Europe, with an Arctic cruise, a Balkan tour and bits of France and Malta

[RooFlyer]

Les chefs d'oeuvre du musée I musée de Cluny

Du 1er au 16e siècle, parcourez l’histoire et celle de nos collections et de nos monuments à travers quelques-uns de nos plus beaux chefs d’œuvre.

www.musee-moyenage.fr

Drinking horn c1500



There are a number of 15-16th century tapestries - the best of which, the Landy and the Unicorn, I'll mention later, but here are a couple



Detail



This one is called Arithmetic and shows a young lady teaching the young men around her




The Wine Harvest, early 16th century



detail



Staimed glass of a knight, c1500




Various medieval altarpieces

 

[RooFlyer]

And now the highlight - the six 'Lady and the Unicorn' tapestries from the end of the 15th centuries. Unfortunately, the museum's English page for these doesn't seem to exist, but here's the French

La Dame à la licorne | Musée de Cluny

Le Toucher, le Goût, l’Odorat, l’Ouïe et la Vue… et une sixième pièce, avec une tente bleue et l’inscription mon seul désir : immédiatement reconnaissables

www.musee-moyenage.fr

or Wikipedia - you really do ned to have a read to understand the collection & its significance.

The Lady and the Unicorn - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

À Mon Seul Désir (to my only desire)



Detail:







'Hearing'





'Sight'

 

[ellen10]

Great photos @RooFlyer , thanks for sharing.
Those tapestries are amazing. I loved the photos of Notre Dame, so bright and light inside now. I am hoping to see it all for myself in September.
I originally went there in the 1980s.

 

[RooFlyer]

Well, that was bloody stressful. sick of getting to the airport super early and then hanging around for hours, I decided to only get to check in about 90 mins before departure to Vienna and then Dubrovnik ( both within Shengen), and it nearly ended in disaster.

Check in okay. Everything else okay, until I got to security. My carry on was selected for secondary screening. But when I got to the other side I realised that no one was doing the secondary screening and there were 4 bags in front of mine.

Then the lady came and started doing the secondary. I’ve never seen anything like it, even at Heathrow on its worst day. The couple in front had three items for screening - two were LARGE and the security officer took every. single. item out. Every zip was undone, every toiletriesbag was completely emptied. Every pair of jocks, every handkerchief, every soft item was individually squeezed and unfolded. EVERYTHING!

it was excruciating to watch. Every case had an explosive check. Of course there was an oversize container of liquid or gel strategically placed throughout their carry on. They got confiscated.

So after three of their stuff, the next one was the same.

When she started doing the secondary, there were 40 minutes till the gate (theoretically) closed. I got through with about 10 minutes to spare and worst of all,had to miss the lounge.!

Mine? My LAGS, phone and a lot of other stuff had gone through okay in my jacket. Maybe she got sick of it by this time, but mine was done in less than five minutes.

 

[kookaburra75]

The photos of Notre Dame are fantastic. We had the good fortune to visit it in 2016, and with the repairs/rebuild and a good clean it seems to be even better. I'll have to convince MrsK to go back, as while I love a good church or three, she is more of a 'one church per month' type of person.

 

[ellen10]

I understand your security angst. When we were departing Heathrow this time last year, it was crazy. Nearly every second bag was sent for secondary screening. Bags were lined up, one person doing the screening. Mine was about the eighth in line. Whilst standing there, a rather irate woman started to get heated waiting for her bag. There was a rather angry exchange between her and the young woman doing the screening. screening lady told her "I will not be talked to in that manner", picked up her bag and put it at the far end.
The rest of us just stood there "nicely" and waited patiently (and a little scared), another person came over to assist with screening, but it still took a long time and angry lady's bag was ignored.

I always like to go through immigration and screening as early as I can, much to my DH dismay. So sometimes it pays off, and we did get some lounge time!

 

[Seat0B]

Another comment on your great photos, and the amazing new lightness in the Notre Dame cathedral. We haven't visited it since winter 2006-2007, and it was certainly dark, dank and grimy at that time. It does look very crowded. I am personally very glad to be old enough to have visited a lot of these famous landmarks back in the day when there was not the same over-tourism - no entry tickets, no timed entry, no lines, no apps, just turn up and have a good look around. I kind of miss it.

 

[RooFlyer]

No fabulous food photos, sorry. I self catered that night from a supermarket type store in the railway station. Brekky also at the station coffee shop.

Today didn't start as expected. I was planning to go to the Catacombs but discovered this was also ticketed, bookings available for the next 7 days and ... totally sold out! I'll have to jump on a week before my last day in Paris, at the end of this month. I echo your sentiments @Seat0B !

