(May 28 journal entry)
On the train to Versailles.
It isn't easy seeing cities in the rain, but out we were exploring Ile de la Cite, taking pictures (mediocre, thanks to the rain & my neurosis) of Pont Neuf, the Conciergerie, Palais de Justice & what little we could see of Saint-Chapelle towering over the palace's center without paying admission (no sun, no stained glass!). Sanctuary was granted within the stone walls of Notre-Dame, where many more "eh" photos were taken (even with sun gleaming through the colored glass, it's likely they wouldn't have turned out -- the cathedral is far too massive). Allison & I attended noon Mass, and I lit a candle for Aimee before a statue of Saint Denis. A climb to Sacre-Coeur in the evening, and what a view of Paris!
(May 30 journal entry)
Every intention was there to document my experiences at Versailles the day of the journey. Some journalers routinely write in mornings of the previous days' events, but not me. It doesn't feel as real, already a day (at least) in the past. I meant to write, honest, but first a jaunt across the river to see the Eiffel Tower in its nighttime glory, lit up against the sky (tacky when it sparkled at midnight, though). Unfortunately, we didn't make our transfer to Montmartre before the trains ceased running for the night & were forced into taking a cab from Madeline. It was nice driving through the Opera Quarter at night (and not nearly as expensive as I'd expected), but really?
(May 31 journal entry)
It's difficult to keep up with my journal while in Paris: so many sites & not enough time to accomplish everything on my list let alone record it all! We've (sadly) checked out of our hostel & headed down a few doors to "a la laverie" to do some wash before catching our mid-afternoon train from Gare de l'Est (only socks & underwear for me, for now). Oh, I didn't even visit le Marais, I didn't meander through the Tuilieries Gardens, the Luxembourg Gardens! Spent too much time in cemeteries? But I had to see those I so admire, and how lovely, how peaceful! Had I enjoyed the gardens (and as much as I look forward to Munich), I'd still regret our departure from Paris. I certainly need to work on my French, but as I've said earlier, I could live here.
Rails to Munich, speeding by the Black Forest. And now, Versailles. As one might suppose, no photos can capture the monstrously grand grounds. Naturally, the palace itself overflowed with spectacular craftsmanship, gold & art for gluttonous royals. Delicious. At first glance of the map, it appears manageable -- a full day of exploration, but manageable. Boy, an underestimation! A walk from the palace to the end of the Grand Canal, I'm told, takes an hour; in our six hour visit, Allison & I were unable to make it to the canal's end. Between the chateau (Halls of Mirrors & Marie Antoinette's bedchamber my obvious favorites), only scratching a small surface of the gardens (gardens with looming, labyrinthine greens that one would absolutely become lost in without a map, why didn't the royal family hide there?) seeing a small portion of Marie Antoinette's Estate -- impossible. No time for the Grand Trianon, and I was upset to find the Petite Trianon closed until July (so close!) for renovations (as were many exterior areas of the chateau). It was a pleasant, even riveting, return alone from the hamlet to the palace gates, earphones blasting a dramatic soundtrack, Mendelssohn, to my promenade. If dozens of violins playing as Versailles appears above the canal's slant, becoming steadily more vast, isn't exciting, then ladies & gentlemen, excitement doesn't exist. Must examine my photos, research the grounds' fountains & Greek statuary & read more!
(Winding through lush mountains of Bavaria, sky blue, sun high above at 20:00: stunning images from coffee table books made reality!)
Our last two days in Paris (already, I miss it & bade farewell with a raspberry & chocolate tart, topped with the most incredible whipped cream) consisted of a great deal of running around, aside from an afternoon on the second level of the Eiffel Tower, in which it feels as though you can see the entire world (and I mailed my postcards, all fourteen, from the tower's first level). Saw hotel des Invalides/Dome Church, took the necessary & enjoyable stroll down the Champs-Elysee (though more enjoyable had my wallet been fat, able to afford fine restaurants & new outfits from Lacoste & Louis Vutton), Arc du Triomphe & Place de la Concorde (where Marie Antoinette was executed). Split off and saw La Madeline & St.-Germain-des-Pres (Paris' oldest church, one of three original bell-towers still standing from 567A.D., and where the remains of Descartes are found), the Pantheon, and Shakespeare & Co. (highly overpriced due to its fame, but still a great browse across the river from Notre-Dame).
(June 1 journal entry)
Museums today.
