Paris, the Rest
Nov. 12th, 2004 06:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakAs Henri IV stated, Paris is worth a mass, and a lot more besides. Come Thursday morning, we went to the Musée d’Orsay, raced the Japanese to the fifth floor where they keep all the Impressionist paintings, and my mother & aunt sank into the predictable ecstasy of Monet & Manet. I’m very fond of the Impressionists myself, though was alone with my Van Gogh fangirling among the post-Impressionists, as good old Vincent isn’t Mum’s thing. (Ah, for the days when Theo van Gogh was only the name of Vincent’s devoted brother.) As opposed to the Mona Lisa, the fact most of the paintings in the Musée d’Orsay are the pics that launched a thousand prints did not render their charm ineffective for any of us.
Afterwards, the tour des eglises started with St. Germain de Pres, from where we walked to St. Sulpices (one imposing sight), then to the Ile de la Cité and the most famous of them all, Notre Dame de Paris. Having grown in Bamberg, a town with a beautiful cathedral in the Gothic style, means I’m imprinted on Gothic as the perfect architectural form for churches. I can appreciate classicism, or baroque splendour, but Gothic, to me, is the perfect marriage between aesthetics and spirituality. So Notre Dame, like Impressionist paintings, loses nothing by overexposure as far as I’m concerned. My aunt, seeing it the first time, was thunderstruck, especially by the rosettes. Lighting candles, I once again felt relieved that the French, as opposed to the Italians, haven’t succumbed to the lure of electric candles in churches. There is nothing like watching one or a dozen genuine flames.
After Notre Dame, we fortified ourselves with a soup and went on to Sainte Chapelle, which is in the Justice Palace. There were about 50 Italian-speaking children (genuine Italians or Corsicans? Who knows) plus five teachers in front of us, so when we entered the chapel, mother & aunt were somewhat grumbling and felt let down by what looked like a nicely painted but otherwise unremarkable interior. Yours truly, however, assured them there was more and brought them from the chapelle basse to the chapelle haute, and this, ladies and gentlemen, is the most beautiful Gothic thing in Paris, bar none. Nothing but high windows with coloured glass, like a mosaic lantern with only the barest essentials in stone to support everything else. (And, as the little room below, painted with a lot of Bourbon lilies (this having been the Royal Family’s chapel as I understand). If you ever wonder what the adjective “luminous” means, go there.
The last church of the day was the Madeleine, which is one of the newer churches of Paris but looks like the Roman basilica the earliest churches used to be. Corinthian columns around a rectangular building, and three cupolas. Aunt & mother wanted to know what the French thing with Mary Magdalen was, and I informed them that tradition has her ending her life in Southern France, the Provence. As I’m not a Dan Brown reader, I did not add Da Vinci Code trivia.
The evening found us dining in a restaurant![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shezan had recommended – Clos des Gourmets – and I urge any future visitor of Paris to go there was well. The food is simply divine. We have an expression in German, “living like God in France” – and this was when it was really appropriate.
This morning, the weather had changed to complete sunshine, though it was still extremely cold, and I felt guilty for not having allowed my two companions a stroll devoted to fashion and jewellery yet, so that was what we did. The Rue St. Honoré, the Place Vendome, and various assorted boulevards where a lot of the stuff in windows isn’t priced, for obvious reasons. Afterwards, we took one last cup of hot chocolate in the Café Angelina, and then collected our luggage and wandered to the next Metro station, taking the underground to the airport Charles de Gaulle. I’m happy to report no unpleasant surprises awaited us this time; the flight was punctual, and we even ended up in the Lufthansa lounge for the pre-flight-time, sipping tea, reading newspapers and watching the tv screen with Yasser Arafat’s funeral now and then. Reading bios of the new attorney general was not exactly comforting (apparently, he’s the guy who declared the Geneva Conventions quaint and obsolete), but I refused to get worked up. It had been such a perfect vacation, a happy one for all of us and especially for my aunt, who might not make it through another year, so that was very, very important for me. Vive la France indeed.
And now your faithful reporting traveller is very exhausted, very tired, and says goodnight.*g*
Afterwards, the tour des eglises started with St. Germain de Pres, from where we walked to St. Sulpices (one imposing sight), then to the Ile de la Cité and the most famous of them all, Notre Dame de Paris. Having grown in Bamberg, a town with a beautiful cathedral in the Gothic style, means I’m imprinted on Gothic as the perfect architectural form for churches. I can appreciate classicism, or baroque splendour, but Gothic, to me, is the perfect marriage between aesthetics and spirituality. So Notre Dame, like Impressionist paintings, loses nothing by overexposure as far as I’m concerned. My aunt, seeing it the first time, was thunderstruck, especially by the rosettes. Lighting candles, I once again felt relieved that the French, as opposed to the Italians, haven’t succumbed to the lure of electric candles in churches. There is nothing like watching one or a dozen genuine flames.
