Tag: HISP499

Sad to Say Goodbye

Here we are, back in the States with my last blog until I post one final time to show my final project in a couple of weeks. I am honestly so sad to be back. I know some people were feeling ready to head home and kiss Paris goodbye, but I truly felt that I could have stayed at least another month longer. Aside from missing my dad and Noah (hi Noah, I did miss you I promise <3), since I got to see my mom and sister I’m pretty sure I could have stayed longer. It’s nice to be taking things easy at home and not be spending so much money (I am so broke right now), but I loved this month abroad. This was truly an experience I will never forget since it taught me so much about myself and my travel style.

Similar to what some other people did in their final posts, I’m going to list out what I’m going to miss most, what I learned about myself travel-wise, and highlights.

Missing…

1. To start I am already missing good public transportation. I am so upset at the fact I have to drive places again and that half of our infrastructure in the US is to accommodate the automobile. I am so sad. :’) Even at the airport we were smacked in the face with the reminder we have to rely on poor public transport when the shuttle back to the main building took ten-fifteen minutes to return to get the second group of us. Whereas back in Paris there was the super efficient shuttle system to the airport after getting off the RER B.
2. Parks. Oh my gosh, I am going to miss all the lovely greenspaces. I know there are great State Parks near me but they are all within driving distance, not walking. 🙁
3. Picnicking. Max I am counting on you to bring this back when we’re at school.
4. A place designed for people and not cars. I just am so sad looking at my surroundings which consist of huge roads and crummy-looking buildings on the side of said roads.
5. Actual care for historic preservation. I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory.

What I Learned About Myself

1. I am the type of traveler that needs to be in a small travel group or solo travel. One or two travel partners are ideal for me, although I can handle a group of up to like five people. I don’t do well operating with a super large group.
2. I would be a great solo traveler. I did so many little activities by myself since it was easier to coordinate and it was so much fun.
3. I am really confident in my traveling abilities. This month has made me so proud of how I went out and took on the city on my own. I navigated with ease, kept a pissed “don’t mess with me face on,” and was just super self-assured in my abilities.
4. Further learning how good “me time” can be. Before I started therapy last year, I used to struggle with being by myself and feeling lonely, but this trip has helped to reaffirm how good hanging out with myself can be.
5. I just wanted to get to five to be consistent with my last list, but I will also take this moment to just say I am really proud of my traveling and planning abilities. I did everything I set my mind to!

Highlights

Most of these highlights I’ve mentioned in other blogs, so I’m just going to hyperlink those, but I mainly wanted to use this section to talk about Château de Pierrefonds. <3

1. Château de Pierrefonds: The Merlin castle! I went with my mom on Sunday (July 30th) and it was such a great day trip. I was fangirling the entire time. Also, this chateau is such an amazing example of Viollet-le-Duc’s architecture and restoration skills. This castle was originally built in 1397 but started to be demolished by François-Annibal d’Estrées in 1617 but was never fully destroyed. The castle lay in ruin for two centuries until, in 1857, Napoleon III asked Viollet-le-Duc to reconstruct it into an Imperial Residence. Viollet-le-Duc did a spectacular job recreating the medieval aspect of the building with all the fresco work in the interior.[1] This was not only amazing to see due to my love for the Merlin BBC show, but it also was an amazing preservation project that I was completely unaware of! It is also currently undergoing maintenance right now. (Photos 1-3 down below)
2. Notre-Dame de la Garde: Can read more of my thoughts in Blog #6.
3. Opera Garnier: I’ve talked about it more extensively in Blog #4, but it was just so stunning. One of my favorite buildings from the entire trip.
4. Pantheon: Can read more of my thoughts at the end of Blog #3.
5. Giverny: Can read more of my thoughts in Blog #8.

Picture Time!

Max has two emotes: Upset and Mischievous. Down below is my evidence for this claim.

