Painted Layers of Rome

Hello Readers!

Welcome back for this last instalment of my Roman adventures!

Even Father Carlo loved the bowler!

Great Synagogue of Rome

On Friday Ben and I met a family friend of his in the Jewish quarter for a guided tour and a kosher lunch.  Father Carlo, as Ben affectionately calls him, served in the US military with Ben's father and is now working in the Vatican for a few years.  Thus, he insisted on showing us some of the sites.  Before lunch, Father Carlo took us into a church that had been constructed using the remaining ruins of a previous pagan temple.  In fact, this is quite commonplace around Rome - newer structures built from ancient ones - and quite interesting to see the fusion of architecture .... form vs. function .... oh boy, there's my high school English surfacing!  In any case, the layers of history in this city was simply astounding - thousands of years of history occupying the same space.

St Peter's Square

St Peter's Basilica (front)

Father Carlo wanted to meet us in Rome's Jewish quarter so he could treat us to Kosher cuisine for lunch.  Not only did we eat at the cleverly named Ba'Ghetto (literally, "in the ghetto" - this Jewish section used to be walled in; its massive stone gate still stands today), but the food was delicious and never-ending!  Father Carlo insisted on more wine than we anticipated at one o'clock in the afternoon, but it only lent to the festiveness; after all, it is quite impossible to dine in Italy without a glass of spirit.  And, I should say, Father Carlo is one of the nicest, happiest, and well-meaning people you could ever meet; his perpetual smile says it all.  AND, if great company with excellent food weren't enough, it only got better ... when the check arrived, Father Carlo reached for his Bank of America card, and after a moment of hesitation, he slid the card back into his wallet and reached for another.  He looked up, across the table and stated, resolutely and with a twinkle of mischief, "you know what, I believe lunch will be on the Church today!"  With that, he slapped down his Vatican credit card and paid for our Kosher meal!

Now properly fueled and ready to go, Father Carlo walked with us to Vatican City, all the while telling us random factoids about Rome (the city and its culture) or the Church as he thought of them.  We parted ways in high spirits and I truly believe I am a better human being for having met him!  It is rare to meet such a free soul.

Grounds

Because we arrived later in the afternoon, there was already a huge line to get into St Peter's Basilica, so we admired it from the outside, and headed, instead, for the Sistine Chapel.  (Rather, Ben knew that that is what I really wanted to see!).  The Basilica will have to wait until my next visit to Rome.  It was a long walk around the perimeter of Vatican City, but we eventually made it.  The Sistine Chapel was enormously spectacular!  It was much larger that I originally pictured in my mind, which makes no sense because I wrote a short essay on Michelangelo's work in the Chapel a few semesters ago ... the ceiling is actually 68 feet tall and the nave 134 feet long; and of the seven years Michelangelo spent on the entire Chapel (1505-1512), four were devoted to the ceiling, during which he laid supine on tall scaffolding while he painted (there is actually much debate over whether or not he stood up or laid flat, but what's the point?  It is amazing, regardless)!  This was just as well because he did not get along with the cardinals or other Church officials (did not get along, by the way, is quite the understatement) - he was often drunk and/or loud while he worked, which was not always during regular hours.  This probably accounts for why he wasn't paid very much for his work ... needless to say, there is no money today that can afford his work.

Flight home over the Alps

Despite the millions of people crammed into the Chapel, seeing Michelangelo's work in person was incredible!  This was my primary reason for adding Rome to our European itinerary - there is nothing like the skill of human hands ... and, as an anatomy/physiology freak, I appreciate it that much more!  Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed inside, but I did get some great shots outside on the grounds.

Sunday was our day of departure and marked the conclusion of my first trip to Europe.  From the Thames river tour to Liverpool, Edinburgh, Hull, Amsterdam, Paris, Florence, and Rome, I had an amazing experience and thoroughly enjoyed spewing as much history as I could on this blog!  So, thank you, dear readers, for reading!

Most affectionately, 

Adena

Bella Roma

Hello Everyone!

