Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Saint Germain l'Auxerrois

At the foot of the Lourve is the curiously horizontal facade of Saint Germain which consists of a clearly later building that nonetheless has a rose window and an older rose windowed building framing a lovely bell tower all connected with space. Though I'd never heard of the church (it's not included on lists of "gems of Parisian churches" or whathaveyou) I was intrigued and wanted to stop in. We did, easing around a baptism, to see the Lourve Palace's church.

at sunset

inaccessible to the public that day

the 12th century Romanesque bell tower with its Gothic facelift. This was not the bell tower that tolled signalling the beginning of the St. Bartholomew's Massacre.

hi Saint Denis, Bishop of Paris

delightfully intricately carved boss-this is of the Last Supper and you can actually identify apostles

side chapel

remnant of the original church decoration

strong 13th century nave

apparently there're 78m of stained glass

bright summer's day

15th century expansion

looking across the 18th century grille

the almost criminally underlit and hidden 15th century Flemish triptych that nevertheless takes your breath away
above the altar

the older chapels at the south side are very unlit-I quite enjoyed the sharp beam of light forcing its way through a missing pane

the rather impressive organ originally ordered by Louis XVI for Sainte Chapelle-so impressive you don't mind that it hides the rose window!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

La Fête Nationale du 14 juillet 2013

I took the opportunity available and ended up in Paris for a whirlwind weekend that ended in the national fireworks. July 14th for us started with a military parade down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in view of the Arc de Triomphe

secret service simply wouldn't get out of the picture but you can see the giant flag

tank parking

I've never seen a helicopter parade before but here it is
 then we ended up on the banks of the Seine at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. We picnicked there so we saw all the various stages of the Eiffel Tower.


at this point it's twinkling


...and the flag was still there? oops, wrong country. le drapeau tricolore!

one of the final volleys

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

The Deep at Hull


a great little tunnel

great ship like building jutting out to the sea

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Wentworth Castle & I learn about group self timer pictures



Wentworth's front facade
the garden and a lovely view of S. Yorkshire dales
I honestly have no clue what this is but it's fairly striking


quite possibly the best accidental picture I've ever taken-this is me walking back to reposition
the actual group picture