Interiors of Musée Carnavalet, PARIS, FRANCE
Located on 23 rue de Sévigné 75003, it is a museum that traces the history of Paris. It has a fabulous collection but if you didn’t know already I’m in love with interiors of buildings, and interiors of Hôtel Carnavalet are absolutely gorgeous, and of course, as Paris as they come.
Love the panelings that look like they’ve been lifted straight out of Blondel’s book of architecture.
Parc de Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain
Also known as Parc l’Escorxador, was built on the sight of an old slaughterhouse. In 1979, Barcelona began dismantling its old municipal slaughterhouse, turning the site into the first urban park of the post-Franco Barcelona. The area around the plaza contains landscaped areas composed of pathways and pergolas that provide an air of nostalgic romanticism in a busy urban environment. The Park is famously host to Joan Miró’s monumental sculpture Dona i Ocell (Woman and Bird), 1982.
While the sheer spectacle of Miró’s sculpture is quite a sight to see, I recommend the park itself which provides a quiet and unexpected retreat.
Again, I’m absolutely in love with Barcelona and its urban parks.
Magdalenklause in Schloss Nymphenburg, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Built from 1725-28 by the architect Joseph Effner, this hermitage was built for Elector Max Emanuel and is one of the earliest examples in Europe of a garden building consciously designed to appear as a ruin. Inside is a chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalene with the interior resembling a grotto. The inside is extensively decorated with shells, corals and colorful stones, perhaps expanding the eighteenth century rococo propensity for shell-like motifs. It is a habitable structure including a simple electoral apartment. This garden pavilion-cum-chapel was intended as a place for meditation and religious contemplation.
Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden
Founded in 1891 on the gorgeous island of Djurgården in Stockholm, Skansen is an open-air museum that seeks to preserve and exhibit life before industrialization in Sweden. More than a little kitsch but it was surprisingly peaceful when I visited. The diversity of rural architecture is also worth checking out and the bakery there, which is supposed to follow historic methods of baking, is overpriced but fabulous. You can also visit artist’s workshops including this picture of a glass-maker (?) house where you can actually buy handblown swedish glass.
Düsseldorf, Germany (Deutschland)
As I previously wrote, I lived in Düsseldorf for close to three weeks this past January. I hope this this photoset gives you a glimpse of the eclectic charm that the city has to offer. My personal favorite has to be Kunst in Tunnel, which is a rotating UNDERGROUND exhibition space with a fabulous cafe-cum-bar up top, overlooking the Rhein. Königsallee is also another favorite, a shopping street that would put 5th Ave/Madison Ave in NYC to shame and can definitely give Avenue Montaigne or Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris a run for their money.
It’s a warm city where modern seamlessly blends with tradition rather than a discordant clash as you might sometimes witness in other German cities— but I leave the judgement up to you.
Paris, France
Just some street art I found on a day’s stroll around the Marais and the Latin Quarter in Paris last month. As you can see, Invaders are everywhere, although I’ve heard that he might also live in the Marais…??
Enjoy and keep your eyes open next time you’re in Paris! It’s not just fashionistas and hipsters on the streets— you’ve also got a whole wealth of street art around you!
Heilig-Geist-Kirche, Munich, Bavaria, Germany (München, Bayern, Deutschland)
While the building was a Hospice in the 14th c, it was remodeled in the mid 18th c by Johann Georg Ettenhofer into a church. The interior holds Rococo frescos and stuccos by the Asam brothers. The interiors were restored after the bombing of Munich during WWII.
Less of a hallucinatory experience than Asamkirche, but exuberant, delicate, and utterly magnificent nonetheless.