Semi-unrelated to this post, but probably appropriate for the topic of Italy: I learned the word swashbuckling today and it has such a fantastic definition that I simply had to share it here.

Ruins of a marketplace

Swashbuckle 

- verb - 

to engage in daring and romantic adventures 

with ostentatious bravado or flamboyance

See what I mean?!  After all, Casanova did plenty of swashbuckling in Italy.  However, while my own adventures were hardly comparable to Casanova's, we encountered plenty of ostentatious and fabulous people and sites.

Once again, we were greeted in Rome by the most exciting Italian taxi ride!  Believe me when I tell you that the rules of the road in Rome are anyone's guess.  We zipped between cars and buses, stopped in the middle of intersections, rounded corners at record speeds, and somehow made it to the hotel in one piece ... all while our cabbie sung to his Italian music very loudly.  Ben and I both agreed that this guy was the happiest person on earth.  I almost asked him what the music was that he had on in the car, but didn't - I really wish I did.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Rome

In any case, we arrived in Rome on Thursday afternoon, and our flight back home was on Sunday.  We had a lot of ground to cover not much time to do so.  But, before the sites, I wasn't going anywhere without a slice of Roman pizza first; we 100% ate our way through Italy.  Afterwards, we walked with no particular destination, but in the direction of history.  On the way, we passed people speaking many different languages, some tourists and some natives.  One woman, about 50ish, tugged on her husband's sleeve, pointed up at Ben with an open palm and exclaimed, "che bello!" All of this, ladies and gentlemen, over a hat!  All we could do was laugh because we had no idea just how much attention this hat was going to get.  "It's a great hat," said London Santa. "I could forgive anything in that hat."  For the purposes of this magical mystery tour around Europe, Ben's bowler was the equivalent of Flat Stanley.  (Don't know about Flat Stanley? Read about him here).

Rainbow over Rome

The hat and I continued on our way to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  Not only was this place absolutely massive, but there was also an entire interior with a full museum.  For a small fee, we could have taken an elevator to the top for a great panorama of Rome, but what we saw from the highest "free" level was really spectacular!  We even spotted a fantastic rainbow (dare I say, double rainbow) against the dark gray clouds - what a treat that was!  And, once the rain stopped, pockets in the cloud layer opened up to allow soft rays of sun through to illuminate the wet surfaces of Rome.  It was spectacular in the truest meaning of the word ... quite the spectacle!  Just look at those clouds!

Rome after Rain

Of course, while wet stone reflects in the prettiest way, it is also the source of one of my biggest fears: slipping down stairs, of which there are many in Rome.  But, I emerged unscathed and determined to soak in (pardon the pun) as much as possible.

The Colosseum and the Arches of Titus and Constantine were our next stops.  The Colosseum is probably the most iconic site of Rome, and can be seen in the movie Gladiator with Russell Crowe ... perhaps you've heard of it?  I'm not sure how much historical accuracy was poured into that flick, but here are some reliable figures.  The Colosseum was built in just 10 years (can you believe that?!), between 70-80 CE, initiated by the Roman emperor Vespasian and completed by his son, Titus.  We walked around the whole outside perimeter and, let me tell you, it is absolutely massive!  AND, it's not even as big as it used to be when it was first built.  A common misnomer is that the amphitheater is circular; it's actually an ellipse (oblong).

Colosseum

Colosseum

But, wait, why does the name Titus sound so familiar?!  That may be because there is a very famous arch right beside the Colosseum named after him.  The Arch of Titus depicts the famous scene of the golden menorah, and other Temple artifacts, being carried out of Jerusalem by the Romans; to this day, Jews do not walk under the Arch (the only exception was on the day Israel declared her independence - Roman Jews gathered at the Arch of Titus and walked under it backwards!).  In fact, that is the last time that the menorah from the Temple was seen in recorded history and is now considered lost.  It's one of those objects, along with the holy grail and Mt. Sinai, that some people devote their entire lives to finding.  Ben, on the other hand, maintains that the menorah is not lost at all, but rather in the vaults of the Vatican, where it has been since the church's construction in the 4th century (more about that soon).  But, since only cardinals are allowed down there, it is unlikely that we will ever find out.


