World Local: Paris

Showing posts with label Paris. Show all posts

7.10.11

Opéra national de Paris

Opéra national de Paris - main lobby entrance "rotonde des abonnes"

One of the structures that has amazed me the most is "Opéra national de Paris". I adore the mood that such fastidiously decorated interiors create, almost pure magic! The building has amazed me in every way, how such beautiful details have been created?...

Staircases after the main entrance with impressive arrangement of sculptures and lighting

Staircases down to the main lobby of the entrance

"The Palais Garnier, also being often referred to as the Opéra Garnier, the Opéra de Paris or simply the Opéra, is "probably the most famous opera house in the world, a symbol of Paris like Notre Dame cathedral, the Louvre, or the Sacré Coeur basilica." This is at least partly due to its use as the setting for Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera and the novel's subsequent adaptations in films and Andrew Lloyd Webber's popular 1986 musical. Another contributing factor is that among the buildings constructed in Paris during the Second Empire, besides being the most expensive, it has been described as the only one that is "unquestionably a masterpiece of the first rank." This opinion is far from unanimous however: the 20th-century French architect Le Corbusier once described it as "a lying art" and contended that the "Garnier movement is a décor of the grave".".. (source: wikipedia)... To myself, the Palais Garnier or the Opéra de Paris is a real masterpiece!

Paris - Museum collections

L'Âge Mûr (The Maturity) 1902 by Camille Claudel, @Musée d'Orsay

L'Âge Mûr (The Maturity) 1902 by Camille Claudel, at Musée d'Orsay

"..The group suggests the hesitation between Rodin's former mistress - Rose Beuret, who would win, and Camille, to detain him, leans forward. Beyond her personal history, Camille performs a symbolic leading a meditation on human relationships. She herself is embodied in the guise of a character she calls the Imploring, marking the tragic attached to its destiny.

The man at the end of its maturity is caused by the dizzying age while he extends a hand to youth useless. The nude figures are surrounded by flying draperies that enhance the speed of travel Large oblique flee. Paul Claudel said this: "My sister Camille, imploring, humiliated on her knees, this beautiful, this proud, and you know what tore at her right now, right before your eyes, is its soul".." - from Musée d'Orsay website -

"...The Maturity demonstrates the cruel abandonment of Rodin. Now, only Camille wrote to his brother, Paul Claudel: "I'm always drawn to my group of three. I'll put a hanging tree that expresses the destiny.".. - more from Wiki -

La Nature se dévoilant à la Science by Ernest Barrias, 1899, @Musée d'Orsay

"La Nature se dévoilant à la Science" by Ernest Barrias, 1899, at Musée d'Orsay
Nature Unveiling Herself before Science

Château de Versailles

"The Palace and the gardens of Versailles are count among the most prestigious of the world's heritage sites and represent the finest and most accomplished achievement of 17th century French art. King Louis XIII's former hunting logde was transformed and enlarged by his son Louis XIV, who installed his court and government here. You'll discover the splendours of Versailles through its magnificent and varied visit circuits."

Apollo Fountain

Romantic, green and purely beautiful! Perfect garden for picnic. It is about 1-hour train from the center of Paris to here. The ticket for the Palace + garden + Trianon Palace and Marie-Antoinette's Estate is €25. You can also choose to buy ticket to enter each part. And do remember to buy ticket online, or else you might end up queuing for 3 hours like my friends did. (There're 2 seperate queues: 1 to buy ticket, & 1 to enter the Palace which took us about 30 minutes). And a final note is it's better to bring your own lunch here to save time & money. This place is super-crowded during weekends.

Statue infront of the Palace

Paris - Weekend relaxing at the forest park "Bois de Boulogne"

Just about 20 minutes from our place to a nice park by metro. We had a relaxing picnic Sunday :-).

View On Large
Many people/couples went here to sunbathe & relax.

"The Bois de Boulogne (the Boulogne forest) can be considered one of the "lungs" of Paris. 2.5 times larger than Central Park in New York, and 3.3 times larger than Hyde Park in London but 5.9 times smaller than the Soignes Forest in Brussels, it occupies the site of the old forest Rouvray." (Wiki)

Blue sky over us..

Weekend getaway in northwestern France

From Paris to Rennes, Saint Malo and Mont Saint-Michel

Rennes - beautiful & peaceful town
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It takes about 2.5-hour by high-speed train from Paris to Rennes. We're lucky having friends in Rennes to enjoy a weekend getaway here and to visit some famous places nearby. Thanks you guys!!

Paris - dream destination, my first gate to Europe!

A special post with special memory and I love every photo of it..

Eiffel tower at night
In 2010, the Eiffel tower is under repainting for the 19th time to protect steel from corrosion. 25 painters are working for the job and it takes 18 months to finish. The tower is re-painted every 7 years on average.

