied forth only to be accosted by gypsies picking up lost golden rings that were not lost. Margie and I both knew that the rings that were magically scooped up in the hands of the approaching person had not been there before the person scooped it up, as the cobblestone walkways makes one pay close attention to where one is putting ones feet for fear of twisting an ankle if one is not mindful. 'Had we lost a ring?' they would ask. 'No' we would answer. They did do it very well and if we had not being paying such close attention to the cobblestone walkways we might not have known that there was no ring before it was scooped up and presented with such a well rehearsed method of believability. I am not sure how much money they get as a reward for "finding" the lost ring from people who had never lost a ring but obviously enough that the gypsies felt it was a worthwhile endeavor and continued to do it to the millions of tourists who came to Paris. The next time I go to Paris I might find out how much it costs to get back a ring I never lost. We made it to the Dorsee, which is on old train station redone into a museum, and through the other gypsies selling umbrellas.
We were pretty fast getting into the Musee Dorsee and it was great. Lots of paintings that we did not take any pictures of because we misunderstood the sign that said no flash photography. We thought it meant no photography, period. So much for universal sign comprehension. Yes the picture meant "No Flash" so we could have taken pictures of all the impressionists that Dennie really loves!
There were the impressionists, lots of them. Vincent, Degas, lots of Degas, Monet, lots of Monet, Manet, Renoir, Pissarro. So many great paintings. Religious, medieval, flowers, dead animals, country landscapes, modern. Need I go on. So many great statues. We could have stayed longer but had to go to the Louvre to meet Maureen at noon.
When we left I looked for something with Degas' little ballerina in a couple of their gift shops but they did not have anything with her on it. Lots of Monet but surprisingly, no Degas. I did of course buy some postcards.
When we left the Dorsee, as we were crossing the bridge back to the louvre, we were again accosted by gypsies doing the ring thing including a mother and her very young daughter. Train them young.
Met Maureen at the Louvre at noon with no problem. We walked out into the Park and Gardens next to the Louvre. The Tuilerie gardens are lovely really. Lots of statues and fountains and benches and little food stands with tables and chairs under the trees and waiters to take care of you just like in a Renoir painting.A view on cities says
"In the early 16th century the area was a clay quarry for tiles (tuilerie in French, hence the name). After the death of her husband Henri II in 1559, Catherine de Médicis had a Palace built at the tuileries, the Palais de Tuileries. The palace featured a large garden in Italian style, reminding her of her native Tuscany.
Between 1660 and 1664 the garden was The Jardin des Tuileries was one of the first parks to open to the public and it quickly became a place to see and be seen. Even in the 18th century the park featured amenities such as cafes, kiosks, deck chairs and public toilets.
The Palais des Tuileries, situated near the Arc du Carrousel, was razed in 1871 by the Communards, opening up the view from the
Most recently renovated in 1990, Le Nôtre's formal design of the Tuileries garden has been kept intact. At the same time the park was separated from car traffic. Many modern sculptures were added and in 1999 the Passerelle de Solférino (now the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor), a footbridge across the Seine opened, linking the Tuileries with the Musee D'Orsay.
The Jardin des Tuileries is one of those parks where you can grab a chair for free and sit wherever you like.It also features several fountains, two large basins, numerous sculptures and two museums, the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume and the Musée de l'Orangerie, which displays Claude Monet's large water lily paintings . Those two buildings are the only remains of the original Palais de Tuileries.. We wandered through the gardens and then after much confusion and looking for the right bus stop we caught the red bus next to the river abut three blocks away. Of the several tour buses in Paris, the Red bus had the least number of stops of all of them but they are part of the Paris pass so we used them.
Passed many places including the Champs Eleysee, the Arc de Triomphe, the Place do la Concorde, the opera, the Eiffle tower, the Musee d'Orsay and did not get off at any of them. Margie wanted to but we were tired. Our legs were starting to give out on us after the Mont Saint Michelle stairs and the Eiffel tower stairs and all the walking we had already done. It was nice to just ride around. but the next time I am in Paris.
The Parisian palatine chapel, built to house a reliquary, was itself like a precious reliquary turned inside out (with the richest decoration on the inside). Although the interior is dominated by the stained glass, every inch of the remaining wall surface and the vault was also richly coloured and decorated. Analysis of remaining paint fragments reveal that the original colours were much brighter than those favoured by the 19th century restorers and would have been closer to the colours of the stained glass. The quatrefoils of the dado arcade were painted with scenes of saints and martyrs and inset with painted and gilded glass, emulating Limoges enamels, while rich textiles hangings added to the richness of the interior. Above the dado level, mounted on the clustered shafts that separate the great windows, are 12 larger-than-life-sized sculpted stone figures representing the 12 Apostles (six of these are replicas - the damaged originals are now in the Musée du Moyen Age). Each carries a disk marked with the consecration crosses that were traditionally marked on the pillars of a church at its consecration. Niches on the north and south sides of the chapel are the private oratories of the king and of his mother, Blanch of Castile.
Despite some damage the windows display a clear iconographical programme. The three windows of the eastern apse illustrate the New Testament, featuring scenes of The Passion (centre) with the Infancy of Christ (left) and the Life of John the Evangelist (right). By contrast, the windows of the nave are dominated by Old Testament exemplars of ideal kingship/queenship in an obvious nod to their royal patrons. The cycle starts at the western bay of the north wall with scenes from the Book of Genesis (heavily restored). The next ten windows of the nave follow clockwise with scenes from Exodus, Joseph, Numbers/Leviticus, Joshua/Deuteronomy, Judges, (moving to the south wall) Jeremiah/Tobias, Judith/Job, Esther, David and the Book of Kings. The final window, occupying the westernmost bay of the south wall brings this narrative of sacral kingship right up to date with a series of scenes showing the rediscovery of Christ's relics, the miracles they performed, and their relocation to Paris in the hands of King Louis himself. The most famous features of the chapel, among the finest of their type in the world, are the great Stained glass windows, for whose benefit the stone wall surface is reduced to little more than a delicate framework. Fifteen huge mid-13th century windows fill the nave and apse, while a large rose window with Flamboyant tracery (added to the upper chapel c.1490) dominates the western wall.
We made it back to the apartment by 10 and when we went to bed there were lights on the ceiling flickering different colours as the tour boats on the river went by. How nice, lights on the ceiling tofall asleep to which happened very quickly.