I'd say that my first day in Rome was a success.  Come back soon to read about my OUTRAGEOUS adventures in Rome's Jewish quarter and our trek through Vatican City!

Florence Undone

Hello Readers!

Christmas Eve

Lots of these

Florence was such a blast.  Half the fun was running around the winding alleys, trying on shoes and drooling over jewelry we could not afford, and eating a LOT of gelato.  One of the unexpected (though not retrospectively surprising) character traits of Florence was the abundance of artistic graffiti!  Between all the ostentatious Christmas decorations, I'm surprised we noticed it at all; after a while, it became a game.

Chalk art

The day of Christmas Eve was certainly interesting: everything was closing early, but because we were staying in the touristy part of town, there were still a lot of people out and about enjoying the strings of lights and the HUGE Christmas trees.

On Christmas Day, Ben and I ventured down to the Great Synagogue of Florence.

I don't think I told you about our Shabbat experience in Paris, so I will do it now and then tell you about the Great Synagogue of Florence.  The synagogue in Paris was really beautiful.  It had high vaulted ceilings with huge columns and incredible stained glass work.  The stone architecture was that of an old European church, but certainly didn't have the feel of a church.  The interesting thing about this particular synagogue was its "salute" to Napoleon Bonaparte.  During the service, one of the men on the bimah (raised floor from which the service is conducted) wears a Napoleonic-shaped hat.  This is because Napoleon gave permission and funds for Parisian Jews to build this beautiful space.  Normally adverse to any type of institution, Napoleon decided that the Jews were better as allies than as enemies -- the Jews never forget, he stated after witnessing the observance of Tisha B'Av (Jewish remembrance day of the destruction of both of the Temples in Jerusalem).  Today, the community is warm and quite an exciting bunch with which to mingle.  However, between French-accented Hebrew, and commentary in French, it was hard to keep pace with what was going on during the service.  Nevertheless, we had a good time.

Great Synagogue of Florence

Community art: vertical cycling!

That was a much different experience from the one we had in Florence.  While this shul had equally impressive architecture and beautiful internal designs, it really served little function other than being a museum and a shell of the past.  The small exhibit there told the history of the Jews in Florence: the area around the synagogue actually used to be a ghetto (a common occurrence in Italy, especially during WWII) and remains the center of what Jewish life is left in Florence (which isn't much).  It wasn't clear, but it seemed that the synagogue only holds services on the High Holidays.  It was Ben who commented that as beautiful as the building was, the fact that it is basically a historical artifact is exactly what Hitler intended.  Fortunately, not all communities are like this, but this is the reality for Florence.

Florence was such a great leg of the trip and I urge you all to go and to soak in all the art, culture, food, etc.!  A Rome post is coming your way soon!

Florentine Flavors of Tuscany

I'm baaaack!

Panorama of Florence

Hello, everybody, I apologize that it has taken me this long to tell you about the last leg of my European magical mystery tour, but my classes back in Boston are a touch more demanding than last semester.  But, never fear, spring break has arrived!

After an incredible week in Paris, we caught an early flight to Florence, Italy, where we stayed for four days.*  When planning the post-semester trip, Florence was on the top of my list because all I've ever heard about it - both from my parents and in school - is that it has great food, amazing architecture, rich culture, and it was the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance.  And, who can resist history like that?

Streets of Florence

And, speaking of rich culture, you'll love this!  As our taxi squeezed through the streets of Florence and turned onto the street of our hotel, the driver stopped to let an old lady pass in front of him.  Instead of continuing on her way, she squared her shoulders at the cab, picked up her long black cane, and shook it at us as if to say "how dare you drive on this street - this street that I have walked before there were cars in Florence!"

