French Sphinx Tomb

More pictures from my visit to Montmartre Cemetery on Halloween. I love looking for the egyptian influences on french design. This is the Laver-Frantz tomb. I don't know when it was actually constructed, but the earliest death date is 1839.
An owl. Okay, that bit isn't Egyptian.

But the sphinx definitely are, even if they are far more french than egyptian.
These are the longest legged sphinxes I've ever seen.
They have wings - a very unusual feature.
Each sphinx has two snakes wound around her head and draped down to her neck. I love the scarab necklace.
Another angle to see the snakes. What an amazing amount of detail.

I ended up skipping the walk yesterday so that I could spend more time with my sweetie. Retrospectively - what a mistake. Yesterday was glorious and today the forecast is 100% chance of rain. At least I made Chili with Beer yesterday, so that will help us warm up.

But We Have to See Everything

I can't even keep track of everything that we saw, let alone on which day. I've been a bit overwhelmed with all the photos and finally decided I had to just grab some and post.

First up is Morey's photo of Janet taking a photo on the Pont Alexandre III:


On 24 October, Morey went to the Louvre to see lots and lots and lots of paintings, sculpture and Egyptian stuff. Janet and I went to the Decorative Arts Museum instead - I'll post about that another day. My husband stayed home and made us delicious Italian Weddding Soup for dinner. Or was that another day? I get all confused.

On 25 October, Janet, my sweetie, and I took a walk down to the Marais for a bit of sightseeing and falafel sandwiches (which were delicious). We came across this holiday store, featuring Santa AND witches:


We then met Morey for a tour of the Crypts of Paris, which was horribly boring. I don't know how "crypt" translates into english, but it's got to be a faux amis. We saw building foundations from the Roman period. Dull, dull, dull.

The Conciergerie was built in the early 1300's. Look at the gorgeous ceiling of the Hall of Men-at-Arms:

Janet and I in one of the four fireplaces. Gives you a sense of the scale:

During the French Revolution the Conciergerie was used as a prison, which is how the building got it's name. (I hadn't realized that a concierge is a keeper.) More than 2,700 people spent their last moments here before going to the guillotine. This is the pitcher that Marie-Antoinette may have used to take her last drink:

On Friday, the skies were very gray and we were all wiped out so we skipped Pere-Lachaise Cemetery. Late in the afternoon Morey was going through a guidebook and realized that he hadn't seen all the Egyptian artifacts at the Louvre. He and I went back for a nighttime visit. It's nice then - far less crowded.

Me and a sphinx:

Morey taking a photo of me:

And the reverse:

The display we were both photographing. I think the statue on the left is Osiris and the black statue is definitely Sekhmet:

Morey and Janet left yesterday morning. I assume they got the Eurostar safely to London because they didn't show back up at our door. I wish they'd stayed here longer AND I'm jealous that they're in London. I'm now in the dregs of a post-holiday letdown.

We had the 6-day museum pass - I don't think I'd go that route again. Too exhausting and you're locked into it once you start - the days have to be consecutive.

French Sphinx in the Marais

Pictures from last week's walk in the Marais. I found a gorgeous courtyard:

With a pair of French sphinx. The only similarity to Egyptian sphinx is in the lion's body. An Egyptian sphinx would never have breasts and all the ones I've seen are looking straight ahead very serenely or majestically.

This one is missing her nose. These faces almost look like they're in pain to me. I suppose I'd be in pain if my nose had fallen off too.

Another detail in the courtyard:

I enjoyed your comments on my last post, which is not to say that I don't always enjoy them - I do. I had not thought about how machine quilters so often work without any marking at all and yet here are hand quilters being told they need to buy templates and stencils. harumph.

Too much of the quilting industry is based on making quilters feel inferior, that they have to buy this book to perfect their quilting stitch, and that book to learn the technique to make those seams match, have to buy the templates because you aren't good enough to do it yourself. You're a bad quilter but you'll be great if you'll just buy more stuff.

Most of the shows are just as terrible, choosing soulless technique and symmetry over wobbley joyful works. I look at the quilts and find nothing appealing in them at all.

To completely change tacks, now I have some links to share with you.

