January 1, 2025
Hi folks & Happy New Year! Hope everyone is having a great finish to their 2024 and a fabulous start to 2025! I am hanging in the states currently with my mom for the holiday and it as been relaxed, family & food filled and included a trip to the Link to watch the Eagles destroy the Cowboys!!!! Who could ask for more???? Per normal, it has been a while since my last update, but my fall & winter start in Paris has been amazing! Life is good and I still really love Paris....and will be staying for a third year of teaching....so let me know if you are headed my way😎
This past fall i headed to Padua & Venice, Italy for the Biennale Art Festival....i am shocked i had never heard of this festival because it is the olympics of art in my opinion... this past year was the 60th anniversary of it...art is displayed from april-november and comes from all over the world.....more on this festival below.....
I also was able to get to mariseille for a friends birthday and to warsaw for a weekend to visit with friends, which was a great escape for a few days....and finally i spent time exploring all that paris has to offer.....the pictures below are some of my favorites from this past few months....boy do countries in europe know how to decorate for the holiday season....it is wonderful to experience....so on with the pictures ⭐
One of the things i didn't get a chance to do last school year was go to the paris symphony.....so this year it was a goal....i love it when concert halls allow you to sit behind the orchestra players, which is exactly where we were....cool symphony hall and i am hoping to see them play again this coming school semester ♫
i was lucky and got to see the paris rugby team play this fall as well...love that their uniforms are pink...and that you can see the eiffel tower behind their stadium....the french are raucous & rowdy when it comes to sports, which is great to experience....so much fun!!!!
another thing that happens in the fall in paris is called the patrimonie weekend, where a lot of the non-public buildings are opened to the public....one of the buildings i got to explore this year during this weekend event, was the prime minister's residence....they use chateaux (castles to the every day person) for their residences...so this is the chateau the prime minister lives in.....oh-la-la😉
i also was fortunate enough to score a ticket to the marie curie museum and lab....the picture above is a replica of her lab...obviously her lab was destroyed and rebuilt due to all of the radiation in it...it was amazing to think she discovered and carried around radium in her pocket in this very building...wow!
my fall was also filled with a lot of music concerts...including seeing janet jackson for my 55th birthday...this woman can still perform like a rock ⭐ so much fun and filled with cool costumes and dancing abilities!♯
i was reliving those 80s and also got to see bryan adams in concert....and he has this amazing floating car...the drone operator for this was really good...his band and music are so tight, due to being together as a band forever....it was a great night....
one of the weekends i was in france, i headed to marseille for a friends birthday....first time visit, but probably not the last....we had a beautiful saturday down by the sea...and the harbor was cool....
the second day of our weekend was rainy, which was a bummer, but it wasn't pouring, so we got to explore the street art of the city before heading back to paris.....
this is some of the amazing street art you can find in one of the sections of the city...i know most folks only see this as graffiti, but it is one of my favorite types of art....i was lucky and also spotted some "invaders" in marseille as well....invader is a street artist who has work all over the world...he has been putting art up since the late 90s and is anonymous....there is even an app you can use to catalogue what you find of his....love it!!!!
another fall event i did in paris was go to the montmartre wine festival...like many days in paris, it was rainy...but that gave the basilica of sacre coeur a cool backdrop....wine & food festivals in paris are always a blast!!!
then i was off to italy for a week with my friend bill...our main focus was venice for the biennale (more below about that)...but we also spent a few days in padua....this bakery was amazing...and just look at all they had on offer.....we did not have the best weather, but at least it did not rain continually😉
this is the inside of st anthony's of padua....it was an enormous and stunning cathedral in padua....the ceiling was incredible and i guess much of it had to be rebuilt after the city was bombed during WW2...it was lovely to wander around....
this is the art space at the top part of the palazzo....it was showing a work by yoko ono - Ex It - it was an exhibit focusing on peace and resilience....this particular part of the palazzo was where people were tried and executed in the past....so the coffins represent those who were killed....each coffin has a live tree growing from it to express how life can continue, even from death....the frescoes on the walls are amazing and represent people and events of padua.....