After settling in, we made for the streets and Florence was exactly what I expected.  The narrow streets were full of countless vendors selling Florence's world famous Italian leather products.  There were belts, bags, satchels, hats, gloves, jackets ... if it can be made from leather, it was there.  My mission was to find a leather jacket, and, boy, did I find one!  Ben and I must have stopped in at every vendor to compare styles and prices - Ben, after all, is an excellent haggler ... in fact, watching him work his charm is a bit like watching a sporting event!  Ultimately, the beautiful jacket I purchased turned out to be the first one I tried on.  Go figure.

Statues outside Medici home

Statues outside Medici home

Florence sits in a valley surrounded by beautiful mountains, and the tallest buildings are the churches and the centers of government during the Renaissance.  Ever heard of the Medici family?  Ever read The Prince by Machiavelli?  For those of you who have not read (or don't remember reading) The Prince, here is a quick review: Machiavelli was a trusted advisor of the family (a very famous painting of him hangs in the Medici residence today) and his book is all about how a ruler should govern.  A ruler should seek to be loved if he can, but it is ultimately better to be feared / revered than loved.  The other famous piece of advice that Machiavelli provides is that the ends justify the means (with rare exceptions).  The Medicis were the "royalty" of Italy.  Their grand residence in Florence houses the family's living spaces, large halls for government proceedings, and quite a number of priceless pieces of art; the walls are covered with beautiful mosaics and frescoes.  The upper floors of the building have a few cells for high profile prisoners and is capped by an impressive watch tower.  Ben and I braved the 200+ steps to the top and captured some great pictures!

Palazzo Vecchio, Medici home

Duomo bell tower

Florence is also home to a large community of artists.  However, according to some of the locals, there aren't as many artists as there used to be.  Perhaps it has become too touristy.  Nevertheless, we saw some amazing pieces.  Of course, my favorites were statues from the Renaissance and the fantastic architecture of the Duomo church.  We didn't go inside the Duomo, but definitely circumnavigated it a few times.  Because of its size, it served as a useful landmark - it's very easy to lose your orientation in the twisting streets / alleys of Florence.  The Amo river was the other landmark.

Duomo Cathedral

Amo River

BUT, if you do lose your way, at least you won't starve!  In fact, I have it on good authority that no such word exists in Italian .... ;)

There are gelato and pizza joints everywhere!  If I was sick of croissants after a week in Paris, it was nothing in comparison to how I felt about carbs in general after a week in Italy.  Everything tasted so fresh and so delicious, it was hard to stop.

one of the many frescoes at Palazzo Vecchio

For those of you who do not know, one of my life missions is to locate the world's best dish of eggplant parmigiana.  It's been tough, and while the one at Maggiano's is pretty stellar, the best eggplant parm I've had so far was at this tiny place in Laguna Beach, California.  Don't ask me the name of the restaurant because I won't remember; my mind does not work that way.  But, if we were in Laguna Beach, I'd be able to take you to it.  In any case, Laguna Beach eggplant parm met its match at this awesome place in Florence called Zá-Zá. It  had such a home-y feel and everything they served was simply delicious!

Look out for one more Florence post, and then on to Rome ... to do like the Romans!


* We decided to stay in Florence over Christmas because our next stop, Rome, would have been a nightmare to negotiate during such an important Christian holiday.

Verdant Versailles

Salutations Readers!

Backside of Versailles

Versailles turned into 2 posts, I hope you don't mind.  There was just so much to see there - I highly recommend clearing an entire day to explore Versailles, its grounds and gardens, and the surrounding town.

As I mentioned before, Louis XIV wanted Versailles to intimidate all of its visitors.  And while he understood the prestige of a giant palace made with the finest materials around, he also knew that extensive grounds were even more impressive.  In what way?  Well, you see, gardens require constant up-keep in order to look perfect all the time.  When I really saw just how far the grounds stretched, I didn't even want to fathom how many people it took to help keep it in pristine shape.  Of course, it would have been more when the monarch of France was around because a few, especially Louis XVI, took things very personally if anything was out of its rightful place; Louis XVI seemed to think that if you didn't do exactly what he wanted (whether specific instructions were conveyed to you or not), then you must either have designs against him or do not respect his high-ness as King of France.

