Emma’s Adventures Abroad

On Sunday, a few of us decided to go up to Giverny to see Monet’s Gardens and house. I’ve always wanted to go through hearing friends and family describe how beautiful it was and I finally got to do it. The gardens were beautiful with every type of flower you could imagine. Even more so each row of flowers were color coordinated, one row with pink flowers, one with yellow and orange etc. These rows all led up to the house Monet lived in. The outside of the house was interesting with its pink stucco and green shutters, but the inside was even more colorful. Almost all the crown molding and doors were painted bright colors. In some rooms the doors were purple and pink, in some a bright sky blue. If the rooms were bright colors, there would be floral wallpaper covering the walls. My favorite room in the house was the dining room. The whole room was this bright sun yellow. The sideboards, curios, tables, walls, and floor were all various shades of yellow that made you think you were walking into a field of sunflowers. After the house we went to the second set of gardens on the property. This was where the lakes and lily pads were and it was also beautiful. My favorite part of this garden were the arched green bridges that took you over the lake. It was the inspiration for his most popular paintings and I can see why. The lake was filled with lily pads all in bloom and it was beautiful. You could also see birds and ducks swimming around in the lake as well. One of the bridges is covered with vines which are beautiful as well. Based on some of Monet’s paintings those vines bloom into what looks like wisteria. While we weren’t able to see the flowers in bloom, it was still beautiful. Behind the lake and behind his house, there is this large hill where you can see trees and small farm houses. There were also horses on the hill roaming around which further added to the calm nature of Giverny. It was so serene and peaceful and if I’m ever in France again, I definitely would love to go back.

This past weekend I was able to go to a couple places, the first being Chateau Chenonceau located along the Loire Valley in France. It was a beautiful old chateau built in the 16th century by King Henry II of France. While it was beautiful, it was also smaller than what I would expect for a king of France. On the first floor it had what I assume was a parlor of sorts, a dining room and a study. All were beautifully decorated with tapestries and wallpapers of various sorts. I don’t know if those were original to the structure when it was built, but they were still beautiful and preserved very well. One interesting thing I noticed about the tile in the main parlor was that in most of the room it was this simple stone tile, but as you looked towards the edges of the room you could see that it once had a beautiful and intricate motif that was worn away over time. There were two other levels above the first floor filled with bedrooms with beautiful fireplaces and woodwork along with balconies that overlooked the river and the gardens surrounding the chateau. My favorite level, however, was the basement. The way the kitchens were set up and decorated were beautiful with all the old copper pots and pans, the wooden sideboards and curios filled with kitchen utensils and the flowers and dried herbs hanging around the place. In places like this, I often don’t get to see what the kitchens or servants quarters looked like and it was really cool to see. 

The gardens themselves surrounding the estate were also gorgeous. They were smaller than most gardens I’ve seen and definitely not on the grand scale of a place like Versailles but I almost like that more. You could see the design of the garden a lot better and allowed the chateau to be the main focus of the property. The river behind the chateau was also beautiful. While we were there, there was a boat parade of sorts going by. Each boat had a different theme and different boat style to it. Some looked like old pirate ships and some looked like ancient roman vessels. I don’t know if it’s something that happens regularly but it was cool to see and very unexpected. If I’m ever in France again, I would love to just go up and down the Loire Valley to visit the many chateaus that are spread along the river.

A couple weekends ago I got to go to Luxembourg and was able to visit the Catacombs there. I thought it was really interesting because the vision in my head of what Catacombs looked like was vastly different from what I saw. There were no bones and if dead bodies were stored down there, they are long gone. It was built into Bock Promontory in 1745 and used until after the second world war. It was mostly used as a place to hold military personnel and weapons if there was ever an attack on the city but also would hold prisoners especially when the castle above was still operational. Another interesting thing about this set of catacombs is that it’s under an old  castle but it isn’t underground in the same sense that the French catacombs are. They are on the side of the mountain with plenty of viewpoints out into the city for fresh air and most likely cannon use. Surrounding the catacombs are the old city walls which were cool to see as well.

Earlier this week I was able to go into the Paris Catacombs. Those were a lot different than the ones in Luxembourg. This was specifically built to hold dead bodies because the french cemeteries were getting too full. At the time the location of the catacombs were near the edge of the city, but with the city’s growth, it is now well within the city limits. Over 6 million bodies were transferred there and arranged in a way to look like a pattern of femurs and skulls. The interesting thing is that this was meant to be viewed as an attraction from the beginning and guests would go down and view the skeletons. Along the lines of what I thought the Luxembourg catacombs would look like. It’s amazing how two places called the same name can be so vastly different from each other. It makes me question why the Luxembourg Catacombs were called catacombs in the first place.

Attached below are pictures from the Luxembourg Catacombs and under that are photos of the Paris Catacombs.

Over the weekend I got to do many things that weren’t necessarily exciting, but were nice activities that were at a much slower pace than what usually happens during the week. On Thursday, the day before Bastille Day, I was able to go on a picnic and watch fireworks. Even though it wasn’t actually on Bastille Day, the fireworks show was still amazing and also a lot less crowded than on actual Bastille Day. What was cool about the fireworks show is it seemed to celebrate the world and different cultures and wasn’t just about France. In America on July Fourth, the fireworks are about America and America only. Here it seemed to celebrate France, but other people and cultures as well. 