we also toured the university and were allowed in the lecture hall where gallileo galilei taught astronomy from....it is also where he was removed and put under house arrest by the pope for his outlandish scientific ideas and discoveries....that's him above me.....it was sooooooooo cool to see where he taught and to think that he taught so many the first astronomically correct things from 1592 to 1610....simply mind-blowing!!!⭐
this is the ceiling from the basilica of the padua's baptistry....it was incredible....the scrovegni chapel is also located in padua and its frescoes are outstanding as well....padua was definitely a great town to visit before heading to the biennale in venice.....amazing food, tasty drinks and incredible history, both religious and non-religious....definitely worth a visit!
and then we were off to venice for the the biennale....i loved that this contractor was named Pietro...let's just say we saw my name everywhere we went!!! Viva Italia!!!!
one of the things i love about italy is what you can spy around every bend....this was a random sculpture that made me laugh out loud....it represented the area drunkard....and was directly across from his favorite bakery & pub!!!! saluti!!! 🍻
I love how everywhere you look in venice there are arches and bridges...this is one from a walking street and not over a canal...but as you can see in the background, if you have been to venice, you know this leads to piazza san marco, or st mark's square, where the basilica is located.....
this is the ceiling of the basilica....it was a crowded day, but not super crowded...we only waited in the rain for 20 minutes....the ceiling is stunning.....the basilica is gothic in architectural style, and is located in the only true palazzo in all of venice....this is considered the only "true" square...the ceiling was my favorite part of the basilica!!!!
the main reason we were in venice was to visit the art of the biennale....i had never heard of this festival until this year from my travel partner, bill...and i have no idea how i got this old and did not know about what i have termed the "olympics" of the art world....it happens EVERY year, but alternates what is being shown....2024 was for art, 2025 will be for architecture....and it has thousands of works, located all over the city, from most countries in the world.....2024 was the 60th installation of the biennale...and it was an "art" year....the theme was "foreigners everywhere!" and was focused on countries providing space for voices of the global south or refugees to represent in the festival...it was superb and if you love art....you have to go see it...it runs from april - november!!! just incredible!!!! 🎨
this is one of the main halls, with country houses located all around it (again, like the olympics)...we did not realize there was an ENTIRE other exhibiting warehouse over 1 km long, with another 40 country houses, in another part of Venice until the last day we were there!!!! but at least we made it...the biennale focuses on contemporary art and includes events over the 8 months for art, contemporary dance, architecture, cinema and theater, no matter which focus, art or architecture, is going on....
this was in the japanese house....in the houses they show one artist's or a few artist's work related to the overall theme...this particular woman used water and motion and fruit to power lights and mechanical appliances to show how the ecological world is the way humans receive all power and how temporary it is...all of her fruits and pieces of furniture and mechanical things were purchased in venice and the fruit gets replaced every few weeks, to show how it provides less power as it rots....it was an amazing installation and had over 20 pieces.....this was in one of the houses and we made it to about 25 houses out of 80 or so.....i can't believe i did not know about this festival until this year.....it was incredible!!!!
this piece was in the USA house.....the artists featured in this house were native american and were representing people and cultures that are mostly silenced in the states....the morning we were there, members of a native american tribe were there dancing traditional native american dances,...i do not know which tribe was being represented....we did not have tickets, but made it in and saw costumes and the dancers just as they were finishing....the piece above was made from metals and was simply stunning!
we did wander through st mark's square as well...and this is a shot from the outside of it! it really is an amazing piece of architecture....
of course we also wandered over to the rialto bridge, as one has to do....this is one of the main pedestrian bridges that goes over the grand canal in venice....we did not spend much time in this part of the city, as there were a lot of tourists in this section....
we also headed over to the island of murano, where much of the glass blowing and pieces are created that you find all over venice....we spent a morning & afternoon here wandering the canals and visiting the different shops....we even caught a glass blowing presentation that was cool....
and then it as back to the biennale...where we found the other section of the city that was taken over by the art installations and country houses....i just cannot believe how much art was being shown and from all over the world.....it was just incredible.....
one of the best things we did was get a vaporetto pass for the time we were in town...this is the water metro system of venice...and it allowed to some incredible views from the water....plus, this is where we experienced life of venice and the perspective of folks who live there....i loved it!!!! but have realized i could not live in venice, due to all of the water and visitors....but it sure is fun to visit!
