Travels with Forty Roses: November 2018

Sunday 25 November 2018

Culture, Commemoration & Clashes

The Louvre Museum is an immense place. On a short trip to Paris you can decide to visit, or determine it's too exhausting and not buy a ticket. But, with an Amis du Louvre card, I have all winter to explore the place at leisure. And so, I am doing it slowly. It really is a treat to explore a section or exposition for a few hours, then leave and know that in a few days you can investigate something else. So far, I’ve managed an Exposition of Italian artifacts collected by Giampietro Campana, who created a huge collection of all things Roman. (It spanned from earliest Roman civilization to the 19th century.) With a friend, I visited the Petite Galerie area, noted for French sculpture, including wonderful things from Chateau Marly, which is no more. I am looking forward to my next outing and have planned a route that will take me through until April to navigate in full. As the French say; petit à petit.

The commemoration of World War I was solemnly acknowledged at the Arc de Triomphe and in each town and village throughout all of France, November 11. The bells tolled at 11AM across the city on a rainy and chilly day, which usually is the case for this day of remembrance. As a Girl Guide I recall standing in our little Ontario town with freezing legs, in a bitter wind, listening to the sorrowful sound of the Last Post and the wail of the bagpipes, as wreaths of red poppies were laid at our cenotaph. At the Paris City Hall, 94, 415 flowers were planted to acknowledge the deaths of the soldiers from this city. So many soldiers and civilians died in Europe it is almost unfathomable. The total number of military and civilian casualties in World War I was about 40 million: estimates range from 15 to 19 million deaths and about 23 million wounded military personnel, ranking it among the deadliest conflicts in human history. Armistice is so well remembered here; the city felt subdued and muffled with black coats and umbrellas predominating. Dozens of world leaders met in Paris and walked as a group to the Arc de Triomphe with the French President and following, attended the inaugural Paris Peace Forum, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron. (of course, a particular leader did not attend and flew home).

Most recently, we have seen and experienced the Gilets Jaunes protesters, some 280,000 strong across France last weekend, but diminished today to about 23, 000. The original protest was over the price of diesel and the Yellow Vests blocked roadways and held up traffic but mostly in a good natured way. This weekend there seems to be a different profile to the protests and those people protesting. Last week it appeared to be professional people and working people with a common complaint. This week there is suspicion that Le Pen followers are stirring the pot. Accusations are being thrown right to left. We shall see how this evolves. We are simply steering clear like the majority of the population. But it’s all really about a tax on a carbon product. If all of us do not face the fact that carbon will eventually kill the planet and our very own grandchildren and great grandchildren will have to face the consequences of our terrible legacy, we are foolish and naïve. The piper must be paid at some point, in my view.

Giampietro Campana- Italian Collector

Beautiful Frescoe too Zealousy Restored

Comfortable Helmet?

Souffle Glass Survived Intact from 50-200AD

Hand of Constantine C 280-337. Judging by the size of the remaining pieces, the seated, enthroned figure would have been about 12 meters (40 feet) high. The head is about 2½ meters high and each foot is over 2 meters long.

Caught My Eye

Lions Roar

Bronze Armour: Check the Leggings

Spring Flowers

A Charming Painting of the Young Woman Arranging them.

The shapes of the Majolica pieces are those of precious tableware, but their decoration had more in common with painting

Life Scenes

Historical and Mythological Depictions

Jewel-Like Portraits

Men, Women

Loving Couples

Sophisticated Pottery from 490-480 AD

Bedazzled Helmet

Fabulous Garden Urn from Chateau Marly

Sculpture from the Gardens of Chateau Marly, built during the reign of Louis XIV in 1676.
It was destroyed during the First Empire .

November 11 Commemoration at Paris City Hall

St Eustache Stained Glass

The Sound of the Famous St Eustache Organ is Stupendous

Vaulted Ceiling

Restored Interior

Details

Names of all the Lost WWI Soldiers of Paris Scroll on a Huge Screen

94, 415 Red, White and Blue Flowers Planted as Remembrance

Dramatic Display

November 11 Rain

Full to Capacity for Organ Concert

Walking through Paris streets I came to notice these plaques on various buildings. There is a story behind each one. All of them remember individuals or groups lost to concentration camps and death in WWII or people who were killed as members of the Resistance.

I plan to take photos of these plaques as I encounter them and research the individuals.

Magnificent Ginko Planted in 1880

Glorious Colour

Les Gilets Jaunes Protesters

In Our Neighbourhood La Bastille

Wednesday 7 November 2018

Orientation

The issue with Paris is the fact there is so much to see and do, one has difficulty putting order to a day. The question for us is how and what will we try to accomplish in such a few short months. We are attempting to begin in an orderly way and note that our new friends and neighbours down the way are planning to explore each arrondissement in sequence, beginning in the First. We thought that was a great way to organize exploration and said we would start at the reverse end and work towards them. But here it is on Wednesday and we have yet to begin. We have been far too busy running hither and thither investigating the local neighbourhood. Reconnoitering out markets and butcher shops so we can make a good meal, rushing off to buy a handy terrine dish in order to make one, riding the Metro to find our way to various locations, and walking until we drop exhausted, at the end of the day. John is also riding his bike and yesterday circumnavigated the entire city with a friend, also a cycling fanatic.

Additionally, he is recovering from his trip to the wonderful dental clinic in Budapest where he will return for the next step in the process. He is now a wealth of information on the subject of sinus lifts and implants. And he cannot say enough about the Helvetic Clinic. He received great care and has high regard for their very professional staff.

I still must plant my tulip bulbs and have a long list of things that must get done. . But, too many distractions. We have visited the Museé de l'Orangerie as follow up to our trip to Giverny, and very much enjoyed the huge Waterlily series installed there since the 1920's after Claude Monet’s death. Of course, many others were there having a look too and we feel that a quieter atmosphere and some lovely nature sounds playing would enhance the experience of these beautiful and masterly paintings.

We are located close to the Place des Vosges, originally Place Royale, which is the oldest planned square in Paris, France. It is located in the Marais district, and overlaps the dividing-line between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris. It was a fashionable and expensive square to live in during the 17th and 18th centuries, and continues to be a beautiful setting for the park located in the square’s center. A few photos follow. So, this week, the photos speak to a scattering of trips and sights seen. No particular order or sequence. Next week my objective will be to investigate and explore a subject in more depth. Meanwhile the distractions pile up. . . a Dorothy Lange exposition at the Jeu de Paume that is so good I will return, a concert at St. Eustache this Sunday on the famous organ, and a myriad of things in between, including my French lesson and our French conversational group that gets together each Thursday evening.

The amazing golden sculpture that is currently located within the Louvre Pyramid and pictured below is part of “Japonismes 2018: Souls in Resonance,” a monumental sculpture by Kohei Nawa. With this floating throne, Kohei Nawa expresses his intuition that the rapid progress of computer science and artificial intelligence could, in the long term, replace power and authority, instruments of influence in politics and the economy. This work, inspired by the shapes and origins of the chariots used in the Orient during religious festivals, is a combination of the art of gold leaf gilding, which dates back to Ancient Egypt, and the latest 3D modeling techniques. This 10.4 meter-high monumental sculpture is floating in the middle of the Louvre Pyramid for six months, in order to question the notions of power and authority that have been perpetuated in the past, and to question the future that awaits us. However, in simpler terms than the sculptors explanation, it is a glorious golden piece of sculpture.