Julie used my freepiecing method to make words for this marvelous quilt. There are lots of detail shot of the quilt as well as pics of some other fun quilts.

Mismatched Quilter Katie is making the most amazing freepieced letters I've ever seen. She's completely blowing me away. She's come up with her own "handwriting" style and it's fabulous. Start with her August 6th entry showing the completed Space quilt and then work backwards to see the quilt in progress. She's also put in detailed pics of how she makes the letters, and she's teaching me a few things.

Quilting Rush Laurie Ann is making a great improvised homage to Elvis as well as keepsake name quilts for visiting Japanese students. All marvelous.

And last, but by no means least, Rantala Rags Dot is making a great appliqued Halloween bouquet. I love how she's used her fabric to make ghost and boo flowers. I'm pleased to have inspired her and in turn am getting great ideas from her. Anyone else want to join in?

More Sphinx

The problem with blogs (for me, sometimes) is that I write them so quickly and then post, without realizing how words and images might be interpreted. Sorry.

No, the Louvre doesn't cost $51 to enter. Sorry to scare you. We have a yearlong family pass and I have made two visits, therefore the high cost per visit.

Here is another photo of the chair in yesterday's post. No, this isn't a griffin. Griffins do have the body of a lion but they have the head and wings of an eagle. This is a classical Greek Sphinx with the body of a lion, the head of a woman, and wings. I found one reference that said this is also called a Gynosphinx but that sounds vaguely anatomical and off-putting.

Sorry Gypsy Quilter, I didn't get any more information on this than I already provided. I promise in future to do a better job. I could have at least gotten the year - that's the same in French as it is in English.

There was a companion chair across the hall, also made for/in the Vatican. Body of a lion, head of a lion, but a ram's horns and wings. I'm stumped on what mythological entity this might be.

Yesterday I got caught in quite the downpour without my umbrella. I hauled it around today and of course didn't need it. I learned my lesson tho and tote it I shall.

I'm lucky it didn't rain since I took a chance and sat outside at that restaurant I love so much (the one where I had the raclette) for lunch. I had the most marvelous salad of mixed greens, tuna (the kind that has been packed in olive oil and is so delicious), tomatoes both sun-dried and fresh, and roasted bell peppers and aubergine (that's eggplant for you yanks - I'm blending in) and black olives. The odd touch was melon (cantelope) but it worked. Heavenly. {agh, I'm adding this the next day--always have to forget something: there was also feta cheese. Very unusual mix of ingredients but it really did work.}

The waitress was sweet and after I asked if I could have my dessert "a emporter" (to go, which I had to attempt to pronounce a couple of times) she switched to English to converse with me. I had the Tarte with Clementines with my tea this afternoon.

I have to admit that a long-held stereotype has been completely shattered. The French people that I have dealt with on an individual level: the bakers, waiters, the local five-and-dime owner, have all been incredibly sweet and helpful. I have not had one French person be rude to me.

I was told, it turns out correctly, that the first thing you must always do is greet a Frenchman or Frenchwoman. Say "bon jour" and smile. Try to communicate with whatever pathetic bit of french you have (even if it's only "parlay voo onglaze") and do your best. Works wonders.

The only unhelpful Frenchwoman we've encountered was the one at France Telecomm. Several ticks against her: she worked for customer service, a big company, a big company that is essentially owned by the government.

Greek Sphinx

I forced myself out of the apartment this morning. It is far too easy for me to be a hermit. I visited the Louvre, but probably shouldn't have. The poor labeling and signposting just irritated the heck out of me today. Cost for my trips to the Louvre: $51 each.

I will spare you my lousy photos of the Venus de Milo and Winged Victory of Samothrace. I already deleted them.

According to the Wikipedia, a "Sphinx is an image of a recumbent lion with the head of a ram, of a falcon or of a person, invented by the Egyptians of the Old Kingdom, but a cultural import in Greek mythology." The classical Greek sphinx has wings and the head of a woman. Why am I telling you this? Because I was geeky enough to come home and start looking through online bestiaries trying to name these chicks:

This is a chair from the Vatican that is on display at the Louvre.