i did something different in paris for halloween this year....i went to the Rodin museum for a night of hell!!! experiencing halloween in paris was crazy, because they have gone in for the gory side of this holiday....many parisians feel that you need to be scary in costume or you should just not bother....the rodin was a ton of fun and riding the metro that night was a scary experience 😉
and just after halloween, paris starts to decorate for the holiday season.....they do not have thanksgiving, of course....so it is on to xmas as fast as possible 🤣 the light shows and outdoor festive gardens and decorations are just incredible...the image above comes from a light display at one of the many chateaux...and this particular chateau/museum, has a refurbished church...which is in the picture above....
the other things they have started doing with the chateaux is use them as a place to project videos and presentations about history....it was beautiful....a bit soggy, but i have come to expect that in paris....the weather is still my least favorite thing about this amazing city.....
i did make it to a chocolate festival in paris over one of the weekends...i think one of my favorite things was the clothing made from chocolate...i guess there was a fashion show of the pieces....what i was wondering was how did they not melt!!!!! just incredible!🍫
then i was off to warsaw for a weekend visit with three of my favorite folks in the whole world, who all now work together in that fun city...it had been a while since i was in warsaw, and my how, it has changed....very progressive and so much fun.....
of course we wandered around the old town one of the days....this is the uprising statue in warsaw, which was for the 1944 uprising in poland....i love this statue and remembered from another visit to this city....
this is the joyous mermaid in the center square of warsaw....she represents the thankfulness for being free and pledged that she would always guard the fishermen of this village....she has a sword and a shield to help protect the people and can be found on the coat of arms of warsaw....i loved that the the guy in front of her was playing a musical instrument that you crank...i think it is a type of music box, but cannot remember what it is called♫
the food in poland is sooooo tasty.....i am so glad we got potato pancakes and pierogies....and of course a beer to go with it.....so yummy!!!🥟
one of the other fun things we did was go to a lights show in a park, which also hosted a drone show...my first real one....it was a bit chilly, so perfect to start getting ready for the holiday season!!!🎄
back in paris, the christmas trees started showing up on the corners....i love the way the trees are put into the stumps of other trees...you put that stump in a pan of water to keep the tree fresh and watered....so cool!!!
we got some snow in november in paris....it looked so pretty on campus here on the still yellow gingko tree....due to this snow, we actually got a snow day and an unexpected three day weekend...which was great in the city, as all of the snow was gone during the next day...but out past school, the students would have had a tough trip into school...as france doesn't really have snow plows and does not handle this weather very well near paris....good for me 😜
paris is a city that does a lovely job decorating for the holiday season....these are the holiday decorations of dior...besides the building itself, the windows were also quite beautiful!!!
i was also in the grand palais for a art exhibit and then when we walked out the lovely view of the petit palais was stunning....i am continually surprised that i live in this city and how amazing the architecture is of much of it! just beautiful....
this was one the christmas trees in front of chanel...i will say these stores really go all out....but so do the local businesses....christmas decorating is a big deal in this city....
and then i went to the lighting of the champs-elysees....all of the trees went on at the same time to songs being played by a DJ....so pretty!
but like i said above, even local businesses decorate...as you can see from this corner brasserie...
one of the other concerts i went to this semester was paul mccartney....he's 82!!!!! this man played a 2.5 hour show and he still has it....sure, some of the high notes are harder to reach....but wow!!!! he played music from the beatles, wings and when he was on his own...and he celebrated john lennon and george harrison....and due to technology these days, he was even able to sing a duet with john lennon from a video recording earlier in time...the song is called "now and then" and it was an unfinished song and paul mccartney and ringo starr recorded it as a beatles song in 2022....it was awesome to hear it performed and you could tell that it meant a lot to mccartney...it was a fantastic show and i am so glad i was able to see him perform live!🎶
another big thing that happened at the start of december was the re-opening of notre dame....i have not made it inside the catherdral yet, as it has been super busy, but i did pass by it the week after it was open...it was insanely busy, but i was able to get some beautiful night shots of the cathedral without any scaffolding!!! i am hoping to get in the cathedral this month....we'll see if that can happen, as paris is always busy with tourists 😜
i was wandering the city one saturday and wound up in place de la concorde...as you can see it was cloudy, but what a pretty location....and of course due to the angle, i also got the eiffel tower in the picture...such a beautiful city!!!