Source

1. https://www.chateau-pierrefonds.fr/en/discover/history-of-the-castle-of-pierrefonds

So, this blog post is going to be a little more all over the place thematically because I really want to talk about the gardens at Chateau de Loire and Giverny, plus what we saw at Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine and in Montmarte. I’ll be going chronologically as I usually do! Also, we will pretend this was posted while still in Paris and not after the fact. 😉

Frolicking in Flowers

During our second to last weekend in France, we had our MICEFA excursion to Chateau de Loire and it was so beautiful and a thousand times better than Versailles (I hope you heard that Louis XIV). It was nowhere near as grand, but I think that’s what gave it a humble charm. Also, I love that the trend continued of rich people playing poor at their chateaus by having small farm villages constructed. It was a lovely visit, but I wanted to talk about the gardens in particular.

I think it was awesome getting to see examples within the same weekend of a very French garden and an English garden. At the end of the day, I’ll be biased toward English gardens, but I wanted to take a moment to appreciate the French gardens at Chateau de Loire.

I do love the way the gardens are designed to show patterns and different designs that can be made with the vegetation and plants. However, I feel that French gardens almost have a nakedness to them because of this. Everything is very flat and well-maintained to stay that way, not allowing for much dimension.

Whereas the gardens at Giverny were absolutely perfect to me. That Sunday (July 23rd), Ellie, Michela, Emma, Katelyn, and I made the hour trek to Giverny. It was such an amazing visit. I know some of them have also mentioned it in their blogs, but I also need to gush over it a bit. Photos do not do it justice, the vibrancy of the flowers, the way everything looks wild and free really appeals to me. It makes the gardens feel so much fuller since the plants can just go crazy and do their thing without having to be heavily maintained.

Plus, there was still some organization to the gardens in the form of colors, plants of the same colors seemed to be grouped together which created a beautiful rainbow aesthetic to the grounds. Just a total 10/10, Monet was onto something. I think that while I can appreciate French gardens in their disciplined design, I will always be more in awe of English gardens.

Architecture Wins

Now to discuss the architecture side of this post. After the weekend of gardens, our class visited the Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine. It was really amazing to see a museum whose collections are essentially all replicas or molds of significant architectural structures. I personally loved seeing the Notre Dame replicas and molds since it was the closest thing to getting to see the interior in person.

The replication of L’appartement de type E2 was insane though! I wish I got pictures of the inside, but I did take one of the miniature model. I wish I had known about it while I was in Marseille because I totally would have tried to visit it if it was near the area I was staying in (Vieux Port). This apartment complex design was definitely an architectural win though, I love the way the space was designed to be compact but still roomy enough to not feel claustrophobic, and the large windows were just *chef’s kiss*.

Montmarte also has architectural wins with the Sacré-Cœur Basilica at the head of it all. Although, I have to admit that my favorite church this entire trip was Notre-Dame de la Garde in Marseille, so I’ve been a bit hard to impress with churches since then. Sacré-Cœur Basilica was still stunning though, and I am always a sucker for a great view which I especially saw on Thursday when I climbed the 300 steps to the top of the dome! It was such an amazing experience. Also, I loved the design of Maurice Neumont’s house. The small, spooky details of the front facade were so fun to see, from the eye windows to the owl door handles.

Rouen

While the main focus of this post was our class on Monday and Tuesday, I want to briefly mention the architectural wins during our day trip to Rouen since my final blog post will be about other topics.

First, the half-timber work? Stunning, spectacular, 10/10, loved it. Second, the use of legos as an artistic form of “repairing” damage to an exterior? Literally on my knees in love. Église Sainte-Jeanne d’Arc was also so archeturally different in the best way. I absolutely adored the intimacy of the baptism space. Also, maybe this was just me, but it looks like it may have been designed to appear as though someone is wearing a helmet.

Looking at this picture I took, the windows at the bottom look like eyes, and with the curvature of the roof it looks like a Morion helmet or, more likely, a bascinet which Joan of Arc would have worn.

