Saint Denis Basilica

If you love Gothic cathedrals, or even if you are not sure but think you might, there is a book you must read.  Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth, it was recently made into a mini-series by Starz and they did a nice job!  I have read the book multiple times, I have listened to the audio version, and now I have watched/bought the mini-series.  In case I am not being clear, it is one of my favorite books of all time!  The cathedral is the central character while the fictional town of Kingsbridge and people that live there are a part of a larger web within which the cathedral spins.  Ken Follett is a wonderful writer, I think I have read his entire oeuvre. 

Saint Denis and Abbot Suger play a small but critical role in the book as the "Kingsbridge" Cathedral evolves from the Romanesque era to the new and innovative Gothic style.  I mention this book because eventually in March I will be making a pilgrimage of sorts to Wells & Salisbury Cathedrals in England to visit the actual structures that inspired Follett. 

The "Gothic" era became international and each geographic area put their own stamp on this type of construction.  You will see a lot of photographs of various churches and cathedrals on this blog.  Bear in mind that I try to take photographs that will give people a sense of these wonderful structures but they truly do them no justice.  A visit in person is necessary to truly understand their awesome and inspirational power.

St. Denis is the burial place for royalty in France and tombs with effigies are all over the church. Marie Antoinette & Louis the XVI are just two of the recognizable names and likenesses around the Basilica. 
Some of the stained glass in this structure is original from 12th century.  Rose Windows are often an important part of the theological program as well as the aesthetics of Gothic cathedrals and it is said that they were an innovation of Abbot Suger.  One of the Rose windows at St. Denis is being restored but the other is magnificent!  On the front of the cathedral, in the center portal, the Last Judgment is featured and one of the above photographs illustrates the demons that are stealing the souls that are headed in the wrong direction for eternity.  While the heavenly imagery is lovely, the sculptors really enjoyed depicting the creatures from Hell. 
In less than one hour from our temporary home at the Cite Universitaire in Paris I can stand in the first Gothic cathedral in the world, and I intend to do so several more times!

Mont Saint-Michel

From a distance

The shadow of the abbey
The island in the distance is Isle Tombelaine

The bay retreating
One of the places that topped my list of things to see while living in Paris for 3 months was Mont Saint-Michel. I researched taking the train to a bus, the bus to the abbey, but during the winter this was not necessarily a do-able proposition. One of the students found a reasonably priced tour that left Paris at 7 am and returned around 8 pm, so we signed on. We learned after boarding that the ride including rest stops each way was 5 hours, leaving us 3 hours at Mont Saint-Michel. While this seemed a bit daunting we made the best of the ride and enjoyed every minute at the Abbey.

At the peak of the fleche, 492 ft above the bay is the 13 ft tall gilded repousse copper sculpture of Archangel Saint Michael and the dragon, glinting in the sun. This is a fairly recent addition (1897) to this majestic place.

The Abbey Church was stunning, the windows were not tremendously colorful or intricate but are not the originals. Regardless, the light flowing into the church illustrated the "light of God" in mystical fashion.

The cloister is a place for contemplation, monks could and would pray and meditate while walking around this stunning collonade.

Flying buttresses and gargoyles were a later and lively addition to the rather sober interior. My fellow travellers and I would make the trip again, despite the long ride on the bus - but if you are going to make this popular pilgrimage, perhaps come during a time when you can ride the train and then take the bus and spend the night in one of the many little hotels nearby. I would also have loved to see the tide rise and fall and take photos that reflected the water that surrounds this gorgeous structure.

Holiday Lights and Displays

Printemps in Paris Enchanted crowds

Well, before we get too far away from the holiday season, I want to show you some holiday lights from Paris. Printemps is a major clothing store in Paris and has Holiday lights and windows that really put most US retailers to shame. We arrived here in Paris the first full week of January and luckily for us, before all of the holiday decorations were gone. The lights blink and shimmer with exuberance that illustrates that Printemps is a fun place to be and an even better place to shop!

The window displays were both magnificent and elaborate. Crowds in front of the windows spoke to the incredible complexity and whimsy seen in the exhibits. Several windows illustrated puppets, dancing through the intricate panoramas. Windows featuring puppets also offered steps and a viewing platform for the children who stood enthralled. Each window had a predominant color and historical premise.

I will go back and see the post-holiday windows soon and photograph the newest creative endeavors of the amazing window display artists.

Rainy Day in Paris - Go to the Museums!

So, what do you do if you are in Paris and it is raining? Well, as an Art Historian, I say - go to a museum. Now, today was a Tuesday, so the Louvre was closed, but that was not my agenda anyway!

I took the metro to see if I could get a ticket and see the Monet show at the Grand Palais, since it is ending next week. Unfortunately, it does not seem as if anyone without a ticket will be able to see the show before it ends - it is Sold out!

Thus, I looked at my Metro map and made my way to the Madeline station and the Pinacotheque de Paris. My plan "B" or rather the second show on my agenda today was the L'Or des Incas - the Gold of the Incas Origins and Mysteries.

The show was fantastic! I really love art of Central and South America and I always welcome opportunities to learn more about these incredible cultures. I took a lot of notes because the little guide that I purchased is in French.

Next on the agenda, and also closing next week was Basquiat. I purchased my ticket and then had a little bite for lunch, one of the students was thinking about joining me for the show. Whitney and I had spoken to a super nice Musee de Moderne Art employee at the help desk and I have now been back several times with my classes so he knows me and that I am from Pittsburgh (home of Andy Warhol). Basquiat was a unique artist who started with graffiti, and he is not for everyone. One of my students stated that she really did not like his work and much of it "creeped her out" because it looked like nightmares or horrible drug oriented fantasies. I really liked quite a bit of his art, and while much of it looks amaturish after viewing quite a bit of his oeuvre I believe that is not the case.