Saw the Musee d'Orsay & Musee du Louvre in Paris. As I've told many, the MoMA spoiled me rotten, and concerning modern art, nothing has compared equally, seeing painting after painting recognized by scholars & amateurs around the world. Great old train station the d'Orsay is in (imagine, at the d'Orsay metro stop), filled with Marcel Proust's gossip of impressionists, the hustle & bussel of travelers now that of museum goers, all certainly excited to see Manet's "Olympia" & Whistler's "Arrangement in Grey and Black; the Artist's Mother" among well-known works of Renoir, van Gogh & Picasso...Like Versailles, at first glance, the Louvre seems nothing to fret about (an all-day event, but manageable) until you realize it takes twenty minuter simply to get from one (of many) wings to another. You're running back and forth like a madman, trying unsuccessfully to locate Julien's "Dying Gladiator", listening to one gallery attendant, then the next. "Commercialized art", no trouble: "La Jaconde" (colors more stunning than any print & actually larger than I'd imagined), "Venus de Milo" & Michelangelo#s "Dying Slave" a cinch, but the rest? Some favorites include Carvaggio's "Death of the Virgin", Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People" & "Dante and Virgil in the Underworld", Gericault's "Raft of Medusa" & Ingres' "Odalisque": And that's only a small selection of an even smaller bit of my Louvre checklist!
Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek & Pinakothek der Moderne all today, each 1 Euro admission on Sundays (art overdose). Saw Picasso's "Motherhood" & Dali's "Mystery of Desire", a painting that reminded me much of the death of one's (or the author's) mother. Ma mere. Ma mere. Ma mere. Depressing impacting. Ma mere. How I miss my mother. Evening discoveries around the museum complex & Marienplatz; sausages & Augustiner beer for dinner.
(June 2 journal entry)
A wild chase, trying to find the graves of Sophie & Hans Scholl & Christoph Probst this morning ("next to Stadelheim Prison" actually translates "in Friedhof am Perlandrer Foest"), but they were found, a single rose & lit candle adorning their markers. It was difficult, these heroes, the White Rose (whom I've looked up to since, at least, the 10th grade), now before me, my hands resting on their headstones. Would I have done as they did, condemning Hitler, the Nazis? Looking death in the face & spreading the necessity of tolerance, of ending war? Approaching the guillotine with pride, screaming "Long live freedom!"? And here they are (along with their parents) at reach. Here is the very atrium they distributed their leaflets and were arrested at, 18 February, 1943, at LMU, spectacular memorials now both outside and inside the university & an entire library on the White Rose & WWII resistance groups open to the public (which I'll return to tomorrow, before Dachau). I don't mean to lessen or degrade the importance of those artists whom I visited in Paris -- art is all that lasts! Yet three simple crosses reading "Hans School", "Sophie Scholl" & "Christoph Probst" meant more to me. Art is connected to it author and separate, standing individually, but history cannot exist without its players. Maybe tragedy insures remembrance? Maybe not. Words, images, and emotions rush to mind -- "Stop at once! You're under arrest!" -- and I leave the cemetery, the university, saying, "The sun is shining...Long live freedom!"
On the train to Versailles.
It isn't easy seeing cities in the rain, but out we were exploring Ile de la Cite, taking pictures (mediocre, thanks to the rain & my neurosis) of Pont Neuf, the Conciergerie, Palais de Justice & what little we could see of Saint-Chapelle towering over the palace's center without paying admission (no sun, no stained glass!). Sanctuary was granted within the stone walls of Notre-Dame, where many more "eh" photos were taken (even with sun gleaming through the colored glass, it's likely they wouldn't have turned out -- the cathedral is far too massive). Allison & I attended noon Mass, and I lit a candle for Aimee before a statue of Saint Denis. A climb to Sacre-Coeur in the evening, and what a view of Paris!
(May 30 journal entry)
Every intention was there to document my experiences at Versailles the day of the journey. Some journalers routinely write in mornings of the previous days' events, but not me. It doesn't feel as real, already a day (at least) in the past. I meant to write, honest, but first a jaunt across the river to see the Eiffel Tower in its nighttime glory, lit up against the sky (tacky when it sparkled at midnight, though). Unfortunately, we didn't make our transfer to Montmartre before the trains ceased running for the night & were forced into taking a cab from Madeline. It was nice driving through the Opera Quarter at night (and not nearly as expensive as I'd expected), but really?
(May 31 journal entry)
It's difficult to keep up with my journal while in Paris: so many sites & not enough time to accomplish everything on my list let alone record it all! We've (sadly) checked out of our hostel & headed down a few doors to "a la laverie" to do some wash before catching our mid-afternoon train from Gare de l'Est (only socks & underwear for me, for now). Oh, I didn't even visit le Marais, I didn't meander through the Tuilieries Gardens, the Luxembourg Gardens! Spent too much time in cemeteries? But I had to see those I so admire, and how lovely, how peaceful! Had I enjoyed the gardens (and as much as I look forward to Munich), I'd still regret our departure from Paris. I certainly need to work on my French, but as I've said earlier, I could live here.