Class this week honestly was pretty themed around looking at the way the dead were/are handled in France, so I decided to center my second blog for the week around those class activities! This is pretty fun given that I have taken Graves and Burial Grounds. 🙂

Pere Lachaise

Once again, pretend the proper accents are used when I spell French words. Looking back at my Grave and Burial Ground notes, Pere Lachaise was discussed quite a bit, and for a good reason. It is a great cemetery and, as Smith mentioned, the blueprint for picturesque cemeteries in the U.S.

I can totally see why it was the blueprint. While walking through the cemetery I felt a sense of separation from the cityscape. I can see why people used to picnic in cemeteries and enjoy them as an escape from the city, at least in the U.S.

One thing I wish I can remembered during the class visit is that the French Romeo and Juliet (Abelard and Heloise) are buried there and we could have seen them in all their fame. While I know the story between them is actually pretty messed up, it still would have been cool to see and I wish I had remembered this fact. I also find it interesting how they were moved to the Pere Lachaise to promote people getting buried there, that’s quite an advertisement campaign.

The crematorium was also stunning architecturally. As someone who wants to be cremated, I am always interested in how crematoriums are designed. For instance, there are some in the U.S. that just makes me really sad to look at in their blandness. I love how grand the Pere Lachaise’s crematorium is. I feel like it just says “Look at all these people we’re honoring by looking so beautiful.” And the freedom of expression with the tiles for each space is beautiful and shows so much personality.

Also, while scrolling the Wikipedia page, I read through the list of media Pere Lachaise appears in, and in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt expansion there’s a cemetery that takes inspiration after the Pere Lachaise. I need to finish the game to warrant getting that expansion and seeing this virtual cemetery, I am so curious.

Catacombs

I love how the Catacombs were just built as a tourist attraction. Just straight up, “People are going to get a kick out of seeing these bones.”

The Catacombs were honestly a pretty brilliant idea though, since they solved some of the health hazard issues of overfilled cemeteries, and gave cemeteries more space to work with. They were definitely not what I was coming expecting though. I think I had some preconceived notion that bones were just on every inch of the quarry walls and in elaborate designs throughout.

While there were some designs throughout, especially simple ones like skulls facing outwards in lines, it was different than what I originally expected. It was an awesome experience though. I wish that there was more information about who’s bones are down there, but I know they were transported from unmarked graves. It’s sad knowing the memories of these people are lost within piles and piles of bones, but I guess you can look at the fact they are never fully forgotten since people from all over come to visit the Catacombs.

Montparnasse Cemetery

Last is Montparnasse, which technically wasn’t a “class” visit, but rather a casual visit with a majority of the class. It arguably had some of the coolest gravestones I have ever seen, including the famous Boob Fish. After learning about Boob Fish through Graves and Burial Grounds, I felt like I was meeting an inanimate celebrity of sorts. There were also so many beautiful mosaiced gravestones and metal sculptures. My personal favorite is the one that reminded me of The Cathedral by Rodin.

I think Montparnasse was honestly my favorite out of the cemeteries we’ve visited here. This is mainly due to coming back to Montparnasse later on in the day by myself and just taking everything in. Being alone in that space was honestly very calming and kind of comforting in a weird way. I just felt at peace with how these families and individuals are still honored by their descendants and how some show their personality even in death with how their gravemarker has been designed.

This is less about Montparnasse and more about remembrance now, but I noticed that a lot of the gravestones had ceramic flower wreaths. Well, I looked it up and found out that this practice actually has a name. Immortelle, which means everlasting in French, is mainly a practice done in Western Europe, but mainly in France. This already makes so much sense, because I don’t recall seeing anything like this in the cemeteries back in the States. [1]

Immortelles range from preserved flowers in wired domes to wire-strung beads. [2] However, what seems to be the most popular today, based on my own observation are ceramic flower wreaths. I just adore the concept because it’s a way to honor the dead with flowers that will withstand the test of time (given that no one messed with them). I know plastic flowers are an option too, but they get pretty rough looking after a while, and plastic is never a great option. Whereas these ceramic flowers could just use a good rinsing, and I think they would look good as new.

