Paris: The Louvre

Inside the Louvre.

We were so excited to be at the Louvre that I must have taken about 300 shots in our short time there.  We got there in the afternoon and shut the place down.  Seeing the site after dark was just as fun as seeing all the art.  It’s the largest museum in the world but it used to be where rulers lived.  With this in mind, we went from seeing Mona and the Italian paintings to Greek mosaics and then Napolean’s apartments.  WOWZA.  There were maps of each section of the Louvre in every language – hundreds of them are there when you go in.

Maps of the Louvre in every language.

In the mosaics area we saw some really cool, articulated, ivory dolls in a case and of course, the floor was all mosaic in there. YES, I took pictures of the floors!  Ya’ll know I’m a bit kooky for carpets, floors, windows and doors by now, right?

The Louvre floor, so worn that it's like embossed marble.

Suffice it to say that I am probably the only person taking pictures of the floors and ceilings in the Louvre.  Yup, that would be me.

Once articulated ivory dolls.

I couldn’t help but take pix of the ceilings in Napolean’s apartments.  That little guy understood posh living apparently.  He also liked very tall spaces.  I think the ceilings in the living room are 3 stories tall and yet they’re very ornate.

Napolean's living room chandelier and ceiling.

More pix tomorrow!

Part of Napolean's living room at the Louvre.

Paris: the Visual Feast

Le Gallerie lit up for Christmas in Paris.

We came into Paris at night.  Our cab driver was incredibly friendly and took us through some of the visual feast that is Paris at night.  The Galeries Lafayette, a multi-storied, bunch of shops (I think),  are decorated like stained glass windows with lights.  I took this picture from the taxi!

It was so amazing and of course, I didn’t know what we were looking at

Eiffel Tower sparkles at night: the view from our hotel room.

yet.   Paris really is the City of Lights.

We got to our little hotel and found we had a

peek-a-boo view of the top of the Eiffel Tower so we watched the light show.  There is a special light show in honor of the anniversary of the tower.  Every hour on the hour, the tower

sparkles for 10 minutes.  Starting at 8 p.m. there is an extended light show

involving the entire tower.  It changes colors, sparkles, there are patterns of lights that run up and down the stairwells and the tower itself with huge search lights rotating at the top.   What luck we were there to see this.

When we woke up, we got to see just how much of the tower is visible from our room.  We also got to see that there are armed police and the military watching it from roof tops and around it, too.

Day time view from our hotel room. See the armed police on the right on the roof?

Looky me! I got a new hat!

We learned that a good way to get around is to hook up with one of the double decker tour buses.  You buy a ticket that lasts for two days with on and off privileges.  Then you can get to the major sights and if you’re tired, you can just ride the tour bus circuit.  They give you free ear buds so you can plug into the bus and hear the guided tour complete with classical music.

So we went to the Eiffel Tower, our major transpo hub, every day.

I have always wanted to go to the Louvre and that’s what we did the first day.  More on the Louvre later!

Mona and I are best friends now. You know: like THAT!

YAHOOO! I'm at the Louvre!

Happy Birthday!

A beautiful birthday cake.

There are some people that you know you will know for the rest of your life.  Somehow these people are connected to you, like family, and are always there, caring about you and your life.  My friend Marie is like that and it’s her birthday today.

That's how it goes sometimes...

Marie is always giving, often too much, to others.  She forgets to save some of herself for her own inner peace.  She always gives with the best of intentions. When she runs out of gas, it’s totally understandable because she’s exerted all of her energy in so many directions at once.  She goes and goes and goes and then she suddenly she gets tired.  It’s okay and only lasts for a little while.  We are artist sisters and that’s how it goes sometimes.

When Marie is centered, she’s awesomely clear.  She’s a brilliant genius that has so much going on in her head that it can scare the rest of us. I love witnessing the greatness in her, almost every day and at least every week.  She’s an explorer, a discoverer, a lover and a generous soul, not to mention an incredibly talented artist.

A wild and crazy birthday cake!

I love her and I hope she has an incredible birthday knowing she is loved, no matter what and she is awesome, no matter what.

My New Work

Crazy big felted bracelet.

New paper cloth collage and polymer clay flat pin.

Paper cloth collage and polymer clay flat pin. She has silver pig tails!

Another paper cloth collage and polymer clay flat pin.

Yet another paper cloth collage and polymer clay pin.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am very thankful for this big wide world and getting the chance to live in it.  I hope everyone has more of what they need.

