Sunday, June 29, 2014

Encore plus out-takes de Paris

So we have crossed the river quite a few times this past week and, as ever, I
have been attentive to the traffic, practicing my ship-spotting skills; mostly it's
tour boats like this

















Occasionally, interestingly, a container ship now and then















And now and then a boat with two loads of fill-dirt (ballast?) and a car and two
boats















And, tied-up, the Jean Bart; named after either the privateer or the great
battleship sunk by planes from the USS Ranger during the allied landings in
(French colonial) North Africa, November, 1942;  among the allies, there
was hope the French would welcome the landings; but soldiers are soldiers
and sailors are sailors, welcome was not in their orders, and it was not to be;
the Jean Bart's one operational turret opened fire and nearly hit the flagship
of the US invasion force, but then the Navy flyers finished her off, sending
her to the bottom of the  harbor at Casablanca; she was raised in the 1950s
and was briefly in commission...sic transit, Gloria
























Jean Bart, from US Navy reconnaissance, 1942










Hopefully it was not the food; did you know that Voltaire,
the champion of free speech, religious freedom, separation
of church and state, used some 178 different pseudonyms
in his many, many writings? The monarchs and other elites,
including the Church, did not want to hear this stuff, and
he was exiled and imprisoned many times...


























Innards of a sanitaire; I do have pix of the innards of a Vespacienne, in case
anyone is interested
















Beautiful stairs, until the (French) tour bus arrived















Delivering a new fridge to the 5th floor




















In the church of St. Etienne du Mont, in the hall outside the
chapter house, there are featured several of the strangest
stained glass windows we have seen yet...here's Jesus,
apparently being bled...























Here's the Ark, with a unicorn aboard; wait a second, where's the two-by-two
thing?
















And here's Jesus, being crucified, but the cross is in a pot of
boiling oil (water?)





















In a bay of the galleries at St. Severin's, disused chairs from  the nave; does the 
prévôt des incendies know about this?

















Finally, somewhere between the Boulevard St. Germain and
the Bon Marche, Cesar's Centaure, 1985; the centaur's
équipement was impressive


















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