Tuesday Morning part 2- Notre Dame

After the "local" Cathedral, I went to Notre Dame. I've only been to Paris two times before. the first time was for work, and I was there for just 2 days, with really no free time at all. I had just graduated from college about 7 months before, and it was such a let down! I had a little taste of Paris but didn't get to see anything. The second time was maybe 6 years ago, and I spent a week there with a former boyfriend. It was a fun time, and I saw a lot, but I was always "following", as he had lived in Paris for a year & had spent quite a bit of time there while growing up as his family lived in France for several years on teaching exchanges. What happens when you go with someone to their "hometown" or in this case, nearly "second hometown" is that you spend a lot of time "following" and doing what they tell you are "the things to do." We would come up from the subway and I had not even located us on the map whenn he was already leading the way to the next thing. Don't get me wrong, we saw a LOT, and it was a great trip, but part of the joy of experiencing a new place is finding your way, and understanding the layout of the city, and finding unexpected things. There is also that issue someone who feels like they are in their second hometown that they don't want to do "tourist things", which is a little tough in a place like Paris. Yes, we went to Notre Dame, but not up in the Bell tower. Yes we went to the Eiffel tower, but not up in it. Yes, we went to the Louvre, but we saw the most famous paintings only. So on this trip I was determined to relax, and do those things, even if they were the "normal" tourist things to do. When I went to the Louvre, I had no plan, I just walked into the first hall I saw, and saw wonderful art, regardless of how famous it is or how many people put it on their checklist.

So on the first full day in Paris, I went to Notre Dame, and stood in line to walk the 422 steps up to the top of the bell tower. Did I mention it was 422 steps? Very steep. It actually wasn't too bad, as there were 3 or 4 places where you could take a little break, the gift shop partway up, a few landings, etc. I took advantage of every landing to stop and look around, take some photos, etc. I saw many people that just skipped the landings and just kept on going, looking VERY winded and out of breath by the time they got to the top!

View from one of the "landings."
Gargoyles watching over the Cathedral.

Notre Dame- Tuesday Morning-part 2

The gargoyles are amazing...

The view from the top of Notre Dame facing Montmarte

The famous Rose Window of Notre Dame
The paint colors are beautiful, they remind me of a slightly less vibrant version of temples in Asia.

A "mini" version of Notre Dame- it's so enormous, this is the only way to get the entire building in one photo
This was by far my favorite window in the cathedral- not too intense in color, but I would trade the glass in my front door for this in a heartbeat.
The other Rose Window (actually I think this is the famous one...)
The 3 doorways to the outside were covered in amazing relief work.

I could have just stood there taking photos all day if the wind wasn't so cold I though my fingers would fall off.

The view from the front
And a really awful photo of me, but when you vacation by yourself, you need at least one or two pics of yourself to show that it was in fact you behind the camera the entire time. And the wind was blowing too hard and the temperature was too cold for me to fuss much about whether it was a good photo or not! Just wait until the Eiffel tower pics go up...more of the same, but about 3 times COLDER!

Paris- Day 2, Morning

After a restfull night "in" at the flat on Monday night, I was ready to explore on tuesday. I had generally plotted out my route, but as I was getting ready to go, the proprieter of the B&B asked where I was going, and suggested a better route. On the way, he told me I'd pass one of his favorite churches & I should go take a look.

Unfortunately I don't exactly know the name of the Church, but it's something like "St Eucharin" or something along those lines. I think the location is famous becaue of the sculpture in the front, but it certainly is not one of the better known cathedrals in Paris.

It's hard to imagine a cathedral as beautiful as this can be considered "lesser known", but I suppose when you are in a place where there are more beautiful & historically or architecturally significant buildings in one square mile than many American states have, it's possible.

The people around this cathedral seemed very 'local'- I only saw a few people who looked like they were actually on holiday or not wandering through their natural 'daily' environment. People act differently when they are in a new place- they look up a lot, they consult books & maps, take photos, are more 'alert'. When you see people in their home environments, they are often more relaxed in relation to their surroundings- taking them for granted, recognizing they are there without having to double check, very much "going about their day" without too much concern for the environment around them. What lucky people Parisians are to be a part of such an amazingly beautiful environment!
You could tell from the inside of the cathedral that it was also not one of the better known ones, as there was a lot of visible disrepair. The paint was faded and peeling, there were broken sculptures, broken floor tiles, construction in areas, etc. Regardless, for the fact that it was a somewhat "forgotten" or "ignored" cathedral to most tourists, it was quite beautiful and amazing.

