exterior � Frenchless in France

A Church

In the Marais you will find the beautiful church of Saint Paul-Saint Louis.

You can enter a side door down at the end of this alley.

The newly painted door and arch where I got red paint on my hands.

The front of the church.

Inside is this shell which holds holy water when there isn’t a virus going around. There are two which were a gift from Victor Hugo who lived near by.

Isn’t this lovely?

Orsay Museum (Exterior)

We did another walk with our friend on yet another beautiful morning. This time we met at the Orsay Museum just for a change of scene. I sure hope it opens soon. It’s really a great museum.

I saw this gorgeous building as I near the Orsay.

There are a series of iron sculptures of wild animals such as this rhino in the front of the museum.

And this row of figures that were once on another building each representing different areas in the world.

I wonder if we will be able to see this exhibition when it opens?

The Orsay was once a train station that wasn’t large enough when the trains got longer and there are two clocks on it. Inside you can look out and see Paris views. They almost tore the building down but, luckily, someone got the idea eventually to make it a museum.

Also on Instagram I had seen a picture of an interesting store called the Liberty, so we headed over there. The one we saw-there are several-has an Elizabethan looking exterior and the wood seen there came from ships.

It was built in 1924 although it certainly doesn’t look like it.

It looks like an old market inside. They were well known for their fabric too.

A pub outside. They always look so cool.

This pub is called Shakespeare’s Head and there he is looking down.

Then and Now

Here are a group of photos I took before we went to Berlin and then after we arrived back in Paris:

This little dog is almost always in front of this café a short distance from our apartment and I assume it belongs to the owner. I bet it is always on the lookout for other dogs.

Seen in Montmartre. I have no idea what sort of entertainment is shown there but I sure did like the exterior.

Autumn light always makes good photos.

Also seen in Montmartre. Note that they use the window as part of the piano.

Looking out of a restaurant.

Where I had this starter. My, it was good.

This and That in Porto

I have a ton of photos from Porto so I’m going to share them. Why not?

If you go down, down, down some hills you reach the Douro River and the interesting area called Ribeira. The famous Porto wine was stored here, and still is, and exported too. The day was mostly cloudy and rainy so I didn’t get any photos I liked but this gives you an idea of what it was like. There are still large buildings for storage and, of course, many places for tasting. Porto wine is sweet and I seldom drink it. I have occasionally dumped some in my spaghetti sauce which gives it a good flavour. We had a cocktail made with white Porto but I couldn’t really taste it.

This is one of the six bridges spanning the Douro near Porto. Two of them had Eiffel-as in Eiffel Tower-involved. He was a genius with metal sculpture and building. This is the Dom Luis I bridge.

We rode a tourist trolley that circled around Porto which was fun.

Isn’t this strange? I saw two of them in two churches in Porto. I asked a person working in one what it meant and he said it was the third eye, as in the one talked about in India. Apparently, this saint had visions. I couldn’t find out any more about it.

I couldn’t make this any lighter and it looks rather confusing. It was a sculpture in Sao Francisco showing the tree of Jessie which shows the ancestral history of Jesus. This church was once Franciscan which I believe was once an order with very plain, bare churches. The Portuguese later decorated it and everything inside is gilded in gold and in the Baroque style.

A close up view of just some of the gilding.

I passed an antique/used furniture store and this caught my eye. It made me wonder about the history and what it was worn to. A dance hall, a party, carnival, a parade? I’d love to know.

I love shops like this, stuffed with all sorts of food and drink items. Such great ambiance.

Another exterior, and interior, that I loved.