Day 18 - Music, Dali, Walk #6, and wandering

I woke up early again this morning and arrived only a bit early this time to the Cite de la Musique for Lecture Part 2. Again, it was interesting and we saw many cool instruments.

Finger stretching devices. Apparently Mozart (I think, or maybe it was some other famous composer) wanted to be a piano player but he used these devices too much and he ended up paralyzing one of his fingers. Even though he didn’t make it as a piano player, I think he did pretty well for himself.

I snuck a picture of our tour guide Julian so you could see what he looked like, in case you were dying to know.

Same instrument as the last picture. Isn’t it huge? Our guide played a recording and it could go insanely low. However, it wasn’t very practical, so it didn’t last long.

This is a new fangled (from the early 1900s or somewhere around there) instrument. It is electronic and you just have to put your hands around the metal bars to change the sound. You don’t touch them or else the sound stops. It would have been cool to see someone play it. Apparently it is really difficult to master the technique. Julian played a bit from it and it sounded like an old horror movie soundtrack.

This is a studio recording set thing. I don’t really remember a whole lot about it.

After that, we headed to the World Instruments. There were some really cool ones there.

Not really sure how this was played…

After the lecture, I met up with Hanna and Courtney. Hanna has been dying to go to the Dali museum so we headed to Montmarte and began our search. We went up and down stairs and back and forth on streets, but we could not find it. Finally we saw a sign pointing towards it. Hanna went up to the doors, but they weren’t opening very well. So she pushed her way in. The way was being blocked by tall cabinets, but we began to head in anyway, only to be pushed back out by an employee. Turns out it is closed until Monday. Oops :)

For something to do, we did Walk #6 entitled Marcher le nez au vent: Sights and Smells around the Madeleine. There was a pretty cool introduction to this walk written by Marc Oliver so I will share it.

“The French expression marcher le nez au vent (to walk with one’s nose to the wind) is a synonym for flaner, to stroll wherever the wind takes you. If you have studied French literature, you may notice a literary connection in the name of the metro stop where we begin our walk. In the most famous passage written by Proust, a sweet, buttery cake called the Madeleine serves as an involuntary trigger for childhood memories. Not coincidentally, the caramel-like scent that is piped into the metro is also called (I don’t know what he is talking about here; the metro never smells like caramel)—you guessed it—madeleine.

Ironically, one of the least sweet-smelling stops of the entire metro system is Madeleine (seriously, it smelled like rotten eggs combined with vomit). Wafting up from deep below the cavernous station, the sulfurous stench of under-ground waters makes the arrival to this walk a Dante-esque ascent for the nose: first stop, a smelly inferno. But doesn’t all of the metro stink? replies the tourist. Let’s be frank: The French do have a bad reputation in America when it comes to body odor, but why? Is it because they don’t notice the smell?—Perfume capital of the world? Unlikely. Let’s use a food analogy: A typical American may enjoy steak but not brains or intestines. In general, we Americans have a relatively narrow palette when it comes to both food and smell. In other words, one person’s body odor might be another person’s alluring (or at least more bearable) scent. As for the French palette, Napoleon’s legendary letter informing his beloved Josephine of his return from Italy says it all: ‘Home in three days. Don’t wash.’”

Let’s get on to the pictures, shall we?

Back of the Madeleine church.

Some of the many, many flowers on the sidewalk by the church.

The Front of the church. “Modeled on the architecture of an ancient pagan temple, the Madeleine is an unusual Christian church. Until the French Revolution and the campaigns of de-Christianization that followed, the site had been under construction as the future home of a domed Catholic church. In 1806, Napoleon demolished the unfinished project to make way for a monument dedicated to the French Army. After the restoration of the monarchy, Louis XVIII ordered the architect to transform the monument into a Catholic church. The result is a curious mixture of pagan and Christian influence that you may observe even at the building’s entrance. While the Corinthian columns evoke the glory of the ancients, the ornate bas relief doors depict an allegory of the Ten Commandments, and the pediment about the columns features a sculpture of the Last Judgment.”

One of the Ten Commandments scenes on the doors.

View of the church. It is a very unique one

One of the best pipe organs in the city.

After sitting in the church for a while, we headed to our next destination: Ladurée.

Awesome window display of macarons (not to be confused with US macaroons). “Macarons are the royalty of the sandwich cookie world. Crisp on the outside, soft and delicate on the inside, the cookie portion of the macaron is a deceptively simple combination of almond flour, egg whites, and powdered sugar. Sandwich two of these cookies together with a rich ganache and you’ve got a macaron. But don’t go running to make your own just yet. The macaron is among the most difficult-to-make treats you’ll find in a pastry shop.”

We decided to get some and they were wonderful! Then we headed to Chapelle de l’Assomption.

This is just a small, tourist-free church. We were the only ones there for much of the time when we went. “The chapel began as a convent founded in 1622 by the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld. It was renovated and consecrated in 1676, but during the French Revolution it was used as a store for decorative goods. During the empire, the chapel became the principal ward of the first arrondissement, but was overshadowed by the Madeleine’s completion in 1842. The fresco of Delafosse is notable, but otherwise, the charm of this church lies more in its relative obscurity than in its historical or artistic status.

We headed to the Fragonard Musée du Parfum. For some inexplicable reason, we were not allowed to take pictures inside. It was a very small museum, but pretty cool. Then we went to the store downstairs and smelled all the scents down there. And that was the end of the walk. After that, we looked around at Hotel de Ville at the many soldes and found some pretty awesome deals.

These awesome boots were only 10 euro. They look a lot better on (and without the weird pink blanket) and they go up to my knees. I love them!

Then I found these really nice scarves for two euros each. They really are good quality. Three of them are pashmina.

Anyway, that was the end of the day. I think it went really well!