Paris - Day 4 Aug 11

Well last night the left bank came alive again.  When I say left bank I don't mean the general geographical area known as the Left Bank.  I literally mean the left bank of the Seine.  It seems as the normal Paris life goes to bed, the youth underground awakens and begins to party.  Around 10:30 the music began.  Last night it was not the thirty person brass instruments collection.  It was more of a loud techno rave twist on music.  Their selections were quite good actually.  The sound carries across the waters of the Seine and reaches my flat with a tenor and volume that makes me feel a part of the celebration.  So rather than stew about it, I selected the investigate and experience it option.  It was quite a spectacle.  There were jugglers of sticks and swords, nunchucks and batons and even fire, yes fire jugglers!  It made for a great party.  There certainly aren't any laws against open container alcohol beverages here.  Everyone had bottles of wine and beer with a high level of consumption.  And they were dancing all about.  I would say that I was probably more than twice the average age of the group.  They played on past midnight and then magically shut it down.  I guess there must be some law.

I am getting into a pattern of going to bed getting an hour or so of sleep, then awakening to the joyous sound of music.  Getting up, experiencing the music and then walking the city to finally come to rest after 1 am.  😳

Had a bit of a tough time getting back to sleep after my walkabout.  Finally drifted off after 3.  Guess the time difference is still playing havoc with me.  😳

After I did get to sleep I was awoken by a shivering.  I had the windows open and the temp dropped to 47 degrees (8C).  Brrrrrrr

Needless to say, I did not wake early so I had to go with plan b on the agenda for the day.  No Louvre, the lines would be too long.  So I went exploring instead.  And it was great.

I went walking through the Marais District.  It is supposed to be the chic bohemian district, although that is what they say about Monmarte as well.  I came across the church of St. Eustache.  It was recommended by my night bike ride guide.  It was beautiful yet a bit sad in its disrepair.  The years have been tough on it.  The cornerstone of the church was laid in 1454 yet the church as it is today was built from 1532 to 1640.  It took over 100 years to build.  

This picture captures less than a third of the building.  It is massive.  The construction and craftsmanship that took to build this is unsurpassed in our times.  There just isn't anything like it.  It's history is steeped in the history of and upheaval of France.  Cardinal Richelieu was baptized here and King Louis XIV's Holy Communion was celebrated here.  During the French Revolution the church was converted to the temple for acgriculture.  The French Revolution was not just against the monarchy but against all high figures of authority.  In 1871 during the La Commune revolt, the church was heavily damaged by missiles fired upon it.  

The beauty and craftsmanship is breathtaking.  The middle altar is of carved wood with with marble inserts.

As you can see in the above photo, there are intricately beautiful stained glass windows depicting scenes of religious importance (window on the left).  And there are windows that are replacements to the originals that were damaged or destroyed over the churches history (window on the right).  The artistry of the original windows is difficult and extremely expensive to replace hence the plainness of the replacement.  Also, you can see the details of the pattern painted on the column and the state of disrepair of the base which has been worn off with time.

The ornate wall paintings are dull and dark with age.  They are also pealing off the wall.  If you look closely at the top of the wall painting you can see where they have applied a tape to temporarily repair the cracks in the painting.  The vibrancy of the colors has been muted with years of dirt and weather.  It would take a great deal of time and money to restore this and the other murals to their original glory.

Many of the mural paintings are so detailed that they look as if they could be hanging in the Louvre.  Yet when you are up close it is evident that they are deteriorating with time and weather beating them down.  You can see in the middle painting above the altar cracks from the building through the right and left border of it.

The church is now being restored slowly.  It has found new life due to renovation of the surrounding area.  There is a new grand shopping plaza that has been built adjacent to the church.  There is a great deal of construction going on to expand this shopping mall.  It is sad that the mall is modern and stark in its architecture and a sharp contrast to the beauty and grace of the church.  The shopping mall replaced the former market area of the Marais.  Yet the good news is the area had fallen into disrepair and crime.  It is now on a comeback revival.  The old is being saved due to the new...  

My exploration of the Marais continued.  I walked and walked turning down this street and then that street when it piqued my curiosity.  As I walked some might say that I was lost.  But being lost means that you are wandering counter to your destination.  In that I had no destination and that the wandering itself was the point, I was not lost.  Although it could be said that I was lost in the exploration in and of itself!  Ha, so I was lost!  😊

As happens when you wander in an area, there comes a discovery...  I stumbled upon the Museum of the National Archives.  It was a real treasure!

The museum was the former residence of the Duke of Guise.  This was a house in which a family lived! And this picture is only of the main house.  There is a collection of other buildings with a compound and intricate gardens for various occasions.

A grand entrance through which guests would pass and follow a cobblestone path leading to the main residence.

The origins of the property were in 1371 when the constable of France bought the property and built a fortress.  It fell into disrepair and changed hands, was rebuilt and restored to the form that it is in today.  The gem of the display is the main rooms.  There are several rooms that are as they were in the medieval times.

The princes bedroom...   The ornate masterpieces of the tapestries on the walls and woodwork on the doors is something to see.  You can see that there are two hidden doors that lead to other rooms.  See the two white upholstered chairs?  Each has a hidden door right behind them...

The princesses bedroom...  Notice the hidden door on the wall at the foot of the bed?

The grand meeting room... This is where visitors and guests were presented to the Duke.  The room is so large I could not get it in one picture.  It is round in shape and had mirrors strategically placed so that when you looked in one it would have the reflexion of another directly opposite.  It would give the feel of a never ending and expansive room.  

The opulence and details of everything was impressive.  The ceilings, the doors, tapestries, wall coverings, paintings and all were meant to impress.  And I must say they are impressive today let alone 400 years ago.  This was a wonderful find that was not in any suggestion from the guide or tourist books. 

The day was culminated by a 3 mile bike ride out of the city center to de Bercy park to hear a Brazilian trio in concert.  The music was great but it did lose something in translation.  Or should I say lack of translation.  The songs were all in French and the main person would tell a story about the song and the crowd would laugh.  All I heard was...  bla, bla bla, bla, blaaa. Oh to know another language would be such a gift!  I do believe it would have been better had I known what was going on as everyone else was really into it.  They were even singing the songs and refrains with the group.  

And to end the day was another unexpected treasure.  Upon my return to my home base I heard a nice sound emanating from the bridge between the Ille de la Cite and Ille St. Louis.  I investigated and was treated to a half hour of Alice Hill.  She was a street performer who played guitar, sang and performed original songs that she wrote.  She was great!  And she sang in English!  You probably haven't heard of her as I had not either.  But she was great.  She is 23 out of Berlin.  She did a song she wrote about her mother that brought a tear to your eye.

That was a fantastic ending to another stupendous day...