Sunday 24 June - Second morning in Paris - the Bateaux Bus and Gypsies

Margie and I got up early, 5:15, and we were out the door by 5:45 am. Sneaking around so as not to wake up Maureen but the door out of the apartment needed to be oiled terribly. We hoped that she got back to sleep. Walked to the end of Isle de Louis and down some stairs to the river.  We were both very excited to be in Paris! We saw some ducks and couldn't remeber the french word 'cannard' so we just called them Le quacks. We were just being silly but it was fun, hanging out in Paris with my sister.

All along the river on both sides are walkways, down by the river and up above along the roads, with benches  and trees on both levels and with stairs every so often connecting the levels to the main roads. There were some odours that were unpleasant but not too bad mostly and there was a fair bit of garbage in the bins that we saw. But we also saw the cleanup crews washing down the walkways and bridges and picking up the garbage. I think they must do this every day as there was almost the same amount of garbage yesterday morning when Maureen and I walked along the river but it was gone by noon. Where does the garbage come from? 

We went back up the stairs and around the road to the end of the island to a lovley little park with a great statue. The park was locked and probably not opened until later. Odd that they would lock the parks here, but they did in Ireland and Spain too come to think of it. That is one way to deal with people sleeping in the parks.
We continued on across a bridge (Pont Sully) pausing to take pictures, and then on over to the left bank. It was a 'La vie en Rose' morning. The sunrise made the sky pink and fluffy.  We followed the river back towards Notre Dame. It was a beautiful morning. Rose colored sky and so excited to explore!
The side streets, and some of them were major streets, were very cool, 4 and 5 story apartment buildings with shops on the ground floors. Little bakeries, gifts and clothing and grocery shops. There was little to no traffic at that time of the morning except for the occasional taxi.

We walked following the Seine, towards Notre Dame passing the Pont Tournelle with its large statue of Saint Genevieve. I will have to find out who Saint Genevieve was.  Wikipedia says : She was born in Nanterre and moved to Paris after meeting Germanus of Auxerre and Lupus of Troyes and dedicated herself to a Christian life. In 451 she led a "prayer marathon" that was said to have saved Paris by diverting Attila's Huns away from the city. WhenChilderic I besieged the city in 464 and conquered it, she acted as an intermediary between the city and its conqueror, collecting food and convincing Childeric to release his prisoners. Impressive lady

There are so many bridges in Paris and each one is different.  The only reason I know the name of that bridge is that its name is right on it.  I am going to make a page just for the bridges and so learn all of their names. I hope that there are not hundreds of them.
There was one that had a wire mesh below the railing (Pont Archeveche I found out later) and all over the wire mesh were padlocks of all shapes and sizes. We did not understand this but thought it was cool anyway.

The upper walkway along the river is very cool. There are locked green wooden boxes sitting atop the stone walls of the walkway. We wondered what they were for. Fishing Tackle? Maybe later they would be open and we could find out.  The sky was clouding over as we passed some more bridges.

Margie knew that the Bateau bus place was at the Dorsay, so we were going to walk down there to see if we could find it. A recce of sorts so that when the time came to get our passes we would know where the place was. We continued down the river walk with its large trees shading us in the early morning . There were a few people out now. Down the path there was a headlight coming toward us. At first I thought is was a motorcycle on the sidewalk but as it got closer I relalized it was a bicycle with a very bright headlamp.

We were not sure exactly how far away it was but looking at the tourist map we had it did not look that far. There were lots of interesting buildings and doors and streets. By 6:15 we were were starting to think about getting a cup of tea/coffee. We had seen lots of cafes and restaurants  but not any that were open.
We finally saw some action at the Le Depart Restaurant on the corner by a bridge. Which Bridge I will have to find out) It was full of young party goers ending their night. Maybe some of them were the bouncers and people who worked at the clubs as they were not inebriated. Actually  even the ones who looked like they might have had a little too much were well behaved and quiet. 

