Arles

So I left Paris to find some blue sky… and I found it. I have been “off” for more than a week, so today I will compensate with something rather long.

I stayed a few days in Arles, in Provence, situated more or less where the Rhône River splits into two arms, embracing the delta land Camargue, before reaching the Mediterranean. Camargue is administratively actually part of Arles which makes it to the largest French commune, more than seven times the area of Paris, but with a population of some 50.000 only.

The history of Arles is too long to be told here; maybe just a few details. Arles was already a Greek city, became Celtic before being taken by the Romans 123 BC. During the Roman times it became very important and the Western Empire, including Gaul, Spain, Brittany… was governed from here. Later Arles was for a while the capital of a Frankish kingdom, which included Burgundy, parts of the present Switzerland and part of Provence. The Kingdom of Arles became part of France in the 14th century.

It is not easy to build something new in Arles; as soon as you start digging, you run into some Greek, Roman or medieval foundations and you may have to wait for years before possibly getting your permit. Among the Roman landmarks you can find the Amphitheatre, still used for concerts, the Arenas, still used for bullfights, the Constantine Thermae, a necropolis (Alyscamp)… The Church (previously Cathedral) of Saint Trophimus, with its cloister, was newly built when the Holy Roman Emperor Fredrick Barbarossa came to Arles in 1178 to be coronated.

Arles offers some important cultural and artistic activities. Editors like Harmonia Mundi and Actes Sud are based here. Arles is also a photographic centre with the French National School of Photography and exhibitions going on the whole summer. Outdoor concerts in the Amphitheatre or the Arenas are frequent.

Among some famous Arles personalities you may mention Frédéric Mistral (actually from close to Arles, Nobel Prize 1904), Christian Lacroix and Louis Féraud (fashion), Jeanne Calmant (the oldest human being whose age is documented, died in 1997 at the age of 122). It’s also the home of the Gipsy Kings.

However, the reputation of Arles is today perhaps mostly linked to Vincent van Gogh, who here produced some of his most famous paintings during his short stay 1888-89 (when Jeanne Calmant was thirteen). I compared some of his paintings with what you can find today. The Yellow House, where he lived as well as the Trinquetaille Bridge were bombed in 1944. The hospital where he stayed after cutting his ear was still in use until rather recently and the trees, flowers and the pond is still there. The “Langlois Bridge” has been rebuilt… and I replaced van Gogh’s stars by some 14th July fireworks…

During the Easter “feria” there are “corridas” in the Arenas and “encierro” (bull-running) in the streets; Picasso was a frequent visitor to the bull fighting and painted several portraits of “Arlésiennes”, as did already van Gogh.










The real pleasure with Arles is however perhaps just to walk around the streets, take a “pastis” at a bar, visit the Wednesday and Saturday markets…

The Tour de France passed by Arles yesterday.

You can see some of the originals of the above photos on my other blog "Peter - photos".

See you soon!

The other day, I met these, despite of the weather, happy Spanish speaking tourists. I took some pictures of them and obviously I’m now also on some video or photos! They brightened up a dull and cloudy day! Please take this as some kind of vacation greetings!!

… because this some 150 years old door will remain closed for a week or two. Fed up with the clouds and the temperature, I’m heading southwards! I will spend some time between the Mediterranean coast and Provence, visit some family and friends. Maybe with something different to tell when I’m back.

Palais Royal

The Palais Royal is just opposite to the Louvre; the metro station is called “Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre”, with a very special entry design which I posted about in June.

The Palais Royal was built in the beginning of the 17th century for Cardinal Richelieu and was first known as Palais Richelieu. After Richelieu, some other occupants have been Queen Anne of Austria, Cardinal Mazarin, the young Louis XIV, several dukes of Orléans (the cadet branch of the Bourbons) including the “Regent” and “Philippe Egalité”, some Napoleon relatives… Today it houses the Conseil d’Etat (the Constitutional Council), the Ministry of Culture etc…

"Philippe Egalité" (Louis Philippe II) who actively supported the French revolution – but anyhow was guillotined - was the one who opened the gardens to the public and also had the structures around the garden, the colonnades etc. built.

The gardens, with shops, cafés and restaurants under the colonnades became very popular and some events linked to the revolution took place here. Among the restaurants, “Le Grand Véfour” (3 Michelin stars) can be mentioned.

The place is also known for its theatres. In the palace you could e.g. find a theatre where Molière played regularly and made his last performance. (This theatre later burnt.) "Philippe Egalité" also integrated a new theatre (1790) which later was to become the National Theatre, “La Comédie Française”. In another corner you can find another, as old, smaller but beautiful theatre with the name “Palais Royal”.