And a picture of my Mad Eye Lily. That's her nickname (one of them) because she often sleeps with one eye partially open. creepy. And no, she wasn't sleeping when I took this photo.

A Bit of Egypt in Paris

I took a long walk yesterday afternoon in the sunshine; I even got a bit sunburned. I took 140 pics (I looooove digital cameras) and even tossing half as outright awful still leaves me with a lot of pics to choose from. Decided to divide them up over a number of days so I'll have something to post about even when I'm playing hermit. I'm going to post thematically, not geographically... Today is a bit of Egypt in Paris.

This was my initial objective: Cleopatra's Needle down at the Place de la Concorde. Yes, a real Egyptian obelisque here in the heart of Paris.



And this looks rather foreboding doesn't it:

I forgot to take my guidebook with me (d'oh) but just followed the tourist hordes into the Jardin des Tuileries. It's not as pretty as I was expecting. I'd call it a park, not a garden since there was little in the way of flowers.

This statuary with tiny creatures (cherubs? - I don't know, I thought they were rather creepy, especially the one sitting on the big dude's shoulder) and a sphinx caught my eye. This looks far more Roman than Egyptian. A cornucopia? Not something seen in Egypt.

Nonetheless, it is titled: Le Nil. I can't believe how old this is - finished in 1692 if I'm interpreting this sign correctly.

And how about this sphinx I found on the Quai d'Orsay:

She's cool, but Egyptian sphinxes are breastless. The Egyptian name for them is "Abu Hol" - father of terror. Not a fitting name for this babe.

While eating my sandwich at the Jardin, I read a bit of Eric Maisel's A Writer's Paris. I love reading books about writing and dreaming that some day I will be a writer. I of course have many things going against me in that department: sheer laziness and procrastination being the top two. I've come to accept that I like the dream better than the reality.

A Writer's Paris is illustrated by Danny Gregory who inspires a whole different dream of having gorgeous drawings in a wonderful journal. I keep using the excuse that I need a moleskin journal to do it properly, because who wants to do all that work on a spiral bound notebook? I want it to look pretty...

I need more sunshine. Geez louise and this is June.

Alabaster Sphinx

Sweetie and I did some more exploring on Friday. Kind of embarrassing that there is this wealth of riches just 45 minutes from us that we've never explored.

Our first stop was Memphis, which was one of the capitols way back when. Unfortunately there's nothing left of the city, but there is some fabulous statuary. This is my favorite: the Alabaster Sphinx.

That's little me to give you some perspective. This sphinx was carved out of one huge piece of alabaster. They don't know who it's supposed to represent, there are no cartouches or markings. Our guide said she likes to think it's Queen Hatshepsut, since the face is a tad feminine. All the pharoahs were clean shaven and wore false beards, so this can as easily be a woman as a man. Doesn't this sphinx have a Mona Lisa smile? I think she's gorgeous.

We also visited Saqqara, which has some rubbish heaps of pyramids that were built with relatively tiny stones that haven't withstood the test of time. Plus this, the Step Pyramid, which was the architect Imhotep's first attempt to get a pyramid shape.

Yes, Imhotep. We've been hearing that name a lot since he contributed a great deal to this area. It also happens to be the name of the mummy in "The Mummy" which we actually watched last week. Kinda had to. Love that movie, the new one with Brendan Frasier. It's got romance and humor and thrills and chills. The heroine is a plucky librarian. The end isn't over-the-top stupid or violent. A perfect movie in my book.

Here's the photo I wanted to post of the inside of the bead store from my trip on Thursday.

Surprisingly enough, I haven't bought any turquoise here. I don't actually like real turqoise - it's a bit too green for me. I just realise this now because I've been having an ongoing "battle" with friend Rachael about the color turquoise which she claims not to like. You know what, Rach, you were right. The photos you sent me really had true turquoise colors in them (too green). I don't like that real color. I like the fake turquoise that's much bluer...

Finn asked about scarabs. Here are a few from my collection. The four smaller ones are beads, the larger ones are for display.