The Matre’D was a good looking Shafty kind of man who treated us very well and flirted ever so nicely. He actually said that his name was Shaftner and he did remind me of the guy in the movie "Shaft". Margie had a coffee and eggs and I had my first Pomme Frite and tea, both were very good. The service was slow but the restaurant was interesting enough, an art deco decor,  that the wait  was not so bad. We were seated next to some stairs that we found out later went down to the washrooms. After our (it turned out very expensive) (approx. $50.)breakfast we used the washrooms which turned out to be an experience in itself. 

We left there around 7  and headed west down the street to find the Bateau bus. Lots of very interesting buildings and of course more bridges. We made it as far as the justice hall? and the Ponts des Arts which is another bridge with locks all over it.  As we were crossing it we encountered the two young men sitting on the bench in the middle of the bridge. I said good morning and wasn't it a nice view. One of the young men said 'it is a f***king great panorama'. Well I laughed,  agreed and said have a great day. They were both fairly intoxicated and pretty much holding each other up.

We went back up the river on the other side after taking a few photos of the bridges both up and downstream of the Pont Des Arts. Found out they were the Pont Neuf which connects the Ile de la Cite with both both banks of the River up stream and the Pont Carousel  down stream. 

We decided that we had gone as far as we  were going that morning and so turned back. we were coming back later to get our Bateaux Bus passes so we would know not to dally taking pictures when we came back.


Margie and I worked our way back up the river seeing, from the other side of the river, the buildings that we had been walking beside just a while before.  There were some cool buildings. the one that they kept Marie Antoinette in before the chopped off her head was much prettier on this side of the river. We crossed the Pont Neuf to the Ile de la Cite. It is the oldest bridge in Paris. Standing since 1601 that makes it over 400 years old. Very cool. There is a statue of Roi Henry on his horse in the center area of the bridge which is on the island. There was a park with steps going down to the river walk at that end of the Island but it was locked so we thought maybe we would go back at another time. 

We wandered back down the Ile de la Cite to what appeared to be a main road and past what we found out later was the police station ( at least we thought it was the police station as there were two police men standing outside guarding the gate). Yes it was the police station and the way to get out from Saint Chappelle. All fancy gold and wrought iron. Maureen had told us that the flower market was there so we wanted to see that too. It was supposed to be around there somewhere. 

We found it  just after we saw the entrance to the Metro ( on the island?) and the bicycles that you can rent. They have places all over paris where you can pick up or drop off a bike for only a few euros. what a good idea. They don't seem to worry about people stealing them, of course, they are rather distinctive looking.

The flower market was next with vans backed in and vendors setting up their booths. There were actually less flowers and more birds than anything but maybe Sunday is different from the rest of the week. There were some birds that were your normal canary, finch kind of birds and there were some that I had never seen before like the pygmy doves with the orange eye rings. 
 There were also other goods that one could buy for the house. We walked around there for awhile and then headed back to the apartment via  the outside of Notre Dame Cathedral. so Many cool features. Gargoyles, statues, spires.... I could go on and on. We went over the little bridge ( Pont St Louis) that connects Ile de la Cite to Ile Louis and saw swans on the river. slowly working our way back to the apartment, down our narrow streets peering into all of the shops still closed up as it was Sunday.
Maureen was awake and making coffee when we walked into the apartment. We chatted and made plans to meet at the restaurant by Notre Dame around 1130. That would give Maureen time to have her breakfast and go to church and us time to get to the Bateaux Bus place at Dorsee, pick up the passes and get back. Around 930 Maureen headed off and Margie and I checked out TV channels. About 1010 we headed off and we went straight there not stopping to take pictures or anything. 
An hour later, during which time we: (1) discovered that the green wooden boxes on the walls along the walkways above the river were actually book stalls and (2) were approached by a gypsy doing the ring con, we were at the Museum D'Orsee in Line C to get in and pickup the passes. Yes it did take us awhile to figure out where to go to pick up our passes but at last we were successful. i loved the bateau bus!

