Post by LHR02 on Sept 11, 2003 5:52:58 GMT -5
Paris - museums, churches, and monuments
Thursday, 11 September 2003
So before I begin writting this I think I should clarify some things for everyone. These events I am writing about now actually ocurred about two weeks ago. We arrived with Mohammad in Paris on the 25th and he left on the 1st of September.
It's been a little difficult to get a chance to write this 'cause I have limited access to the computer. So for the sake of everyone involved I have decided to start making my entries about the week in Paris with Mohammad more concise. That way I can also start writing about my new adventures in Paris as a student. Especially given that school starts today for me.
So on with the show . . .
The next major site we decided to visit was the Pantheon. For all of those who have never visited it is located in the Latin Quarter and it houses the great children of the nation of France. That is to say it is filled with people like Hugo or as of more recently Dumas.
The upstairs area is beautifull to look at but unfortunately largely unaccessible. This is the building in which Focault's pendulum resides but you are quite far away from it as you are not allowed to walk anywhere except the perimiter of the structure. Downstairs is where they house all the tombs of the famous people. It's quite large and very stark. Very very plain to be honest.
To be honest I found the Pantheon disappointing. For example, I speak French but a lot of people who visit this place don't. Outside each of the little crypts there is a little description of the person that is buried inside and what they did to merit this honour. Not a single one of those descriptions was in English. Also, despite the fact that you knew these were great people you didn't get much of a feem for the place because it just hadn't been structured in such a way that allowed you to.
After the Pantheon we headed over to the Orsay Museum. This is quite a large place filled mostly with fantastic Impressionist paintings. It's incredible to view particularly when you consider that in most places in the world having just one of these paintings could make a museum BUT here there were dozens and dozens.
As most of you know Paris is currently experiencing a slump in tourism and as such the Orsay was a lot emptier than it usually is - nonetheless it was a little too full for my taste. The place is full of Van Gogh's, Renoir's, Monet's, Degas', and Cezanne's. Of course you'd want to take time to enjoy this all but I found this task somewhat difficult given the amount of people in the place. Often I would be standing in front of a painting admiring it's sheer beauty and technique and someone would come and stand right in front of me. It was at this point that I felt someone should teach the average tourist about museum etiquette.
Despite those inconveniences though the museum was spectacular!! It's housed in what used to be an old train station and now contains those masterpieces. I myself think the Impressionists are fabulous. How everything could look like such a mess up close and then you step back and voila a landscape is revealed is beyond me.
It was also interesting to note the differences in style between all the painters, the way people like Monet used light as a vital part of a painting, or the way that Degas seemed to be fascinated by groups of ballerinas. It was also particularly intersting to note the brush strokes used by these painters; I believe it was Van Gogh that seemed to put blobs of paint on the canvass. His style of painting and technique in particular seemed to speak to his sheer madness!
There was a note of disappointment though - Renoir did this set of two paintings that are called something along the lines of "The city dance" and "The country dance" I have always loved "The city dance" but it wasn't on display the day we went. So to see that painting (it's done so exquisitely that you can almost hear the rustle of the lady's dress) and to see everything in relative tranquility I have decided I must return to the Orsay soon.
After a long day at the museum and the Pantheon we wanted to head home. But when we sat down for dinner we realized how very little time Mohammad actually had left in Paris. So because of that we decided to extend our sightseeing (ow my poor feet) a little further and head out to the Arc de Triomphe.
We crossed the river via the metro and began our walk up towards the Arc near the Place de la Concorde. It is here where there is a huge Egyptian obelisque. The first time I saw it I thought it was a reproduction but it turns out that it is an original stolen by Napoleon.
The Champs Elysee was a bit of a surprise. In Paris everything closes early by 7pm usually. As a result we were shocked to see this particular street buzzing even late into the night. On our stroll up we decided to stop and window shop a little and believe me you would have to be incredibly wealthy to be able to afford many of these things. For example, we say coats of nearly 10,000 EUROS and I saw a beautiful night gown of nearly 1,000 EUROS! The street is so wealthy that they have luxury car dealerships right near the Arc.
We had fun on this street. In particular we had fun running to the middle of the road and taking pictures with the Arc behind us while the cars all zoomed by! And by the way I've had those developed and they turned out quite well.
Eventually we made it to the end of the street and to the Arc. I don't know why but I thought that there would just be an elevator to get up to the top. BUT nope! You had to climb a long and winding staircase. Needless to say my ankle and calves were very upset at me by this point but it was worth it!
We had timed our climb so that shortly after reaching the top it would be the top of the hour. The reason for this is that at the top of the hour for 10 minutes every night they turn the lights on in the tower and it twinkles and sparkles like a Christmas tree. With the Champs Elysee at our feet a twinkling tower to our right and oohs and ahhs all around we were delighted to be in Paris! It was indeed one of those magical travel moments. And as I said at the top at that very isntant, I was so glad I got to share it with Mohammad as it just wouldn't have been the same if I had seen this by myself!
We stayed up at the top for maybe an hour. Looking at the city and admiring where we were! Eventually we headed down - tired but happy to have seen so many magnificent things in one day.
And now my friends I must bid you adieu for the start of my classes. But I promise to write again soon to tell you about Notre Dame, the most fantastic meal I've ever had, Napoleon's tomb, Versailles, and the Louvre.