The Grounds

For example, and I really do find this quite amusing, there are so many fountains on the grounds that there's simply not enough water pressure to run all of them simultaneously.  The solution: grounds-people were stationed around the gardens to turn the fountains on and off as the king passed.  For this reason, there are only a few fountains visible from the palace - the rest are shielded by bushes and trees.  But, as far as the king knew, all the fountains were running all the time!

Everything you see in the picture entitled "The Grounds" is part of Versailles, and there is a beautiful symmetry about it all.

Self Reflection

The Bowler goes to Versailles

Gold at the Crossroads

As you can see from over my right shoulder in "Self Reflection," the grounds just stretch for miles in all directions.  I also really like this picture because Ben snapped it right after I took the "Gold at the Crossroads."  It's fun to turn the camera around every once in a while!  That is the camera responsible for all the pictures you see on this blog.

Not only are there hundreds of fountains, but many of them were fashioned with real gold!  The luxury just never seems to end at Versailles, but, then again, that was the point.  If Louis XIV had it his way, those sculptures probably would have been solid gold!

Thanks for reading!  There may be one more Paris post, but then it's onto those Italian adventure stories.

Vaunting about Versailles

Greetings, Readers!

Louis XIV Equestrian Statue

It is time to reveal those photos I know you've all been waiting for ... Versailles!  Because this palace is so magnificent, my commentary in this post may be a bit sparse, but I will do my best to not state the obvious.

Who better to welcome you to the incredible estate of the palace of Versailles than the man himself, Louis XIV.  In case you can't exactly recall your high school history courses, here's a refresher: Louis XIV was a beloved French monarch and thereby often referred to as the Sun King (makes you wonder about Abbey Road, doesn't it?).  Under him, Versailles began to take shape.  It was the official royal residence as well as the seat of French government.  The hall that was built under Louis XV for official government sessions doubles as the palace's Opera House, which still functions today.  What most people don't know is that it is also an incredible engineering feat, even by today's standards!  Part of the floor of the Opera House is built on a series of supports that can be raised or lowered depending on the current function of the room.  Performance nights required a raised floor for a stage, and concave shape for government meetings.  I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I think it is a complex network of pulleys and counterweights.  How cool is that!

Today, Versailles is absolutely MASSIVE!  But how it looks now is not how Louis XIV left it.  His successors, namely Louis XV and especially Louis XVI, continued construction and expansion of the grounds.  Because the palace was essentially under construction for over a century, there are many distinct architectural styles.

Front exterior of Versailles

Louis XV was, generally speaking, a popular monarch, but it is the wrath and greed of Louis XVI that most people remember learning about.  Louis XVI was the king who claimed absolute monarchy shortly after being crowned at 19, married Marie Antoinette of Austria (and we know how well that turned out), and was eventually beheaded (thanks to Madam Guillotine) during the French Revolution of 1789.  He was obsessed with having the best of everything, which probably stemmed from his pathological paranoia and distrust of everyone around him.  As a result, millions of tourists flock to the Château de Versailles every year to see the finest 18th century silks, gilded walls, and chandeliers dripping in crystal.

Entrance Gate to Versailles

Obviously, no expense was spared on this 18-carat gold plated gate.

If you are starting to feel intimidated or need to retrieve your jaw from the floor, then Versailles is doing its job!  With the growing power and threat of the rapidly expanding British Empire, the various Louis's* did their best to keep France on top.

Unfortunately for Louis XVI (and George III of GB), but quite fortunately for everyone else, the monarchy stood zero chance once the American colonies signed their letter of resignation in 1776.  French revolutionaries were inspired and followed suit.  In fact, Versailles sustained significant damages when mobs of people marched on those precious gates to riot against the monarchy or because of food shortages ... "give them cake," she cried.**  But, those areas of the palace have been rebuilt.  There are sections of the palace that are under restoration even today.