It was a fairly short line and we enjoyed looking at the statues that they have in the courtyard. By the time we went through security and found the information booth it was already 1130 and we were in the short line. When we got to the information booth no one was there. We went to another information booth and they knew nothing about the bateaux bus passes. One gentleman helped us giving us directions to a kiosk on the pier? across the road. The whole pier is called the D'Orsee.
 We got our pass by 1145 and caught the next bateau bus to the Notre Dame stop and discovered that Bateaux Bus is not the quickest way to get around Paris but it is way easier than walking and we saw lots of places that we had walked earlier. We met maureen at 1210. Obviously we were later than we had planned but we didn't know where the place was. It was not our fault, and anyway Maureen is always at least that late so now she nows how it feels waiting for people.
We figured out where to catch the next bateaux bus and rode it around. It was starting to rain out but that did not dampen our spirits. we saw alot of bridges. we had accomplished our goal for the morning by getting the passes and gong on the boat ride. Yea Vive le Boat ride!

Saturday 23 June - Paris At last

 I woke up at around 1230 in the border town of Irun I think where the train was sitting for what seemed like a long time because I woke up again at 1 and 130 still in Irun. There was a conductor or security guard walking to and fro, back and forth, on the platform with a walkie-talkie each time I looked out the window.
I was not sure  at what time we finally started going again, but the room was still stifling hot. I woke again at 2 to darkness and again at 4 in a town but it was too dark to see the sign of where we were.
I used the washroom  at around 530 and I tried to have a shower in the tiniest washroom I had been in for years. I semi succeeded and it still felt good and refreshing.
Off to the dining car at about 545ish and wrote in my journal. It was a beautiful misty morning with clear skies and french trees and villages. They look different than spanish villages. Thier roofs have smaller tiles and the houses seemed to be taller and straighter somehow.
 At around 6ish am we came into a lovely town of some size "Poitiers". The scenery was beautiful. we passed farms and rivers, vineyards and small villages.  I Tried to get photos but mostly I got reflections of me in the windows.
(this is Margie)I was on a plane flying in from Montreal. I arrived at 8:30 and Paul picked me up at Charles De Gaulle airport and drove into Paris. We went to get the key to the apartment but no one was at the office. 
The staff came into the dining car and I had to go as they had to set up for breakfast so I went to the bar car and had a cup of tea. went back to the hot roomette around 720 to see if Maureen was alive. We opened the door to our room. Air! Cool air came flooding in. Relief. We saw Hot air balloons around 730. We had breakfast of toast ,tea and peach jam, around 750  in the dining car and then went back to our roomette around 830 to pack up.
 I wasn't sure of the exact time that we were getting in but thought I would be ready in any case. I was done by 845 and we pulled into the station in Paris at 9. We went into the station and got directions from the lovely assistants who tried to convince us, rightly so, to speak french. Maureen did not agree and complained about having to speak french in France. I have started to ignore her complaining.
I kept speaking spanish since I had been that getting used to it and would find myself starting in spanish and, realizing that I was in spanish but needing to be in french, switching to french in mid sentence, which sounds really silly.