Sources

1. https://burialsandbeyond.com/2019/02/06/introducing-immortelles/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortelle_(cemetery)

So Many Museums to Discuss, so Little Time!

Alright, I’m back to blogging for this third week! It’s not Monday yet so I’m getting in my blogs now, everything during and after the break from class made things so busy and hectic! I’m going to list all the museums I saw during week two and on break and then dive into a few of them because this will not be an “and I did this…” blog that Smith does not want.

So, after our last class before our five-day break, on July 13th and 14th I hit a LOT of museums. I was going ham. On the 13th I went to Maison de Victor Hugo and the Memorial de la Shoah. On the 14th I went to Musee de l’Historie de France, which were at the National Archives, and Musee Carnavalet. After this was my two days in Marseille which I’ll discuss in the second half of this post.

The main museums I want to focus on for this post though are the Memorial de la Shoah and the Musee Carnavalet. Two very different museums that I want to discuss for entirely different reasons.

Memorial de la Shoah

The Memorial de la Shoah was an extremely well-done museum and very interesting to see having been to the Holocaust museum in Washington D.C. Now, I know these two museums are structured around different focal points, but they still touch on many of the same topics regarding the mass genociding of the Jewish population during WWII.

Everything in this museum was just so powerful, as you walk through the entrance there are marble walls filled with names of the Jewish population that were deported from France in collaboration with the Vichy government. So, right off the bat, the museum is showing how France is taking accountably for the actions of the Vichy government. This theme remains consistent throughout all the exhibits, it was honestly so eye-opening because we are not really taught about the Vichy government’s role in aiding the Nazi party in history courses. In all honesty, before this trip, I was truly unaware. In public school, all that’s mentioned is that France was being invaded by the Nazi Party and surrendered the Northern part to them, but they were still our ally. This museum visit was such an educational experience and the way they honor the lives lost was very moving.

Whereas, thinking back to my experience with the Holocaust Museum in D.C., there were a lot of really powerful moments. It was also incredibly informative, but it didn’t hit me in the way the Memorial de la Shoah did. I partially feel that the information at the D.C. museum was pretty broad and the parts about Nazisim in the U.S. felt like background information. I think it would have been more impactful and important to show accountability in a similar vein to what France is doing.

Musee Carnavalet

Okay, so this is on a completely different note, totally different subject matter. Complete 180 and I apologize for that, it isn’t easy trying to talk about so much even though they don’t match tonally.

So, with the Musee Carnavalet, which is about the history of France, I have less to say in regard to its content and more to discuss with its layout. Oh gosh, the layout, how I felt so overstimulated in that place, and how I cannot take any more maze-like museums (I’m looking at you Musee d’Orsay and Louvre).

The ground level (0) is honestly pretty straightforward. The main hall is an exhibit about how businesses drew in people with their signs, and there’s a side corridor about the design of Paris and the monarchy. The -1 level also made sense layout-wise about prehistory. This is where my compliments end. Listen, I am directionally challenged, but level 1 was such a maze for me. I felt like I was just going in complete circles around the rooms and winding up in either the same place or somewhere I did not recognize. The chronology also made no sense to me, personally. I was in sections that were about 18th-19th century French living and then would turn a corner and now we’re looking at medieval artifacts? I also kept trying to find a way up to the 2nd floor and couldn’t find it until the very end when I had to speed run it.

Listen, if anyone else has been there and has different opinions, that’s great but, for me, it felt like I was stuck in the Twilight Zone. This is also exactly how I felt in the Musee d’Orsay and the Louvre. I know they are all very different buildings with very different layouts, but they all gave me the same feeling that I was stuck in purgatory with no way out. (I am of course overexaggerating for some comedic effect)

The museum exhibits were very cool and they showed many awesome examples of how rooms may have been set up in the 18th century, upper-class residences. The history of the building itself starting from the 16th century was also incredibly fascinating. However, I definitely think this museum could use some floor arrows on the first floor to help guide people in the right direction.

