Walking to Montparnass

statue du gal Mangin en 1900 ​​

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 la statue devant l'abside de l'église

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​st francis xavier church

Église Saint François-Xavier des missions Étrangères

Sainte Madeleine-Sophie Barat!

The saint was, from 1806 to her death in 1865, the Mother Superior of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart.

	6:50 AM (1 hour ago)

L'église Saint François Xavier -  Paris 7e

General Charles Mangin.  

A World War I general from France. "After the Allied victory, Mangin's 10th Army was sent to occupy the Rhineland. There, he became the focus of controversy due to his attempts to foster the establishment of a pro-French Rhenish Republic with the aim of separating it from Germany and thus denying Germany the West bank of the Rhine."

When Hitler entered Paris early in WW II, he had two statues destroyed.  Mangin was one of them.  This statue replaced that one in 1957.  Strange as it may seem I cannot understand why a second statue of this man was erected.  I am not a fan at all.

The other statue that Hitler had destroyed was of Edith Cavell an English nurse serving in Belgium in the 1st World War. She treated soldiers of all nationalities and aided in the escape of 200 allied soldiers. On the 100th anniversary of her execution, a former director of MI 5 revealed information that Cavell was in fact also a spy.  Because of this she was executed by the occupying German army.  From all that I can learn, the only memorials existing now of her are in Belgium and the UK.  I think they should have put up one of her in 1957 instead of Mangin.  A view I will never get to see

royal institution for blind youth

Statue in front of

Institut National Des Jeunes Aveugles

Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles, (National Institute for Blind Children or Royal Institution for Blind Youth), in Paris, was the first special school for blind students in the world, and served as a model for many subsequent schools for blind students.

Valentin Hauy

also see Valentin Hauy from Wikipedia

Another building that we pass on our walk is the Necker hospital for sick children

Most of the information online is in French.  However is the spring of 2015 conjoined twins were born in England and were taken to Necker in Paris for surgery.  Just from the little I could read about the hospital, I found out that it is one of the rare hospitals that has a staff prepared to deal with special or extraordinary infant problems.

The building is so unusual that it draws your eye to it from anywhere along several streets.

Fashion trends on the street or Metro in Paris

Frequently while riding on the Metro you get a very close up look at what women are wearing.  Two years ago I noticed that all of the women wore boots.  Men are much more diverse.  This time hats and scarves have caught my attention.

Dark brown seems to be the favorite color.  

Scarves are huge and look like a good throw to put over the kids while they watch TV.  Most of them are worn like this but are made of a heavy winter fabric.  Often a subdued plaid pattern.

The woman below has got the look.  Because the scarves are so large though not all of them look this chic.  

A brief word about men's shoes:

These are pretty fancy shoes, but none the less, they give some idea of what men wear here in Paris when they take off their gym shoes. Definitely toes are much more pointed than rounded.  In Italy the pointed toes is a must and I swear is more pointed than any of these. I would guess that comfort comes somewhere down the list after  looks.

That is it for fashion trends from Paris for now.

London in Two Days

Gare de Nord

leaving Paris

Leaving Paris

I tried taking some pictures through the window of the train, but I think that the 

camera could not compete with the speed of the train.

British Museum

Contemporary African art

Cloth made from the metal strips around the necks of wine bottles

Bottles with metal around their necks

Man's Cloth by El Anatsui (1998 – 2001), on display at the British Museum

Hippopotamus mask from Africa.  Modern art

Otobo Hippo Masquerade

Nigeria

Central Courtyard of museum

view from a window above

British Museum Great Court

Strasbourg Clock

Statue of a lion from Assyrian collection

Lamassu Assyrian

Above Lamassu and Balawat Gate in the British Museum

The destruction of Mosul Museum artifacts became  February 26, 2015 by the group known as ISIL

A splash of Egyptian sculptures

Ramesses II

Sarcophagus

Elgin Marbles

Figure behind the Professor is Iris

Notice the movement of the robe captured in the sculpture.

Elgin Marbles

taken from the Parthenon in Athens, Greece

Buildings across from the British Museum

This photograph is not an ancient artifact.  It is the 'potty' on which the 

child is sitting that is ancient.  Absolutely no way for that baby to get out of

that potty and he/she obviously knows it. 

Rosetta Stone

54 steps 

Spring flowers everywhere

Where the Professor spoke

We did not know whose bare behind this was until we walked

over to see the other side.  A horse of course

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Sculpture in Hyde Park by Nic Fiddian-Green

Marwari Horse at Water 2010

First night in London fish and chips from this pub

Francis Duke of Bedford

Tea shop in Gordon Square

People getting off the Eurostar at Saint Pancras station

Sir John Betjeman,Sir John Betjeman CBE (/ˈbɛtʃəmən/; 28 August 1906 – 19 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack". He was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1972 until his death.

From a poem by Betjeman:

But most of us turn slow to see

The figure hanging on a tree

And stumble on and blindly grope

Upheld by intermittent hope,

God grant before we die we all

May see the light as did St. Paul.

Statues at Saint Pancras Station

St Pancras Station "The Meeting Place"

John Cartwright

Lots of mops and buckets outside our door

A very brief view of our studio apartment in Cartwright Gardens

Studio2let

There are some fun pictures of rooms like or similar to our studio flat at the above site.  I noticed

though that there are no pictures showing how tiny the bathroom is. 

Please excuse all of the towels.

Our little patio

We stayed in a studio flat on the floor just below street level

Large picture above our bed

Room similar to ours

These are pictures on the wall of the loo on the Eurostar

All of these pictures are in one tiny space

Loo from London to Paris on the Eurostar

Mona Lisa winking on Eurostar in the toilet.

Paris to London