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NOTE: Some of the links are to articles which are in French. Just right-click on the linked web page and select "translate". If you have any trouble with that please let me know and I will send you a translation.





Cats and Babies

Tommy has mellowed significantly in his old age. Look how pretty he is and how cute the kit-kats are. They are all so very sweet.

Speaking of sweet, sweet babies, John's sister, Mary, is now a very proud great-grandmother to a bundle of joy baby boy. His middle name is William after Mary's husband, a very sweet and interesting man who was a regular long time photographer for the Monterey (California) Blues festival. We all miss Will very much.

Buster watching the cats'
favorite YouTube channel 		Charlie and Buster taking their
afternoon nap together. 		Tommy
Charlie and Buster on a different afternoon. What are you doing, Mom? Sometimes Buster get the chair to himself.





Around Rennes

John took some photos of the changing art on billboards in our neighborhood. It's always a pleasure to see the new art every month.

New art is going up on the
billboard near our home. 		Worker preparing another art piece. Early morning walk in Thabor Park.
The moon was still out on
this cold winter morning. 		Another view of the garden section
of Thabor Park. 		French bakery selling hot dog buns.
Lots of goodies to temp folks. And more... And even more...





Rennes Opera House

For our 20 year wedding anniversary we went to the Rennes Opera House. John and I both took photos, A few are included below. It's a lovely opera house inside and out. Although we've lived here 5 years it was our first visit inside. A regional competition of local opera singers was ongoing. The winners from Btittany will compete with other region's winners later this year in Paris.

The exterior of the Rennes Opera House. The performers were accompanied by a pianist. There are two levels of seating above
the ground floor.
The interior hall is in
a horseshoe configuration. 		The ceiling of the hall. The ceiling above the stage.
An overhead view of the popular carousel. Another view of the Place de Mairie
from the Opera House. 		You can see city hall (Mairie de Rennes) through the windows on the second story.
Several views of the Opera's salon follow.
This evacuation plan shows
the Opera House layout.





Paris

Finally, post COVID, we took another trip to Paris. We went to the Orsay museum to see the Edvard Munch special exhibit and some of the permanent exhibits, to lunch on the Seine and then to Sainte-Chapelle a beautiful chapel commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of religious relics. It comes in number one on this list of the 10 most famous stained glass windows from around the world.





Paris transportation

The trains here are wonderful. We bought the cheap Ouigo train tickets (but first class with amazing facilities and comfort). The train speed was 300 km/hour and the trip from Rennes to Paris took only 1 hour and 15 minutes. We arrived to Paris at the Gare Montparnasse. The station has very long flat people movers and some see-through escalators. You can watch the stairs fold and go back under the escalator on the return trip to the starting place of the escalator. I couldn't find a video of the Gare Montparnasse glass sided escalator but here is that view at a shoe store in Dresden, Germany (at 55 seconds). The glass sided escalators in Paris are a bit prettier, though, with a shiny metallic structure underneath.

Gare Montparnasse is also famous for its 1895 train derailment. The wiki about it is an interesting read. I sometimes think of that train as we pull in to Gare Montparnasse. Watch this 5 minute video reconstruction of the train wreak. This accident was also depicted in the Martin Scorsese movie "Hugo".

The Montparnasse district itself is very interesting with a very strong artistic component and history. Read about it here.

Our train to Paris. The view of Paris upon arriving. Paris train station. The circles are
for social distancing.
Another view of Gare Montparnasse. Five trains ready for departure. Waiting for the Paris Métro.
Another view of the Paris Métro.





Paris along the Seine

Due to Covid it had been a few years since we went to Fajitas, formerly my favorite Mexican restaurant in Paris. It's very hard to find good Mexican food in France. This time I was less happy with the food than I had been previously. We will have Mexican food in Paris again but we'll try another Mexican restaurant in whatever area of town we are visiting. Italian food is usually very good in France and John loves it so we'll visit those and other restaurants, too. Some of my friends said we should only eat French food while we are in Paris because it is excellent cuisine. Excellent French food is everywhere in France. Good Mexican food is rare.I love respectable Mexican food. Fortunately, there are a great many 4 and 5 star Mexican restaurants along the Seine and throughout Paris.

After leaving Fajitas we noticed a "dog services" shop across the street. Our friends Doc and Marion use such services when they visit museums in Paris as museums don't allow dogs (although seemingly every other business in France does) and they take their little dog, Sparky, everywhere with them.

We walked along the Seine near Pont Neuf, the oldest stone bridge in Paris. Henri IV ordered it to be constructed in 1578. Nearby Fontaine Saint-Michel is located between the boulevard Saint-Michel and the Place Saint-André-des-Arts. It fountain's sculpture depicts the archangel Michael vanquishing the Devil.

From a distance we saw Notre Dame - still under repair. It's been closed since the April 15, 2019 fire and will re-open next year on April 15, 2014, exactly 5 years after the fire.

We crossed Pont Saint-Michel (the bridge traversing from the left bank to the Île de la Cité, the island in the river Seine (where Paris originated) and enjoyed the amazing view along the Seine.

Some of the interior decor of our favorite Mexican restaurant in Paris. Another view of the Fajitas restaurant. A "dog services" shop across from
the Fajitas restaurant.
Looking down the Seine at Pont Neuf with a closed Bouquiniste (bookseller stall) to the left. Tribunal Correctionnel de Paris and a tour boat. Pont Saint-Michel with Notre Dame
in the background.
Fontaine Saint-Michel from across the street. Notre Dame under repair. Looking northwest along the Seine on
the Pont Saint-Michel.
Palais de Justice de Paris Great looking street lights. Métro station.
Typical Paris. Lots of plants, shops
and bicycle rentals.