Scarabs, the real ones, are dung beetles. Yes, they play in poo. They push and roll it into a ball, and put their eggs in there to hatch, bringing forth life. To the ancient Egyptians, the rising sun was known as Khepri and he appeared as a giant scarab rolling before him the orb of the sun. So scarabs represented the renewal of life. Scarab amulets were placed over the heart on mummies in order to help stimulate the wearer's rebirth into eternal life.

So scarabs are commonly found in Egypt and given as gifts. Not the real scarabs - the faience, stone, or alabaster varieties. I've gotten a few. A woman I met, an American who had recently married an Egyptian, said that everyone who came to visit them brought a scarab.

Giza II

Giza II - The Revenge of My Non-Existent Muscles. I can't believe how much I ache...

Here's one more shot for ya'all. This shows all three pyramids at the plateau, as well as the Sphinx, which is actually kind of small, and lots and lots of tourists. Sorry, Sharon, I have no idea what the scaffolding is for, but I suspect some kind of conservation work.
I was going to add all of this upcoming babble to my previous post, but it was easier to just do two posts and throw in the pic. I'm feeling chatty today.

I can't believe how much the muscles in the front of my thighs still hurt, and my calves, after that horrendous cramped climb up the pyramid. I want to squeal with pain every time I stand up.

Lily, tell your Dad he didn't miss a thing by not making it to the burial chamber. It was kind of an adventure and a fun story to tell, and yes it gave me that much better of an understanding about how the pyramid was built, but I wouldn't do it over again.

Dawn, definitely wouldn't be the thing for you. I have a touch of claustrophobia myself.

Luckily there's electric lighting now (and the guide gave me a flashlight just in case it went out) but can you just imagine what it would have been like in torchlight 4,500 some years ago? At least now you know that the pyramid is incredibly well constructed and has survived several earthquakes and isn't likely to come down on your head, but they wouldn't have known that then... No, not good.

I am happy to report that my knee didn't act up at all. I was expecting all sorts of swelling, but there's been nothing. Woohoo.

Giza

Yesterday my sweetie and I took a guided tour of the pyramids at the Giza plateau. It still amazes me that one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world is located only 30 minutes away by car, depending on traffic. It's also interesting to compare my hubby's photos with mine. I seem to have people, he goes out of his way to have none. Anywhere here are just a few photos.

The Great Pyramid of Cheops was the tallest man-made structure until the Eiffel Tower was built. This thing is huge. I was in a better mood this trip so it didn't just strike me as a big pile of rocks... Our guide convinced us that it was worth going inside the pyramid to the burial chamber. This is what I could see looking out from the robber's entrance to the pyramid. There's Cairo right there. And loads of tour buses.

It was an interesting trip into the pyramid. I didn't panic and run screaming, tho it wasn't exactly pleasant. You have to climb a 45 degree ramp bent over double. That went on quite a ways. It's a narrow little thing and it's the only way in OR out, so you had to manage to get by people as well. The burial chamber itself was fairly small, considering how much stuff I'd expect the pharoah to cram in there to take to his afterlife. And it was damp. Didn't hang around in there for long, let me tell ya. My muscles just ache today.

This is a photo of the back of the Great Pyramid where there are hardly any people at all. Most of the hordes are in the front I guess. Closest to the parking lot.

I love the Sphinx. His proper Egyptian name is Abu Hol, Father of Terror.

And this is what it looked like when I stepped back (and down) a few feet:

Yeah, lots of people. Not just tourists either, but some of the locals were doing tours.

The horrible obnoxious sellers of postcards, bookmarks, water, etc weren't nearly as bad this trip as the last time we went. Is that because I have acclimated to Egypt or that we had a tour guide and didn't look like such easy prey? Still makes me angry to see little kids selling stuff, tho this was at least a Saturday and there wouldn't be any school. Then again, I bet they're there every day of the week.

So it was a good tour, glad we went. Made me feel happy to be living in Egypt, which is a good thing as well. It was only a half day tour, it wasn't too hot, and we had a nice breeze, which means I wasn't completely wiped out when we were done. Plus I'm now smart enough to bring an umbrella with me to provide shade - that made a difference too.

After napping a bit I managed to sew for awhile. This post is already too long for that, but you'll see my progress shortly.