October 04, 2002
33. More Musées et Églises (Guest Writer: Dad)
Those that read Dad's View may have noticed a jag around the Luxembourg gardens. That is because I missed a picture, so here it is.
Gare d'Orsay was due to be demolished when the French decided to use it to house their collection of 19th Century art and it became Musee d'Orsay. It has art from 1848 to 1914.
Here are some photos.
Musee National du Moyen Age - Thermes et Hotel de Cluny. In 13C the Roman bath ruins were bought by Abbot of Cluny-en-Bourgogne to build residences for abbots visiting Paris. The present design was built in the 15C. After the revolution it was classed as state property and sold to various users including a surgeon, a cooper, a printer and a laundress. In 1819 the city of Paris aquired the baths and by 1844 it housed a collection of artefacts from the middle ages. The baths date from the 4C. The Roman baths and the room with the lopped heads of the Kings of Judah, remember them, fron Notre Dame Cathedral were closed. The museum is dedicated to the middle ages not middle aged like me.
The musée has tapestries and pottery.
La Basilique du Sacre-Coeur. After the Franco-Prussian war in 1870, which was so bad the Parisians had to urban hunt to survive, they decided to build a church. It was started in 1876 and completed in 1914 and is dedicated to the sacred heart of Jesus. We got off at the closest Metro, walked uphill about 4 blocks to the funicular then climbed more stairs to the church.
There are gardens below the church. this was taken from approximately the same spot as the photo above.
We were able to climb (290 steps) to the row of colums just below the dome and view Paris in all four directions.
Notre Dame d'Assumption was the smallest church we visited, but by no means the lowest. It had 36 pews and is a Polish church.
This church was started by Napoleon III and was consecrated in 1879. There was a poster with some Paris facts as of 1990. The highest point in Paris is 148m and the lowest 30.5m above sea level, the longest street is 4.36 km and the shortest is 5.7m, there are 36 bridges and 388 squares.
There is a replica of the Statue of Liberty in Paris.
For those who asked Ryan eats more than cheese and wine while wearing a beret
There is never a probleme in finding a place to park! If the parking is full you just use the sidewalk!
Hey everybody, it's me (Ryan) again, but only here at the bottom. Please thank my father again for his timely travel log. If only we all were so on schedule as he is!
Posted by The Inaccurate Tourist at October 4, 2002 12:00 PM