Paris! Day 1

Our class took a field trip to lovely Paris a couple weeks ago. Even though I've been a handful of times before, I saw a completely different Paris than I was used to - we went to different neighborhoods, different museums, and different restaurants and brasseries than my usual haunts, which I really appreciated. 

(disclaimer: none of these pictures are mine because, in my waking-up-to-a-friend's-phone-call-because-i-slept-in-and-almost-missed-our-train morning craze, I forgot my camera and iphone. well done alex.)

First stop on Day 1 was the Pantheon. Just down the street from Luxembourg Gardens, I've walked by the Pantheon dozens of times but, for some reason, have never stopped inside. This is ridiculous because not only are there amazing nineteenth century paintings covering the inside, including a fabulous one by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, but the tombs of basically everyone important in French history are underneath the floor here. 

The Pantheon was originally a church dedicated to St. Genevieve (one of 2 patron saints of Paris, the other is St. Denis) sponsored by King Louis XV. The foundations were laid in 1758, but financial difficulties and lack of funds suspended the project for a few decades...it was not revived until after the French Revolution. The problem with that is that the French Revolution did away with monarchy, so when it was completed in 1789, the revolutionary government demanded that it serve not as a church but as a mausoleum for some of France's greatest intellectuals. This is why so many famous 18th and 19th century figures are buried here (few 20th century because it filled up by then!). Since those days, it has gone back and forth between being religious and having a merely commemorative function...current status is non-religious though. Below were some of the paintings/frescoes inside:

In the mausoleum, we paid our respects to Emile Zola, Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Voltaire. 

Next stop: Saint Sulpice (via Luxembourg Gardens)

Another place I've walked past but never bothered to stop inside...little did I know there is a side chapel here with the sides painted by Delacroix! Apparently his studio is right around the corner and as he was getting older and not able to take on the monumental commissions of his youth, he came here to work on these murals for the church. They're definitely a hidden gem.

(here's one side...)

and the other

and the ceiling

After this, we walked around St. Germain (best place for wandering in Paris, also coincidentally great shopping). Having been totally wiped out after working on papers all weekend (and all night leading up to this trip - we turned them the morning before leaving), we were not up for a night out. Instead, we stopped by the nearest grocery store and made a picnic in the hotel room and watched movies in French. Wine, cheese, baguettes, blankets, movies and friends were just what I needed to rejuvenate and get ready for the rest of the week!