Remembering Mary

On August 24 my dear Aunt Mary passed away. In her honor, we started lighting candles at the altars for Mary at each of the churches we visited, which we thought would be a fitting remembrance.


Eglise d'Ile d'Ouessant

Lucon



The memorial chapel in Le Lucs sur Burlougne

Cathedral in St. Michel-en-herm





Sacre Coeur

And of course, Notre Dame







Basilica Notre-Dame-Des-Victoires

St. Severin

A bientot, Paris

You may have heard about the evacuation of the Eiffel Tower on September 14 due to a bomb threat. Possibly triggered by the Senate's vote to ban full-face headscarves in public places, or perhaps by the indifference of the government to the recent general strike over raised retirement ages.

I got an email from a friend who had heard about it, saying "The odds you were there are so remote."

And yet, we were.

So here is the Tour Eiffel in all of her glory, as rarely seen with only two people on it looking for bombs, and from what we read later, a couple of sniffing dogs.

The searchlights were working.

The twinkle lights were working.


The street lamps were working.
But this is as close as we could get.

Until next year....

Palais Royale, Paris Passages, St. Eustache

On Monday we decided to get an early start and visit the Opera Garnier-- it used to be called just the Opera, but now there are two, so it has become the Opera Garnier. However, when we arrived, we discovered that the auditorium, home of the famous Chagall ceiling, was closed for a rehearsal. So we decided to try another time.

First we walked through the museum in the Fragonard perfume shop (no photos, naturally).


Then we backtracked to Gallerie Lafayette for some shopping and to buy a takeout sandwich (advertised as the best sandwich in the world -- Italian bread, a Parmesan-type cheese, and a ham similar to prosciutto -- pretty darned good, but more research will be required before we agree with the ad). We walked to the park of the Palais Royale.

We checked out the shops around the edges of the park, which range from dusty coin shops to fashion designers. This one is Stella McCartney.



The inner courtyard of the Palais. The building is a closed government building, but the courtyard is open. These columns partially conceal a fountain underneath the courtyard visible through the grate.



After walking through the Palais Royale, we decided to search out a nearby covered passage. In various parts of Paris one can still find covered passages, which were built as areas for the wealthy to do their shopping, eating out and even theater-going. Until even the late 19th century, the streets were filthy and dangerous. Passages between buildings were covered over, and shops rented out for all kinds of goods, and restaurants, tea shops and theaters established. The passages were a way for people to mingle and shop safely without getting themselves dirty. Passage Vivienne was nearby, so we took a look, and then found our way to Galerie Vero-Dodat. The latter houses, among other interesting shops, the scarf boutique we had seen a couple of years ago with Anne, where the the scarves start at about $1500.






Outside the passage Galerie Vero-Dodat we saw this remarkable building. We don't know what it is, but is appears to be a modern building built to resemble the shape of the traditional Paris architecture, but wrapped in a metal filigree. Interesting. I wonder if it was so ugly they were forced to cover it up!



On our way back home, we decided to walk through the restaurant supply neighborhood, but were not unduly tempted by any of the copper pots, porcelain or other goodies.


St. Eustache, an interesting church was between us and the metro, so we stopped in for a look.

Every visit we have made to St. Eustache has provided an interesting twist. I think it is pretty cool just because of the giant head outside one entrance. But inside is pretty cool too -- once there was a wedding about to start; another time there was to be some sort of government presentation for which arrangements were being made. One time there was a choral rehearsal for a radio program. This time there were aerialists rehearsing for who knows what. So we took the opportunity for a break and watched them practice.






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In Paris, you just never know....

Notre Dame, St. Severin

The next day was again gloriously sunny and warm, and we duly headed out in the late morning for Notre Dame. It was the first time either of us could recall that the church was clean, and not engulfed in scaffolding inside or out for some kind of renovation or repair. It was beautiful.

Approaching Notre Dame...

the famous Left Bank bookinists







After touring the inside of the cathedral, and lighting a candle (more on that in a later post), we headed back to the left bank. Once there we spotted St. Severin, a very old church that we have tried to visit on many occasions, and it has always been locked. This time -- open!

It was lovely, completely different in feeling from Notre Dame. Notre Dame is meant to overwhelm with its size and grandeur; St. Severein is smaller and more intimate. Notre Dame has maintained its iconic rose windows, while St. Severin has replaced its original windows with modern designs.