We walked down the road and along the river past a park full of flowers and statues and some people practising some kind of game or play or something on the river walk. There are lots of Bridges in Paris. We went over one and Maureen pointed out Notredam Cathedral. We were on the Ilse de Loius.
As we arrived I saw Maureen and Dennie walking up a side street on the Ile de Louis. Paul drove away to find the people with the keys and I went back to find Dennie and Maureen and they were gone !
The Ilse Louis where our apartment was. Maureen had stayed on this island before and so I let her lead us to the apartment rather than digging out the address for myself. I should have dug out the address.
There was a detour that we had to take as they were working on the apartment on the corner, so we had to find our way around the block to the other side of the island.   This should not be a dificult thing but it seemed to be for us at that moment in time. We found the right side of the island but missed our apartment as Maureen had not pulled up the address either and did not know what address we were looking for either, although we did see the apartment that Maureen really had wanted but it was not good for three people.
 I finally pulled out the address from my backpack and we found the apartment.  When I buzzed the apartment we found out that it was still occupied and that they were not leaving until 11.  We had the code for the building so we left our bags in the hall and walked out front wondering where Margie was as she was supposed to be there at that time too. She was flying in from Edmonton that morning and getting a ride from the airport to the apartment.
I wandered around several blocks and then headed to the apartment and then saw them on the Pont Marie bridge. Hurray!
I walked out onto the bridge  which is right next to our apartment to look at the Siene river and all of the bridges. When who should appear but Margie. The Driver knew that she could not get into the apartment yet, so had taken her to the office  which was only a few short blocks away. We went back and got our backpacks and Margie showed us to the office.
I paid for our stay, as arranged, and we got all kinds of information from the girl at the office. We could get into it at around 2 so that is when they would take us over there. we cold leave our bags in the office until then. Yea! free of backpacks ad we were all in Paris!
Maureen took us over a bridge and  to the restaurant looking at the Notre dame cathedral which is very large and very impressive. My first french meal was vegetarian lazagna, and it was good too. After a refreshing break we were off. Notre dame Cathedral is impressive from every angle. Gardens with lots of flowers around the first two sides that we saw and then the front with its large square in front and the facade with all its intricate stone work.  Wow!
There was a line to get in but we didn't mind waiting in line. Margie was so excited just to be there in Paris. The trip of a lifetime.  I was very excited-I had not slept all night and was not a bit tired!
We took turns standing in line. I wandered around and took lots of photos of the outside and the statue of Charlamane at one side of the square. I asked where the washrooms were and was told they were beside the statue.  I went over there but could not see them. Margie had better luck. Kind of, she was gone so long that we were starting to worry.  when she finally showed up she had tales to tell.
There were only three washrooms and the line was so long that she almost didn't make it. but she did. note to self. go at the restaurant. Paris gets 22 million visitors a year so you think that there would be more than three washrooms but it is an old island.  The line was very long. and there were signs evrywhere watch for pickpockets! There were attendants down below to let you into the washroom-I do not know why? And then they put there hands out for a tip. Nope sorry. I could have probably gotten in sooner if I had tipped them but most people did not.
the Inside of the church is even more impressive than the outside.
Wikipedia says  an historic  Roman Catholic Marian cathedral on the eastern half of the Ile de la cite in the  fourth arrondissement (community) of Paris, France. Widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and among the largest and most well-known churches in the world ever built, Notre Dame is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris; that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra (official chair) of the Archbishop of Paris, currently Andre Vingt-trois . The cathedral treasury is notable for its reliquary, which houses the purported crown of thorns , a fragment of the true cross and one of the Holy nails – all instruments of the passion and a few of the most important first class relics.

Notre Dame de Paris is often reputed to be one of the most prominent examples of Gothic architecture in both France and in Europe as a whole, and the naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture.  The first period of construction from 1163 into 1240s coincided with the musical experiments of the Notre Dame School. 

The cathedral suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution in the 1790s, when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. An extensive restoration supervised by Eugene Viollet-le-Duc removed remaining decoration, returning the cathedral to an 'original' gothic state.

Notre Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress (arched exterior supports). The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave but after the construction began, the thinner walls (popularized in the Gothic style) grew ever higher and stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern. 

Many small statues were placed around the outside. These were crafted individually and served as supports for columns and water spouts. Among these are the famous gargoyles and chimeras (the former of which is designed to run off rain water). These were originally colored, as was most of the exterior. The paint has worn off, but the grey stone was once covered with vivid colors. 

The cathedral was essentially complete by 1345. The cathedral has a narrow climb of 387 steps at the top of several spiral staircases; along the climb it is possible to view its most famous bell and its gargoyles in close quarters, as well as having a spectacular view across Paris when reaching the top.