After Notre Dame, we fortified ourselves with a soup and went on to Sainte Chapelle, which is in the Justice Palace. There were about 50 Italian-speaking children (genuine Italians or Corsicans? Who knows) plus five teachers in front of us, so when we entered the chapel, mother & aunt were somewhat grumbling and felt let down by what looked like a nicely painted but otherwise unremarkable interior. Yours truly, however, assured them there was more and brought them from the chapelle basse to the chapelle haute, and this, ladies and gentlemen, is the most beautiful Gothic thing in Paris, bar none. Nothing but high windows with coloured glass, like a mosaic lantern with only the barest essentials in stone to support everything else. (And, as the little room below, painted with a lot of Bourbon lilies (this having been the Royal Family’s chapel as I understand). If you ever wonder what the adjective “luminous” means, go there.
The last church of the day was the Madeleine, which is one of the newer churches of Paris but looks like the Roman basilica the earliest churches used to be. Corinthian columns around a rectangular building, and three cupolas. Aunt & mother wanted to know what the French thing with Mary Magdalen was, and I informed them that tradition has her ending her life in Southern France, the Provence. As I’m not a Dan Brown reader, I did not add Da Vinci Code trivia.
The evening found us dining in a restaurant
shezan had recommended – Clos des Gourmets – and I urge any future visitor of Paris to go there was well. The food is simply divine. We have an expression in German, “living like God in France” – and this was when it was really appropriate. This morning, the weather had changed to complete sunshine, though it was still extremely cold, and I felt guilty for not having allowed my two companions a stroll devoted to fashion and jewellery yet, so that was what we did. The Rue St. Honoré, the Place Vendome, and various assorted boulevards where a lot of the stuff in windows isn’t priced, for obvious reasons. Afterwards, we took one last cup of hot chocolate in the Café Angelina, and then collected our luggage and wandered to the next Metro station, taking the underground to the airport Charles de Gaulle. I’m happy to report no unpleasant surprises awaited us this time; the flight was punctual, and we even ended up in the Lufthansa lounge for the pre-flight-time, sipping tea, reading newspapers and watching the tv screen with Yasser Arafat’s funeral now and then. Reading bios of the new attorney general was not exactly comforting (apparently, he’s the guy who declared the Geneva Conventions quaint and obsolete), but I refused to get worked up. It had been such a perfect vacation, a happy one for all of us and especially for my aunt, who might not make it through another year, so that was very, very important for me. Vive la France indeed.
And now your faithful reporting traveller is very exhausted, very tired, and says goodnight.*g*
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politics, sigh
Date: 2004-11-12 09:59 am (UTC)what I've been saying about the new AG is that they should have replaced Ashcroft with one of the deceased partners of Wolfram & Hart. Holland Manners has a certain admirable pragmatism, Lilah is eye-candy, and Lindsey is a MUCH better singer (if you haven't heard Ashcroft's singing, feel blessed). But no, they could have gone with undead devil lawers and they give us Gonzales instead.
not to kill the buzz from your trip -- sounds lovely!
Re: politics, sigh
Date: 2004-11-12 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 11:36 am (UTC):-)
(Is your aunt really in such bad a shape? This is truly terrible.)
no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 08:53 pm (UTC)B) Yes, she is. Cancer on both breasts. She has operations and chemotherapy behind her (that's why she was wearing a wig) and is being in better physical condition at the moment, but that's relative. Of course we hope she'll live longer, but the prospects aren't that good...
no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 12:20 pm (UTC)Oh yes! The loveliest thing I saw in Paris, I believe!
And the candles at Notre Dame! I almost cried, for what I don't know, just the atmosphere of the place. Instead, I lit a candle at the feet of St. Joan, appropriately enough my name saint.
I'm glad you've had a wonderful visit to Paris!
no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 08:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-13 06:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 08:56 pm (UTC)Thank you.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 03:00 pm (UTC)LOL. Yes, J was just the same. "Why have you brought me here? There's nothing to see." Little did he know. And yes, most definitely the most beautiful Gothic thing in Paris.
Glad it was a good trip. Something like that is probably more beneficial to your aunt than any number of drugs.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 08:57 pm (UTC)Yes, I think and hope so...
no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 11:28 pm (UTC)I, too, love Gothic architecture in churches. I could spend weeks in a Gothic church, just looking. Someday I hope to go to Paris. And Chartres.
Thank you for your descriptions.
And yes, nothing like real candles and real flames.
I'm so glad your trip went well!
no subject
Date: 2004-11-13 12:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-15 04:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-13 03:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-13 04:44 am (UTC)