Paris = Fashion...These past ten days in Paris have been a dream and I hardly know where to begin. My head is spinning with all that I've done and all that I've seen. I tried to squeeze in as much as possible during that time and I took hundreds of photos and filled up two sketchbooks. I bought countless postcards (including this fun one) and dragged back far too many heavy books on fashion. I am filled up with inspiration and delight. It will take me some time to digest it and incorporate it into my artwork and my writing. Stay tuned as I make Paris my muse!
Showing posts with label Postcards from Paris. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Postcards from Paris. Show all posts
Paris is my Muse!
Paris = Fashion...These past ten days in Paris have been a dream and I hardly know where to begin. My head is spinning with all that I've done and all that I've seen. I tried to squeeze in as much as possible during that time and I took hundreds of photos and filled up two sketchbooks. I bought countless postcards (including this fun one) and dragged back far too many heavy books on fashion. I am filled up with inspiration and delight. It will take me some time to digest it and incorporate it into my artwork and my writing. Stay tuned as I make Paris my muse!
Postcards from Paris - Arc de Triomphe
La place de l'Etoile, devenue place Charles -de-Gaulle et l'Arc de TriompheTwelve avenues radiate from the Arc de Triomphe, the customary starting point for victory celebrations and parades in Paris. This 50 metre high monumental building was conceived by Napolean after his greatest military victory the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805. Having promised his men that "You shall go home beneath triumphal arches", the first stone was laid the following year and work was completed in 1836 after many delays and disruptions (including Napolean's fall from power).
Postcards from Paris - The Basilica of the Sacre-Coeur
La Basilique du Sacre-Coeur, Paris35 Rue adu Chevalier de la Barre, 75018
Bascilica open 6 am - 11 pm daily
When Prussia invaded France in 1870, two Catholic businessmen made a private religious vow to build a church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Christ if Paris was spared. Despite the lengthy siege of the city, the two men survived. Their project was taken up by Archbishop Guibert of Paris and work began in 1875 to Paul Abadie's Romano-Byzantine designs. The bascilica was completed in 1914 but consecration was forestalled until 1919 due to the war.
The Basilica, which is located in the artist's mecca of Montemartre, contains exquisite stained glass windows, a colossal mosaic of Christ in the chancel vault, a statue of Jone of Arc and many other religious treasures.
Postcards from Paris - Musee d'Orsay
Fin d'arabesque, 1876-1877 Edgar DegasMusee d'Orsay
St-Germain des Pres
01 40 49 49 78
The Musee d'Orsay is home to the arts of 1848 to 1914 and includes many works that originally came from the Louvre. Opened in 1986, 47 years after it closed as a mainline railroad station, the Musee d'Orsay has an outstanding collection of Impressionist art, including many of my favourite Impressionist paintings by Degas, Manet, Monet, Morisot and Fantin-Latour.
Postcards from Paris: Notre-Dame
Notre-Dame de ParisThe first stone of this Gothic masterpiece on the Ile de la Cite was laid by Pope Alexander III in 1163 on the site of a Roman temple. Completed 170 years later, the Notre-Dame is remarkable for the spectacular flying buttresses on the east end and beautiful stained glass Rose windows on the south and west facade. Works by important sculptors adorn the cathedral including Jean Ravy's old choir screen carvings, Nicolas Coustou's Pieta and Antoine Coysevox's Louis XIV statue.
During the French Revolution, the cathedral was ransacked, religion banned, and the church changed into a temple for the Cult of Reason. At one point it was even used as a wine store!
Napolean restored the cathedral and religion in 1804 and was crowned here, as were many kings and emperors.
Le Sacre de Napoleon 1st, detail de Josephine, 1806-1807 Louis David (1748-1825)
Postcards from Paris - Musee du Louvre
La Venus de Milo - La Jaconde - La Victoire de Samothrace
Musee du Louvre
Tuilleries Quarter
Open 9 am - 6 pm Wednesday through Monday (closed Tuesday)
Free first Sunday of the month
The Musee du Louvre is home to one of the largest and most important art collections in the world. This vast museum, which began as a medieval fortress in the late 12th century, includes collections of:
European Painting 1200 - 1850
European Sculpture 1100-1850
Oriental antiquities
Egyptian antiquities
Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities
Arts of Islam, Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas
Objects d'art (decorative arts like jewelry, furniture, tapestries)
Most people come to the Louvre to see the infamous Mona Lisa (La Gioconda) by Leonardo da Vinci, 1504 and never take time to see the many treasures in the Louvre. Sometimes I've been the only person in the galleries containing objects d'art. But is there any less artistry in this exquisite tapestry Eros and Psyche (c.1770)?
Vintage Postcards from Versailles
Le Panorama de VersaillesThe Sun King, Louis XIV, made Versailles into the centre of political power in France during his reign. Originally a modest hunting lodge, Chateau de Versailles grew as a series of envelopes enfolding the original building, whose low brick wall is still visible in the centre. Evenutally, Versailles became the largest palace in Europe and was able to house 20,000 people at a time.
In 1838, an English visitor by the name of William Talmadge wrote: "The place is vast beyond all English imagination: one can hardly conceive it according to its purpose as a place of residence."
Versailles
01 30 83 78 00
Open 9am - 5 pm daily (summer hours until 6 pm)
www.chateauversailles.fr
P.S. This postcard was sent to me by my mother who visited Versailles about 25 years ago.