Day 14 - Classes and Walk #12
Classes went well today. Not a whole lot to report there. After classes, several of us went on Walk #12 entitled Time Travel, Tricks, and Treats around Saint-Sulpice. There are many interesting tidbits shared in the book, so I am going to impart that knowledge here. Again, feel free to skip it and just view the pictures. Doesn't hurt my feelings :)
This is the Hotel Lutetia. I think it stands on a place where a Roman building used to be so the name uses Roman lettering. Could be wrong, but I want to believe it. Anyway, the books says, "During the 1920s and 30s the hotel housed famous guests including Picasso, Matisse, Andre Gide, and Josephine Baker. Charles De Gaulle chose the Lutetia for his honeymoon. The nicest suite, named after the sculptor Arman (who stays there several weeks each year) may be yours for a mere 2,500 euros a night-a hefty sum, but a bargain compared to the imperial suite at the Ritz (8,500 euros/night)."
This is Poilane, the most famous boulangerie in Paris. For those who don't know, a boulangerie is a place where they sell bread and pastries. "In 1932, Pierre Poilane opened this bakery that specializes in hearty, traditional bread baked in wood-fire ovens. The large, round loaves are made of stone-ground flour and raised without yeast. Since 1932, Poilane has used the same traditional baking methods and has never used preservatives. The signature bread is a 4.2 pound round loaf of light brown sourdough. Poilane loaves make their way to restaurants around the world every day, and they may be shipped to your home in the US (for 36 euros each!)." I went in here just to look, thinking everything would be very expensive. Such was not the case and I bought a pain au chocolat (a croissant with chocolate in it). Very good :)
This is a statue which was made by Cesar. It is a bit strange.
The Theatre du Vieux Colombier. "Created in 1913 as a venue for trendy new productions, the theatre's most notable debut was that of the existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre's play Huis Clos (No Exit) in 1944. After being close between 1977 and 1993, the theatre is once again running-although one might easily confuse it with the sandwich shop that shares its lobby space."
Obvious from the picture, this is Pierre Herme, a pastry shop. They specialize in macaroons. Shaina and Rebecca each got one and let us all try. They were so good. The flavor was really strong, but I really liked it.
Lots to write about this. "Although Saint-Sulpice is the second-largest church in Paris (Notre Dame is the largest), it was never a tourist attraction until Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code became an international best seller. The building's facade was designed by Jean-Nicolas Servandoni, an architect and set decorator... The fact that the Marquis de Sade and Charles Baudelaire were baptized in Saint-Sulpice certainly does nothing to advance the building's sacred aura, but most damaging is the church's alleged association with a supposed secret society called the Priory of Sion. Brown's book promotes the myth that Saint-Sulpice is built on the sit of an ancient pagan temple and that the brass line (erroneously called the Paris Meridian or 'the rose line'), and the gnomon to which it leads, represent ancient vestiges of those pagan roots. In truth, the gnomon was built in the 18th century to help indicate the equinox leading to Easter Sunday, and the Priory of Sion was invented as an elaborate hoax by an ambitious trickster name Pierre Plantard. In the 1960's, Plantard planted forged documents in the Bibliotheque nationale in order to give scholars 'proof' of the priory's medieval lineage. The Catholic church is none too pleased with the notoriety Brown brought to Saint-Sulpice, and the local church authorities have tried to educate tourists by posting articles on the wall next to the gnomon: 'Go ahead and take a picture of the gnomon like all the other tourists, but please, don't go knocking around for hollow tiles hiding clues to the Holy Grail. (It's hidden under the Louvre pyramid anyway, remember?)'"
This is the "Paris Meridian."
And this is my tourist picture of the gnomon :)
Then we headed back into the streets. This shop has specialized in miniature figurines since 1783! They are so cool and detailed.
The side and part of a buttress from l'Abbaye Saint-Germain. "In the 6th century, King Childebert I founded the abbaye in the fields just outside of Paris (hence, pres [fields] in the name Saint-Germain-des-Pres). During the 9th century, the Vikings burned the original abbaye. Subsequently, the abbaye was rebuilt in the 11th century and enlarged in the 12th century. The tower you see dates to that period. The rest of the building, however, dates from the 19th century reconstruction, the other version having met its demise during the French Revolution when it was used as a prison, and lastly, as a storage facility for gunpowder (I think you can imagine what happened once the building caught fire)." I really like this church because there are several different types of styles. Gothic arches and vaulting to Romanesque columns and some vaulting to some art that looks almost like Byzantine. Of course, it is reconstruction, but still, pretty cool. 