On Saturday, I got to go to a flea market which was cool. There aren’t many where I live and it was nice to see what it was like. It was very large with all sorts of vendors ranging from old toys to large antique pieces of furniture. It was fun to go around and look at all the knick knacks that the market had to offer. I love to collect old antique trinkets and I managed to find an old pair of 1930’s opera glasses along with a small antique picture frame.

Earlier today was also very enjoyable and relaxing. It was a nice day and I went to Luxembourg Gardens with a few people and had a small picnic. After that I spent the whole afternoon in the park reading and just enjoying being outside. It was great and a peaceful way to end a rather relaxing weekend.

Earlier this week, one of our class excursions was to the area of Paris known as Bercy. It quickly became one of my favorite excursions I’ve done through this class mainly due to the fact that it looked different from the majority of the rest of Paris. It was a lot newer in terms of construction and had a different feel from the stone buildings that are around the rest of Paris. One of my favorite places we went that day was the National Library of Paris. I remember learning about this building during the spring semester, never thinking I’d go and visit it. It’s so much bigger in person with its four research centers on each corner made to look like open books and the actual library itself was under those research centers with a large courtyard in the center full of trees and plants which almost made me feel like I was in a tree house. It also had an exhibition of two globes commissioned by Louis XIV which were very cool to see. It amazed me that something almost 300 years old was so well preserved. It was also funny to see how people viewed and mapped the world 300 years ago.

Another thing in Bercy I was able to do was go through the old warehouses in Bercy village. They were once a place where wine was packaged and stored and brought into the city. They now have been repurposed as a place for restaurants and shopping. I think that is a great idea because it brings people into this area and reuses these buildings that would’ve fallen into disrepair otherwise. It gave these buildings a new life and also teaches people what this area of Paris was once used for. Overall I loved Bercy because it blends the older, lesser known history of the area with new architecture that has brought people into the area that otherwise wouldn’t have thought of this place as one to live or visit.

Attached below in order are pictures of the National Library of Paris, the Globe Exhibit and the Bercy Village shopping center.

Over the weekend I was able to visit the country of Luxembourg. While Paris has been amazing so far, it was exciting to go and visit another part of Europe. It was very interesting to me how, even though France and Luxembourg are so close, they are so vastly different. While in Luxembourg, I got to go visit a museum that showed over a thousand years of Luxembourg’s history. It was amazing to see how this country grew from a small outpost village into its own country. Its history is far different than that of Paris, especially in the history of its buildings. 

In the city of Luxembourg, there are a ton of old ruins that still remain and can be explored by the public. Old stone castles that have been standing for over a thousand years can be spotted on various street corners right next to modern buildings such as a convenience store built 3 years ago. Luxembourg doesn’t seem to have quite as strict building laws or as homogeneous facades as in Paris, but they still maintain their historic buildings whether they become a city hall or a cafe. They are repurposed and reused to serve a new modern purpose to keep the buildings from falling into disarray. Luxembourg also is far more understated and simple. When I first saw the city, it’s what I imagined most European towns to look like. Most buildings are made of stucco and have ornate woodwork surrounding a stained glass window which is a vastly different feel of the ornate limestone structures that cover Paris. Most of the roof lines in Luxembourg are either front or side facing gables which is different from the mansard and flat top rooflines that are throughout most of Paris. While both cities are vastly different in size and construction, they both possess a uniqueness and history that I’ve only ever seen in Europe.

By: Emma Galvin

Hello! This is my first official post from Paris. I’ve been here since Saturday and it’s been an amazing experience. So far on this trip I’ve toured Musee de Cluny, the Latin Quarter, Ile de la Cite (where Notre Dame is) and Ile St Louis, but my favorite place I’ve gone to so far would be Sainte Chapelle. The first floor was beautiful with its navy blue ceiling and gilded gothic archways, but the real beauty of the chapel was on the second level where the King would hold his personal services. All of the walls were covered in stained glass windows that were illuminated by chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. I’ve always loved stained glass because it makes a space beautiful and colorful and would often tell a story. My grandfather used to make stained glass art pieces when I was younger and every summer I would go to his house and help him make stained glass art pieces. It took the whole week I was visiting to pick out the glass, cut it into shapes, grind it down, and then finally solder it together and that was with modern tools. I don’t know much about medieval stained glass making, but I don’t know whether they had advanced technologies to make the windows or not. It was still a painstakingly long process to make all those pieces, solder them together with lead, and put them up around the walls of the chapel. What I worked on with my grandfather was simple, small pieces and I can’t imagine the level of planning it took to convey the stories they wanted to on the windows or even how they assembled and got them into the chapel in the first place.

Making these art pieces was something we got to do together and I always had a fun time learning how. I would take the stained glass home with me and would hang them in the windows of my bedroom. It wasn”t as magnificent as Sainte Chappelle but I loved waking up and getting to look at the art my grandfather and I worked on together.

Pictured below is a picture I took of the stained glass covering the walls of Sainte Chappelle and a photo of one of the pieces I helped my grandfather make.