In 1160, because the church in Paris had become the "Parisian church of the kings of Europe", Bishop Maurice de Sully deemed the previous Paris cathedral, Saint-Étienne (St Stephen's), which had been founded in the 4th century, unworthy of its lofty role, and had it demolished shortly after he assumed the title of Bishop of Paris. As with most foundation myths, this account needs to be taken with a grain of salt; archeological excavations in the 20th century suggested that the Merovingian Cathedral replaced by Sully was itself a massive structure, with a five-aisled nave and a facade some 36m across. It seems likely therefore that the faults with the previous structure were exaggerated by the Bishop to help justify the rebuilding in a newer style. According to legend, Sully had a vision of a glorious new cathedral for Paris, and sketched it on the ground outside the original church.

To begin the construction, the bishop had several houses demolished and had a new road built in order to transport materials for the rest of the cathedral. Construction began in 1163, during the reign of Louis VII, and opinion differs as to whether Sully or Pope Alexander III  laid the foundation stone of the cathedral. However, both were at the ceremony in question. Bishop de Sully went on to devote most of his life and wealth to the cathedral's construction. Construction of the  Choir took from 1163 until around 1177 and the new High Altar  was consecrated in 1182 (it was normal practice for the eastern end of a new church to be completed first, so that a temporary wall could be erected at the west of the choir, allowing the chapter to use it without interruption while the rest of the building slowly took shape). After Bishop Maurice de Sully's death in 1196, his successor, Eudes de Sully (no relation) oversaw the completion of the transepts and pressed ahead with the nave, which was nearing completion at the time of his own death in 1208. By this stage, the western facade had also been laid out, though it was not completed until around the mid 1240s.

 I took photos of most of the 50 plus large stained glass windows in the place. they are all different and all beautiful.  I loved the cathedral. it was really impressive and beautiful. Everyday in Paris at some point we walked past it and I never tired of its beauty.The most significant change in design came in the mid 13th century, when the transepts were remodeled in the latest Rayonnant style; in the late 1240s Jean de Chelles added a gabled portal to the north transept topped off by a spectacular rose window. Shortly afterwards (from 1258) Pierre de Montreuil executed a similar scheme on the South transept. Both these transept portals were richly embellished with sculpture; the south portal features scenes from the lives of St Stephen and of various local saints, while the north portal featured the infancy of Christ and the story of Theophilus in the tympanum, with a highly influential statue of the Virgin and Child in the trumeau. 

Over the construction period, numerous architects worked on the site, as is evidenced by the differing styles at different heights of the west front and towers. Between 1210 and 1220, the fourth architect oversaw the construction of the level with the rose window and the great halls beneath the towers.

In 1548, rioting Huguenots damaged features of the cathedral, considering them idolatrous. During the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV, the cathedral underwent major alterations as part of an ongoing attempt to modernize cathedrals throughout Europe. A colossal statue of St Christopher, standing against a pillar near the western entrance and dating from 1413, was destroyed in 1786. Tombs and stained glass windows were destroyed. The north and south rose windows were spared this fate, however.

In 1793, during the French Revolution, the cathedral was rededicated to the Cult of Reason, and then to the Cult of the Supreme Being. During this time, many of the treasures of the cathedral were either destroyed or plundered. The statues of biblical kings of Judah (erroneously thought to be kings of France), located on a ledge on the facade of the cathedral were beheaded. Many of the heads were found during a 1977 excavation nearby and are on display at the Musee de Cluny. For a time, Lady Liberty replaced the Virgin Mary on several altars. The cathedral's great bells managed to avoid being melted down. The cathedral came to be used as a warehouse for the storage of food.

A controversial restoration program was initiated in 1845, overseen by architects Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Lassus and Eugene Viollet-le-Duc. Viollet Le Duc was responsible for the restorations of several dozen castles, palaces and cathedrals across France. The restoration lasted twenty five years and included the construction of a fleche  (a type of spire) as well as the addition of the chimeras on the Galerie des Chimères. Viollet le Duc always signed his work with a bat, the wing structure of which most resembles the Gothic vault.

The Second World War caused more damage. Several of the stained glass windows on the lower tier were hit by stray bullets. These were remade after the war, but now sport a modern geometrical pattern, not the old scenes of the Bible.

In 1991, a major program of maintenance and restoration was initiated, which was intended to last ten years, but was still in progress as of 2009, the cleaning and restoration of old sculptures being an exceedingly delicate matter.

