In the afternoon I headed over to the Museé Cluny, Paris's medieval museum. I really enjoyed the museum- it was just the right size to be informative without overwhelming. For my folks, who weren't able to go there with me, I took a lot of pictures so I could put together a little "virtual tour."
The buildings that comprise the Museé Cluny are as unique and interesting as its collection. Half of the museum is situated in ancient Roman baths (the only ones in Paris, if I'm not mistaken) and the other half in a genuine Renaissance building, the former town house that housed the abbots of Cluny starting in 1334.
The museum has an amazing collection of stained glass, a lot of which came from St. Chapelle (that my parents and I tried to go to earlier, but which was unfortunately closed). From the Rick Steves guidebook, about the stained glass:
"Enter the Dark Ages, when life was harsh and violent, angels and demons made regular appearances, and the Church was your only refuge. This room offers a rare close-up look at stained glass, which gave poor people a glimpse of the glories of heaven. These panels (many from the basilica of light, Sainte-Chapelle) give us a window into the magical, supernatural, miraculous- and often violent- medieval mind."Most all of the glass here had a narrative function, telling biblical stories to the church-goers (who most likely could not read). I absolutely love the way the glass was presented in this museum- you entered a dark room, where the only source of light filtered in through these intricate panels. It was breathtaking.
Down the hallway from the lovely stained glass, I entered a room of the baths that contains medieval statues.
The three heads here are the stone heads of the ancient kings of Judah. They were originally part of the Notre Dame's facade, but were pulled down by an angry mob during the French Revolution and not found again until 1977!
Down the corridor was the Frigidarium of the Roman baths- I think I loved the architecture of the museum itself as much as the museum's collection!
After this room I entered the second building (the Medieval one). This building houses one of the Museé's most famous artifacts- the "Lady and the Unicorn" tapestries.
One of my favorite things in the museum was the collection of metal objects, which were so mind-bogglingly intricate that I still find it hard to believe that human hands, not machines, crafted them:
They also had some armor and weapons on display, and I geeked out looking at the chain-mail, since there was a time in my life when I spent hours hooking metal loops together to make chain mail squares. I can't imagine how much time went into that tunic- or how heavy it must have been to wear!
A few more shots of the museum:
And that was my afternoon. I really loved this museum, and I think my parents would have enjoyed it, too (yes, even Mom)! After I left, I had disappointing crepe number 3, which brings the tally to 1 good, 2 mediocre, and 1 just plain bad. Ironically, I think the best crepe I got was also the cheapest.
Signing off for now- here's another "self-portrait" I took at the Musée Cluny for you guys.
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