I have just got back from my (and my twin brother’s) birthday trip to Paris, and I thought I would share some highlights. The weather was surprisingly warm, and my family and I enjoyed the city’s autumnal foliage, tucking into our French onion soups, and just wondering around Paris at this time of the year. Below are the four cultural stops I made during this trip.
Continue reading “Autumnal Trip to Paris”Tag: Paris
My Recent Trip to Paris: Cultural Highlights
I have recently returned from my trip to Paris, France and am sharing my highlights. Though the big attraction of my trip was the Musée de Cluny, there are some smaller, “off-the-beaten track” museums in Paris that I have also always wanted to visit, and I present two of them at the end of my post.
- Musée de Cluny
Address: 28 Rue du Sommerard, Latin Quarter, Paris; Metro: Cluny – La Sorbonne. Admission: Ticketed.
The Museum of the Middle Ages is one of the largest collections of medieval art and artefacts in Europe, and is located in the former town-house of the Abbots of Cluny, which also has elements of Gallo-Roman ruins. It has medieval sculptures, tapestries, metal-work, carvings, religious, household and war items, and stained-glass examples on displays. My highlight was, of course, The Lady and the Unicorn series of tapestries, which I have wanted to see for a long time. The beautiful tapestries, with elegant depictions of animals and plants, were woven in the late fifteenth century, and each represents one of the five human senses: touch, sight, hearing, smell and taste. The sixth tapestry, titled A mon seul désir, is said to represent the sixth sense of the heart or intuition.
Continue reading “My Recent Trip to Paris: Cultural Highlights”My 3 Favourite Bookshops in Paris
I think it is now time to conclude my “European Bookshops” trilogy. Previously, I posted a list of My 3 Favourite Bookshops in Brussels and a list of My 3 Favourite Bookshops in London, and I am concluding with this list of My 3 Favourite Bookshops in Paris. Unlike Brussels and London, I have not lived in Paris for an extensive period of time, but have had a number of interesting visits to the city to compile this list of my favourite (maybe obvious, but still) bookstores that I like to go to if I want to read or browse books in English.
I. This may be a very obvious first choice and a very touristy place, but I still love this charming store whose windows look out on the Notre-Dame Cathedral that is situated opposite. The shop has a great selection of English-language books, and is labyrinthic and cosy. It also has a nice café next door that sells delicious coffee, pastries and store souvenirs. Shakespeare and Co. itself is considered a literary landmark of Paris, founded by George Whitman in 1951. Its twin store, opened in 1919, once hosted such literary giants as Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The great thing about Whitman’s store is that it is open until late hours; hosts many literary events that showcase Anglophone writers; and, if you purchase a book there, it will be stamped with a unique Shakespeare and Company Kilometre Zero stamp. The Kilometre Zero of France, or the location from which historically all distances are measured, is located on the square that faces the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Continue reading “My 3 Favourite Bookshops in Paris”
3 Quirky Museums of Paris
These three museums are small, but they have their own peculiar attraction, and, therefore, are worth visiting.
I. Cinema Museum (Musée du Cinéma)
This tiny museum is part of the Cinémathèque Française, and is a host to a variety of objects on the history of cinema, from cinema projectors and props used in old films, to film costumes, original sketches and old photographs. The general impression on the web is that this museum is exclusively for cinephiles. However, given the nature of the artefacts on display, more people may be interested in visiting it. For example, there is a Mrs. Bates’s skull from Alfred Hitchcock’s famous movie Psycho [1960] on display, and who has not yet seen this psychological thriller masterpiece? It will be interesting for anyone who is into unusual and macabre artefacts, as well as Hitchcockian films. There is also a robot on display from the iconic science-fiction movie by Fritz Lang – Metropolis [1927], and that fact alone can draw many people in, for example, those who are interested in history and science-fiction props. Address: 51 Rue de Bercy, Paris. Continue reading “3 Quirky Museums of Paris”
Thoughts on Papyrus 