Tuesday October 8th
Another beautiful day in the city!
Place des Vosges: a hidden square that dates back to Henry IV's Reign in the mid 1600s. The center was a very cute garden and the facades of buildings enclosing it remained in the archetype of the 1600s. It really is a hidden spot in Paris. It isn't that far from where Bastille is however if you didn't know to look for it, you wouldn't find it. So there were literally no tourists and at the time I was there (which was lunch time) many high schoolers and business people just having their lunch outside. I love how every single nice day here in Paris the people will take time out to have their lunch outside. Its fantastic!
Musée Carnavalet: A free museum!! I love anything free :) The museum was dedicated to the history of Paris - its architecture, society, culture, history, and many many portraits.
First room in the museum, most of the signs only date back to the late 1880s early 1900s but they were still very interesting to see the differences in how they advertised back then.
"Le Chatlet du château de Madrid au bois de Boulogne" by Truchet 1897-1918
Almost every room looked like this one, with many many different people's portraits. I am pretty sure most of them were just Parisians who had their portraits made for one reason or another but all from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s.
Then there were the political sculptures. I found these next few very very hilarious!
They had a section of the museum dedicated to the Revolution of 1789. This painting is marks the where the Tennis Court Oath occurred. I've seen pictures of this painting in my French Revolution books but it was very very captivating to be right there next to it. The Tennis Court Oath was when the third estate (aka all those members of the government who weren't noble or clergy) was locked out of the Estates General (an assembly called by the king during the old regime). They believed that the King was going to attack them and made the oath to stand together until a new constitution was made and there by creating a new set of rules for the creation of a new government. It was a turning point for the Revolution so it was very cool for me to be that close to that painting.
In the wing of the Revolution, they had a room for the Terror aka when over 2,000 people were killed by the guillotine if they were against the new radical government. I had heard that the French liked to pretend this time never happened so they generally skipped over it. But there was a room dedicated to that time. There wasn't much description as to what that time was if you didn't already know what what that time was. So some of the rumors I heard were true. The room may have been dedicated to that time but it was just objects with the name of what the object was and nothing about what exactly happened then.
The room
In another room, there were political cartoons or drawings hanging from the walls. This one was the capture of the King and Queen in the city Varennes as they tried to escape France during the beginning of the Revolution.
Not really sure what this room was dedicated to but the craftsmanship of this piece was very intricate.
A view of Paris in the 1900s aka the Belle Epoque
A vase made for the Olympics that were held in Paris in 1924.
I forgot to take a picture of what the name or artist was of this painting but I loved it. Very romantic and wistful.
Next I visited the apartments of Victor Hugo
The works in his apartment were dedicated to the creation of his novel "Notre Dame."
Entrance
His original manuscript of "Notre Dame"
His view from the window in his foyer
Foyer
Dining room, but I love how the walls, the floor and the ceiling all match. Even the curtains although they are not in this picture.
Look its Quasimodo from Disney's version of "Notre Dame!"
His bedroom
writing desk
Entrance to the museum and also the building where his apartment was located.
This was the inside garden of the Hotel de Sully, a Renaissance town house. You can't see the inside because I think its all apartments now but the garden was dedicated to Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
View from the street
No comments:
Post a Comment