We stayed there for over an hour. I think I  took over two hundred photos of the stained glass windows, statues and just everything.  On our way back to the office we passed our first street performer doing' la vie en rose'. yea! There were lots of shops on the islands and between window shopping and going in to check things out took us up to the time we were supposed to be getting to the office.

Got back to the office around 2 to pick up our things and the young girl said that if we wanted her to come over and show us things just to give her a call. We told her that we wanted her to come over with out even having to call her. she was good. She came over and quickly explained the rules to the apartment. The washer, the dryer, the telephone, etc. After we settled in and came up with the plan that we would each take one night to cook dinner, we went to the store.
 The office had given us directions to a store off the isle Louis saying it was cheaper so off we trundled, investigating the odd store as we went. We found the grocery store on Rivoli, a main street in downtown Paris, with little difficulty and purchased each purchased what we needed for our dinner and things that we would like to munch on. I got eggplant, eggs, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, pasta sauce and couscous with some broccoli. a little wine to top it off and we had a dinner. easy. 
Found a bank to get some cash and Margie found a washroom that was not working so went into a restaurant and bought a bottle of water so she could use their restroom.  I also bought a little fruit tray which we hardly even touched. We really bought a little bit too much stuff-but we must have been hungry at that point.
Maureen went ahead of Margie and I on the way back. Margie had bought quite a bit of stuff including water so was pretty laden down. I gave her a hand and found out that she was carrying stuff for Maureen too. 
We got back and Maureen had her feet up on the couch relaxing.  I made supper and cleaned up after myself. We decided that each person cooking would clean up after themselves. That way if I used 10 pots to cook dinner I could clean them too.  decided that I was too tired to go out to a show at the cathedral that night so went to bed around 830 and was fast asleep by 9.

movie

Friday 22 june - SdC to Madrid and halfway to Paris

Slept in till 615 and Maureen was already up! Had a bite to eat for breakfast in our hotel cafe and they called us a cab. Trip to the Aeropuerto was quick. The Airport in SdC is quite nice and let lots of the morning sunshine in. Very spacious and white. The lines were moving pretty quickly but I had the bumper car lady behind me who, even though there was no where to go, kept bumping into me to get me to move up, all the way onto the plane and right up to my seat!
 Economy class on Liberia Air means that you have NO leg room. We left on time 935 am. The flight was good, smooth so wrote in my journal and took photos. had some nice iced tea and an hour and a half later we were in the Madrid Air port. I love the Madrid Airport! Rainbow colours and lots of space. Great!
 We bought our day pass metro ticket and caught the metro into town to the Atocha stop, went into the train station and checked our bags at the lockers, when we finally found them, where there is a permanent guard on duty. On the metro there was a lady on her cell phone trying to find a pen. She asked the lady next to her but her neighbor did not have one. I leaned across the aisle and loaned her mine. at the next stop a gentleman got on who was selling pens! I felt bad for him as he could have probably made a sale to the lady on the phone except for me so I bought a pen from him. It was actually a good deal.  We got off at the station closest to the Prada stop.
By 1230 we had found a nice cafe and ordered veggie paella. We figured out our plan for the afternoon. I wanted to to the art gallery, the Thiessen, across from the Prada and Maureen thought that she might go into the retiro park that she had not been to. We decided to meet back at the star-bucks just down the street from the restaurant at around 430 pm which would give us plenty of time to get to the train station for our train departure at 610 pm. the Paella was great. I should have started eating that a lot sooner but I don't recall having seen it on any menus that I had looked at.
There was a group of gentlemen just four or five tables away that were all carrying various instruments. A band? We hoped that they would play but it turned out that they were there for dinner.
 I headed off to the Thiessen.
All along the streets surrounding the Prada were large banners advertising Hopper ( I don't think I know who Hopper is ?) at the Thiessen and I had heard that there were some impressionist paintings there so I was excited to get there.
It was hot out, above 34 I think ,so I stayed in the shade as much as I could on the 4 block walk to the art gallery. There were the usual vendors with thier tables on the sidewalks and a few brave souls dressed up and being statues. they were in the shade too. As I passed one table that I thought was selling crazy wigs the head in the middle screamed at me. I nearly jumped out of my skin! There was a small crowd of people laughing at my reaction and once my heart slowed down to abut 200 beats per minute, I laughed too. Good entertainment that.  I hoped that he had an ambulance standing by for those poor souls who had heart attacks when he yelled at them. I gave the poor fellow sitting under the table in plus 34 weather one euro.
I was about one block away form the Thiessen and was glad when I got inside to the air-conditioning. I went and saw the Hopper show first as the girls at the front desk said that it was larger and would take more time to go through that the few impressionist paintings that they had.

