You are currently visiting
The Arts in London and Paris
January 22nd, 2008
Today was the first time I had been to the V&A, the Victoria and Albert Museum. They have an extensive collection of a variety of different artforms there. It was all quite impressive. The third and last group led our tour of the museum and did a fine job of guiding us to the various exhibits they wished to highlight for us. One of the things that I found very interesting was a rather unassuming piece known as The Luck of Edenhall. I liked learning about its history as well as its craftsmanship, and it made me wonder what stories were hidden behind many of the other pieces in the museum. Someone had taken the time to craft each item, pouring little bits of his soul and memory into his art in order to create something unique and meaningful. I also thought the giant Chihuly chandelier was pretty impressive. After we reached the theatre museum section, we were turned loose to explore at our leisure. I looked at a small selection of Beatrix Potter’s drawings, which was a pleasant surprise to find there. I also went back to see the Cast Courts from the floor level. There were plaster casts from all sorts of interesting and famous places, including Rosslyn Chapel, Trajan’s Column, and Michelangelo’s David. Some of the plaster casts are so old that they have taken on importance of their own aside from the fact that they are models of famous originals. In the architecture gallery, I was amused to find a detailed recreation of the Toshogu Shrine in Nikko, Japan. It is the resting place of Tokugawa Ieyasu, a famous shogun. It was neat to see a place I recognized in that museum. I also had to take a little time to revisit the marble statue gallery where we had begun earlier that morning. We had taken a group photo with Bernini’s Neptune and Triton before. I was particularly interested in the poem inscribed on Lawrence Macdonald’s Monument to Emily Georgiana, Countess of Winchilsea (photo). After that, I wandered into the Raphael Cartoons room. I had never realized how enormous those paintings really were before, but I was definitely impressed.
I spent the afternoon revisiting the Parliament building and Westminster Abbey on my own. It was nice to have a chance to study the detail of the two buildings at my own pace. The weather was very clear and windy, which was a nice change from the dreary day I had last been to see those places. The Thames was actually rather pretty once the weather wasn’t so savage. In the evening, we went to see Metamorphosis at the Lyric Hammersmith. To be completely honest, I had not expected to enjoy it much, but I was very surprised- I loved it. Gregor Samsa was played by an acrobat and the playwright had incorporated a great deal of humor into the storyline. I found it quite enjoyable, though the story was still sad. It seemed to me that Gregor was more human at the end than any other part of the story because of the raw emotions he was expressing while the rest of the characters were completely restrained. Tomorrow is a free day, so I am planning to go to Camden Market again and then see what I feel like doing after that.
Cheerio!
Amanda H.
No Comments »
January 20th, 2008
What’s the best part about Paris you might ask? Some may say the Mona Lisa, others love the Eiffel Tower, but I would have to say the food. In between running from the Eiffel Tower, the Musee de l’Orangerie, and the Arc de Triomphe, I somehow managed to consume three crepes, a three foot long loaf of bread, and a scoop of ice cream. My favorite would have to be the nutella crepe. When I get back to Eckerd it will be at the top of my priorities list to buy. Thankfully we walked everywhere in Paris so I was able to burn off those calories! It was really enjoyable walking along the Champs Elysees looking at the stores and high fashion gurus bustling about with their bags. After a long day of walking and eating, it was nice to take a nap on the train back to London for our last three days there.
- Brittany M.
1 Comment »
January 19th, 2008
Today was our last day in Paris! We started the day with our last real croissants and then headed to Monmarte. We had to change metro lines three times and didn’t get lost once. If that isn’t a great start to the day, I don’t know what is! I miss the tube- it’s in English, assigns names to the different lines instead of letters and numbers, is far less complicated and is better lit. We started at the Basillica of Sacre Coure with amazing views of the entire city. We had to climb about 1,000 stairs to get there but it was worth it. Then we went to see the Moulin Rouge… quite unimpressive and it was not even the original place. Then it was back to familiar territory and off to the Musée d’Orsay. It was absolutely incredible, an entire museum dedicated to my favorite genre of art: impressionism. I got to see my favorite Monet paintings and found some new artists of interest including Degas and Manet. The building itself was beautiful. The ceiling was covered entirely with carved flowers. We ended the day with banana and nutella crêpes and a 3 foot baguette- couldn’t have been more perfect!
- Kelly T.
