Monday, June 2, 2014

L'église de Saint Sulpice, du Jardin du Luxembourg et le musée de Cluny

Our Sunday needed an opportunity to attend mass, for our new guests, Bob and Beth, so Vicki put together an itinerary that included the church of St. Sulpice, and its great organ, the Luxembourg Gardens, the Cluny Museum, and assorted other Left Bank sights. (More on St. Sulpice, from 2012, is at http://roadeveron.blogspot.fr/2012_06_01_archive.html.)
The great organ at St. Sulpice; Widor's organ, during his 63 year tenure at
St. Sulpice, the greatest of symphonic organs















Touristed to death...no more visits to the organ loft during concerts and
"auditions"; but then I agree with Wagner, that watching musicians play
really detracts from the music; thus the entire orchestra at Bayreuth is
submerged beneath the stage...but I digress




















So while Bob and Beth attended the mass, Vicki and I walked around a bit in
the area...passing first a wall reciting Arthur Rimbaud's Le bateau ivre

















Thus; a famous poem by an infamous poet; demonstrates, some say, that poetry
can express things that prose cannot















Then on into Luxembourg Gardens, which, by 11 in the morning was in fullest
swing; here one of several Tai Chai classes practices zombie-walking

















Ann of Austria looks on as others practice with their sticks; memories of the
Peoples' Park in Shanghai...
















Other than general sight-seeing, our visit to the Gardens was a reconnaissance
for Penelope's visit in July 
















Thus















Medici Fountain...Maria Medici















Odeon















University Rene Descartes...GO CARTESIANS!!!















Muralists doing their thing (shame on you, Ben and Jerry)















Obviously we're in the nicer neighborhoods

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Les out-takes



















Warrants repeating




















At the very large pots and pans store on
Rue de Bagnolet



































Mitt Romney worked here?















A center-left magazine...




















Bridge of promises















Thus















New (to us) self-service ice creamery















Thus















La mort d'un pigeon















Everything's up to date in Kansas City...















Mannequin rehearsal at Galeries Lafayette















Monthly lunch schedule at the elementary school; sounds like a fancy French
restaurant to me...
















A cat named Rubens















Flying (limping?) buttress


















Une promenade dans le 20ème arrondissement (continuer)

At this point, as I said, the city itself became more interesting than the walk, and we indulged ourselves...
Art Nouveau not in such great condition




















When buildings come down, walls are exposed, and the
muralists go to work...





















Doing interesting things..."beware of words..."















We finally seem to have found Chinatown...















And then, an alley where a lot of art has happened...















And is still happening
















Thus















And more















I'd love to attend...maybe when my French is a little better















At length, we came to a Tunisian patisserie and indulged ourselves a bit more
...memories of the Spice Market, Istanbul
















Art Deco Club




















Restaurant Medievale...maybe a bit out of fashion?















And just a few blocks from home, the Church of Our Lady
of the Perpetual Secours

Une promenade dans le 20ème arrondissement

Marie and Stacey departed Friday morning. It was a beautiful clear spring day, so Vicki and I decided to undertake another exploratory walk "in the neighborhood," that is, a walk, mostly in the 20th now, through the former villages of Charonne, Menilmontant, and Belleville, to the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont...all on the former outskirts of Paris, but now just as developed and dense as anything else in the city. Our guidebook, Walking Paris, suggested there were visible traces of the former villages here and there, but it seemed to require considerable imagination, at least in my case, to see anything but the same 7-story apartment blocks, restaurants and retail--all quite interesting enough--that cover most of the rest of the city. We followed the guide, skipping Pere Lachaise, from Gambetta through the Parc de Belville, and a bit beyond, but then the city itself became more interesting than the prospect of vestigial village bits. We then walked Rue de Belville and Rue de Montilmontant back to Pere Lachaise and then back home, resolving to hit the Belville market (tres ethnique!) whenever we can.
The Pere LaChaise station is one of the better preserved
Art Nouveau Metro stations
















Vicki feels obligated to inspect and sample
every patisserie, especially the pretty ones





















A beautiful old Art Nouveau bar/bistro















All throughout Paris, and most of France, are memorials to those
who fell in the Resistance
















A German troop train ambushed here, on these now disused
tracks
















In 1944, this was in the outskirts, the outlying villages...no
more
















Villa Castel, one of the remnants of the old village of Belleville















Peering within




















A highlight of the walk, the high vista from Parc de Belleville,
looking out upon all of Paris, from the east
















At the vista




















Walking from the vista down through the Parc















Roses















Thus















Everywhere