Marseille

I’m realizing how much I wrote about the museums, so I’ll try to keep this short! I went to Marseille for about two days and it was really interesting being in another part of France! I will admit, it was not as picturesque as I thought it would be, it was very much lived in and urban with graffiti on almost all surfaces and trash piles due to strikes. However, the history there is very rich, and that is mainly what I went for, in all honesty.

I mainly wanted to address some of the beautiful architecture. First was the Palais Longchamp which is a monument that houses their Beaux-arts museum on the left wing and the Natural History Museum to the right. Admission was completely free and both museums were so quaint and well put together, I loved it. The monument itself is also just beautiful and gives an elevated view of part of the city. The history behind it is that it was constructed in 1839 (finished in 1869) to celebrate the completion of the Marseille canal and the bringing of water into the city. It was designed by Henri-Jacques Espérandieu, who also designed the other Marseille structures I wanted to discuss.

In addition to Palais Longchamp, Henri-Jacques Espérandieu also helped design the Marseille Cathedral and Notre-Dame de la Garde. In a sad but kind of ironic fashion, he apparently passed away due to contracting pneumonia from the Notre-Dame de la Garde crypt. He was only 45 years old, but he definitely made his mark on the city as these are some of the biggest highlights. Notre-Dame de la Garde was jaw-dropping. Not only was the view stunning, as it sits 154 meters above sea level, but the interior was also not like any of the churches I have seen thus far…which is a lot. While the interior is somewhat small in comparison to other churches I’ve been to, the design is just stunning. From the floors to the ceilings, I think the photos speak for themselves.[1]

The Marseille Cathedral’s style definitely shows influence from Notre-Dame de la Garde. All in all, an eventful time with great sites.

Sources

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri-Jacques_Esp%C3%A9randieu (This guy does not have much info about him, hence Wikipedia)

First, I just wanted to say let us pretend this was posted last week and counts as my second blog for last week! 😀 (Bastille Day and this weekend made things so chaotic)

Chateau de Vincennes

Alright, so bringing it back to Tuesday of last week, we had an interesting MICEFA excursion to Chateau de Vincennes which was completely different than what we saw the weekend prior at Versailles. The first difference was how integrated into the city landscape it was. When going to Versailles, the palace felt somewhat removed from the town. I mean, of course, the main difference is how large it is in comparison to Vincennes, but I still found it cool to see how much the Chateaus differ. Vincennes also has a much different history as a military fortification, rather than a miraculous spectacle. The architecture itself felt pretty standard and practical given its purpose. Although the main chateau was still impressive in its design. Grace S. and I ended up wandering around and walked the entire way around the castle’s defense walls which I found so enjoyable. I love the practicality of it for defensive purposes, but it also showed a great few of the surrounding area.

As for the inside of the chateau, it was honestly a bit of a maze, there were moments when Grace and I were like “Where did we end up now?” By far our favorite part of the inside was a small room that on one panel described it as Charles V’s “study” but on another panel to the opposite wall, it mentioned how the area was a bathroom chamber. Therefore, we inferred that royal duties never cease, even for a moment on the chamberpot. Sadly, I didn’t take a picture of it, but I’ll still show some other photos of the chateau. Although, nothing will beat the study toilet.

Bercy

Now moving to the Bercy part of last Tuesday. It was a really awesome area to walk through, especially, as Smith pointed out, it is not really a huge tourist area. Bercy does have an interesting history that I learned at the Musee de Carnavalet, which I went to on the 14th. In the prehistory part of the museum, a panel mentioned that “during the renovation of the Bercy district…, an archeological excavation revealed a remarkable site, inhabited from the Early Neolithic period.” I just found it really cool to see Bercy mentioned in the museum and to have an interesting archeological history!

