Venus, Quasi, and Mona... Oh My...

Date:   Friday, July 11, 2014 (for Wednesday, July 9, 2014)
Time:   10:23 pm local time (4:23 pm EST)
Place:   Hotel Mayflower, Leiden, the Netherlands

Hello folks!

I actually started this blog yesterday evening, but I didn’t get beyond “Hello folks!” before I decided to go to bed.  So I’ll try again now. 

Hello folks!

Wednesday morning dawned chilly and overcast.  We left the hotel early again, heading to Notre Dame, the Cathedral of Our Lady in Paris.  A Cathedral is where the Bishop has his seat, and in Paris it is at Notre Dame.  My closest guess is that our equivalent is the conference office, or the church most closely associated with it. 

Dr. Wohlers lectured for a few minutes before letting us go into the museum.  He started to outline for us the six periods he sees in French history.  In very short detail here they are:

1. The Roman Period, when France was called Gaul.  It lasted until about 500 AD
2. The Early Middle Ages.  Part of the empire ruled by Charlemagne.  The Holy Roman Empire comes out of this empire.  Until about 1000 AD.
3. The High Middle Ages.  The building of Notre Dame and the development of the High Gothic Style.  The Battle of Hastings.  The Hundred Years War.  Ends with the crowning of Henry IV as the first Bourbon monarch.
4. The Bourbon Absolute Monarchy.  Until 1798.
5. The Revolutionary Period.  1798-1815. War in and with France.  Napoleon.  
6. Post World War II.  The founding of the fourth and fifth republics (I think they’re only up to 5).
   

We got to go into Notre Dame by this point, and it’s very beautiful inside, though darker than you would expect for a Gothic church (which was built specifically to let light in).  The rose window was simply gorgeous, and there was an air of ancient, sacred goings on—though it could have just been incense.

As I was walking around I heard the organ being played, which was very exciting.  As I continued to walk, though, I realized that he wasn’t actually playing anything.  I got my hopes up that they let Joe Schmo go up into the organ loft and fiddle around, but alas and alak, it was only being tuned. 

Notre Dame was built in 1163, though it wasn’t completed until the 19th century.  That’s close to 800 years!  The original builder, Maurice de Sully, didn’t even expect to see his building finished.  He did it out of a desire and a willingness to serve God (actually, technically, to serve Mary, but we’ll take what we can get).

We walked around the outside of the Cathedral to see the flying buttresses and gargoyles.  I can finally say that after studying and learning for almost 20 years, I finally understand the point of a flying buttress, and how they work.  Special thanks goes to Kathy for taking the time to explain it. 

We walked around Paris for a while, stopping by the opera house where The Phantom of the Opera is set.  After that we were freed, and I went with Joel and the Laughlins.  Little did I know that we would end up at an expensive Chinese restaurant, but I made the best out of it and it was decent. 

The afternoon was spent at the Louvre, which was very exciting.  I paid the extra E5 to get the audio guide, which was able to take me on a guided tour.  We were given two hours, and that was the perfect amount of time.  The tour I chose was the “Three Highlights” tour, though I’m not quite sure what the three were, since they also showed me several others.

The first thing that I saw was the Winged Victory, which had just recently been put back out on display, after having restoration work done on it.  It is a statue that looks like an angel (without a head or arms) landing on a boat (or part of a boat).  It’s famous and kind of pretty. 

Then I got to see the Venus di Milo, another statue of a lady without arms, though this one does have a head (but no shirt).  She is really quite breathtaking and looks very real, though she is larger than life size.  She has a calm serenity about her that is very enjoyable.

The next place I was taken was to see La Giaconda, who(m) we know as the Mona Lisa.  I had been told that the guards didn’t take kindly to pictures being taken, but they weren’t stopping us, and so I got a nice picture of her, and then a selfie with her.  What a memory!

In the same room as Mona, though on the opposite wall, is Véronèse’s painting of the Wedding at Cana, which is really quite nice.  I discovered, however, that the old masters had no clue what it actually looked like in the Holy Lands, how they dressed, or what musical instruments were available.  The painting looks like it could have come out of Rome, and there is a cellist and a violinist providing the music.  Whoops!

I also got to see the very famous painting of the coronation of Napoleon, which is a misnomer.  It depicts Napoleon after he has been crowned Emperor.  It depicts Napoleon crowing Josephine as the Empress. 

In the gift shop I saw a 3D puzzle I want to get of the Eiffel Tower, though I will look for it when I get home so that I don’t have to pay E45 for it.  It’s really nice (and I believe numbered), so I think it would be fun to do.

It was raining as we left the Louvre and started to head back to the hotel.  Dr. Wohlers wanted to take us to l’Arc du Triomphe, so we stopped there briefly.  It’s quite impressive, and is actually a war memorial.  Carved onto the inside of the arch are name after name after name, but as far as I can tell they aren’t names of people, but of places.  I will have to investigate more at a later date.  Also under the arch is the French answer to the Tomb of the Unknowns.  This is specifically an unknown soldier from World War I, so my bet is Ben Walton (the brother of John, not the son).  Carved onto the memorial are these words: “Ici repose un soldat francaise mot pour la patrie 1914-1918.”  Here rests a French soldier who died for the homeland.

We made it back to the hotel unscathed, then Kathy and I ran back out to go to a couple of grocery stores.  Then it was off to bed.

Love to all!

Robby