Day 5 / Flea Market, Notre Dame and meeting a teacher from Georgia! Grand finalé - Eiffel Tower in Lights.

Today, I started out early by going to the Catacombs again (second try), but it appeared to be several hours of waiting in line, and there are so many other things to see, I moved on to the Flea Market. 

Now, I've been to a lot of Flea Markets, but I've never seen an entire market full of really amazing trinkets. Each item seemed special and unique. There were metal and leather stamping supplies, jewelry, old paintings, and all kinds of French tableware. It would take an entire day to see everything. It's a good thing this market ended at noon!

 

Next stop - Notre Dame Cathedral!

 

Notre-Dame was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttresses, althought they were not in the original construction. They were added at a later date.  These flying buttesses are arched exterior supports for the building. 

A flying buttress, close-up.

 

Interior of Notre Dame Cathedral.

The famous stained glass Rose windows!

 

 

Notre Dame Cathedral from the back.

After posing for the above picture, I met Susan, a fellow teacher from Georgia! She asked me about my fellowship, and that's what started our conversation. She had some great advice about how she teaches about France and architecture. I'm looking forward to her emails once I get back home.

In Paris, there is always time for a grand finalé for the evening. I can't seem to get enough of the Eiffel Tower. Here's another pic of the tower over the Seine River!

Bonne Nuit! ("Good night!" in French)

Day 4 / Pantheon, Pompidou (part 2), Intro to The Louvre

Day 4 - Friday

Today I was up at 5 a.m., ready to visit the Catacombs. Once I made it there and saw the extremely long line that wrapped around the block, I made a swift change of plans. ...on to the Pantheon!

What an amazing masterpiece of neoclassical architecture, with Gothic decorations mixed in with a distinctly classical style!  This monument was changed into  a mausoleum to bury important and distinguished Frenchmen.  It was also fascinating to enter the crypt underneath the church that became the final resting place for Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Louis Braille, Marie Curie, and many other famous writers, poets and scientists.

The Pantheon in Paris, France

...of course, I had to snap a picture to show my students!

Looking up, while outside on the front area of the Pantheon. The design and architecture was magnificent!

The inside of the Pantheon. I was able to capture a 360º panorama to show my students! This creates a virtual image that can be spun, moved around and interacted with on the ipad or iphone.

Another photograph of the interior of the Pantheon.

A small replica of the Pantheon was inside of the Pantheon. I was able to make a video going around this piece to show my students the church. I would have made a 3D capture of the mini Pantheon, but the fence did not allow visitors to go all around the replica.

Inside the crypt. This is a sculpture of an Egyptian cat (not a real cat).

After visiting the Pantheon, I decided to visit The Louvre with the mission to capture/video/photograph most of the really famous pieces that I know are always crowded with visitors. I thought if I could go and see these pieces at night just before closing time, it might keep the crowds from interrupting the process of capturing each piece. This strategy worked! I was able to see all of the really famous pieces with minimal crowds! Later in my visit, I plan to see the rest of The Louvre.

 

Inside the large pyramid that serves as the main entrance to the Louvre, completed in 1989. It consists of 603 rhombus-shaped and 70 triangular glass segments and was designed by the architect the architect I. M. Pei. 

The Winged Victory of Samothrace (or the Nike of Samothrace) is prominently displayed at The Louvre. 

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci (1503-1517) was highly protected behind a bar and glass. Guards were also posted on either side. It looked small from such a distance, but was still quite spectacular to see in person!

The Lacemaker is a painting by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). It, too, was much smaller in person than I imagined it would be! It is actually the smallest of Vermeer's paintings!

Visitors to The Louvre look at The Lacemaker by Vermeer.

A view looking outside from a window in The Louvre.

The Inverted Pyramid is a skylight in the shopping mall in front of the Louvre Museum. It looks like an upside-down and smaller version of the Louvre Pyramid.

...made it to closing time. I'm glad I planned to come back another day to visit The Louvre in more depth. There is so much to see, it will take many more hours to fully experience it. I'm really looking forward to the Egyptian collection!