Along the sides of the nave are many small 'rooms' each dedicated to various saints or people from the Bible. Usually these each have a small alter & you may make offerings in the form of lit candles or a money box (or both). There were several chairs facing each of these small rooms, but I liked this one which had both prayer benches and chairs lined up:
One of the small rooms off the side of the main nave.

This Sculpture is right in front of the cathedral- and is probably far better known than the Cathedral itself!
I think this is officially the "Front", although I don't see the 3 arches that normally adorn the front of a Cathedral.
Maybe these are the 3 arches. In looking up the name for the little rooms off the nave of the church (which I didn't find...) I learned that these 3 arched doorwas are seen in most catholic cathedrals in reference to the Holy Trinity.

Paris- Day 1

So skipping back to my Vacation in October, last we left off I had finished my week in Amsterdam with my friends. On Monday of the following week, Paul & Simon took me to the Train station on their way to work, and I took a train to Paris. There was some electrical problem so we ended up having to change trains part way along the trip- I think the town was called Brugge. It was very odd as we all had the same seats, so we all got up & gathered our things, walked off the train, across to te next track, and sat in an identical (although older) looking train car, facing the same people we had previously and continued on our way.

I found my way to the flat I was lodging in with no problem via the subway, and was surprised to see the front door was between two Chinese restaurants! Ironic since this was the "I can't believe there is no baby yet" vacation.

Paul & Simon had a Paris museum pass someone left at their flat, so they gave it to me- it was a 4 day pass so I was determined to make good use of it! I arrived mid afternoon on Monday, so rather than waste time planning museums on Monday, I looked up directions and went straight to the Louvre. I actually had not intended to even go to the Louvre on this trip, as I had been before, but the closer my trip to Paris came, the more guilt I felt at the thought of not going to the Louvre! Is it really a Paris trip if you don't go to the Louvre at least one day? So off I went to spend a bit of time there my first afternoon.

As in Amsterdam, the weather was very very cold! The sky was beautiful and almost entirely clear, but it was quite cold! I think I arrived around 3:30 or 4, and I think the Louvre closed around 5:00 or 5:30- regardless, I only had about an hour and a half. I took some photos outside & went to the VERY short line.
I think I could honestly stare at the Louvre buildings for hours. There is so much beautiful architecture in Paris, no matter where you look, it's right in front of you, or directly above you.
I didn't have any specific direction once I went in, because as I said, I really hadn't been planning to come at all. The last time I was there I saw the Mona Lisa and some other well known works of art, so I just walked straight ahead & went where my feet took me. Turned out to be a lucky direction, as I ended up in the Sculpture segment of the Museum.
This was done in honor of a knight after he died...or perhaps it was a bishop. Regardless, it was a very complex and beautiful monument. 8 robed monks carrying the body of a fallen important guy. Most burial sculptures were simply raised reliefs of the dead man. This really went above and beyond the norm.
I tried like anything to get a better photo of this Sculpture. It's not that it was all that interesting, except for the look on the cherub's face. Normally you see cherubs in paintings and they have curly hair and rosy cheeks and little cherubic smiles. This one's mouth was in this sort of distorted cry or scream that looked less like a scream of "Oh something awful has happened" and more a scream of "I WANT MORE CANDY!!!"

This one I just thought was especially stunning. I don't know who she is or why she was memorialized in this way, but the light in the room and the skill of the sculpture really made this one just beautiful.
I know this is not a very good photo, but I had to add it. It's one of the salons of Napoleon IV.
While I might scold his over decadance, I couldn't help but drool a little when I saw his dining room table. I was thinking, I could fill that table...hmm...that's a lot of cooking....but think how many little ones we could get around THAT table!
And well, since we're on the subject of extravagance, after seeing Napoleon IV's Salons, I was surprised to see that his throne was so understated. Then again, it's entirely possible the entire back & seat were woven by hand by poor blind lepers made to work 20 hours a day...
As the closing announcement was sounding & I was trying to cram the few last rooms in before finding my way out, I managed to see a few rooms of decorative art (silver & jewels mostly), before coming out of the wing I was in to catch this view.
The first night in Paris I actually stayed in the Flat! I didn't go out- I really actually needed a night to kind of relax, unwind, and not be so overstimulated by all things amazing and beautiful. I looked through the museum pass list of museums & planned my Tuesday- picking out museums and trying to plot my way on the various maps I had either photocopied or been given by the man who rents the room in his flat.

