Paris, France December 2005 |
For the first weekend of December '05 we went on a last minute jolly to Paris. Hooray! |
The plan was that we could take in a museum in the morning, pop to the shops after lunch, then take in a cemetery in the afternoon, ending the evening amongst the cafe bars of the Latin Quarter. Perfect! |
Musee Guimet |
The first museum we visited was Musee Guimet. In fact this was a major factor in us choosing a return to Paris above anywhere else in Europe. |
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It was twelve months ago, almost to the day when we were walking amongst the phenomenal temples of Angkor, Cambodia. We visited the National Museum in Phnom Penh where we discovered that many of the significant items were actually housed here in Paris! Monsieur Emile Etienne Guimet founded the museum in 1879 and most of the Khmer art was collected during the exploration of Angkor by Delaporte and Harmand in 1881. The Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient, an institute for the study of Asian societies and a major contributor to the restoration of Angkor also sent items to the collection up until 1936. |
I guess one view is that it was an honest attempt by the colonial masters to bring the wonderful world back home to its people and not just an abuse of its power. And also if they hadn't collected these items they may have been lost to Tomb Raiders and now been hidden in private collections. |
When we walked around the Indian, or Tibetan art we noticeably viewed them more as "museum pieces". We had no relation with them. The question of whether all museums should be made to return national treasures back to the countries from where they were taken is a complex and emotive subject that I don't know enough about. But the heart says "give them back" ! Anyway, back to the museum. It apparently houses the largest collection of Asian arts in the world, outside of Asia. Whilst the Angkorian pieces were the "piece de resistance", it was also home for arts from all over Asia with Thailand, Laos, India, Pakistan, Afganistan, Nepal, Tibet, China, Japan and Korea all well represented. |
One room that was itself a museum piece was the library. It was fantastic. You could quite easily imagine the French scholars studying their freshly looted artefacts from Asia! | |||
Cimeterie du Pere Lachaise |
We could have just wandered around for hours but I did really want to find Jim Morrison's grave. But that was easier said than done however, especially without a map! Thankfully we were fortunate to overhear a young couple ask for directions, so we followed them! It was very tucked away, and we would never have found it, even with a map. In fact we walked past it twice without noticing it. I must admit that I was expecting something more substantial because I seem to recall a photo of a large bronze bust but that must have now been stolen. |
After satisfying my curiosity we walked down towards the main entrance. Stopping every now and then to read the epitaphs. It sounds so morbid, but they were quite compelling. We were shocked when on one gravestone we saw two names with their birth year but with the year of death left blank!? Were they still alive, waiting to die? |
A little further up the same path we came across the exquisite grave of Louis Sebastian Gourlot, where a forlorn figure rests on his tombstone. Its rust orange colour made it stand out so vividly from the grey. It was so stunning it gave me the goosebumps. |
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Musee D'Orsay |
We had not previously visited the D'Orsay. When we had visited Paris in the past we couldn't care less about art. In fact the Mona Lisa was probably the only painting we knew! Since then however we've developed quite an interest. |
It's probably an age thing! The older we get the more we appreciate things! Anyway, our maturing minds had decided that during this trip the Musee D'Orsay was our first choice art gallery to visit. This beautiful building was originally built in 1900 as a railway station. |
At the time the painter Edouard remarked that it was "superb and looked like a Palace of Beautiful Arts". In 1986 it became one! It houses mostly work by French impressionists Monet, Renoir, Pissaro, Degas, Seurat and post-impressionist painters such as Gauguin, Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec and Van Gogh. |
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I must admit that I'm fascinated by the paintings and the tales of Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh. | |
We stopped for a pot of tea at the museum's cafe which had for a dramatic focal point a massive clock face. Then, whilst enjoying our tea Julie was convinced she saw Vanessa Redgrave at a table behind me. We both had a good gawp and she certainly looked like her. She does live in Paris which adds to the likelihood of it being her. |
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The period furniture theme continued as we were left a little disappointed when one wing, which should have housed a ?, was instead completely filled with boring furniture. Perhaps our appreciation of furnishings has yet to mature! On our way out we came across a young artist practicing his skills by reproducing a portrait. He was achieving an incredible likeness. We thoroughly enjoyed Musee D'Orsay. It wasn't cheap to get into but with such a vast selection of classic masterpieces on display it was certainly good value for money. |
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Notre Dame |
We also hadn't climbed the towers before to see the gargoyles up close. And we still haven't because the queues were far too long! |
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As it was a Sunday morning it felt a bit strange milling around with hundreds of other shuffling tourists whilst in the middle the assembled congregation were trying to go about their mass in peace. |
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It did add to a fantastic reverent atmosphere but we felt a bit disrespectful going about our touristic motions whilst some people were trying their best to worship. |
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On the way out I always stop and photograph these four statues, always asking the same question. Who is the one holding his head in his hands? After coming home and doing an internet search I've discovered he is St.Denis. He was an early Bishop of Paris who was beheaded by the Romans but miraculously picked up his head and walked off! (Yeah, right !) |
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Paris Shopping |
Parisian Nightlife |
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The Parisian Nightlife was a new experience for us because on our other two visits we didn't venture out after dark!! This time our hotel, (Hotel Bel Ami), was in a great location in the heart of St. Germain des Pres. We were within walking distance of plenty of cafes and bars of the Latin Quarter, and we certainly took advantage of this bonus! |
The church of Saint Germain was just around the corner from our hotel and looked beautiful all lit up for the evening. It was quite a transformation from the grey building of the day. We stood in the square for quite a while watching a TV cooking programme being filmed amidst a mock Xmas market, complete with fake snow! |
We ate here in 2000 and enjoyed the most delicious bowl of garlic pasta ever. Sadly we should have left our memories alone as this time the garlic pasta resembled Chinese Noodles in veg oil, with no garlic, and no cheese. So I won't be recommending this restaurant on that performance! |
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Armed with the Time Out guide to Paris we went on a pub crawl of the Latin Quarter. |
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Being a vegetarian in Paris is thirsty work! Julie was being tempted by all the best bistros in town but none of them had a suitable dish for the carnivorously challenged. It was torture for her to have to be denied a delicious supper because I didn't like the thought of a mushroom omlette! |
We walked for miles looking for somewhere acceptable to eat. Our only option was to turn to foreign cuisine. We went all Moroccan at Chez Omar eating some lovely cous cous, and we went Indian at the Old Kashmir where I enjoyed a comforting cup of deliciously sweet Punjabi tea! |
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