Rails to Munich, speeding by the Black Forest. And now, Versailles. As one might suppose, no photos can capture the monstrously grand grounds. Naturally, the palace itself overflowed with spectacular craftsmanship, gold & art for gluttonous royals. Delicious. At first glance of the map, it appears manageable -- a full day of exploration, but manageable. Boy, an underestimation! A walk from the palace to the end of the Grand Canal, I'm told, takes an hour; in our six hour visit, Allison & I were unable to make it to the canal's end. Between the chateau (Halls of Mirrors & Marie Antoinette's bedchamber my obvious favorites), only scratching a small surface of the gardens (gardens with looming, labyrinthine greens that one would absolutely become lost in without a map, why didn't the royal family hide there?) seeing a small portion of Marie Antoinette's Estate -- impossible. No time for the Grand Trianon, and I was upset to find the Petite Trianon closed until July (so close!) for renovations (as were many exterior areas of the chateau). It was a pleasant, even riveting, return alone from the hamlet to the palace gates, earphones blasting a dramatic soundtrack, Mendelssohn, to my promenade. If dozens of violins playing as Versailles appears above the canal's slant, becoming steadily more vast, isn't exciting, then ladies & gentlemen, excitement doesn't exist. Must examine my photos, research the grounds' fountains & Greek statuary & read more!
(Winding through lush mountains of Bavaria, sky blue, sun high above at 20:00: stunning images from coffee table books made reality!)
Our last two days in Paris (already, I miss it & bade farewell with a raspberry & chocolate tart, topped with the most incredible whipped cream) consisted of a great deal of running around, aside from an afternoon on the second level of the Eiffel Tower, in which it feels as though you can see the entire world (and I mailed my postcards, all fourteen, from the tower's first level). Saw hotel des Invalides/Dome Church, took the necessary & enjoyable stroll down the Champs-Elysee (though more enjoyable had my wallet been fat, able to afford fine restaurants & new outfits from Lacoste & Louis Vutton), Arc du Triomphe & Place de la Concorde (where Marie Antoinette was executed). Split off and saw La Madeline & St.-Germain-des-Pres (Paris' oldest church, one of three original bell-towers still standing from 567A.D., and where the remains of Descartes are found), the Pantheon, and Shakespeare & Co. (highly overpriced due to its fame, but still a great browse across the river from Notre-Dame).
(June 1 journal entry)
Museums today.
Saw the Musee d'Orsay & Musee du Louvre in Paris. As I've told many, the MoMA spoiled me rotten, and concerning modern art, nothing has compared equally, seeing painting after painting recognized by scholars & amateurs around the world. Great old train station the d'Orsay is in (imagine, at the d'Orsay metro stop), filled with Marcel Proust's gossip of impressionists, the hustle & bussel of travelers now that of museum goers, all certainly excited to see Manet's "Olympia" & Whistler's "Arrangement in Grey and Black; the Artist's Mother" among well-known works of Renoir, van Gogh & Picasso...Like Versailles, at first glance, the Louvre seems nothing to fret about (an all-day event, but manageable) until you realize it takes twenty minuter simply to get from one (of many) wings to another. You're running back and forth like a madman, trying unsuccessfully to locate Julien's "Dying Gladiator", listening to one gallery attendant, then the next. "Commercialized art", no trouble: "La Jaconde" (colors more stunning than any print & actually larger than I'd imagined), "Venus de Milo" & Michelangelo#s "Dying Slave" a cinch, but the rest? Some favorites include Carvaggio's "Death of the Virgin", Delacroix's "Liberty Leading the People" & "Dante and Virgil in the Underworld", Gericault's "Raft of Medusa" & Ingres' "Odalisque": And that's only a small selection of an even smaller bit of my Louvre checklist!
Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek & Pinakothek der Moderne all today, each 1 Euro admission on Sundays (art overdose). Saw Picasso's "Motherhood" & Dali's "Mystery of Desire", a painting that reminded me much of the death of one's (or the author's) mother. Ma mere. Ma mere. Ma mere. Depressing impacting. Ma mere. How I miss my mother. Evening discoveries around the museum complex & Marienplatz; sausages & Augustiner beer for dinner.
(June 2 journal entry)
A wild chase, trying to find the graves of Sophie & Hans Scholl & Christoph Probst this morning ("next to Stadelheim Prison" actually translates "in Friedhof am Perlandrer Foest"), but they were found, a single rose & lit candle adorning their markers. It was difficult, these heroes, the White Rose (whom I've looked up to since, at least, the 10th grade), now before me, my hands resting on their headstones. Would I have done as they did, condemning Hitler, the Nazis? Looking death in the face & spreading the necessity of tolerance, of ending war? Approaching the guillotine with pride, screaming "Long live freedom!"? And here they are (along with their parents) at reach. Here is the very atrium they distributed their leaflets and were arrested at, 18 February, 1943, at LMU, spectacular memorials now both outside and inside the university & an entire library on the White Rose & WWII resistance groups open to the public (which I'll return to tomorrow, before Dachau). I don't mean to lessen or degrade the importance of those artists whom I visited in Paris -- art is all that lasts! Yet three simple crosses reading "Hans School", "Sophie Scholl" & "Christoph Probst" meant more to me. Art is connected to it author and separate, standing individually, but history cannot exist without its players. Maybe tragedy insures remembrance? Maybe not. Words, images, and emotions rush to mind -- "Stop at once! You're under arrest!" -- and I leave the cemetery, the university, saying, "The sun is shining...Long live freedom!"
posted by Colin at
10:50 AM
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