Today we went to the Museum of the Middle Ages, aka the Musée de Cluny. The museum is best known for housing the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, which are pretty cool, but which I didn’t photograph on my usual grounds that finding photos online in the future will be easy.
Category: France Trip (page 1 of 2)
Yesterday we went to the Carnavalet Museum of the history of Paris. It had pleasantly short lines and an interesting collection of Parisian history, beginning with archaeological finds from Lutèce and medieval Paris. Continue reading
Saint Germain des Prés is typically marked as the oldest church in Paris. Admittedly, dating churches can be hard. Do you mark them based on when construction began? When services were first held? When it was completed? From the first time there was a church on the site? By whatever measure, Saint Germain qualifies as old. A basilica was built in 543. Construction of a new church began in the 11th century, with the nave completed around 1050. The church was essentially completed in 1163, though a chapel to the Virgin Mary was finished in 1245, more or less marking the final completion of the church. It was extensively renovated in the 19th century. Continue reading
I went to the Eiffel Tower once before, at the end of a French exchange program. It was too windy, so we weren’t able to go to the top. I’ve always wanted to go back to see the view from the very top. Today we made it. Glad I got to see it, because you can see for miles. On the second floor, you can look straight out to the skyscrapers of La Défense. From the third floor, you can see over them. From the second floor, you can see lots of buildings. From the third floor, you can really look down into the patterns of the streets. In theory, the horizon is about 60 kilometers away. It’s a different experience and complements the visit to the second floor well. That said, overall the view from the second floor is better.
Today the Eiffel Tower looked out and saw its shadow, meaning that there will be six more weeks of summer.
Yesterday, we took a Seine river cruise, a pleasant way to spend an hour. One of the things it highlights is how much art Paris has on the sides of its bridges, visible primarily to people who are on the river. I took a bunch of pictures. Here they are without a lot of commentary. Continue reading
Looking over the pictures from the last few days, there are a few things that didn’t make it in to previous posts. Continue reading
Yesterday we explored a bit of Naomi’s family history and some of the newer areas off towards Paris’s southern borders. Continue reading
This trip to France is not an anniversary trip. Nevertheless, one of the things that happened while we were here is that my wife and I celebrated our nineteenth wedding anniversary.
On Tuesday we went to Sainte Chapelle (the Holy Chapel), built by St. Louis, king Louis IX of France, who built it to house several relics, including a portion of the crown of thorns, now housed at Notre Dame.
What can I say? Taking pictures of a church that’s mostly stained glass is kind of difficult, but I gave it a shot.
On our way home from the tour of the sewers, we walked to Les Invalides. They don’t make military hospitals like they used to.
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