Scenes From Diverse Walks, 4

Another day we walked through the park to the other side, principally to explore the streets around the Pantheon but also to get a photo of me sitting on the steps of St. Etienne du Mont, waiting for that 1928 Peugeot. One thing led to another, as it always does, and we ended up on rue Mouffetarde, looking at a vide grenier (neighborhood feal market).

Every day something new pops up about the Olympics...here in
Luxembourg Garden the line is already 30 or 40 persons long, waiting
to snap a shot...

For several hundred feet along the park grill, the Senat permits 
photographic exhibits, very large and very high quality, this one
urging that all the great sights in the world, or their equivalents,
can be seen in France...this one Tibet, in France, the Alps

As far as the eye can see...Google "Allieurs en France" Luxembourg
and you will find many sites displaying these pix

Romania...in l'Aude

Texas...en le Gard

Capadoccia....in the valley of Durance

Thailand...in l'Aude

Wulingyuan...in Corsica; all of it reminding me of a conversation I had early
in our motor-homing in Europe, asking a French campeur why we so seldom saw
French RVs in other countries..."Why would you leave France?" he answered

At the bandstand, a mixed choir is performing "Dancing Queen";
and in English too

Until a pigeon landed, it took us a while to figure this out

The Pantheon, national shrine, visited in 2014

On a nearby government building...keep out

The church of St. Etienne du Mont...it really is high ground
here; note minaret-looking adjunct to the tower

Waiting for Godot...wait, no...waiting for that 1928 Peugeot that 
will take me to the Golden Age..."get in, get in!" "drink up, drink up!"
if you don't love Midnight in Paris you can't be my friend

No block in Paris has 90 degree corners; consequently
there are lots of flatiron buildings

º

Lots of giant murals too

It would be worth noting that the great poet Verlaine

died in this building; but, Hemingway lived here from 1921

to 1925; those would be the years of The Paris Wife, a wonderful

historical novel by Paula McLain I read a few years ago

Thus

Down the street, a beautiful art nouveau

We did rue Mouffetarde last year and were not impressed;
totally touristy and block after block of cheap lousy food

But somewhere in the vicinity of rue Monge, a big open flea market
appeared and consumed the rest of our exploration

Louvre Italians; Plus Some Loonies

Wanting to make our Louvre visits more disciplined and meaningful we'd been watching some of the Great Courses lectures (thank you, Prof. Brettell), and, for our next visit, wanted to focus on just the Italian paintings. The Italian works are of surpassing importance for the Louvre, since, when King Francois Premier wanted to upgrade French art, he looked south, to Italy, for great artists and great art works to import. For us it was a very successful day of art appreciation and amusement. We were nearly the first in line at the Amis du Louvre special entrance.

Ever wondered what it would be like to be the first in the door and,
for at least a few brief shining moments, have the place to yourself?

Something we'd been looking for, Tintoretto's Coronation
of the Virgin, 1580; a swirler, as became the fashion for domed
ceiling treatments; hung so high you could barely see, much
less study it

Personal favorite (paired with Manet's version); poorly displayed
and much in need of cleaning and restoration; Giorgione/Titian
Pastoral Concert

Holy Spirit going for another Immaculate Conception; Rene Sance, 1527

Interesting presentation, showing Manet's copy (above)
of Titian's Madonna of the Rabbit (important Easter
foreshadowing)

"Joseph is so gullible..."

Anonymous, early 14th, Fall of the Rebel Angels

Guido of Siena, late 13th, Nativity; really old as these things go

Rene Sance, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, 1527

In the Louvre, always look up too

Andrea Mantagna, The Virgin of Victory, 1496;
the Louvre has an impressive number of Mantagnas;
no wonder there were so few in Mantua!

"So take the effing picture already!"

Another Anonymous work, The Virgin of the Scales,
one of Leonardo's followers...the scales are pretty
ominous...gonna find out who's naughty or nice...

Both the Louvre and Google identify this as a Bacchus;
I think it is a Hermaphrodite checking his/her messages

The Louvre has three Caravaggios, this, The Death of the 
Virgin, 1606

Starting to get crowded...

One of many super-sized Guido Reni paintings, The Union of
Drawing and Color, 1625 or so; Reni was party to the big dispute
of the day, whether painting or sculpture was the foremost art

Reni again, Jesus Giving the Keys to Peter, 1626;
"Now don't lose these..."

Another Mantagna, Minerva Expelling the Vices from the Garden
of Virtue, 1502; tempura on canvas (how'd that work?)

Rene Sance, Mohawk Bambino, 1527

"Why is your halo bigger than mine?"

Scenes From Diverse Walks, 3

Our third walk was to the Gare de Lyon to scout out its famed Le Train Bleu restaurant. Having achieved that, and gotten dinner reservations for a few nights hence, we Metro'd back to the Marche Bastille, walked through it mostly for old time's sake (our first long-term apartment was in the 11th, in 2014), and then Metro'd out to Le Roi d'la Frite, our favorite frites joint in Paris, discovered when we lived in the 2nd in 2021. 

Oddly (we thought), just across the river from the Gare de Lyon is
the 1860's Gare d'Austerlitz, somewhat eclipsed in recent years by
the Lyon and Montparnasse stations, but now being enlarged to
handle the big TVGs (trains of great velocity); just above the trees
on the right you can see where the above-ground Metro #5 intersects
the Gare d'Austerlitze

The Louisiana Belle (click to enlarge); isn't it supposed to be on
the Mississippi?!

Approaching the Gare de Lyon and its great clock tower

Entrance to Le Train Bleu; we'll be back for a memorable meal

Appropriately low-tech booking system

A blue train

Strolling through the market at the Place de la Bastille; as great
as ever

Le Roi d'la Frite is an appropriately sized hole-in-the-wall frites
joint on rue Montmartre where you can get authentic Belgian
frites...infinitely superior to Parisian or any other frites

We had forgotten how generous the servings are: this is a medium-sized order

New to us: Belgian poke bowls, frites with your favorite topping

Scenes From Diverse Walks, 2

Another day, another walk (well, a ride on the Metro too) took us to the 16th to reconnoiter an apartment prospect on rue Poncelet. The apartment itself was attractive in photos, and the immediate neighborhood was pretty stunning. But the location was further away from the city center than we'd like. In any case, another explore, and more discoveries.

Thus; click to enlarge; out beyond the Arc de Triomphe

The architecture was pretty stunning

What was really enticing were the shops just around
the corner; best seafood market I've seen in Paris; #3
oysters €13/dozen 

So nice to be in a place that doesn't have state-controlled liquor sales

Best of all, a Cyril Lignac patisserie

Scene of the street market

A block away was a beautiful art nouveau FNAC (media chain, among
the largest of Paris' many bookstores)

Alas, the beautiful windows could be viewed only
from the 3rd floor inside

Very interesting and attractive neighborhood, but...