The view from my booth at the show in Ritterhaus castle.

More Travel Adventures with Meredith

View of the Alps from Ritterhaus Castle facing Germany/Austria.

What a beautiful view to start a day with.  Switzerland is a really a lovely place.

Bee's studio where I spent some hours preparing for the show. It was nice to get some work done and in a such a lovely space, too.

 

Christmas decorations in Bee's studio window are so charming!

The lovely whimsical entry to Bee's Atelier and home. I love the lamp that she made! I also loved coming in every day to this cheerful vestibule.

Pictures of Switzerland

Okay, despite coming home to my personal little card fraud hell, our trip was a great adventure.  We stayed at my friend’s home in a small village of 6,000 and drove down to Bubikon for the show every day.  The show is a modern art show and held in Ritterhaus, a castle built for the Knights of Malta.  The Knights of Malta were originally an order of good deed doers that administered to the poor, sick and homeless.  This castle was built in 1192 and much of it is still the original structure.  The chapel burned down at some point and was rebuilt exactly as before, complete with frescos on the walls.  The Library has beautiful murals and trompe l’oeil painted paneling.   Here are some pix:

Library wall trompe l'oeil

Ritterhaus library murals and the real wood paneling.

The detail of the painting on these walls is incredible.  This room is kept dark to perserve the images and of course, I didn’t use a flash to take these pictures so they’re dark.  Still you get an idea of how lovely they are.   Can you imagine living in such a place?

The artist or artists that painted these images was very good.  I know these images would be classified as naive but they are really very charming.

Fresco over a chapel door.

This is the brightest of the frescos in the chapel.  The chapel is still used for special occasions, sometimes weddings, etc.    There were about 5 artists displaying their work in the chapel during the show.  I think it’s about the coldest room though!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fresco ghosts outside of the chapel.

Check out the texture of this castle wall!

Card Fraud Again

It’s come to light that I did use my card at one other place and on the day that the fraud began: the train station.   The train station is next door to where we were staying and we had to get our tickets for Paris.  My debit card was used for that.  Since that day, a whole bunch of stuff got posted to my debit account and lucky me, I even got some weird pills in the mail that were ordered on that card.   I would like to know how they have my address?

Lesson to be learned:  be extra careful when in any travel purchasing venues like train stations or airports and *only* use a credit card!

Next lesson: never be too busy to monitor your accounts.

The Unexpected: Card Fraud

Word of warning: keep your ATM card numbers hidden every time you use your card!

YUP.  I’ve been hit.  Currently all my funds and more have been spent by someone else, my account is frozen and I can’t even buy a pack of gum.  What a lovely way to come home from Europe.

The creepiest thing is that I was careful!  I only used my card 3 times while I was gone and each time, I only used it at a bank.   Not only that but I am always careful about keeping the numbers on the card covered up, shielding my hands when punching in the pin numbers, etc.   And the gold on my numbers is mostly rubbed off.  None of that helped apparently.

All I can figure is that my card info got snagged while I was in the small village in Switzerland, though I don’t know how.  No one with me that also used their ATM cards at the same place that same day have had any issues.  The date of the first fraudulent withdrawal occurred the first day I used my card in a week and I can’t imagine that once whoever got my info sat on it for over a week before using it.

The only bright side is that they didn’t clean me out as soon as they got access.  If they had, we would have been in Paris without any money and that would have really sucked.  I worked pretty much 7 days a week for the last 8 months to pay for this trip, just to have someone steal a good portion of it.

I can’t imagine being so low as to live stealing from others.  I think that’s just sick.

Switzerland is Amazing

Castle window at Ritterhaus in Bubikon Switzerland

I have been impressed with how beautiful Switzerland is.  There are pastoral scenes, cows and hillsides in the region we’re staying in, East of Zurich up in the hills, in a village called Bauma. There are 6,000 people in Bauma and space is abundant here in this valley.

The show I’m participating in is in a castle built in 1192 built for the Knights of Malta.  Faint frescoes are on the walls in the castle chapel, incredible stained glass in the library and sword room and a view of the Alps that are impressive.  It has snowed in the Alps since our first views and each time we see them they’re more dramatic.

The show has a variety of artisans including weavers, glass blowers, steel sculptors, and more.  Everything is for modern art at the Kunsthandwerk show and my language has been a source of amusement for everyone, including me.  Hey, I can pantomime anything!  =)

Sword room windows at Ritterhaus.