The Pompidou Centre and Nicolas Flamel

          The following day, we started our walk in the 4th arrondissement of Paris.  We began at Saint-Jacques Tower.  It used to be a 16th century church, but was torn down after the Revolution.  It looks really weird because you expect there to be a church connected to the tower, but there isn't.  Now it is just a little park in the center of a very busy part of Paris.  After that, we made our way down a street I was very excited to see: Rue Nicolas Flamel!  I knew that Nicolas Flamel was a real man and really was an alchemist (like in Harry Potter), but it was cool to see physical proof of his existence.  We also walked by his house later in the day.  I was so jazzed!  Of course, Flamel lived in the 1300's so the building was not the actual house he lived in, but was built on top of the exact location.  His house is now a really fancy and expensive restaurant.  Too expensive for me to go to.

The Saint-Jacques Tower

His house

          We followed Rue Nicolas Flamel for a while and weaved our way along the streets of the 4th arrondissement.  We made a few stops in specific churches as well.

A jewelry store with a statue of the Queen,  Thought it was funny:)

Paroisse Saint-Merry

Paroisse Saint-Merry

          We passed by the Pompidou Centre on our walk.  We didn't go inside, but we walked around the  crazy fountain that is outside of it.  The Pompidou Centre is a very strange building to see in Paris.  It looks like it was turned inside out!  The fountain has all of these weird and scary sculptures in it and some are straying water.  I was able to take a few pictures...

A cool looking mural of Salvador Dali.  I liked the juxtaposition of it against the old church.

As we continued to walk around the 4th arrondissement, we walked through beautiful streets and allies.

A famous restaurant.  One guess what their specialty is...

          Our final stop was at the Saint-Eustache Church.  It was very beautiful.  The shape was really interesting as well.  It wasn't very big, but was very round.  I didn't think it was a church from the outside because of its shape and size.  The church also had large windows all around it.  This allowed for the sunlight to stream in.  This was definitely one of my favorite churches we went into.

          I really enjoyed this walk because we were able to just walk around and see the lesser known streets of Paris.  Other walks we went on, we were constantly stopping to look at some plaque or some building.  While that can be interesting and enjoyable at times, it was nice to have a more relaxed walk for a change.  

          

This Week's Soundtrack

           Unfortunately, I don't have much music that suits leisurely walks and churches, but I do have some that would work for a Harry Potter theme.

All of these songs are from the tribute band Harry and the Potters (lame, I know):

The Weapon

Dumbledore's Army

My Teacher is a Werewolf

Dumbledore

Vaux-le-Vicomte

          The next day, we took a night field trip to Vaux-le-Vicomte, which is an 17th century chateau about an hour outside of Paris.  The architect of both the palace and gardens of Versailles was also the architect of Vaux-le-Vicomte.  As you'll see in some of my pictures, this is really obvious.  The palace and the gardens are absolutely beautiful.  They're actually modeled after English gardens, which I think is a little ironic but interesting.  Also interesting, Vaux-le-Vicomte is the home of actual The Man in the Iron Mask, and the film with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed here as well.   

          Anyway, we had the afternoon free and met up later that night.  We were given super delicious sandwiches to eat in the bus as dinner.  Here are a few pictures of the French countryside... 

          We went at night so we could watch the sunset at Vaux-le-Vicomte.  At night, candles are set up all along the gardens and palace.  Our professor really wanted us to see this.  Unfortunately, construction was going on and there was this horrible plastic tarp over some of the palace.  It did ruin some of the view, but it was still very beautiful.

Walking up to the palace

See the ugly tarp:(

A close up of the front door

A hall inside

One of the many beds

The Man in the Iron Mask!

The symbol of Vaux-le-Vicomte is a squirrel.  I knew my dad would love this place...

The gardens

UGLY TARP!

At the end of the gardens is a very long pond/lake.  This structure was so cool and you had to walk a long way to get to it...