Hall of Mirrors, 1690

Louis XIV's personal chapel

The Galerie de Glaces (Hall of Mirrors), part of the Louis XIV construction project, is probably the most famous room in Versailles, and has actually been used as a set for a number of films, including Marie Antoinette with Kirsten Dunst.  It was used for royal functions, dinners, and balls.  It's a bit of a sensory overload - there is so much to see!  The ceiling is covered with magnificent artwork, and the refracted sunlight from the chandeliers is accentuated and thrown in all directions by the mirrors that give this space its name.

The Blue Drafting Room

From here, we were led through many state rooms and bed chambers, each more lavish than the previous one.  But, the most significant room is relatively unassuming in comparison.  I don't remember the official name of this room, but it was made famous during the first half of the 20th century.  Any guesses?  That's okay - I had not thought of it before my visit.  Around that very table is where the most powerful world leaders gathered to sign the Treaty of Versailles at the end of the First World War (the peace treaty at the end of WWII was signed in Paris).  However, the "official" ceremony took place in the Hall of Mirrors.

[Oh, man, so much for sparse commentary!  I do this every time! I originally meant to do Versailles in one post, but there a few more rooms I want to cover, so the gardens will have to have their own post (though probably not as long as this one ... I hope!).]

Marble Stairs

Illustrated Martial History of France room

Ben's favorite room at Versailles was the HUGE art gallery.  This football-field-sized room housed giant paintings depicting the history of France's military and its military heroes.  We both really liked this room because it told a story as you progressed down the hall.

It almost felt like we may never get to the end of that hall!  But we did, and found ourselves in the "plainest" part of the palace: the area I call the "Marble Stairs."  It is beautiful in its monochrome of white marble.  The artistry of the marble adds an incredible amount of grand texture.

You must must must visit Versailles!  I simply don't know enough adjectives to do it justice here, but I hoped you enjoyed reading!


* I'm afraid I don't know the proper way to punctuate that ... one does not simply put an "s" on the end of Louis to denote more than one
** Famously attributed to Marie Antoinette, but it is unclear whether or not she actually uttered those words.

Parading Through Paris

Hi, again!

I realize that these Paris posts will be full of familiar places, but be on the look out for those more obscure locations.  In fact, I like to think that these "regular" places make travelling and blog-reading worth doing.  But first for the familiar.

Shakespeare and Company

Our first whole day in Paris was full of walking.  We walked from the Ile de la Cite, along the Siene, until we finally made it to the Eiffel Tower.  I've already told you about Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame, so our next stop is a tiny place that is best known by word of mouth: Shakespeare and Company.  It is not a playhouse, but rather two bookstores under one name.  The one on the left is the biggest attraction for visitors, even though it occupies the least square footage, because it houses the store's rare and valuable book collection.  The space is so small, in fact, that only 5 patrons are allowed inside at the same time.  The store on the right hand side is a larger space and sells many of the popular books you'd find at a Barnes & Noble or a Waterstones (British equivalent).  But, if you do buy a book, the cashier will stamp  the inside front cover with the official Shakespeare and Company crest.  The second floor of this side is a very quiet reading room with small nooks and crannies and newspaper clippings on every available wall space (areas not covered by bookshelves).  All the books up there are for reading only (not for purchase).

Assemblée Nationale

Grand Palais on the Siene

As we continued along the Siene, we saw lots of street artists, one of whom told us all about the layout of buildings along the river as he painted a vibrant watercolor.  His broken English was, well, very broken, but he was quite enthusiastic and determined to tell us about his hometown.  It was at this point that I realized that the picture that he was working on was of the Assemblée Nationale (National Assembly) building, located just around the corner from where we were; he knew the city so well that he could paint all the details from his head!  And the one he had just finished was of the Grand Palais (no translation necessary here, I hope), even further down the Siene, and another of Invalides, a beautiful church by the Musée Rodin.  I was very impressed.  We had a number of encounters like this, but I wanted to tell you about this man because of how genuine he seemed.

It seems very tourist-y to say, and perhaps I should keep this to myself, but once I saw the National Assembly building with the French flag flapping in the wind, all I could think about was the French Revolution.  (And, just as an aside, I LOVE studying about the French Revolution because even though it happened in 1789, it has shaped France and the French people in a fundamental way that it still affects the current French national sentiment!).  And when that happens, I can't seem to get that song from Les Miserables out of my head.  You know, the one that goes "do you hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men? It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again ..."