Opernhaus Düsseldorf, Germany
Reflections from the first time I went to the Opera alone (only two weeks ago). The photos are quite blurry all of them were taken on my Blackberry and the little essay below were typed “real time,” during my night at the Opera:
“As usual, I showed up at the Opera house earlier than I should, most likely from a desire to be prompt as the denizens of Düsseldorf. The crowd is a diverse mix from elderly couples, groups of smartly dressed teenagers, singles in their late twenties, to entire families. With a student ID, I was able to get first row, first balcony tickets for an extremely discounted price (Should be noted: If you tell them you’re studying art, museum admissions are also free in Düsseldorf!)
Sitting alone with my fancy red opera envelope, I’m beginning to feel a little like a James Bond sort of a character, as if I should be exchanging secrets with the suit-clad man seated next to me. (My neighbor later turned out to be a lovely elderly woman with a fabulous sense of fashion) The Opera house is distinctively modern, although the red seats, the stucco decor, and the golden lighting are certainly evocative of the splendor of grand opera houses in Paris, Venice and etc. The pink stripes on the walls remind me also of circus tents. Like a character from a Mary Cassat painting or like Glenn Close’s character in Dangerous Liasons, I am drawn to people watching. I quickly realize how easily the interior construction lends itself to people watching.
The show tonight is Carmen, if I haven’t mentioned it already. I first read it in high school in a French class and I’m excited to see it performed live. The opera begins—act one flies by. Don José’s lines are overpowered by the live orchestra but Carmen and Escamillo have divine voices. During the intermission, the theatre completely empties out. Outside, the theatre-goers consume champagne and Kuchen (cake) and remark upon Don José’s weak voice. I’m still amazed at how many families and solo opera-goers are in attendance.
Fine art museums, gallery openings, operas, and theatre (a la Comédie-Française, not Broadway) are often seen as elitist in the States. Such venues and events are seen as signs of social class and wealth. However, during these past two weeks in Düsseldorf, I’ve noticed that the very same events are populated by the average inhabitants of Düsseldorf. No fur coats, sky-high heels, and haughty conversations are present. Rather, art and culture is an integrated part of their lives. Bookstores are filled to the brim with people lining up to buy the recent novel by Umberto Eco. Late nights in Museums are filled with children who come with both of their parents. Fine Art galleries are filled with teenagers who come to enjoy art. Düsseldorf, of course, is known for its art Academy that trained high profile artists such as Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, and Andreas Gursky. I wonder, why can’t art and culture also be part of our lives in North America to the point where it would be taken for granted, not just seen as novelties? Only in the States we have prominent newspaper articles criticizing liberal arts majors (art history majors in particular) as drains on society.
The second act ends with Carmen’s death. Outside it is pouring- your average Düsseldorf winter weather. The mothers open up black umbrellas for their children and the fathers help them fasten their scarves. Single opera goers prop up their coat collars and disappear into the bustle of Altstadt. And me, I’m headed to the U-Bahn, back to my apartment where Düsseldorf brewed Altbier awaits me.”
So I’ve realized that it takes me so long to update because I procrastinate on the site-related research that I have to do for each post. Seeing as this is tumblr, after all, and we’re all interested in the photos, I’m going to keep the information minimal for a while.
Photos from my travels around Nice, France:
Shamelessly touristy, I know- but how can you avoid it in Nice?
Place Masséna
L’Opéra
Open-air market at Cour Saleya
View of the Mediterranean Sea
Cemenelum: View of the ruins of once the capital of an ancient Roman settlement.
Musée Matisse
L’Église Russe: Construction funded by Tsar Nicholas
Butchart Gardens, Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada
Back to North America, all the way to West Coast Canada:
Butchart Gardens is an internationally renown botanical garden located near Victoria,
Views include:
- Sunken Gardens
- Ross Fountain: a converted quarry turned fountain
- Japanese Garden
- Italian Garden
I’m not much of a nature lover, but Butchart gardens completely blew me away. It’s definitely underrated, and in my view, more beautiful than any European gardens and parks that I have seen (including Versailles, Hyde Park, and Tiergarten). There is no sense of conforming and contorting nature in Butchart gardens, rather it truly is a harmonious melange between the natural and the cultivated.
