Wednesday, May 27, 2009















A couple of days worth of pics here.  Our first day back after a free day for everyone.  Images from today from our walking tour of architecture in the Marais district.

There's a picture of one of two cathedrals we visited today, St. Gervais-St. Protais, an example of the French classical style from the "Grand Century" of French culture (1600-1700 roughly). Gervais and Protais were two Roman generals, converted to Christianity, and martyred by Nero.  The church stands near where an old Roman road lay.  There has been a church on this spot in one form or another since the 6th century.

  Then there's Hotel de Sens, a beautiful gothic mansion.  Along with the Cluny that we visited on our first full day, one of two prime examples of medieval residences here in Paris. 


Also there's Maggie posing next to a Picasso's green-haired "Marguerite" (Maggie says her Mom sometimes calls her that).  We just thought with the red hair next to the green hair we should have a picture.





We also saw the largest surviving chunk of old Phillipe Auguste's city wall, which evidently makes a good basketball court as well.  You can see the remnants of the wall as well as two towers on the left side of the picture.


Then lastly, three pics from my day off.  Billy Owen took my picture down in the catacombs during a moment of thought with a couple of my new friends.  There are the remains of several million French within these old quarries near Montparnasse.  Most of the buildings in Paris are made from limestone quarried from directly beneath the city.  The ground is supposedly honeycombed with tunnels.  We came up out of the catacombs about a half a mile from where we started.

Then there's an example of street art for former student, Jackie Nott who taught me to be on the lookout for this new phenomenon.  

Lastly there's the church of Val-de-Grace abbey that I finally found after a protracted search.  At age 37, Anne of Austria made a promise to build a church if she was blessed with a child after 23 years of marriage.  Voila!  A little Louis resulted--number 14--the Sun King guy.  Little Louis got to lay the corner stone.  Mansart designed it--finished by Lemercier and La Muet in 1667, but not consecrated until 1710 when "little" Louis XIV was 72!  Beautiful French classical Baroque design.  The the adjoining area evidently houses a military hospital/school.




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