Stay tuned for Day 2 in Paris, coming soon!

I'm Back...

Sorry Everyone, not only did I take a hiatus from the Vacation pics, but Blogger decided to have issues about half way through my China trip, and my colleagues in Taiwan kept me busy from morning until night, then I came back home with the most horrendous cold I've ever had, and was just starting to get it together again by Thanksgiving, and after 15+ people (kids and adults) at my house for Thanksgiving, we packed up the leftovers and headed to the coast for the weekend. I'm just now starting to look at Paris Pictures from October, and China pictures for November and promise I'll post many of them soon!

Testing

I cannot seem to see blogger the last 3-4 days in China-testing to see if I can still post...

Fuzhou, Fujian Province

Of course I am going to start this post with food. I arrived Sunday night to Fuzhou with my colleague, and have been working in one of our factories all week. However, the nights are generally free, so we have done a bit of exploring & searching for some good meals. Monday night we found a close but tasty restaurant- I was still feeling quite awful (bronchitis) so didn't take any photos...by Tuesday, the antiobiotics were kicking in and out came the camera. We went to a different restaurant located on a hill immediately behind the town's giant statue of Chairman Mao, who, of course, looks over the People's Square (Renmin Square).

The restaurant did not have any english menu, nor did they have a picture menu, so we used a combination of my limited food chinese and walking around pointing at dishes on other tables. Fortunately the people at other tables got a total kick out of me doing that, so it was no problem and we ended up with quite a lot of food!
Gongbao Jiding (Kung pao chicken), a spicy pork & corn dish, and a spicy chicken and potatoes dish- all quite wonderful!!! On Wednesday we ended up going back again, and had a dish similar to the corn & pork dish, except it was the same pork, same spices, but with fried bread cubes. It was unbelieveable! So mouthwatering, we didn't stop until the plate was nearly empty... probably should have though as it was piled quite high when it arrived!!!
After dinner on Tuesday we went down to the square to walk around and watch the people dancing. I don't know if it's an everyday occurrance or just this week, but they had piped in music and there were probably close to 300 people or more all line dancing! Really quite funny to watch 300+ Chinese line dancing to techno music!!The fountain in the middle of the square is lit up. Actually, much of China is lit up these days. Fuzhou especially seems to have a corner on the brightly lit building market. Here's hoping it's due to a whole lot of solar power, although more likely it's something a bit less environmentally friendly...
As we walked through the square to go back to our Hotel, we heard a big group of people singing, we were walking by anyway, so we stopped to see what it was all about. This little boy was watching me take photos- he came over later to see my pictures on my camera and smiled when I showed him this one...

I think that the band was brought in specially, and they had a projector and were projecting what appeared to be the words to the song that was being sung. I think a few of the people who were there were actually people brought into sing, although most people in the crowd seemed to be singing- so I don't think it was limited to people who were specifically "performers."
There were several people with instruments, a trumpet, a violin, an Erhu, even a trombone...although they didn't all play at the same time. I asked one of the women next to me (who kept sneaking looks at me, being the only westerner in the crowd, Scott was standing back aways) if they did this everyday, and she just said, 'Not every day.' It was quite an amazing feeling to be standing in amongst this crowd of people singing in Chinese. Their pride and joy in their singing and in the song and the whole event was infectious. I felt I had a difficult time to pull myself away, and I found myself thinking of Sprout- thinking that I hope that I can instill in her the pride of not only China's great history, but of the people who make China special. I hope that I can help to share experiences like this with her as she gets older, so that she too has a strong love for China, not just as the country of her birth, but as a culture to be respected and admired.
As Tuesday was also Scott's birthday- the Hotel had left a cake in his room, he brought it down to the lobby lounge and we had cake with a few colleagues.
He also had a special birthday song from one of the "spicy lounge girls".