"The summer air was soft and warm

The feeling right, the Paris night

Did its best to please us

And strolling down the Elysée

We had a drink in each café..

And you

You talked of politics, philosophy and I

Smiled like Monalisa...

We had our chance

It was a fine & true romance...."

- "Our last summer" ABBA -

Paris, je t'aime!

My day walking alone around Eiffel tower. I can't help falling in love with Paris, and who actually can..? (",)
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top right: The male statue @the square near Eiffel tower: This's on the left of the square, the female statue w/ same sitting pose is on the right (cute butt btw :-D); bottom left: Beautiful couple w/ beautiful wedding outfit! I saw them when walking up the stairs to the top floor of the square near Eiffel tower. I stopped, & the bride smiled at me, she has a truly shining smile :-); (the guy's on the right was posing for a pic of himself with Eiffel tower, he looked funny being near the glowing-in-love couple :p) bottom right: Golden-coloured statues @square near Eiffel tower - nearly sunset: Among 8 statues, only one turned her head to the Eiffel tower
Paris 06/08/09

Our first place to stay in Paris is the Citadines apartment, which is just about five minutes away from the famous Moulin Rouge

View from top of Arc de Triomphe

Arc de Triomphe

Statue on the bridge near the Eiffel tower

One of the great things when living in Paris is u can definitely enjoy a cup of coffee or beer on streets. It's similar to my hometown but not that easy to find in Singapore, and that makes this place closer to my heart..
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The weather in autumn turns cold quickly, promising a coming freezing winter. It'll be my first winter in Europe, my first time to see snow :-). I don't know whether it'll be as romantic as it's always in movies, not really I guess. I've been warned by my friends that it'll not be very pleasant to walk on streets or after the snow melts & the roads'll be all wet.. Whatever, I'm still excited! My days now pass by slowly as I'm not busy working like before. I've been preparing for a new chapter of my life.. (",)

Some comments from flickr's friends:
"Great shot! Your friends are wrong. There is notting like the feeling of walking on fresh snow with a winter breeze in your hair. You can feel it breaking under you feeth. First snowfall allway's bring a feeling of romance and everything looks different when covert under a white blanket. For me it give's a sence of happyniss and romance. And you can shoot awsome picture's after snowfall. Have fun!!!!!" - Lorentje.

"You are right about enjoying a coffee/beer on street, anytime, almost anywhere, days and night and all year long. Keep enjoying! Regarding snow experience, well, there are not many snowfalls in Paris and they usually don't happen before end of december or january. In addition, if and when that happens, you have to be very quick. Just after a snowfall, the city is absolutely beautiful and romantic. But in less than two hours, snow melts and turns into dirty slippery mud. What i can suggest you is to leave Paris and go for example to Versailles, only 25 Km from the center of Paris. Temperatures are lower there, and there is no underground heat from subway and or parkings. And snow remains longer." - Py All.

The colour of Time...
"The Butterfly Effect"
"It has been said that something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world." - Chaos theory - Unexplained mysteries..

The photo's not really related to the title, but I just want to write about The Butterfly Effect - an old American psychological thriller film that I watched yesterday. The title of the film is a reference to "the butterfly effect, which theorizes that a change in something seemingly innocuous, such as a flap of a butterfly's wings, may have unexpected larger consequences in the future, such as the path a hurricane will travel."

Honestly, I was a bit scared at first during & after watching the movie, but then I found it really interesting & memorable. "The movie's about a man named Evan who suffered severe traumas as a boy and a teenager, blacks out frequently, often at moments of high stress. He was urged by a psychologist to keep journals detailing his daily life. As an adult seeking the cause of his memory problems, Evan breaks open those childhood journals and inexplicably finds himself capable of traveling back in time to relive those events. Believing this power of time travel will allow him to heal wounds suffered by those close to him decades ago, Evan goes back in time to change his past.
The actions he takes, and those he enables others to take during his blackouts, change the timeline in the new future wherein he awakes. As he continues to do this, he realizes that even though his intentions are good, the actions he takes have unintended consequences...." (source: Wiki).

Some people want to forget the past. Others want to change it.. The movie made me think about what goods & bads I've done to others or the other way around.., and I wonder if even one small detail in my crucial timeline had been changed, how significantly different my life (or others') would have been... I will never know!

A little crazy or funny or I have too much time to spare? I don't know, but I surely know that the movie's good :-): "It is, for lack of a better term, very human." ..And small good things that you do today might have really big effect (possibly to the whole world) tomorrow, so let's do more and more goods!!
Paris 16/09/09.

A comment from a flickr's friend, jjdo: "I don't know anything about the movie you mention above. I don't know anything about butterflies. But, I do now when beauty turn to passion. The heart flutters. How can such a slight glance make such a powerful affect?"