Coming back to the actual day we were there, the first thing that caught my eye was this figure with the sign “eau de Paris.” Now I know this means “water of Paris,” but does anyone have any idea why it was created to look like a silhouette of a woman? It greatly intrigues me. Now this figure was right out front of the National Library which was an amazing modernist structure. I love libraries, so this was just awesome to see, and I love how the four corners are designed to look like books! It gives the building a very distinct design that can be noticed from a distance. The last part of Bercy I wanted to mention was the shopping center, or village, we ended on. Who doesn’t love great adaptive reuse? This is such a great example of old factories being repurposed into something people can utilize. Also, I’m going to insert a video of me swirling “potions” from the Harry Potter store because I found them memorizing (but we don’t stan J.K. R**ling).

Versailles

This past Saturday we went to Versaille! I freaking love the 2015 show so I’m not going to lie, I was pretty geeked. However, I was not geeking over the heat. My goodness, how a consistent breeze makes a difference in how pleasant the day can be is insane. The air was just so stagnant, it was horrible. Anyway, the actual palace itself was definitely a sight to behold. It truly is an architectural masterpiece. There was just so much to look at and see, I was pretty overstimulated by the end of the day.

The gardens are a work of art, I understand why people (looking at you Charles L’Enfant) took them as inspiration for city/street designs. Though being at the gardens, I completely see why the baroque style really suits gardens but does not translate well to a city’s design. The gardens were truly stunning, I wish I had more appreciation for them at the time, but I kept thinking about how my largest complaint was the lack of shade. Like I get King Louis XIV was known as the “Sun King,” but please have mercy. The sun was just beating down in the open areas of the gardens. I did enjoy the groves though. It felt like a maze, I really enjoyed the design and coming across all the various statues and fountains (many of them being Apollo, of course).

As for the palace itself, honestly, if I could have had some kind of private tour I think I would have enjoyed it much more since the large flow of people plus the heat was very overwhelming. Nevertheless, there were some moments I felt comfortable enough to take a second to admire the space. Firstly, I got pretty geeked when noticing the wallpaper in a lot of the rooms was textured. I’m not certain if this is original to the building (I doubt it), but it was still awesome to see since I love cool wallpaper. The ceiling paintings were also so stunning. I especially loved the ones in the Apollo and Diana rooms.

Also, I get that Versaille was built to be so extra that the royal court would be less pissed about leaving Paris, but I’m still just wondering how all the hundreds upon hundreds of rooms were utilized. Lastly, I have to be quite honest, I found the mirror room to be a bit underwhelming somehow. I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion, but I had always seen so much hype over it that, I guess, when I finally saw it in person I just wasn’t as blown away as I thought I would be.

Opera Garnier

Now to discuss what Versaille wishes it could have been: the Opera Garnier. The place known for having a horrible stage, but a great view of all the hot drama. It was a shame that we couldn’t see its true exterior, but I love continuing to see how some renovations/upkeep in France have coverings that look as close to what the exterior would look like as possible. So far, aside from the Opera Garnier, I have seen this technique used at the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Chateau de Vincennes.

The other sides of the building we could see were still beautiful though and the gem that was the inside was simply breathtaking. I can see how this was designed to be a jewel. From all the details covering the ceilings to the floors, it was incredible. Stepping into the Grand Foyer specifically was jaw-dropping and I could only think about how that reaction is what I expected from myself in Versaille’s mirror room but didn’t get it.

I think one major difference is that Versaille’s brilliance felt a bit forced, like you could tell Louis XIV was like “Please come here and love me royal court! I know it’s not Paris, but look at all this cool stuff!” Meanwhile, the Opera Garnier is like “Yeah, I’m absolutely stunning and I don’t even have to try.” I feel that the photos I took of the interior speak for themselves.

Other random stuff I just wanted to show

First, during the route to Versaille, I witnessed the first French hostile architecture and that bummed me out since I thought France was above this a bit. 🙁

Secondly, I went to the Notre Dame archeological crypt and it was so cool! Used to be Roman baths and a roadway/port that followed the Seine.