But until then au revoir . . .
Thursday, 11 September 2003
So before I begin writting this I think I should clarify some things for everyone. These events I am writing about now actually ocurred about two weeks ago. We arrived with Mohammad in Paris on the 25th and he left on the 1st of September.
It's been a little difficult to get a chance to write this 'cause I have limited access to the computer. So for the sake of everyone involved I have decided to start making my entries about the week in Paris with Mohammad more concise. That way I can also start writing about my new adventures in Paris as a student. Especially given that school starts today for me.
So on with the show . . .
The next major site we decided to visit was the Pantheon. For all of those who have never visited it is located in the Latin Quarter and it houses the great children of the nation of France. That is to say it is filled with people like Hugo or as of more recently Dumas.
The upstairs area is beautifull to look at but unfortunately largely unaccessible. This is the building in which Focault's pendulum resides but you are quite far away from it as you are not allowed to walk anywhere except the perimiter of the structure. Downstairs is where they house all the tombs of the famous people. It's quite large and very stark. Very very plain to be honest.
To be honest I found the Pantheon disappointing. For example, I speak French but a lot of people who visit this place don't. Outside each of the little crypts there is a little description of the person that is buried inside and what they did to merit this honour. Not a single one of those descriptions was in English. Also, despite the fact that you knew these were great people you didn't get much of a feem for the place because it just hadn't been structured in such a way that allowed you to.
After the Pantheon we headed over to the Orsay Museum. This is quite a large place filled mostly with fantastic Impressionist paintings. It's incredible to view particularly when you consider that in most places in the world having just one of these paintings could make a museum BUT here there were dozens and dozens.
As most of you know Paris is currently experiencing a slump in tourism and as such the Orsay was a lot emptier than it usually is - nonetheless it was a little too full for my taste. The place is full of Van Gogh's, Renoir's, Monet's, Degas', and Cezanne's. Of course you'd want to take time to enjoy this all but I found this task somewhat difficult given the amount of people in the place. Often I would be standing in front of a painting admiring it's sheer beauty and technique and someone would come and stand right in front of me. It was at this point that I felt someone should teach the average tourist about museum etiquette.
Despite those inconveniences though the museum was spectacular!! It's housed in what used to be an old train station and now contains those masterpieces. I myself think the Impressionists are fabulous. How everything could look like such a mess up close and then you step back and voila a landscape is revealed is beyond me.
It was also interesting to note the differences in style between all the painters, the way people like Monet used light as a vital part of a painting, or the way that Degas seemed to be fascinated by groups of ballerinas. It was also particularly intersting to note the brush strokes used by these painters; I believe it was Van Gogh that seemed to put blobs of paint on the canvass. His style of painting and technique in particular seemed to speak to his sheer madness!
There was a note of disappointment though - Renoir did this set of two paintings that are called something along the lines of "The city dance" and "The country dance" I have always loved "The city dance" but it wasn't on display the day we went. So to see that painting (it's done so exquisitely that you can almost hear the rustle of the lady's dress) and to see everything in relative tranquility I have decided I must return to the Orsay soon.
After a long day at the museum and the Pantheon we wanted to head home. But when we sat down for dinner we realized how very little time Mohammad actually had left in Paris. So because of that we decided to extend our sightseeing (ow my poor feet) a little further and head out to the Arc de Triomphe.
We crossed the river via the metro and began our walk up towards the Arc near the Place de la Concorde. It is here where there is a huge Egyptian obelisque. The first time I saw it I thought it was a reproduction but it turns out that it is an original stolen by Napoleon.
The Champs Elysee was a bit of a surprise. In Paris everything closes early by 7pm usually. As a result we were shocked to see this particular street buzzing even late into the night. On our stroll up we decided to stop and window shop a little and believe me you would have to be incredibly wealthy to be able to afford many of these things. For example, we say coats of nearly 10,000 EUROS and I saw a beautiful night gown of nearly 1,000 EUROS! The street is so wealthy that they have luxury car dealerships right near the Arc.
We had fun on this street. In particular we had fun running to the middle of the road and taking pictures with the Arc behind us while the cars all zoomed by! And by the way I've had those developed and they turned out quite well.
Eventually we made it to the end of the street and to the Arc. I don't know why but I thought that there would just be an elevator to get up to the top. BUT nope! You had to climb a long and winding staircase. Needless to say my ankle and calves were very upset at me by this point but it was worth it!
We had timed our climb so that shortly after reaching the top it would be the top of the hour. The reason for this is that at the top of the hour for 10 minutes every night they turn the lights on in the tower and it twinkles and sparkles like a Christmas tree. With the Champs Elysee at our feet a twinkling tower to our right and oohs and ahhs all around we were delighted to be in Paris! It was indeed one of those magical travel moments. And as I said at the top at that very isntant, I was so glad I got to share it with Mohammad as it just wouldn't have been the same if I had seen this by myself!
We stayed up at the top for maybe an hour. Looking at the city and admiring where we were! Eventually we headed down - tired but happy to have seen so many magnificent things in one day.
And now my friends I must bid you adieu for the start of my classes. But I promise to write again soon to tell you about Notre Dame, the most fantastic meal I've ever had, Napoleon's tomb, Versailles, and the Louvre.
But until then au revoir . . .