Mercredi au musée (Museum Wednesdays)

Salut!

So this Wednesday, now that I'm quite recovered from last week's cold, I decided that I absolutely had to go and visit le musée d'Orsay, because it's just a crying shame that I've never been!  It is famous for its collections of Impressionist paintings (think Van Gogh, Gaugin, Seurat, etc).  It is not as enormous a museum as the Louvre, which I think is a benefit, because you can see more of it!  But it was still so big that I don't think I even saw half of what was there last Wednesday afternoon--I'll just have go back!  But luckily, it's gratuit for students!  Anyway, of course you can't take photos inside, which is a shame, because the building itself is really architecturally interesting and aesthetically pleasing.  It used to be a train station!  And later, sometime in the mid-20th century I believe, it was converted into a museum.  Anyway, it has this very high, arched ceiling, which is mostly glass so there is lots of natural light.  But there are also these great metal girders, and this fabulous, enormous, wooden and gilt clock, and lower down along the arch, there's some very detailed ornamentation; it was too high up for me to tell what it was, but I might guess plaster?  It probably says somewhere on their website, which you can check out by clicking here.  Their website also has some interior shots so you can see what I'm talking about, or google images will turn up some decent results, too.  But I did get some nice photos of the outside, which is pretty easy on the eyes as well.  Also, by the time I left, the sun was starting to set, and the Orsay is right along the Seine, so I couldn't resist a few other scenic photos as well, which you can find after the museum photos.  Anyway, I really enjoyed this museum.  I always forget how much I love impressionist art!  I mean, I find it aesthetically pleasing, but the subjects are so often fascinating as well!  Anyway, I will definitely be returning there during the remainder of my time here.

There are lots of animal statues outside le musée d'Orsay.

This guy was hiding out by the elephant's hind leg... I'm not quite sure who he is, but he reminded me of the flying monkeys in the Wizard of Oz--minus the wings!

the outside of the museum, with the Seine at my back

the front of the museum

Here are the sunset photos from my walk from the museum to the metro at Place de la Concorde.

Le tricolor!

a view of part of le Louvre, as seen from the l'Orsay

la tour Eiffel, at sunset

l'obélisque à la Place de la Concorde

Dans le coeur de Paris!/In the heart of Paris!

So today was a busy day!  I saw a lot, all really in the center of Paris, along the Seine.  I started, of course, here in the 10th arrondissement, by taking the metro to Place de la Bastille, in the 4th arrondissement.  Unfortunately the prison is no longer standing, but that's okay because it was just a point of departure for me!

The monument marking the former site of the Bastille, a prison with lots of significance for the French Revolution (1789).

From there I followed Blvd. Henri IV to the Seine, crossing on the bridge of the same name (I believe), which took me to le rive gauche (the left bank) via l'île St-Louis.  And there was some foliage here!!

I saw this (very strange) sculpture along Blvd. Henri IV...  One of the things I love about Paris: art everywhere!

Foliage!  Île St-Louis to the left, 4th arrondissement to the right.

A smidgen of foliage an a lovely view of the back of Notre Dame!

On the left bank, I entered into the 5th arrondissement (a.k.a. The Latin Quarter), and proceeded to L'institut du monde arabe, The Arab Institute, where I met up with a friend from class, Anna, who is actually from Siberia!  Anyway, we enjoyed the Arab Institute, which has a very interesting museum and a 10th floor balcony with a great view!

L'institut du monde arabe

the entrance...

neat window art on the side

View from the top!  Note Notre Dame in the background.

Then we wandered along Blvd. St-Germain and eventually took a side street back to the Seine (it's only a block away) near Notre Dame, where we sat along the bank and chatted for a while.  But Anna had work to do, so we parted ways for the time being, and I decided to occupy the rest of my afternoon seeing some parts of Paris that I haven't really visited yet.  And as I was already along the Seine, I figured I'd keep following it, because I've really only spent time on the parts right near St-Michel and Notre Dame.  So I headed west into the 6th arrondissement (Blvd. St-Michel marks the border between the 5th and the 6th), still following the Seine.  There were, of course, the little book stalls all along the banks here, but it's also a super touristy area, and it was a zoo!  So I didn't linger too long, and once I got away from that main area (about half way through the 6th) my walk became much more pleasant!  There are lots of beautiful buildings in this part of town, and the views of the river and the trees are of course very scenic as well, so it was a visual feast of sorts!

Parisian tradition: newlyweds put locks on the bridges to symbolize the eternal nature of their love.

An example of the ample eye candy along the Left Bank.

I gave in to temptation and bought this bag along the Seine!  I've often needed a mid-sized bag in addition to my purse here, and this is just so much less tacky than the plastic bags I've been using!