Invalides

Well, now I know which song will be stuck in my head for the remainder of this post.

And since I am on this tangent, I might as well keep going.  Last winter Boston was buried under feet of snow, which meant cancelled classes and lots of students between the ages 18 and 22 with cabin fever.  Solution? A snowball fight, of course!  In any case, I was studying for a postponed exam when I hear a bunch of people outside my window singing the aforementioned song.  When I peeked out the window to see what was going on, I saw that there were two groups of people on either side of the street, each having made their own snow fort.  Atop the fort across the street was a large French flag!! I offer no explanation, but will say that that was probably the best laugh I had all semester.

"Dancing" Eiffel Tower

Anyway ... back to Paris: our last stop on this grand tour along the Siene was, of course, the Eiffel Tower.  Unlike my reaction to Notre Dame, I could not get over how HUMUNGOUS the Eiffel Tower was; I practically had to lay on the ground to get this shot (you're welcome)!  It is approapriate that this was next after the National Assembly because the Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 World's Fair to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution (you see?! My tangents aren't for nothing!).  The architect, you guessed it, was monsiuer Gustave Eiffel.  The original plan was to dismantle it a few years after the Fair, but I guess people really liked it.  To be honest, I am surprised that it survived the First and Second World Wars, not only because of the bombings, but also because that is a whole lot of iron just waiting to be melted down and made into munitions.  It may have happened had Paris not been taken so soon after the start of those wars, but, then again, may be not.  Either way, I think the Eiffel Tower is really quite beautiful, though there are many who disagree.  The really spectacular thing about it during the holiday season is the way it lights up on the top of the hour (after the sun goes down).  It almost looks like the Tower is dancing - it looks as if thousands of camera flashes are going off one after another ... and it lasts for 4 or 5 minutes!  Sigh ... it was so pretty!

Arc de Triomphe

The last landmark I want to mention is the Arc de Triomphe.  It was built to celebrate and commemorate those who fought and/or died in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.  This is an interesting comparison to London's many arches dedicated to Arthur, Duke of Wellington, defeater of Napoleon Bonaparte.  Just below the Arch is France's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from WWI.  The Arch is really really big (50 meters / 164 feet to the top) and sits in the middle of probably the largest round-about / traffic circle in Paris, and perhaps all of France.




Look out for my next post about our trip to opulent palace of Versailles.  Thanks for reading!

Pleasantly Paris

Hello All!

The Louvre

Just like that, London came and went, and we found ourselves in the heart of Paris!  That's right: the city of love, the city of great art (though the Tate in London is the most visited art gallery in the world), and lots of croissants.  By the end, I think there were croissants coming out of my ears ... between those and baguettes, I don't know how anyone has room for a balanced diet in France.

Of course, there were many baffling things about Paris, but that is likely because I don't speak more than 10 words of French.  I took Spanish, comprende?  But, because we hit many of the tourist spots, our English-only, American-ness didn't seem to slow us down.  Surprisingly, though, the Louvre only had plaques in French.  Fortunately, words are seldom necessary to explicate the beauty of art.  I had no idea just how large the Louvre really was, and the museum is only a small part of the entire complex (do you see how far the wing extends down on the right side of the picture?!).  

The Thinker, Rodin

But, my favorite art galleries were the Musée D'orsay and the Musée Rodin.  The Musée D'orsay is housed in a former grand train station.  The interior is huge and also very pretty.  The museum itself houses more contemporary works, most notably from Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Rodin, just to name a few.  It has a great collection of sculpture, one of my favorite mediums.  In fact, you may recall from my Edinburgh posts that I am a huge Rodin fan and actually got to see his marble "The Kiss" sculpture in  Scotland.  The Musée Rodin in Paris was really fantastic, and easily my favorite place in this city!  It's a bold statement, but his works are truly amazing to circumnavigate.  Ben made the observation that many of Rodin's works play around with perspective - that some sculptures look strange when they are on the ground level.  "The Thinker," for example, looks like a proportionate man atop his high pedestal, but if he were lowered to the ground, some of his features would look comically large or small.  The museum is inside an old house/hotel, but Rodin's sculptures are also spread across a well-groomed garden.  For those of you who have seen the movie Midnight in Paris, the scene in front of Rodin's "The Thinker" takes place in these very gardens.

