Sunday, October 8, 2017

sewing: pyramid bags

I decided I wanted to try making some dice bags, maybe even sell them. However, selling them requires bags to sell, which meant, finding some bag types I can make.

I decided to try making pyramid bags - maybe I'll make a big one for a knitting bag sometime; they seem to be quite popular. All three bags have fusible fleece fused to the outer fabric, and quilted in straight lines lengthwise at ~2.5cm intervals.


Friday, March 3, 2017

cemetary

(post written in May 2019 as I finally get around to finishing these posts)

The morning of our last day was spent at the famous Pere Lachaise cemetary which was close to where we were staying.

Thursday, March 2, 2017

medieval things

(post written in May 2019... because I'm a slacker and didn't get it done earlier.)

We went to the Musée de Cluny, which is an excellent museum of the middle ages.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

musée marmottan

(post written in July 2018 as I sort through old photos and discover I never finished the Paris trip).

I mysteriously have almost no photos of this day. I think maybe I decided to just look at things and not photograph it all? Based on a couple of blurry pictures, it looks like we went to the Musée Marmottan Monet.

They have a bit of an eclectic collection - medieval illuminated letters (most of which look to have been cut out of larger pages, which is too bad), the personal collection of art, furniture, decor of Mr Maromottan (in whose house the museum is located), various impressionist works, as well as a collection of Monet pieces that had been kept in the family - the feel of these pieces is a bit different from what one often sees in more famous works. Luckily for me, the website of the museum has many photos of the artwork on display, so it's ok that I didn't take pictures.

The only photo I have from the interior of the museum.
They also had a Pisarro exhibit, which was really interesting, though crowded (we were in the last days of the exhibit).

That is also the day we went to Les Halles and stopped at Muji.


Tuesday, February 28, 2017

petit palais, sacre coeur

(post written July 2018 as I sort through photos and discover I hadn't quite finished writing up the Paris trip...)

Looks like it was raining in the morning.


We went to the Petit Palais in the morning and looked at art in a cool building.


The front door of the Petit Palais



 Emile Gallé, ~1878. Vase decorated with Chrysanthemums and Praying Mantis. Enamelled glass.

Eugène Feuillâtre, ~1912. Vase "La Mer." Translucent enamel over copper.

Greek vases

The Grand Palais across the street


Lunch was at Angelina... again...







And then we discovered that next door to Angelina, there is a bookstore... one that carries English books. How we missed it after passing by so many times, I don't know...




The weather cleared up, so we headed towards le Sacré Coeur.

We walked up the front stairs (and stopped for a bit for a snack and drinks at a café with a brilliant view of the building)...


We enjoyed the view from the top...



The building itself, both outside and in (though I don't think we went up to the top, I think it was too late in the day? I don't remember).








We went around the corner to take a look at the other church, St Pierre de Montmartre.





Then we walked down the side stairs...



Dinner was with friends at an Ethiopian restaurant. Giant (I think the plate was a foot and a half across) flat soft crepe-ish thing, with various foods. Tear off a piece, scoop up whichever glop you wanted, eat with your fingers. Quite tasty.


Monday, February 27, 2017

weird and wonderful colors and shapes

The Natural History Museum in Paris is a collection of associated museums (they're not apparently actually one entity; you have to pay separate to get into each section, though there is a discount for having been to another). They consist of a large garden with buildings around the perimeter, plus a zoo. Of course, in February, the gardens are perhaps not at their best.

fancy

Last time we were in Paris, the closest we got to Le Palais Garnier was across the street. This time, I insisted we go in, since I'd heard it was interesting. We expected to spend maybe half an hour or an hour... we were there the whole morning.


Sunday, February 26, 2017

shiny gold

We went to Versailles without much of a plan. We knew, because I'd looked it up beforehand, that there was some kind of equestrian performance, and that tours existed.



Friday, February 24, 2017

arrival in paris

(It is now the beginning of April, and I am finally getting to writing up our trip to Paris - I've backdated the posts.)

This time, we decided to fly to Paris, instead of taking the train. This was not a bad idea. We took the RER and metro into the city, and when we emerged, the first thing both of us did was be tourists.