Eventually I made it into the 7th arrondissement, where I walked past le musée d'Orsay, which also seemed fairly crowded (I'm going to try to go this Wednesday afternoon, when it will be less busy, I hope).  So I continued on until I reached L'assemblée nationale (the National Assembly, which I believe is their Parliament building...).

Fun fact: le musée d'orsay used to be a train station.

Now it houses impressionist art!

L'assemblée nationale is also an important French Revolution site...

The lighting wasn't optimal, but you might recognize good old T.J.! (Thomas Jefferson, our third president, was also an ambassador to France, and of course part of the American Revolution, which at least partly inspired the ideals of the French one.)

Then I turned north onto the Pont de la Concorde, which brought me back to the right bank (1st arrondissement) and la Place de la Concorde, at the opposite end of les Champs Éysées from l'Arc de triomphe, which I visited a few weekends ago.  Anyway, la Place de la Concorde also borders le Jardin des Tuileries, which I hadn't yet visited, so I wandered there for a while, heading back east along the Seine, and the other end of that park lets out on the Louvre, but I've been there twice, and it was also a zoo, so I kept walking east along the right bank, eventually making it back to the 4th arrondissement at Notre Dame.

It wouldn't be a day in Paris without la tour Eiffel!

These lamp posts at Concorde reminded me forcibly of saguaros, although I doubt that was the intended effect.

Heads will roll!  Place de la Concorde was also an important French Revolution site--Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded here, publicly.

one of many statues in le Jardin des Tuileries

There were loads of seagulls here!  I don't know why; we're not near the ocean.

Part of the garden, with part of he Louve in the background.

That's l'obelisk de Concorde and l'Arc de triomphe in the background.

I'm not sure what this arch is commemorating, but it was right outside the Louvre and looked imposing.  The Parisians seem to be big on arches...

The evening was yet young, so I decided to cross the river again and wander around some of the streets in the 6th arrondissement, roughly between the metro stops for St-Michel and Odéon, because that's an interesting area, not technically the Latin Quarter I believe but very similar with a nice mix of big boulevards and little winding streets with lots of good window shopping partout.  Finally, my feet were getting tired and I decided it was about time for dinner...  But I couldn't make up my mind what to eat or where, and the metro was out of service just where I wanted to take it (unusual--it's normally quite dependable) so I wandered back towards St-Michel, back across the river, until I found a little pizza place that was near a stop for the 38 bus and that also featured an interesting decor involving metal cutouts of cats on the walls (the restaurant was too small and too deserted for me to take a photo of it, but the cats were very interesting).  Then there was a long wait for the 38 bus (but they have electronic signs telling you how long until the next bus), but the 49 bus comes to the same stop and follows the same route between there and the apartment, so I hopped on and made it home!  And I have been enjoying a relaxing evening since, munching on some candy corn and reading a really good French young adult novel...  All in all, an excellent day!

Boat tour of the Seine!

Salut!
With AYA (the organization bringing me to Paris), we did a lovely tour of Paris by boat on the Seine yesterday.  As it has been quite hot and sunny lately, it was quite nice to be out on the water!!  I did a similar tour when I was here with my high school, but it's always fun to see Paris from the river rather than the streets.  And of course many of its most famous icons are along the Seine, so it's a great way to see a lot of the monuments that are rather far apart by land transportation.  I don't think I have anything new and profound to say about these monuments, but they are always pretty to look at, so I'll cut right to the good stuff: photos!

The Louvre...

 

still the Louvre...

And of course these two photos only capture a very small part of it!!  It's apparently the third-largest museum in the world.  I have no idea which two museums are larger!  Although the Louvre wasn't big enough for King Louis XIV, who commissioned Versailles to be built as the new royal palace to replace the (too-small!!) Louvre.  There is no way either of these buildings will fit into one camera shot except from the air, as far as I have been able to tell.

Part of the Musée d'Orsay, a converted train station that's home to many Impressionist works.

Assemblée Nationale, one of France's chief govt. buildings

La Tour Eiffel behind Le Pont Royal

La Tour Eiffel again!

 steeple of the first American cathedral in Paris

Notre Dame!

Notre Dame from the side

detail of the Pont Neuf*

Hôtel de Ville (city hall)

*Here are two interesting factoids about the Pont Neuf:

• Although it's called the Pont Neuf, which literally translates to New Bridge, it's actually the oldest (remaining) bridge in Paris.
• Take a good look at the heads in the photo above.  They're just a few examples of the heads that line the length of this bridge, on both sides.  Supposedly when this bridge was built, the first stone (not wooden) bridge in Paris, people (including some courtesans) were worried that stone would be too heavy and that it would fall into the river.  Thus people were reluctant to use the bridge, so the king had someone carve the heads of the nay-sayers into the side of the bridge...  it's not a very flattering likeness, I think!  But kind of a fun form of revenge!