No Comments »
January 18th, 2008
We started our day out early, leaving at 6:00 AM to get on the 7:55 train. The Chunnel was a new experience in itself with a group of 20 people managing to get on the train in London and off in Paris in as little as two hours. Paris is exactly as the movies portray it: The romantic city. Everywhere you look you see couples and it really is romantic. At the same time, it is a lot of fun to observe and interact with a whole new culture. A group of us went to the Louvre tonight and it was wonderful to see in the dark with the beautiful lights coming out of the pyramid. I was simply in awe the entire time we were visiting this wonderful museum and I am so happy I had this opportunity to see all of these wonderful pieces of art. Our hotel is very cute and the concierge at the front desk is humorous- he makes us request our room numbers in French. The people of Paris are very friendly and make it both easy and comfortable to order in restaurants and to converse with them. I am looking forward to the rest of the weekend in Paris!
Au revoir,
Megan B.
No Comments »
January 16th, 2008
On the first of today’s visits we went into the Royal Courts of Justice. My first impression of the building was that of admiration and awe; because of the large particular Gothic style carvings and other ornaments of the Royal Court building: Balconies and staircases were open under pointed arches inside and outside the building; from there we had a view of the extensive main hall which became flooded by the sunlight of the morning. After that we walked across a gallery full of the evolving dress ware of members of the court: from deep red robes with golden embroidery to the simple silk black robes and white wigs- worn in actuality by both men and women. The highlight of the visit was when we were able to sit and watch the court case revolving about discovering who was responsible for the death of Princess Diana (even if it was through a separate external room and by means of a television screen because of the importance of the case). Unfortunately, what little time of the trial we were able to see was only a questioning about Princess Diana’s wedding after she divorced Prince Charles.
While in the Courtauld Gallery museum we admired many pieces by famous painters. Some of the highlighted pieces of Art included pieces like Degas’ “Two Dancers”, Medieval engraving of the Virgin and Child (that came from various collectors’ own private collections), Gauguin’s “Nevermore” (in which the story within the painting was only visible through hard thought and observation), Monet’s beautiful and peaceful “Autumn Effect” painting, Reuben’s charming, realistic and symbolic “Family of Jan Bruegel the Elder”, and Van Gogh’s famous “Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear” (in which what lead to Van Gogh’s mutilation of his left ear was a dispute with fellow artist Gauguin about the nature and purpose of Art).
- Maria B.
No Comments »
January 16th, 2008
Postcard 1 of 29 in this set.
Next »
No Comments »
January 15th, 2008
What I love so much about this trip is that I get to do things that I would not normally have a chance to experience and might not have another opportunity to experience again. For example, tonight we went to the Royal Opera House to see La Traviata. Because I have never been to anything like that before, I had no idea what to expect, so I went in with an open mind. Earlier that day we had been given a backstage tour of the ROH and were able to see all the costumes, scenery, and all the other preparation that goes into an opera. I knew that a lot of work went into a production on this scale, but I never realized just how much. Being able to come back a few hours later to see the actual production made me even more appreciative and aware of all the work the backstage workers do.
- Caroline Weatherill
————————————
The opera we went to was absolutely beautiful. Even though we were sitting in the highest level, you could hear the singers’ voices with crystal clarity. I was very impressed by the performance. I could not believe that they weren’t using microphones! It was fabulous and I hope to go to the opera again someday.
- Allie Whiteley
No Comments »
January 12th, 2008
Tonight a couple of us went to see the Russian National Dance Show. It was a one night only event and it was incredible. It started out a little slow, but by the end everyone was tapping their feet along with the music (or singing along if they knew Russian). There were so many spins in their dancing that it made me dizzy watching them. One guy in particular seemed to do a lot of the spinning madly around the stage. He made my head spin! The premise of the show was to highlight Russia’s history in the form of dance. It took us a while to catch on to that theme but we got it eventually! A lot of the audience was Russian so we kind of felt left out when they were all singing and clapping. There was a guy who was singing in Russian and everyone was going wild and we had no idea what he was singing about, so we just clapped along. So much fun!
- Catie D.
No Comments »
January 7th, 2008
London is beautiful in the winter time. It’s been nice and clear for the past few days. It’s still cold but it’s been great that it hasn’t been cloudy and overcast. We went to the Museum of London today which was really cool. There were so many artifacts on display. It was awesome to see the detail on some of the artifacts that were made such a long time ago!
Cheerio! Catie
The following photos were taken by Megan W.
No Comments »
January 6th, 2008
Sightseeing in London was a great but rather freezing experience. This city is full of history and tradition. Its architecture is a reflection of both. It has been an amazing experience of the British culture.
Carol
The following photos were taken by Megan W.
No Comments »