But the first stop was always going to be Basilica Sacre Coeur at Montmartre. Missed doing this on two previous visits and I wasn't going to miss out this time! Vor those who don't know it, and its controversial history

Sacré-Cœur, Paris - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Basilique du Sacré-Cœur

La Basilique du Sacré-Cœur est un édifice religieux situé au sommet de la butte Montmartre à Paris.

www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com

Sacré-Cœur Basilica is located at the summit of the butte of Montmartre. From its dome two hundred meters above the Seine, the basilica overlooks the entire city of Paris and its suburbs. It is the second most popular tourist destination in the capital after the Eiffel Tower.

The basilica was first proposed by Felix Fournier, the Bishop of Nantes, in 1870 after the defeat of France and the capture of Napoleon III at the Battle of Sedan in the Franco-Prussian War. He attributed the defeat of France to the moral decline of the country since the French Revolution, and proposed a new Parisian church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The edifice was proposed before the outbreak of the Paris Commune but since it was constructed at the highest point of the city, overlooking the site of the outbreak of the Commune and the rest of the city, it has remained controversial with politicians of the French left, for whom it symbolizes the repression of the Communards.

The basilica was designed by Paul Abadie, whose Neo-Byzantine-Romanesque plan was selected from among seventy-seven proposals. Construction began in 1875 and continued for forty years under five different architects. Completed in 1914, the basilica was formally consecrated in 1919 after World War I.

The metro deposits you a few hundred metres away, whereupon you take a funicular up to the church which is, as noted, on a hill the highest point in Paris.

Or not. My two day transport pass needed a supplement to be paid, and there was a long queue, so I hoofed it up the steps.



From the top, there arr fantastic views over Paris





Notre Dame



Pompidou Centre



Louis XIV







There was a very cursory bag check before going in. Oh, that reminds me - there was NO security going into Notre Dame. Zilch. I thought that very odd.

 

[RooFlyer]

Of course the interior is stunning and a bit overwhelming.







What makes Sacre Coeur rather special are the mosaics. Lets start small, with scenes from the life of Christ on panels surrounding the altar

 

[TheRealTMA]

Of course the interior is stunning and a bit overwhelming.

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What makes Sacre Coeur rather special are the mosaics. Lets start small, with scenes from the life of Christ on panels surrounding the altar

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Much brighter than it used to be.

 

[RooFlyer]

Of course that ceiling image and all around it are also mosaics:

The Mosaic of the Sacred Heart

The Sacred Heart Mosaic of Montmartre is an iconic work located in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris. Created by the master glassmaker Lucien Bégule and inaugurated in 1923, it covers an impressive area of 480 square meters. This mosaic depicts Christ in majesty, surrounded by saints...

boutique.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com

The mosaic over the choir, entitled The Triumph of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is the largest and most important work of art in the church. It was created by Luc-Olivier Merson, H. M. Magne and R. Martin, and was dedicated in 1923. The mosaic is composed of 25,000 enamelled and gilded pieces of ceramic, and covers 475 square meters, making it one of the largest mosaics in the world.

 

[RooFlyer]

Much brighter than it used to be.

Its funny. It almost doesn't feel right. 'This isn't a very old cathedral'. Disney?

 

[SYD]

Its funny. It almost doesn't feel right. 'This isn't a very old cathedral'. Disney?

There’s a bunch of ~1000 year old Cathedrals that have completed their multi-decades long restorations (fortunately not all fire related), that removed centuries of smoke and incense and now look new as.

Cathedrals were the “multi-media” of the day and you can see why!

 

[RooFlyer]

Montmarte is very well known as being very trendy, with many artists, galleries, writers and restaurants/cafes. None of which interest me in the slightest, but I took a suggested walking route for an hour. It certainly is very nice and even bucolic in places. Many very peaceful little parks.











Moulin de la Galette - a restaurant but also a historical landmark.



Place Emile Goudeau

One of the key landmarks in Place Émile Goudeau is the Bateau-Lavoir, a former piano factory turned artists’ residence, famously home to Pablo Picasso and other luminaries like Amedeo Modigliani and Juan Gris. This building became a hub for the avant-garde movement, particularly Cubism, marking a significant departure from traditional artistic styles. The square’s rich history is also intertwined with the activities of the Hydropathes, a group of avant-garde writers and artists led by Émile Goudeau himself, who gathered here to share their work and challenge conventional norms

 

[RooFlyer]

As you walk down the hill, you come to Boulevarde de Clichy and ... oh my. My mother never told me about this side of Paris.





People still buy DVDs?



Until I came to the Moulin Rouge at Blanche metro station. I think I went there once. I was on a work trip with a bunch of Aussie colleagues (we worked for investment bank Société Générale, with its HQ at La Defence) and the local office arranged a 'night on the town' as reward for a very good year. There were lots of feathers but I don't recall exactly where it was. Different age back then!

