Marc's Public Blog - Paris

2017/12/27 A few pictures from Paris

π 2017-12-27 01:01 in France, Ntrips, Paris, Trips

Every year, I try to go see a few things in Paris, and we didn't run out of museums yet: Paris Rodin Museum Quai Branli Museum in Paris Citée de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine Opera Bastille Backstage Cluny Museum and remains of Roman Baths

Otherwise, I also have a few pictures of Paris proper:

the street that used to be for cars to get out of Paris more quickly is now pedestrian. Not everyone loves this...

the worst part is how the effeil tower is now behind airport gates and bad looking temporary roof covers as gates :(

Another day, close to Opéra Bastille

don't get conned, that's a different church, I don't like lines :)

After arriving at Les Halles we went to see the small Xmas market, given that the big one at Champs Elysées was cancelled this year due to suckage of the new Paris mayor:

After too long, Les Halles was finally re-opened:

Nearby St Sulpice Church:

Quick stop at Google and the grand magasins and their displays:

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2017/12/28 Paris' Citée de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine

π 2017-12-28 01:01 in Museums, Paris

La citée de l'architecture et du patrimoine is an interesting museum just across fom the eiffel tower. They have one floor dedicated to architecture and modern building design, while the other one has a good collection of replicas of famous buildings for study and backup.

A few pictures:

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2017/12/28 Les Invalides Monuments and Museums in Paris

π 2017-12-28 01:01 in Museums, Paris

Les Invalides is actually a museum complex, including a church and tombs for Napoleon and related people. Last time I went with Jennifer, we didn't have a lot of time, and we breezed through it quickly. This time, we spent almost 5h and had to hurry a little bit at the end.

inflatable decoy tank, awesome

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2017/12/28 Quai Branli Museum in Paris

π 2017-12-28 01:01 in Museums, Paris

The Quai Branly Museum collects first nations art from around the world, and it's a pretty thorough collection that is worth multiple hours, although I'll be honest that I overdozed a bit after a while, probably because I was getting tired...

A few pictures:

nice lighting outside the building

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2017/12/28 Paris Rodin Museum

π 2017-12-28 01:01 in Museums, Paris

The Rodin Museum is not huge, but once you add the tour of the gardens with statues, it's worth a good 1.5 to 2h, especially with the movies that show how the bronze statues are made.

Turns out Rodin actually made the plaster models and others went through the complicated process of making the bronze statues:

A few pictures:

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2017/12/29 Opera Bastille Backstage

π 2017-12-29 01:01 in Museums, Paris

Paris has 2 Opéras. The newer one, bastille, doesn't look as fancy from the outside, but has a one of a kind stage moving system that allows them to have multiple stages ready and they can be moved from center stage to underground for building or rehearsals. This allows them to play different operas on different nights.

While it may seem overkill (no other theatre in the world has this capability to that scale, this theatre can almost host a couple of 747s hidden underground), it was super cool to see this on their backstage tour. Most of the pictures were underground up to 22m (many stories) below ground level:

The tour finally ended up in the main stage that was going to be used that evening after our tour:

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2017/12/30 Paris' Cluny Museum and remains of Roman Baths

π 2017-12-30 01:01 in Museums, Paris

So, Cluny aka the medieval museum, has quite a good collection of medieval artifacts, including exquisite books. However, it's known specifically for the "dame á la licorne" and other beautiful tapestries. We had done a quick tour in the past, but it was worth going back for a better look, and a special guided visit to the roman baths in that same building.

just like the Bayeux Tapestry, they have a long colorful tapestry telling a full story

The museum's building has a colorful history, but its older parts go all the way back to much bigger roman baths that were 3 times bigger than the footprint that is left, as well as an old castle/hotel that was build next to what was left, re-using some of the walls. However, underground, you can still see what is left of the baths, and while it doesn't rival Bath, UK, or Baden Baden, Germany, it's still interesting to see that in the middle of Paris:

some bits were clearly built later

Cool little visit.

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