Luxembourg

Before fulling diving into the experience at Luxembourg, I just wanted to mention how much I adore the effort put into all the greenspaces here. I truly wish we had this luxury back home. Aside from the Luxembourg Gardens, I have gone on walks within the general area of the Cite and it is so nice coming across lush parks unexpectedly. I just wish we had this back home because nature is so great for mental health. You would think that back in the States with our rampant mental health crisis the least that could be done is build a more natural environment, but no. Instead, we get urban sprawl and parks/playgrounds where the playground themselves are completely in the sun because it was designed to have all the trees on the perimeter. I digress and will discuss my thoughts and feelings about Luxembourg now!

First, I am glad to now know that the gardens are not named after the country, and were actually built predating the country’s founding in 1815. Now the gardens themselves are just breathtaking. I love taking nature/flower photographs so I was very happy to have such a prime opportunity to do that. Furthermore, the way the trees and the natural environment are integrated into the garden/park’s design is *chef’s kiss.* This is what we need back in the States! I also love how the gardens were designed to have axis points to see other sites such as the Pantheon, which I actually went to see today (7/7). Furthermore, the way the area was designed for so much recreational use for all ages was just amazing to see. Everything back home feels so separated based on certain age-related activities. As Prof. Smith pointed out, back in the U.S. you have completely separate playgrounds for kids ages 2-8, and then 8+, etc. It is just nice to see a space so free of barriers.

I wish I had had more time to explore the gardens once class ended so that I could figure out which part is “for me.” I definitely intend to go back though, I would love to find a nice shaded area to crochet and maybe listen to my audiobook. I can also do it on a nice, well-designed bench as we mentioned at the beginning of class that day. I hate coming across hostile architecture, so seeing a lack of it here is wonderful. I desperately need calming, natural spaces like this back home.

Musee Rodin and Mini Travels

After finishing up class in Luxembourg, I went on the MICEFA trip to the Musee Rodin. I have to be honest, before researching up on this trip I had absolutely no idea who Rodin was. Once I found out it was the sculpture of The Thinker, there was an “oooh” moment in my head. Seeing his work was absolutely amazing though. I got some really lovely photographs of a few of the outdoor sculptures, in particular Eve which I really loved. I must admit, I’m not the best at finding “deeper meanings” in art, but I can definitely admire the artistry.

One sculpture I want to make note of is The Arch of Alliance (pictured below), which was later referred to as The Cathedral. The space between the hands is said to represent the Gothic architectural lines that intrigued Rodin. While I was not observant enough to notice this upon first class, after reading the plaque, I can abstractly make out the gothic look Rodin was attempting with this piece. It reminds me of details such as the way the arched ceilings in Gothic churches curve into each other. I actually observed these details today when visiting the Church of Saint-Séverin.

Which, moving on a little more, I did some exploring around Paris after class and MICEFA excursions between Wednesday and today. As mentioned, I wandered into the Church of Saint-Séverin which was beautiful like most churches in Europe. One thing I noticed was that in one area of the church, there was ruched appearing wallpaper like what was in the Sainte Chapelle. I’m going to be keeping tabs on the places I see wallpaper like this because I want to find out more. With a quick Google search, no clear answer pops up so I’ll do some more digging. My current guess is it was done as a cheaper alternative to having actual fabric, curtains present, or just the designer’s choice, but I cannot wait to hopefully find out some more information.

Lastly, I wanted to briefly mention my visit to the Pantheon and how stunning it is and what an impressive piece of architecture. Not only is the main level beautiful with its stone carvings and many murals, my favorite is La Morte. I just love the way death is represented. Furthermore, the crypt? I was blown away at how extensive and expertly crafted it was, just stellar. Although, I find the Pantheon’s history hilarious in how many times it was tossed around between being a place of worship and secular. Like this poor building could not catch a break.

Intro

We just finished our first week of class in Paris today! It has been a blur, but so incredibly fun. From Monday up through today, we have had a lot of really incredible excursions for class, however, in this blog post I decided to focus on what we did in class Tuesday, and my next blog post will go over what we did Wednesday, and maybe some of today (Thursday) if I’m feeling a bit wild.

