Rueil-Malmaison: The Impressionists' Park And More

Chateau Malmaison has been on our Paris to-do list for some years, and Thursday we finally made our way, via bus, Metro, RER, and en pied to the suburb of Rueil-Malmaison, where the chateau is located. (It's really not that complicated, using Google Maps and being thoroughly acquainted with Paris bus and Metro protocols and peculiarities). We got there too late for the morning visit hours and so spent some time wandering the ville, and especially its river-side Park of the Impressionists. 

Interesting fountain/sculpture in Rueil-Malmaison

Pretty path along the river; the Seine, that is

The park is styled an homage to Monet, although Sisley, Morisot,
and Renoir, et al., are also known to have painted in the area

Roses blooming everywhere in Paris these days

Irises too

€450 fine for fishing in the pond; nothing compared to Singapore,

where the fine for fishing in the inner harbor was $3000, plus 20

lashes with a cane

Hommage a Monet

The great river

Wandering through the town, many interesting houses

More roses

Although we are less than ten miles from the center
of Paris, the architecture is rather more suggestive of
Normandy, with plenty of flint

We usually plan our restaurant visits more carefully,
but this time we didn't and ducked into what appeared
to be the last opportunity before turning onto the lane
that leads to the chateau

My "salade Norvegienne" with salmon mousse, lots
of shrimp, avocado (!), other goodies...one of the best
salads ever

Vicki's steak frites; really good frites, she said

Surprise of the day...on the table at Les Ecus...further
research revealed there are two Costcos in Paris, both
way to the south; I am already planning on a visit 
later next month...

Cluny Museum, 2

Continuing our visit to the Cluny Museum...

In a building of tis age, there is always graffiti aplenty
to look at

A plaque of the hallmarks of the 146 goldsmiths of
Rouen, dated 1408; stemming from a royal decree in
1355 

Childrens' toys, maybe from a doll house

Cluny's most celebrated items are the six "Lady and the Unicorn"
tapestries of wool and silk, c. 1500, from Bossac; five of the six
huge tapestries suggest the five senses; of course no pix can do
justice to the size, detail, and wonderful color of these tapestries

I leave it to a homework assignment to say which
tapestry represents which sense

The sixth and largest tapestry, "my sole desire" (so it says on the
tent), is a mystery that has puzzled writers and other since George
Sand...does it suggest a sixth sense ("I see dead people...") or 
something else? or what?

From a room of weapons, etc.

Interior scene

Now, time-traveling, we are in the frigidarium, the
cold plunge part of the Roman baths; a huge hall

"Toga! Toga!"

And in Latin too

And finally, pre-Roman torcs and other Celtic gold work

Outside view of the Medieval side of the complex

And just across a little pocket park, part of the Sorbonne, which was

built on the site of the abbey school in the mid-13th century

After our visit, we strolled a bit in the neighborhood, then had dinner at 

Polidor, a restaurant I'll treat in a subsequent post on historic restaurants.

Cluny Museum, 1

The Cluny is France's National Museum of the Middle Ages. The site dates back to the 1st century CE, including part of the baths of Lutetia, the name the Romans gave to the village that was home to the tribe of Parisii. The major part of the site is Medieval in origin, the Paris townhouse of the abbots of Cluny. Cluny itself was the largest and most powerful of the French Medieval abbeys, feared by kings as well as popes. In the 19th century the townhouse site was bought by a prominent collector to display his thousands of Medieval artifacts, and eventually, it all came to the state. With a variety of other additions, it became the national museum of the middle ages, and has undergone a series of renovations, etc., over the years, the most recent ending just last year. It's in the 5th, a pleasant 10 minute walk, and we had not been to it since 2014.

New building for entrance, security, reception, gift shop, etc.

Helpful model of the complex

Two rock crystal lion heads, late Roman antiquity, thought to have
adorned a throne in the Carolingian era, 8th or 9th century...

The Treasure of Guarrazar...votive crowns thought
to have been a gift of the Visigoth king Recceswinth
to the cathedral of Toledo; mid 7th century

Carved elephant ivory, "the horn of Charlemagne," Metz, 12th

In a room filled with Romanesque capitals, colonettes, etc.

A shrine of carved saints, etc.; carved from bovine bone

A reliquary box, made in 10th century Egypt, adorned in 12th century
France; the top crystal is for viewing whatever relic might have been
contained

A whole room of reliquary boxes and other devotional items

Spare parts department: there's a room with stained
glass left over (!) from a 19th century renovation of Saint-Chapelle;
some Biblical king getting assassinated

Samson having eye surgery; the brilliance of these
pieces was incredible; a presentation worthy of Saint-
Chapelle

Happy angel

The Poissy grain chest; used to measure 1 muid of grain (1,828.1 liters);
13th century; definition of a muid will definitely be on the quiz

Non-Medieval staircase

Virgin and Child Reliquary for the Holy Umbilical Cord;
the relic would have been in the niche in the child's stomach;
I swear I am not making this up; Ile de France, 1400; of
course there would be many smidgeons of umbilical cord

A pilgrim in St. James guise; if you weren't off on a
crusade or dying from a plague, you could always go 
on a pilgrimage

Famille Jouvenel des Ursins...anonymous, 15th; a noble family
worshiping 

As the Paris townhouse of the Abbots of Cluny, 
of course there was a chapel

Chapel portal