Sainte-Chapelle

In a close second for my favorite Parisian sites is the Sainte-Chapelle.  It was built in the 13th century for King Louis IX, and is a must-see because of its incredibly detailed architecture and HUGE stained glass windows - there is more window than wall!  I will let my pictures speak for themselves.  Because the Sainte-Chapelle is by the court buildings, we had to pass through metal detectors.  Ben was the last to pass through, and when he got to the other side, the security officer took one look at him and exclaimed, "trés classique!" (very classy!).  The culprit: the bowler!  I was beginning to think that that hat was the best and worst investment made to date.  So far we were 2 for 2 cities in which complete strangers gaped and loudly expounded about how fantastic Ben looked in that bowler.

Interior of Notre Dame

Just around the corner from the Sainte-Chapelle is famous Notre Dame, literally "Our Lady."  Notre Dame is located on an island in the middle of the Siene River (pronounced Sen), called the Île de la Cité.  My first thought was, wow, this isn't as large as I anticipated, but in reality Notre Dame is more massive than it first appears.  Construction began somewhere around the mid-12th century and was completed in 1345, which is why you can see both Gothic and Romanesque styles of architecture.  Since most of my excursions during the semester were within the UK, I did not encounter a lot of Catholic churches and cathedrals, but France is as Catholic are you're going to get .... other than Rome, of course (a Rome post is coming soon, I promise!).  In my opinion, the coolest history of any cathedral lies in the story of its bells.  When France was fighting its many wars, bells were often stolen from parish churches all over the countryside in order to be melted down and repurposed as cannon or musket balls.  As a result, some of the bells of Notre Dame were hidden away, though I'm not sure why because I suspect it would be quite difficult to steal a bell from a huge cathedral like Notre Dame.  The originals were replaced with cheaper copies.  In any case, either because they weren't stored properly or because they got damaged, the bells were not exactly in tune with one another when they were reinstalled.  In 2012, the plan was to simply recast the original bells - melt them down and, using that same metal, make "new" bells.  Unfortunately, they are still sitting in some storage facility awaiting a final decision.  Just a few months ago, 9 brand new bells were cast and rehung in the north tower.  The last fun fact about the bells of Notre Dame is this: when they were rung manually (pull the string ... ding dong), the vibrations would ripple through the whole building and occassionally cause structural damage.  When this happened, the bells were rung in groups at different assigned times.  The largest bell, for example, is rung by itself on the hour and zero seconds, and the smaller bells would follow.  Today, the bells are struck by hammers and controlled electronically.

Lock Bridge and  Notre Dame, Île de la Cité

A bit further down the Île de la Cité is a memorial to the deported Jews of France during WWII, which was really nice to see, especially since it sits right next to Notre Dame ... a redeeming quality of the French, I suppose.  Just by that is one of Paris's two "lock bridges."  It is tradition for couples to attach a lock to the fencing of the bridge and to throw the keys in the Siene, symbolizing endouring love.  Just think of how many keys must be down there!  The lock bridge we often see in the movies is further up the Siene, closer the to the Louvre, but Ben and I liked the one next to the memorial for the deported Jews.  We did not have a sharpie to mark our locks, but it'll be fun to try and find them when we return to Paris! (Our locks: find the red ribbon, look to the left at the medium-sized lock just above the white ribbon ... just above that medium-sized lock are two very small locks - those are ours).

The "other" Lock Bridge, overlooking the Île de la Cité

There is so much more to say about Paris, we were there for an entire week, after all!  I hope you enjoyed this first taste, and hopefully another post will appear in the next day or so.  And if you are inspired to do so, please leave a comment below.  Thanks for reading!