Musee de Cluny

First, pretend there are proper accents whenever I spell something in French because I never learned how to use the keyboard controls to get it, and am too lazy to look it up.

I have to be honest, medieval history is not my favorite, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the Musee de Cluny. In particular, I thought the tapestries of the Lady of the Unicorn were quite interesting in how they portrayed the five senses. The way the senses were represented was done in a way that, at least in my opinion, the message was not the most explicit. However, once picking up on even one of the tapestries that it was a sense, all the others became relatively clear. I found the sight and hearing tapestries to be the most explicit, and once seeing that I could somewhat gather what the others were. It was just very cool to see how people back in medieval times perceived senses and that has continued today. Furthermore, I enjoyed the discussion we had about the importance of tapestries in heating up a space. Until this week, I had always assumed they were purely for decoration, and while that is definitely a function, the idea that they were used to help insulate spaces was a really fun fact.

More on the preservation side, I was super impressed by how well-preserved the tapestries are. I know the pigments have faded over time, but they were still pretty vibrant in my opinion. Especially the red, I can’t imagine what it looked like in its prime, it must have been such a strong color. Now a bit off-topic, I’m going to insert this picture I took of the unicorn on the “Taste” tapestry because the side-eye this fool was giving was intense.

The other main part of the museum I got a kick out of was the space that used to be Roman baths. I believe that was the first time I saw Roman “ruins” or architecture that wasn’t below ground since I have yet to visit Italy and all the European countries (Belgium, Germany, Netherlands) I visited last year had their Roman structures completely built over. I know this is a common occurrence in Europe, so I was surprised that the baths remained uncovered. As for the architecture, I mean, what is there to say? The Romans are just awesome and such impressive engineers. Our construction today makes me so depressed when I see buildings like the Roman baths withstanding the test of time for centuries, and then our modern-day construction is so cheaply made. Also, the acoustics in the baths were 10/10.

Sainte Chapelle

Okay, so just a heads up, I’m not really going to talk about the Conciergerie even though we went Tuesday since, like Smith mentioned, with the pop-up exhibition, you couldn’t get a full view of how impressive the space is, although the architecture was stellar (of course).

First, I want to mention how I found the fact that the Sainte Chapelle has a second full floor fascinating. Last summer, my mom and I saw many chapels and cathedrals, and almost all of them were just one huge space, at least with the cathedrals, or if there was an upper level, it was either for an organ or seating that was along the perimeter of the interior. Therefore, it was cool to see how the Sainte Chapelle was layout so that a common mass could be held on the lower, less grand level, and the second floor could be saved for esteemed guests and the king. I guess the architecture of the Sainte Chapelle is a strong example of how the King of France was the figurehead of the Church since they were “chosen” by God. Also, after looking up a bit more about the Sainte Chapelle, it was mentioned that the chapel was built in seven years which is just so insane to me.

While the stained glass is definitely a star of the show, I also just wanted to mention how cool the wallpaper is on the upper level. Throughout the second floor, the wallpaper is detailed to look textured, or ruched. It was just a neat detail I noticed and feel gets overlooked by the impressive stained glass. I absolutely adore small details like this, it just shows the amount of attention to detail there was. I felt the same way looking at the stone carvings in the entryway from the balcony to the second floor, especially since I could recognize the scenes depicted. Whereas with the stained glass, since it is further from eye height, it is hard to observe all its details. With the stone carvings, I was able to make out scenes such as Adam and Eve, the birth of Jesus, and Noah’s Arc.

Overall, Tuesday was packed with a lot of interesting activities, and I’m excited to share my thoughts on the excursions that occurred Wednesday and Thursday. 🙂

Hello, everyone! This is a bit of a test to make sure I like how my posts will show on my website. Today I finally pulled out the suitcase! It’s crazy how quickly June has flown by. I’m super excited but also have some nerves about everything. I overthink a lot when it comes to planning and packing. I’m 100% the type to overpack, so I’m going to try my best to pace myself with things I want/need to bring. I hope everyone’s pre-trip stuff has been going well! I’m so pumped.