lunes, 12 de octubre de 2015

The Paris diaries: Stendhal Syndrome and Truffaut films.





Following with my Paris honeymoon blog series, I bring you the second chapter of our French diaries. This episode is full of museum, pretty paintings and waves of inconvenient Stendhal Syndrome.
I hope you enjoy it!

The Paris Diaries, day 2.



Paris, September, Friday the 25th


Last evening we learned Museé D´Orsay was still opened until 11:00 p.m. The Gentle One decided it was the perfect oportunity to visit it, as we won´t have much more spare time during the weekend. So off we went, absolutely exhausted but also will to make the most of our experience... AND then it rained.
Like real rain. Neither drizzle, nor mizzle, but a proper, BIG, REAL shower.
 And instead of coming back to the hotel after dinner at the Latin Quarter, The Gentle One insisted on visiting the museum anyways, so we ended up running under the volley, just like if we were participating in some ill-timed Truffaut film. So the basic and most inmediate consequence this morning was I woke up with a runny nose and a sore throat.
I had to take something for the incipient chills, as well as wearing my warmest Autumn coat, but luckily everything is under control now.
 





So once we got ready, we flew to the Opera Station in order to visit the Garnier Palace.
That was a funny visit, specially considering The Gentle One was a bit reluctant about it. 
I didn´t want to tell him too much as I wished to get my little revenge because of the Cerralbo Museum episode last Christmas (as he wouldn´t say a word about that museum to me neither, and I finished having a little emotional crisis when I first entered and found the whole thing waiting for me...) And yes, this time the joke was on him: The effect was as inmediate as entering the great staircase. He did not cry (he´s such a professional "male" when he wants to) but I could feel a flow of emotions he could hardly keep at bay.
We are now at peace as this kiss demonstrates:



The rest of the visit was wonderful, and my inner fan girl even had the chance to awe for several minutes in this little corner of the gilded mirror hall, when I found this small Ravenclaw chamber. The Gentle One didn´t look too happy when I suddenly decided our future house living room shall have a Ravenclaw mural. No discussion on this.




When we moved, we took the chance to make a short trip to Les Marais, where we had some luncheon, and I stumbled upon Axes Femme boutique (no need to say I left with some goodies). Afterwards, we moved to the history museum and the Louvre!
Because you can´t come to Paris and forget about the Louvre, can you? Although to be honest we didn´t care too much about Mona Lisa. 
I mean, there are thousands of masterpieces exposed in there, and yes, of course Mona Lisa is important, but not as much as people may think, from my perspective. I glanced at it from behind the tourists mass surrounding it, and that was it: we kept moving to have a closer look to some of the paintings appointed on our agenda.






Not to mention that the building and its surroundings are a work of art statement by themselves. Just imagine Napoleon the Third living there...






I think this week you will see some more posts coming, but most probably about some other topics than just our honeymoon and wedding, as I don´t wish to bore you!


So tell me darlings, what was the last place you visited you really fancied?



12 comentarios:

  1. You look beautiful! Very appropriate for a palace!

    So you are a Ravenclaw? I am a Hufflepuff!

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    1. Yes, Laura, I am a Ravenclaw at heart! ♥ I used to prefer Slytherin when I was younger, but when I grew up I realized my bookish tendences would have fitted better in Ravenclaw. After all, soving a riddle to enter your house common room sounds like fun to me! Hahaha... Hufflepuff is also very nice, by the way!

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  2. Beautiful pictures Violet :) I'm really happy for you!
    I really want to visit Paris, but there's always other places "stealing" our attention :)

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    1. Haha, I know, Sally! There´s always something else popping on the trip agenda, right? That was one of the reason why we delayed this holiday destination so much, but I am very happy we finally decided to go at once.
      And thank you so much for your nice words :)

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  3. Beautiful photos! You are really making me want to visit Paris. It rained all day when I visited, unfortunately I was waiting to go up the Eiffel Tower so ended up very wet. I'm glad you had a lovely time despite the rain! The first photo is absolutely stunning!

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    1. So sorry to hear you had some bad rain too. It looks a non-writen obligatory rule to carry your umbrella all your way through Paris, isn´t it? Even so, I did enjoy a lot, and I can only recommend going back when you find the time. If you need any piece of advice when you go, just ask me :)

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  4. I've heard Mona is quite tiny in reality; not nearly as impressive as one would imagine. I felt that way when I saw The Sin by von Stuck. Very cool but very hard to see way up high on the wall like that. ;)

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    1. It is truly small! I used to think t was medium-size portrait, so that was dissapointing too. Also, comparing with The Arnolfini Portrait (which is even tinier) the former lacks of expressive strength. No matter what they say, for me the model smiles like a dead fish... Haha. Now seriously, the colours are dirty and non definied at all. It looks like kind of a sketch to me in some parts.

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  5. Wonderful pictures! And you´re so right with Mona Lisa...I was disappointed by the picture, it´s so tiny! But when I read your diary, I wish I could go to Paris as fast as I can... Nice greetz!

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  6. There´s something quite disappointing about Mona Lisa, isn´t it? I think it has something to do with the big amount of fame it claims for. When we visited the Louvre we noticed people tends to get stuck around the works pointed at the museum guide, rather than just exploring around and trying to get their own conclussions about art. Actually, something really funny happened to us in relation to this: when we finally found The Young Martyr barely anyone was looking at it. As we basically stumbled upon it (we had no idea about what room it was displayed) and Delaroche is one of my favourite artists, I suddenly started crying a bit because of its beauty. My spouse comforted me and we spent some time just looking at it. After ten minutes, people started looking at us and then to the painting, until a group of around fifteen people was standing by the picture. I think there is something contagious about art, it is like people are afraid of thinking too much of it, and they just let the other to take decisions.
    Anyway, thank you so much for your nice words. I hope you enjoy my trip diaries, and please, go to Paris any time you can. You will never regret it!

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  7. Oh you were in my city :) Nice pictures, i am a Ravenclaw too ;)

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    1. Hi there! Yes, I visited Paris last year for my honeymoon and did enjoy it a lot.
      And I am always glad to hear about other Ravenclaws! ♥

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