Day 45 - Salon de l'Agriculture and Walk #13

I went to the Salon de l'Agriculture today. It was so awesome. Animals were everywhere (penned up of course). I had an awesome time.

One of the huge buildings. They had 5 opened for the Salon.

So amidst all that confusion you see there stands the prime minister of France. (And it isn't that guy you see smiling there) There were so many guards around him pushing people back. I felt like an animal because I was so packed in with the people there. It was crazy!

Aida (not sure on the spelling). She is the cow from the poster.

Hugely fat cow

Goat show :)

Weird muscly cow

The only pig we saw. I thought we'd see more.

Cute dog that we got to pet

We couldn't pet the cats because they were in glass boxes, but they were pretty!

Shaina with a cat :)

Weird fruit that I tried.

The Salon de l'Agriculture Marching Band

Spring is coming!

Apparently this is how you get French bread :)

This was the end of the Salon de l'Agriculture for us. We went on a walk next. We did Walk #13, the Seizieme Arrondissement Walk. Here's some info for those of you who are interesting: "At the beginning of the 20th century, what is now the 16th arrondissement of Paris was two villages - Passy and Auteuil. This area of Paris is interesting today, becasue Passy and Auteuil offered room for expansion at a time when people with money could commission avant-garde architects to design functional buildings that were at the same time innovative and exclusive. Today, we see the results - buildings that are pleasing to look at as well as to live in. In comparison to most areas of Paris, the 16th arrondissement is suprisingly sleepy."

First, we traversed the Allee des Cygnes (swans). It "was built in 1825 as a dyke to protect the Port de Grenelle on the right bank. This dyke and the harbor to your left both point to the important transportation and industrial role the Seine has played for centuries."

This is a small-scale (obviously) Statue of Liberty. "Auguste Bartholdi used this 'miniature' to create the full-scale version the Republique Francaise gave to the US to commemorate its first 100 years as a nation."

"La Maison de Radio-France, inaugurated in 1963, houses the main offices of Radio-France, plus sixty studios and a museum."

View of the Eiffel tower and the RER.

"Castel Beranger is a masterpiece of Art Nouveau architecture... Art Nouveau is a style of art that peaked in popularity between 1880 and 1914 and influenced architecture, interior design, lighting fixtures, furniture, jewelry, etc. Art Nouveau is characterized by highly-stylized, flowing, curvilinear designs that often incorporate floral or other plant-inspired motifs."

This place was designed by Hector Guimard, who "became the symbol of Art Nouveau in France. In 1894, he designed [this] multi-family apartment building... that made him famous, and he soon had many commissions including the design of several entryways into the Paris metro system."

Inside of the gate of Castel Beranger.

Aw, cute shadow pic.

Oh stairs. How I dislike you.

Next we came to the Maison de Balzac. Balzac, a french author, wrote some of his famous novels here including Le Cousin Pons (if you know what that is).

Spring!

This is a mini-mall.

Not sure who this is, but there were benches surrounding the sculpture. Genius.

This is the artist's signature.

This is the Musee Marmatton, which houses a lot of Monet's works. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but I didn't know that until I had taken a few, so I might as well post them :)

Cupid and Psyche.

Last picture I got before the employee told me that no photos were allowed. Ugh. Why do museums do this to me?? Especially since the next room I went into had "Impression: Sunrise" in it! Anyway, it was a really cool museum. In the bottom floor, they had some fauves art. It was very interesting.

"CD on the plate indicates the owner is a member of the corps diplomatique. Many representatives of foreign governments live in this beautiful area."

Then we went into the Bois de Boulogne. Some info: "The Bois (woods) was a royal hunting forest for several hundred years beginning with the Merovingian kings - Clovis was the first king of France in 481. It has also been the hiding place for bandits and those fleeing the French Revolution. In 1815, the Russian and English armies set up camp in the woods - historians say they left a real mess. Napoleon III gave the park to Paris in 1852, and Georges-Eugene (Baron) Haussmann (I believe I saw his grave) set out to turn it into an enormous park. He tore down walls, landscaped, built lakes, and created winding paths. He even built Longchamps (horse) race track. Today, the Bois is the capital's main recreation area. There are restaurants, two race tracks, two lakes, a children's zoo, an amusement park, picnic tables, strolling paths, soccer fields, and several museums."

It was beautiful.

While we were sitting down, we saw these three guys on the other side of the lake. One, on the right, was holding a giant fish! He went down to the water's edge, like he was going to put it in the water, but then he walked back up the hill.

And then two policemen came and followed them over the hill. I don't know what they did over there, but when they came back around, the fish was gone. It was interesting! :)

Victor Hugo by Rodin :D

And thus concluded our walk! Now I must work on my religion presentation :)