Basquiat did die at the age of 27 and drugs were the cause. Moral of this story kids, if you do a lot of drugs - you die! ie. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Elvis, Michael Jackson, Basquiat, etc...

My final stop, and dare I say I saved the best for last, was the Musee du quai Branly which is an institution dedicated to the arts of Oceania, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The art used to be called "primitive" by Western Art Historians who felt art of Europe was superior. The artists of these cultures, however, have never been interested in re-creating or imitating reality to the extent that Western art has. Perspective was never developed because it was never a goal to replicate what they saw around them, imagination, abstraction, and stylization was always more valuable in these cultures.

Installations often make me say "hmmmm??? what were they thinking? what should I be thinking" but I really liked this one called River. LCD projectors were utilized to send words down the ramp in a flowing stream. The river of words had rapids and trickles and I thought it was really well done and inventive. One of my favorite installations!

Finally, as a photographer, I am always looking for an interesting picture of the Eiffel Tower that is unique. I think, I found one! Beside the Branly was an installation outside of 'light sticks' that projected light upward onto the building and offered a great foil for the larger lighted tower in the background - what do you think? Unique? I might have to go back and get it while it is twinkling - (the Eiffel Tower twinkles on the hour after dark for about 15 minutes) : )

Versailles - Summer 'Cabin' of Louis the 14th

Versailles

No one can truly explain Versailles, or see all of it in a day, but we gave it a try. Arriving about 10 am we beat the crowds on this beautiful Saturday in January. Having once visited on a crowded arctic day in November I was a little leery of the Palace experience. However, we had a fantastic day, in the main house, Marie Antoinette's residence (Grand Trianon), the Petit Trianon, the Queen's Hamlet, and the gardens.
This is the front of the residence. Louis, the Sun King, made the entire court move to the "country" to his little "cabin" in the woods. The Baroque ceiling murals were breathtaking throughout the entire residence but the chapel was really spectacular.

Louis' bedroom was, in my humble opinion, was ostentatiously unsightly. While I, like every other young girl, dreamed of being a princess at some point in my childhood this is not my style of castle.

Louis was known for throwing grand parties and the Hall of Mirrors was definately a grandiose place to do it!

A frescoed hallway Hall of sculpture

I had to take this picture, it is in all of my Art History books, so I felt I needed to reproduce it.

Returning in the spring/summer would be worth the trip to see the gardens in their glory. The sculpture was wrapped for winter and the fountains were unfortunately not festively spouting the water they will in the warmer weather.
Several of the students wanted to see Marie Antoinette's house(s) and thus we trekked down the orderly shrubs and trees to the Grand Trianon.

This is Marie's bedroom, still a little ostentatious but a little less so than Louis'. Below is the 'breezeway' between wings of the residence.

We walked further, and continued to find even more intriguing things around every corner.

Temple of Love Goat

Whitney and the students looked at me, my coat, and the scenery, and thought I might be able to camoflage myself pretty well.

Can you see me now?

If you look at Versailles and salivate because you wish you could live there, I recently heard on NPR that they are opening up one of the out buildings next year (2012) as a 5 star hotel. I personally, love the quaint thatched roof buildings near the farm, I would like to stay there!

Monmarte - the area of Artists

We hopped off of the Metro for our Monmarte adventure and were confronted by obnoxious signs of the 'red light' district of Paris, it was daytime thus very little else was on display. Our tour of Monmarte area began at the famous or infamous Moulin Rouge. Made even more popular by the movie by the same name, the Moulin Rouge is a dance hall/Burlesques show venue. Tickets are rather expensive, starting at about 130 Euro for a matinee. I will not be able to review the show for you, in that I will be spending my euro on travels to various French Cathedrals and other scenic attractions.

We walked through the streets and saw some quaint courtyards and some interesting grafitti!
Up and Up and Up the hill of Monmarte we went on the cobblestone streets.

These are the two remaining windmills on the hill of Monmarte. 'Moulins' were utilized by the french people to grind flour so they could make the delicious baguettes they are known for! In Pittsburgh, at the Carnegie Museum of Art we have two paintings of Vincent van Gogh, one of my favorite artists. One of them is of the Moulin de la Galette, I imagined the windmill was out in the countryside, imagine my surprise to see it in Monmarte.


Seeing the apartment building in which Vincent had lived was exciting. Not far down the way, on the corner of the block was the apartment of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.
Renoir lived in this apartment on the right.

Picasso, and many other artists, lived in the Bateau de Lavoir. The famous Les Demoiselles d'Avignon that turned the art world upside down in 1907 was painted in this building. Picasso and Georges Braque worked together and created first analytic cubism and then synthetic cubism. Part of the building burned down later in the 20th century and has been rebuilt. The display in the window illustrates the significance of this residence in the history of art. Today, many artists are in residence working to create their own masterpieces.

There was an interesting sculpture of a man coming through a wall, and the Au Lapin Agile, which is also offers a Burlesque show as well as food and beverages.

At the top of the 'hill' is Sacre Coeur, the Neo-Gothic church built to "recompense for all national failings." Construction began in 1875, it is a gorgeous church with the most beautiful view in Paris. I hope to return to Monmarte soon and further explore this artistic area.