Musée d'Orsay

The giant clock of the Musée d'Orsay is from when it was a train station pre-1939. It seems to me that, in Paris, any building no longer suiting its usual function is turned into a museum. Just an outsider's observation. Because it is ornate and beautiful, Musée d'Orsay is often used as a movie backdrop for films about French artists and Paris. Read about the cinema collections at the Museum d'Orsay.

Located on the Rive Gauche (Left Bank) of the River Seine, Orsay is close to many must-see locations in Paris. Reading about the museum's history before you journey will greatly enhance your visit. Here's a useful (albeit long) video titled "The Many Lives Of The Musée D'Orsay".

Next door to the Musée d'Orsay is Le musée de la Légion d'honneur et des ordres de chevalerie (the Museum of the National Legion of Honor). We haven't been inside yet but we will on a near future trip. Check out what the Napolean Foundation has to say about the Legion of Honor Museum.

Edvard Munch Special Exhibition
Even though it's winter, aka off-tourist season, the museum was very crowded. Because Covid restrictions and concerns are much less now, for the first time in three years, we are all scratching the itch to travel. John and I still wear masks inside businesses and public transportation and we wash our hands or use sanitizer often.

From September 20th, 2022 to January 22nd, 2023 in collaboration with the Munch Museum in Oslo, the Musée d'Orsay devoted an exhibition to the famous Norwegian painter Edvard Munch (1863-1944). John took dozens of photographs of Munch's works. You can see many of those images below.

Musée d'Orsay, former train station. Next door to the Musée d'Orsay is the Museum of the National Legion of Honor. The clock from when the Musée d'Orsay
was a train station.
Statue of Liberty Edvard Munch self portrait Edvard Munch, Evening, 1888
Edvard Munch, Inger on the Beach, 1889 Edvard Munch, Puberty Edvard Munch, Sick Mood at Sunset. Despair
Edvard Munch, The Sick Child, 1907 Edvard Munch, The Kiss, 1897 Edvard Munch, Vampire, 1895
Edvard Munch, Dancing on a Shore, 1900 Edvard Munch, Red and White, 1899 Edvard Munch, Melancholy, 1891
Edvard Munch, Evening on Karl Johan Street, 1892 Edvard Munch, The Scream Edvard Munch, At the Deathbed, 1895
Edvard Munch, Death Struggle, 1915 Edvard Munch, The Sick Child, 1896 Edvard Munch, Vampire II, 1895-1902
Edvard Munch, The Brooch, 1903 Edvard Munch, Vampire in the Forest, 1920s Edvard Munch, The Dance of Life, 1921
Edvard Munch, The Girls on the Bridge, 1935 Edvard Munch, The Kiss IV Edvard Munch, Jealousy, 1907
Edvard Munch, Self-portrait.
The Night Wanderer, 1923 		Edvard Munch, Henrik Ibsen at the Grand Café Edvard Munch, Self-Portrait in Distress, 1920
Edvard Munch, The Sun, 1912 Edvard Munch, Girls Watering Flowers, 1904 Edvard Munch, Summer Night
Edvard Munch, Self-Portrait with Striped Pullover, 1940 Edvard Munch, Starry Night, 1920s Edvard Munch, Self-Portrait in Hell, 1903
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Gabrielle with a Rose, 1911 Claude Monet, Waterlily Pond, Harmony in Pink Claude Monet, Rouen Cathedral, 1892
Claude Monet, Woman with a Parasol, 1886 Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Dance at the Moulin Gallette, 1876 Interior of one of the large clocks.
Gustave Caillebotte, Sunflowers, Garden at
Petit Gennevilliers, ca. 1885 		Edgar Degas, Ballerina Maximilien Luce, A Paris Street in May 1871, 1903
Lines forming up to enter the museum
as we were leaving.





Sainte-Chapelle

The Sainte-Chapelle is a royal chapel in the Gothic style, within the medieval Palais de la Cité. Nicknamed "jewel box" church, there are over a thousand stained glass windows in the chapel. Arranged across 15 windows, each 15 metres high, the upper chapel's stained glass panes depict 1,113 scenes from the Old and New Testaments recounting the history of the world until the arrival of the relics in Paris. A quick Google search will show that the chapel and palais that contains it has a very impressive historical, construction and artistic background.

Sainte-Chapelle is one of the earliest surviving buildings of the Capetian royal palace on the Île de la Cité. It was the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century. The chapel is operated as a museum by the French Centre of National Monuments, along with the nearby Conciergerie, the other remaining vestige of the original palace. It was commissioned by King Louis IX of France to house his collection of religious relics, including Christ's Crown of Thorns which was later held in the nearby Notre-Dame Cathedral until the 2019 fire, which it survived.

My sister Linda has been doing stained glass for years. I think she would love this place. The downstairs part is where friends of the king could worship and upstairs - a very elaborate and much larger section - is where the king and his close friends practiced religion. The building was completed in 1248. It has one of the most extensive 13th-century stained glass collections anywhere in the world.

13th Century Sainte-Chapelle was the royal chapel for the kings of France. The ceiling of the lower level. Lower chapel, with statue of Louis IX
Ceiling vaults of the lower level. Medieval stairs connect the two levels.
Not for the claustrophobic. 		First view of the upper chapel.
The stained-glass on the west wall. The apse of the upper chapel. Vaults of the upper chapel.
The chapel's west rose window Interior of the west facade. Detail from the west facade.
Looking towards the apse.