Day 3 - Palace of Versailles and Pompidou Museum

Day 3 - Thursday
Today, I took a day trip to the Palace of Versailles! I left at 7 a.m., but there was a slight travel problem at the station in that one of the trains I needed to catch kept running late due to an accident. Late turned into several hours, and the hours allowed time and reason to meet new Canadian friends! Catarine, her daughter, Sylvie, and their family were trying to get to Versailles too, and were tired of waiting on the absent train.  Since they knew of another way to get there by bus, I followed along.  By the time I arrived in Versailles, it was 12 p.m., much later than planned, but meeting these lovely people made it all worthwhile!

At the entrance to Louis XVI's former power base, there stands a new (2008) replica of the original wrought iron and gold leaf gate which took two years to create.  This gate was crafted with a total of 100,000 gold leaves! The original was built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in the 1680's, but was torn down in the French Revolution.

Equestrian statue of King Louis XIV, outside the front of the palace.

Paintings on the ceiling of the palace are all fit for a king!

Ornate decorative relief in the palace

Hall of Mirrors

While at the palace, I was fortunate to see work by contemporary artist, Anish Kapoor. These were both reflective works, dealing with curved mirrors used strategically within the space. The above sculpture was just outside the back door of the palace.

This sculpture by Anish Kapoor overlooks the extensive Versailles gardens.

...of course, I had to get a picture with the art and the palace!

Basin de Latone - Latona Fountain with the tapis vert and the Grand Canal in the background

Statue in gardens of Versailles.

Bronze statue by the Water Parterre that symbolizes the four great sea-going rivers of France and its next four principal rivers. Greeks and Romans depicted rivers as reed-crowned bearded old men, holding a horn of plenty or an oar to demonstrate how the water is a source of wealth.

To conclude an already amazing day spent learning about the history of France and the artists and architects that were responsible for this enthralling palace, I decided to finish up at the Pompidou Center. The architecture of the Center is quite distinctive, to say the least. The building appears to be constructed 'inside out' with the inner-workings and systems (heating and cooling pipes, etc.) are on the outside as a decorative feature!

Centre Pompidou

View from the upper balcony of the Pompidou Center.

Installation art by Cuban artist Wilfredo Prieto. Avalanche, 2003

Yves Klein is known for his solid-color canvasses. He painted this one in ultramarine blue because he believed that blue could change the world. He employed a chemist to create this blue color for him to prevent fading (the color was called IKB for International Klein Blue).                                                                                                                                                     The significance of blue in artwork throughout the ages is depiced in a kid-friendly way on this blog (note- the podcast has parts that may not be appropriate for all ages).  http://artsandfacts.blogspot.com/2014/04/episode-102-blue.html

François Morellet's artwork in the Pompidou demonstrates a direct connection of art to math by his use of geometry. Although this piece has nothing but straight lines on it, the way the artist positions the lines makes it appear that there are circles (or curved lines) on the canvas.

Jackson Pollock, Number 26 A, Black and White, 1948   My young students have always enjoyed creating their own drip paintings inspired by the Abstract Expressionist art of Jackson Pollock.

A perspective drawing by an artist featured at Pompidou that I thought my students would like to see. My 3rd, 4th and 5th graders made one and two point perspective drawings last school year.

Pablo Picasso, Arlequin, 1923

A close-up of the Picasso shows the detail and line work by the artist.

Wassily Kandinsky "Gelb-Rot-Blau," 1925. My students always enjoy studying Kandinsky. Viewing his artwork during class encourages the study of line, form, shape, balance and color.

Close-up of Paul Klee, "Pfeil im Garten", 1929.

Piet Mondrian, Composition in Red, Blue and White II, 1937. My younger students created Mondrian-inspired works of art last school year. I'm so excited to be able to see some of his pieces in person and to bring a more personal approach into future classroom presentations after this trip!

There are so many other Modern artists at the Pompidou. It was really a wonderful experience to be able to see the artwork of famed and internationally renown artists up close and in person! There was so much to see, I stayed until the museum closed.
Dinner was on the Pompidou Center rooftop, overlooking the city. What a relaxing conclusion to a full day of experiential learning!