Once we walked around (which took about 45mins halfway!) we got a closer look at it

The whole place had great stonework and sculptures

Cute French couple walking along the lake.  It really was a perfect place for a picnic.

A shot of Vaux-le-Vicomte at night.  It's a little hard to see the candles, but it was beautiful in person.

Blurry, but better to see the candles and how amazing Vaux-le-Vicomte was at night.

          When our professor explained what we where going to see at Vaux-le-Vicomte, he said it would be one of the most beautiful sights and one of the best experiences of our lives.  He was right.  My only wish was that we could have gotten there earlier so we could have spent more time hanging out and experiencing the incredible Vaux-le-Vicomte.  I definitely want to go back when I'm in France again.

          I'll try to write again soon and include music in my next post.  Until then, au revoir mes amies!

Chartres

          So, as I sit in my bed, watching the Olympics, and recovering from my recent wisdom teeth surgery, I realized this is the best time to stop procrastinating and write more of my blog!  

           On Thursday (June 28th), we went to Chateau de Vincennes.  This is an old castle that was later turned into a jail.  It was built in 1150 for Louis VII.  Many kings and important people were born and lived in the castle.  It later became a fortress and jail for Henry IV.  Also on the grounds is a beautiful chapel with incredible stained glass windows. 

          Unfortunately, my camera was on the fritz that day and I wasn't able to take pictures!  I'll include some picture I found on Google so you'll at least get to see what it looks like...

This is the castle.

And the chapel

           The next day (Friday June 29th), we took a field trip to a small town outside of Paris called Chartres.  Chartres is home to the most beautiful Gothic style church called Notre-Dame de Chartres.  Chartres is an important church in Catholicism.  It became a place of pilgrimage when it acquired the Sancta Camisa in the 9th century.  The Sancta Camisa is believed to be the shall worn by Mary at the time of Christ's birth.  The church has burned down by fire many times, and nothing of the original church, except a few stained glass windows, remains.  The architecture of the towers, or spires, shows the multiple stages of construction.  The two spires have different styles.  The right is a plain pyramid dating from the 1140s and the left is from the early 16th century and is the more flamboyant spire that sits on top of an older tower.

          It took about an hour to get there by bus.  Once we did, we were given a few hours to explore and get lunch before we had to meet up for our walk.  Before getting lunch, a few of us walked around the church. 

           Notre-Dame de Chartres is know for its beautiful and very old stained glass windows.  They all had specific names, but I forgot to write them down:(

          Once we finished walking around, we noticed we could walk up the left tower.  I was super excited for it, but as we made our way up I started to lose my excitement.  Flash backs of my horrible memories of climbing the Statue of Liberty flashed before my eyes.  It didn't help that the stairs were spiral and had the tiniest railing, almost nonexistent...

          Anyway, once were got to the first balcony and the top, it was kind of cool:)  We could see all of Chartres and beyond.

The Flying Buttresses at the first balcony

Climbing the stairs

At the top

          Luckily, we ate lunch AFTER we climbed the spires...  After lunch, we met the rest of the group for our walk.  We walked around the church, through the town, and visited a few other smaller churches in the town.

This is the church of Saint Aignan.  The outside looked really plain...

...but the inside was incredible!  Teo told us that all Medieval churches were painted like this, both on the inside and out.  So cool!

Dr. Jones would be proud

The Church of Saint Peter.  There was a Medieval tomb in here!  All the signs were in French, so I didn't really know what was going on, but it looked cool.

Some stained glass in Saint Peter.

The town of Chartres was super cute.  It reminded me of Beauty and the Beast.

Behind Notre-Dame de Chartres

          This labyrinth is very important to the town and the church. It is all over the town and is in the center of the church as well.  As you walk it, you're suppose to contemplate your life and when you get to the center, you're suppose to reach a sense of enlightenment.  I didn't try it, so I don't know if it works or not...

          That was it for the day.  We went back to the hotel and hung out for the rest of the night.  Hopefully I will write again soon.  Until then, au revoir mes amies!