The seat of major EU institutions are in Strasbourg, among them the European Parliament and the Council of Europe. The buildings are modern, mostly glass and steel, which is quite a contrast to the quaint city centre area of Strasbourg, where Alsatian architecture (often feels Germanic) dominates. Of course, the city has been in both the hands of French and German over the centuries, so it’s natural that the influence from both cultures can be deeply felt.
Outside the European Parliament, this sculpture above drawn me to it. From afar, I initially thought it was the figure of strong protecting the weak, or a mother holding a child. Upon closer inspection though, it was more like entertwining embrace of a couple, encased in a loose heart shape. Designed Ludmilla Tcherina, this is a strong imagery of Europe that has a heart.
The Strasbourg Cathedral is one seriously impressive structure. Its height tall beyond anything that I’ve ever seen, standing majestically at 142m into the sky, it took over 400 years to construct this Romanesque/Gothic cathedral which is lavishly adorned with stone figures. It does get rather overwhelming, so I zoomed the camera in and photographed this small part of rose carvings instead. And instantly loving it.
The weather in Strasbourg this weekend is not quite like what I’ve gotten used to in Paris in the past few weeks (read: sunny) and is everchanging. One moment, it’s warm and sunny, and the next windy and chill-inducing. I was out for lunch today with my friends, sitting at the outdoor restaurant at Place du Marché Gayot, which was very pleasant until we started to shiver and wished we wore something else that were not shorts, mini-tees, skirt and sandals. We skipped desserts in favour of bulking up our outer-wears…
I have a lot of kiwis to eat. Last week, at the market, I bagged a small basket of about a dozen kiwis which come at le petit prix of €2. Awesome! Sure they don’t all look pretty and perfectly oval, but does it really matter how they look?
Among the many, I’ve found this, which sliced to a natural heart shape. Isn’t it cute? I have another which sliced to resemble mitochondria, the power house in every single cell of our body. I debated which to post, but thought I’d skip the geeky kiwi (I can’t help it if I notice the shape – I am a biologist) and go with the heart-warming option. ;)
A new series of sculpted installation (made from rusty steel) has just been peppered along Ports de Paris which opened today. Such serendipitious coincidence that I went awandering near Parc André Citroën and came across a few of them. I haven’t time to check all of them out though. Accordingly they could be found along River Seine running from the park to the Eiffel Tower.
Created by Edgardo Carmona, the pieces by the quay-side gates of the park include the artistics (carnival musician, bike juggler, ribbon gymnast), the day-to-day (umbrella blown with the wind) and the amusing (man with beer – after a late night out maybe – and dog, both peeing to a lamp post). I wonder what else are installed upriver from here.
You’ve seen me posted entries of various street arts and mural paintings of Paris. Here’s another creative one – which is used to not only decorate the wall but also to frame the elements of the building, i.e. windows and doors. Pretty good job for a building that seems to be in need of major restorative works.
While I find the roar of the animal amusing, the picture is still slightly disturbing. It’s the body. I can’t wrap my imagination around it and no matter how I look it over, it still feels all wrong. Not my kind of art perhaps. If you want to see this for yourself, head over to rue Neuve Tolbiac, near Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand.
I pass by this bronze sculpture of a bird several times a week. In fact, each time I go for a run. Considering I would also complete numerous rounds of the loop of the park in Cité U, I’d see it for a few times within the hour that I huff and I puff my route in synchrony to whatever high-beat music I have loaded to my iPod.
Entitled Pájaro XIII (to signify the 13th such bronze statue by the same sculptor?) by Juan Soriano, it is part of collection from Centro de Arte de Reina Sofía. Unsurprising, given that it sits in the garden to the Spanish House. The thing is though, this sculpture is superfamiliar to me, even before I found out from where it came from. Now I wonder if I have saw something similar when I was in Madrid a few years back?
When one evokes the image of “shopping in Paris” one often thinks of the designer labels, the haut couture, strolling down Avenue Montaigne and the likes. Truth be told, it seems there are places to shop everywhere in the city, and I’m still trying to figure my way around, where best to get certain items etc.
What one would also commonly see in Paris would be open food markets (different locations around the city but there’s always some any given day of the week), flea markets (look out for signs for brocante antiques, usually at weekends) and then small craft markets, like this one at Boulevard St Germain. Passing them en route to Chloé’s, I didn’t really stop to look at the handful of stalls properly. This market is not there at all time, but I’ve definitely seen them here before. I suspect it could be a regular feature, perhaps once or twice a week?
I haven’t been enjoying picnic this much in my life until the last couple of months. I’ve lost count of the number of times when I packed a bag of food and drinks, plus a good book, and off I went to the park for a few hours in the sun with my friends. We certainly weren’t the only one with such idea, since the park was always packed, and today was no exception. We even got our own front row to a “spectacle”.
We called them ninjas. Let’s face it – they dressed the part. We have no idea what form of martial art are they practicing exactly but often time, we questioned their wisdom in choosing the park as the venue of practice. During the demo by the master, everyone would form a circle and observed. The ninjas then were paired, equipped with rope(s), and proceeded to tie each other up (in slow motion) in the craziest conformation possible, including strangling position. There were lots of kids around observing. I shudder at the thought of them playing at home, saw some ropes, and decided “I can be a ninja too and let’s do what they were doing at the park”…
I <3 Miró. I first fell in love with him when I was in London, standing in one of the many rooms of Tate Modern, gazing at Message d’ami (Message from a friend). I was immediately smitten. What started as an attempt to get acquainted with modern art (I used to be a tad scathing about modern art movement) became a day of exploration and unspoken connection. That day, I learned a true lesson in the beauty of keeping an open mind and giving things a try. At least once.
At Musée Maillol, an exhibition of Miró’s sculptures is currently taking place and it is so good to see the familiar elements of his paintings also reflected in the sculptures. The one thing missing is the bold colour blocks, given most of the sculptures were casted in bronze and not cured in any other way. I miss those vibrant colours. There are a couple of coloured preparatory sketches in exhibition, along with 2-3 paintings proper, but that’s too few for my liking.
In writing this blog post, I discovered that another Miró exhibition is currently running in Tate Modern, which assembles paintings from public and private collection (what a coup!). I need to now find some free time to Eurostar myself over to London. Oh where in my calendar can I fit this in…?
Another work week coming to an end, albeit this is a slightly lighter one compared to the past few. Nonetheless, it didn’t mean I could slack off, as I was scheduled to give a presentation today on my work project. However, with this now done, I could have a truly work-free weekend in the next couple of days, so I am happy, happy, happy!
On the way home this evening after dinner – Ani and I went to an Ethiopian restaurant – as we passed by Boulevard de Port Royal, the dim light against this stain window proved irresistable to me. By now, Ani knows what I’m up to and patiently waited for me to whip out my camera, snapped a couple of shots, and be ready to continue our journey. Don’t you agree this stainglass is pretty and rather apt given the season now for tulips to bloom just about everywhere? ;)