This is the tower mentioned earlier which dates to the 11th and 12th centuries.
Isn't this cute? :)
And to end the walk, a strange fire/tree/man statue. The layers of history in the city are so awesome!
This is the Hotel Lutetia. I think it stands on a place where a Roman building used to be so the name uses Roman lettering. Could be wrong, but I want to believe it. Anyway, the books says, "During the 1920s and 30s the hotel housed famous guests including Picasso, Matisse, Andre Gide, and Josephine Baker. Charles De Gaulle chose the Lutetia for his honeymoon. The nicest suite, named after the sculptor Arman (who stays there several weeks each year) may be yours for a mere 2,500 euros a night-a hefty sum, but a bargain compared to the imperial suite at the Ritz (8,500 euros/night)."
This is Poilane, the most famous boulangerie in Paris. For those who don't know, a boulangerie is a place where they sell bread and pastries. "In 1932, Pierre Poilane opened this bakery that specializes in hearty, traditional bread baked in wood-fire ovens. The large, round loaves are made of stone-ground flour and raised without yeast. Since 1932, Poilane has used the same traditional baking methods and has never used preservatives. The signature bread is a 4.2 pound round loaf of light brown sourdough. Poilane loaves make their way to restaurants around the world every day, and they may be shipped to your home in the US (for 36 euros each!)." I went in here just to look, thinking everything would be very expensive. Such was not the case and I bought a pain au chocolat (a croissant with chocolate in it). Very good :)
This is a statue which was made by Cesar. It is a bit strange.
The Theatre du Vieux Colombier. "Created in 1913 as a venue for trendy new productions, the theatre's most notable debut was that of the existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre's play Huis Clos (No Exit) in 1944. After being close between 1977 and 1993, the theatre is once again running-although one might easily confuse it with the sandwich shop that shares its lobby space."
Obvious from the picture, this is Pierre Herme, a pastry shop. They specialize in macaroons. Shaina and Rebecca each got one and let us all try. They were so good. The flavor was really strong, but I really liked it.
Lots to write about this. "Although Saint-Sulpice is the second-largest church in Paris (Notre Dame is the largest), it was never a tourist attraction until Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code became an international best seller. The building's facade was designed by Jean-Nicolas Servandoni, an architect and set decorator... The fact that the Marquis de Sade and Charles Baudelaire were baptized in Saint-Sulpice certainly does nothing to advance the building's sacred aura, but most damaging is the church's alleged association with a supposed secret society called the Priory of Sion. Brown's book promotes the myth that Saint-Sulpice is built on the sit of an ancient pagan temple and that the brass line (erroneously called the Paris Meridian or 'the rose line'), and the gnomon to which it leads, represent ancient vestiges of those pagan roots. In truth, the gnomon was built in the 18th century to help indicate the equinox leading to Easter Sunday, and the Priory of Sion was invented as an elaborate hoax by an ambitious trickster name Pierre Plantard. In the 1960's, Plantard planted forged documents in the Bibliotheque nationale in order to give scholars 'proof' of the priory's medieval lineage. The Catholic church is none too pleased with the notoriety Brown brought to Saint-Sulpice, and the local church authorities have tried to educate tourists by posting articles on the wall next to the gnomon: 'Go ahead and take a picture of the gnomon like all the other tourists, but please, don't go knocking around for hollow tiles hiding clues to the Holy Grail. (It's hidden under the Louvre pyramid anyway, remember?)'"
This is the "Paris Meridian."
And this is my tourist picture of the gnomon :)
Then we headed back into the streets. This shop has specialized in miniature figurines since 1783! They are so cool and detailed.
The side and part of a buttress from l'Abbaye Saint-Germain. "In the 6th century, King Childebert I founded the abbaye in the fields just outside of Paris (hence, pres [fields] in the name Saint-Germain-des-Pres). During the 9th century, the Vikings burned the original abbaye. Subsequently, the abbaye was rebuilt in the 11th century and enlarged in the 12th century. The tower you see dates to that period. The rest of the building, however, dates from the 19th century reconstruction, the other version having met its demise during the French Revolution when it was used as a prison, and lastly, as a storage facility for gunpowder (I think you can imagine what happened once the building caught fire)." I really like this church because there are several different types of styles. Gothic arches and vaulting to Romanesque columns and some vaulting to some art that looks almost like Byzantine. Of course, it is reconstruction, but still, pretty cool. 
This is the tower mentioned earlier which dates to the 11th and 12th centuries.
Isn't this cute? :)
And to end the walk, a strange fire/tree/man statue. The layers of history in the city are so awesome!
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