Hopper (July 22, 1882 – May 15, 1967) was an american artist with a realist and cinematic painting style that influenced many peers and brought him fame and fortune. He had travelled in Europe, including Spain. I really enjoyed his show but pictures were not allowed so just bought a few postcards of his work. the pictures here are free domain ones that found on the internet.
 I then went through the rest of the art gallery. It started with the renaissance about the l200's up through the 1300's and 1400's. mostly religious as who else could pay for paintings except for royalty. (where were the impressionists?) I saw paintings and sculptures from the 1500's and 1600's, the 1700's and the 1800's then came the impressionist paintings that were there. Monet, Manet, Vincent, Gaugin, Henri de Toulouse- Lautrec. I have decided that I like Lautrec, not all but some.
The young girl was right they only had a few but they were lovely. Dali was next how fun and some Picasso ( not my favorite). Then up the stairs to the religious 12 century. I actually found a lovely piece  a  Van Eyk painting diptych of two statues one of Mary and one of the angel announcing. it was lovely. the annunciation. you can look it up on line as they would not let me take a photo so I did not. So honest. then back to the impressionists until it was time for me to go.
 I got back to star bucks at around 345 and sat in the middle of the restaurant waiting for Maureen. I had an iced tea and wrote out post cards. I waited there until 430 and when I finally got up to go back to the train station Maureen called out from the far corner of the restaurant where she had been the whole time. It was too hot to go to the park so she came in and sat in the corner thinking that I would come in and walk all over the entire place looking for her. Oh well, always look for Maureen in corners where her back is protected from the big bad world.
We made our way back to the train station, retrieved our backpacks and still had some time to peruse the few shops that were there. We found our coach with no problem and the conductor took our passports saying that we would get them back when we disembarked and returned the key to the room that we had booked.  The train left exactly on time.
We checked out our room. It had everything we needed. I wrote in my journal and took some photos. At 7 we went to the lounge car, had some pre dinner wine from cute small wine bottles, and watched the scenery go by.  there was a group of young girls travelling, maybe a school group who had a difficult time deciding just what they wanted. chips, pop or the young waiter behind the counter?
At 8 went into dinner which was pretty nice. Omelet with salad and white asparagus. we were seated with an English couple, Jill and Mike, from Gatehouse, just by Newcastle in northern England. He is in soccer and she is a medical receptionist and they have been married just two years. they met in Tuscany, have been to Granada, Seville, and Madrid all by train. they were a lot of fun.  We chatted and drank red wine and watched the scenery go by. We had the late sitting so were not too worried abut having to leave the dining car in a rush.
I saw those lovely round trees with the round shadows again. so fun. Of course it looked different from the last time I had seen them when were leaving Madrid to go to Oviedo, as it was evening and not noon.  At noon the shadows were directly under the trees and it looked so cool. Just like paintings that I have seen and thought that they were a made up landscape because nothing looks like that in real life.
Back to our roomette and the conductor had made our beds. Maureen took the top. There was much laughter and giggling and taking of photos with small bottles of wine and fans but my batteries must have died and I didn't notice til I went to play them back they were not there. Sad as who doesn't want to be reminded of two tipsy old ladies with the giggles acting silly. After that we tried to sleep. It was so hot in the little room. I kept waking up in a sweat and poor Maureen on the top bunk was cooking.