Nimes France

Posted on by Thor

After a week of exploring Paris, Terry and I traveled south to Provence to explore the smaller, and warmer cities. We used Avignon as our home base staying in Lumani, a bed and breakfast inside the ancient Medieval city walls.  One of the owners was a working artist and her studio was at the back of the public courtyard.  One evening it was illuminated and I sneaked in to catch a glimpse of her abstract paintings. Grape vines covered the old stone walls. Nimes was a short ride in our rental car, an automatic Porche, which was a hybrid car that unfortunately lurched whenever the foot was removed from the accelerator. When we got to Nimes, we parked in a shopping district but after examining the street signs, we decided to drive into an underground parking garage.

We walked to this historic Roman Amphitheater, Arenes Colosseum, built in 70AD and remodeled in 1863 to be used for bull fighting.   The ring is used twice annually today for bull fights. Pablo Picasso was inspired to create many bull fighting themed paintings after attending a fight at the Colosseum. The bull fighter in my sketch is a bronze statue and I didn’t catch the name of the artist. One woman approached me asking for a donation for her cause. She would have made a good Public Relations professional. Terry explored the inside of the Colosseum while I sketched the outside. It has seen plenty of wear and tear through the ages, but is just as functional as the day it opened.

Paris Pickpockets

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Walking along the Seine River in Paris, a woman leaned down
in front of Terry and she picked up a big gold wedding ring. She offered it to
me, not knowing what to do with it. We had been warned about pickpockets so I
kept my hand in my pocket on my wallet. I checked for an engraving and handed
it back.  I told her she was a lucky
lady. A half hour later a man pulled the same stunt. I watched him lean down
with the ring in his hand which he pretended to pick up. He moved with slow
deliberateness and he could have won an Oscar for his performance of concern.
This time we moved away quickly.  I was
curious to find out the next step in the ruse. I think the idea was to get in a
heated discussion about the ring and then a second person would approach from
behind to pick the rubes pocket. Terry figured the stunt was an attempt to get
people to offer money for the ring. The ring looked like gold to me however. We
joked about walking along the Seine again to collect more rings.

The Metros in Paris are clean and run like clockwork.
Pressing into a crowded car, I again had my hand in my pocket covering the
wallet. My art supply bag was on my chest and the artist stool acted as a nice
lock to keep hands off my paints and sketch pad. Some guy dropped his keys as
he was supposed to be getting out. I ignored the keys stepping around him. He
grabbed the inside of my calf firmly but as I moved around a central support pole,
 the back of his arm got pushed up
against the pole and his arm might have broken if he didn’t let go. I figure
there must have been someone behind me as that guy’s keys distracted me. Luckily
my back pockets were empty. Then again the guy might have just wanted to check
out my calves. For the rest of my time in Paris, if I saw someone drop
anything, I felt the urge to push them over.

Musee de Cluny

Posted on by Thor

Walking around our hotel in the Latin Quarter of Paris, Terry noticed a poster for a Medieval concert. Terry loves Medieval music having sung with a Medieval chorus when she lived in New York City. The next day we returned to go to the Musee de Cluny for the concert. The concert took place in the Notre Dame Room which was filled with sculptures from the cathedral’s various stages of construction. 21 monumental heads originated from the gallery of the Kings of Juda (circa 1220-1230). They were buried during the French Revolution and discovered by chance in 1977.

The Musee de Cluny  is housed in two Paris monuments. The Northern Thermal Baths of Luteria, the only Gallo-Roman monument surviving in Paris, were probably built in the late 1st century and were active for about two centuries. The complex consisted of cold, tepid and hot rooms devoted to baths, physical exercise and underground rooms for administration, laundry and wood storage. The baths can be seen today from the street from behind black iron gates. They are an quiet open ruin with the hectic city life bustling around them. The one elevated room, the frididarium (cold room) was recently restored. The Hotel de Cluny was built on the site in the 15th century replacing the Parisian residence of the Cluny abbots that existed on the site since the 13th century. The museum today houses art from as early as the Roman Empire (51-58BC), the Middle Ages, Romanesque and Gothic Eras. Most of the sculptures, paintings and stained glass are religious in theme. The most stunning room is filled with the The Lady and the Unicorn tapestry set. These tapestries were lovingly restored and they cover every wall acting as huge cinematic storyboards.

The musicians spoke in French more than they played. I’m sure it was enlightening banter, but I didn’t understand a word. When they did play, the music filled the ancient room transporting the audience back in time. There was another artist sketching in the audience. I suspected he was local, so I didn’t get a chance to talk to him. I was in a city where sketching is the norm.