The black and white columns you can see (with a black and white young lady sitting on of them) – “les Colonnes de Buren” - were put there in 1986; a piece of art which has been as much contested as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvres pyramid…

One more small detail: This little canon was placed in the garden in 1786. A magnifying glass was supposed to set fire to wick each (sunny) day at noon and to provoke a small “bang”. It is now supposed to work again (not the day I was there).
Some of the photos in the patchwork can be found on my other blog “Peter – photos”.

A new Paris park

Paris almost got the Olympic Summer Games 2012, but London won the fight!

The Paris plan included the creation of an Olympic Village like this to lodge the participants; the games would take place in different arenas inside and outside Paris and within a reasonable distance from the village. The space planned for the village has until now been occupied by a merchandise rail yard and some connected logistic activities.


Plans had to be revised. For the moment part of the space is transformed into a park. The park is called Parc Clichy Batignolles and is very close to where I live. Without any particular publicity, the gates to the park opened last Saturday and I entered as probably the third visitor.

The park is only partly finished and a lot of work remains for the coming weeks and months; a water basin, space for roller skating…and the grass, the flowers and the trees must grow. The park will later be made even bigger after the demolition of some surrounding buildings. In a few years it will be really nice! ... and Google Earth photos over Paris must be renewed!This is an opportunity to make a reference to the importance that rail had in this part of Paris: The Saint Lazare station – with the first French passenger railroad (1837) to Saint Germain (19 km) - is quite close and what was called “la Petite Ceinture” which made the tour of Paris (completed in 1869, now abandoned) also passed here. During the 19th century there was an important manufacturing of locomotives and wagons (Société de Construction des Batignolles)…

The defenders of local traditions would like not to forget the link to the rail. This weekend different manifestations took place explaining the need to do something in this respect. I show you some photos I took on Sunday from a street theatre play.One idea could be to leave some space in the new park for an outdoor railway museum.

Where I live

I managed to find a book with some old photos of postcards from the area where I now live since a few months. There was even a photo from “my” street, so I took “the same” – rather early yesterday morning so the street was a bit empty.

I imagine that the old photo was taken in the beginning of the 20th century. It’s surprising how it seemed to be popular by that time to make postcards representing all kinds of streets, without any particular tourist or other interest.

Obviously, not very much has changed – actually I can see only one new building. Most of them seem to date from the middle of the 19th century.

I moved here in March this year, leaving a bigger family flat; the kids have moved out and I retired. In my earliest posts I already talked a lot about the area, Batignolles, in the 17th arrondissement. I like it a lot; a mixed population, close to everything - all kinds of shops, bars and restaurants in the street or just round the corner.

So now, you should be able to find the way…!

Tour de France

Today starts the Tour de France, considered as one of the world’s biggest sport events, followed by millions along the roads and of course on television.

Something very special this year is that the prologue, a short 8 km (5 miles) race, will take place in London, starting at Whitehall, passing Downing Street, the Parliament buildings, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park… and ending up at the The Mall!

On Sunday follows the real first stage, which will bring the riders from London to Canterbury! Then it’s time to cross the Channel and via Belgium reach France.

After totally 20 stages and 3550 km (2200 miles) the finish will as usual take place on the Champs Elysées, July 29th.

Hopefully no drug or doping stories this year, during or after the race!

A cemetery - different aspects

This is about our local cemetery, Cimetière des Batignolles. It was opened in 1833, for the “locals”. It is not as full of tombs of well-known people as e.g. Père Lachaise, Montmartre, Montparnasse…, but I will revert to this.

It’s the fourth biggest of the totally twenty Paris cemeteries and has some 15 000 graves. It’s obvious that today the cemeteries within the city limits are not sufficient and that many of the larger ones now can be found in the suburbs. Also, the number of cremations in France has increased from close to zero to almost 30% the last 25 years. This is still a much lower percentage than in e.g. UK, Switzerland, Sweden… where cremations represent some 70-80%.

Somehow, this is linked to what struck me during my visit; the great number of abandoned graves, which however often are the ones where the most beautiful flowers, getting wild, are growing! I took some pictures also of those! Most of us are not anymore linked to anywhere and in any case, our family and friends are often elsewhere…

To some of you, a few names of the local people buried here may say something: Paul Verlaine, one of the greatest French poets, Blaise Cendrars another poet, Edouard Veuillard, painter…

You can also find the tomb of André Breton, the main founder of surrealism - linked to other writers and also painters like Salvador Dali. (André's grave is the one with an empty champagne bottle on it; someone drank to his health and then put a small flower in the bottle.) One small “anecdote”: When travelling in Mexico, Breton met Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo… and Trotsky, with whom he co-wrote a manifest.