 

[RooFlyer]

From the ridiculous to the sublime. Eglise St Germaine des Pres . I'm not RC so couldn't even do Confession.

Saint-Germain-des-Prés (abbey) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Its the oldest church in Paris; formerly an abbey. The extant bell tower was begun in 990.

A Roman temple was located close to the site of the church, and a Roman road, parallel to the Seine, passed by the site, built well above the river to avoid flooding.

The Abbey was founded in the 6th century by Childebert I (ruled 511–558), the son of Clovis I, the first King of the Franks. It was built especially to display two important relics acquired by Childebert during the siege of Saragossa in Spain; a fragment of the True Cross and a fragment of the tunic of the martyr Saint Vincent. The first abbot was Droctovaeus, a pupil of the Bishop Saint Germain.

The Abbey was formally dedicated in 558, the same year that Childebert died. His tomb was placed within the church and the Abbey became the first necropolis for the tombs of the early Kings of France, before this function was transferred to the Basilica of Saint-Denis. The basilica and the monastery were first dedicated to the Holy Cross and to Saint Vincent, then, in about 754, to Saint Germain of Paris, a noted bishop of Paris whose tomb was placed in the church in 576. The tombs were later removed, and no medieval tombs remain in the church.

The church and monastery were destroyed twice by the Vikings during their invasions at the end of the 9th century. The Abbey church was rebuilt by the Abbé Morard at the 10th century, and the rest of the monastery by the end of the 13th century. The first four levels of the bell tower, the nave and the transept date from this period. A number of carved column capitals and vestiges of frescoes from this period are also found in the church.

Under royal patronage the Abbey became one of the most important centers of scholarship in Europe. In the Eleventh century it housed an important scriptorium which produced scholarly manuscripts which were distributed throughout Europe. It remained a center of spiritual, intellectual and artistic activity until the end of the 18th century.

Unfortunately I didn't properly research the church before I went so unfortunately missed many of the unique features, in particular the significant art. Hate that.

Bell tower from 990



















And the first use of flying buttresses!

 

[RooFlyer]

St Sulpice was close to where I was, so why not? Its the second largest church in Paris after Notre Dame; in fact it was built to rival Notre Dame - construction began in the mid 1600s

Église Saint-Sulpice de Paris — Wikipédia

fr.wikipedia.org

It featured in The Davinci Code - the bit about the Paris Meridian and the Rose Line. Its just a inlaid brass line part of an sundial:

St Sulpice Church - Da Vinci Code - History

St Sulpice Church, the 2nd largest church in Paris and masterpiece of French architecture, has a sundial which has been associated with the Da Vinci Code

www.travelfranceonline.com

From 1:30:

A market in the park in front made photographing the front difficult







Above the crossing pf the transept







The organ

 

[RooFlyer]

The Chapel of the Virgin














One of a pair of clamshell baptismal fonts

 

[RooFlyer]

Up at a chipper 5AM for a 7:05 flight to Dubrovnik via Vienna, on Austrian.

Again, the wonder that is T1 at CDG





Check-in was easy, and then there was the drama at security recounted above. No time to visit the lounge, we boarded on time and got away almost on time.

OS420, CDG-VIE, A320, 1A, dep 7:09am, arr 8:53am

J was almost empty and I had the entire row to myself.



People may say 'Why bother with Euro-business?" Answer "Because its not Euro-economy". This was highlighted on the next leg.

No PDB. Crew was pleasant enough without being wonderful. I needed breakfast and wondered what the choices would be. Answer - none. The curtains were closed for 10 mins or so and then my breakfast was brought out. No "will you be having breakfast with us Mr Rooflyer?"; the tray was just presented to me.

As it happens, it was one of the better in flight omelettes I've had.



Arrived Vienna and had a devil of a time finding the Lounge. I got the Senator lounge courtesy of my SQ Gold, courtesy of my HSBC card. Not much above basic, surprising for their flagship terminal.



Late-breakfast buffet looked OK, but not that appealing



Aren't Austrian lounges supposed to have chocolates? Couldn't see any.

Next leg,

OS731, VIE-DBV, A320, 1A, dep 11:am arr 12:26am

The flight was full but business was only about 1/2 full. Interesting thing at the gate. They called for people to check bags. One guy came forward and did so, and was met with applause and appreciation from the gate agents. This seemed to encourage others to also check their carry-ons. Maybe other airlines might copy this.

Being a short flight, with 11am departure, I didn't know what sort of meal there would be. Exactly as before, curtains were closed and then out came my tray, no questions asked. A salad with shaved beef over it; a snack I guess. Not great for business.

 

[RB001]

SWISS is the chocolate airline.