The tomb you can see under a later built bridge is that of Gaston Calmette, boss of “le Figaro”, who was shot dead in 1914 by the wife of a French minister - a big scandal at that time. Gaston was the brother of Albert Calmette, who was the father of the BCG vaccine against tuberculoses and also developed the first snakes’ antivenin.

Some of these photos, you can also find on my other blog "Peter - photos".

A different kind of boutique

This is a very special kind of boutique, “Modes Angel”. It’s not too far from where I live, but I believe that it’s rather the fact that it’s also quite close to Pigalle which brings the clients.

You can buy all kinds of outfit if you wish to dress up like a female diva, even without necessarily being a female yourself! It's not the only one of its kind, but it seems to be the place for this kind or equipment and the owner, Miss Angel, seems to have a lot of friends in show business; her guest book is impressive!

Another church...

I’m not a frequent visitor of churches, except for looking for their beauty, listen to concerts…

This church, called Sainte Eugène – Sainte Cécile, is not so frequently visited by tourists. It’s the immediate neighbour of what used to be the “Conservatoire Nationale de la Musique” and it has got one of its two names from Sainte Cécile (Cecilia), patroness of music. (The church has no bells in order not to disturb the musicians.) The other Saint is Eugene who contributed to the evangelisation of Spain during the 3rd century, but the name was also chosen because Empress Eugénie (married to Napoleon III) sponsored the building of the church.

It dates from 1855 and is very specific in its construction (iron font used for pillars and ribs) and its decoration in very vivid colours. It’s quite dark inside, so I had some serious difficulties to well illustrate the bright colours on photos, but you have to believe me.

Another particularity is that this is one of the few churches where the mess is allowed to be held as well in French as in Latin, more or less as part of a test program where the Pope, Benedict XVI, may again authorise the mess to be held according to the Latin ritual.You can find the original photos from the above patchwork on my other blog "Peter - photos".

Candy shop

A candy shop I “found” yesterday. I never saw it before, but it seems to be fairly well known. It’s clearly the oldest in Paris and has been there (35, rue du Faubourg Montmartre) since 1761. It’s called “A la Mère de Famille” (no translation needed). It has obviously been “modernised” during the 19th century. They offer candies, chocolates, ice cream (excellent – I tried it)…, whatever you wish which is sweet - and to a large extent it’s “home made”.

One small detail: You can read on a sign that they sell biscuits “Lefèvre Utile”. This is an old French brand of biscuits (established in 1846), later called simply LU, now belonging to Danone (Dannon) and possibly on its way to be sold to Kellogg’s, Kraft Foods…

You can find some of the originals of the photos from the above patchwork on my other blog "Peter - photos".

Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre

Most of you have probably visited Montmartre one day and of course then also Sacré-Coeur. Not so many of you may have visited the church just behind, Saint-Pierre-de-Montmartre.

It is competing with Saint-Germain-des-Prés to be the oldest of the remaining Paris churches. It was built in the beginning of the 12th century as part of monastery and was consecrated by the then pope in person in 1147 and in presence of, among others, Saint-Bernard.

The French queen Adèle (Alix) de Savoie retired as abbess, died in 1154 and her tombstone is still to be seen in the church.

It seems also to be proven that the Society (Company) of Jesus was founded here in 1534 by Ignatius of Loyola and some of his fellow students at the University of Paris.

The church was more or less in ruins for a long time, but has been restored as from the latter part of the 19th century. In the meantime it had even been “crowned” by a telegraph tower. Many parts (windows, altars etc.) have been replaced, but the essential construction is a clear example of late Roman early Gothic style. There are obviously even some leftovers from the Roman and Merovingian temples that previously stood on the hill.

Just behind the church (behind a closed bronze door) is the oldest still existing Paris graveyard. It is not used any more and is opened for visitors only one day each year (November 1)*. This is really the top of Montmartre and was the place for pagan and Roman temples. The few remaining graves date mainly from the beginning of the 19th century.

*/ I managed to squeeze one hand and my camera through the narrow openings of the door to take some snapshots, but I plan to go back November 1.

You can find the original photos from the above patchworks on my other blog "Peter - photos".

Palomas - again!

A nice start of the weekend. This morning, my granddaughter Paloma was singing wih her classmates and then the paloma in "my" park kindly posed for a photo! Now I will make a break until Monday. Nice weekend!