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Luxembourg

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Luxembourg seems to be in two parts, and in between is a gaping chasm that must be 150 feet deep… it feels really weird topography to build a city on?

It doesn’t look that steep from these pics, probably because it’s heavily forested, but trust me, it’s quite the ways down. There seems to be massive public skate parks. Need to sus this out a bit more – weird topography for a city just going from the new section to the old town.

Monument to the Jews of Luxembourg in the Second World War…

Ah, another Notre-Dame Cathedral! But, because we are in Luxembourg, it’s got a sign out front saying ‘Kathedral Notre-Dame’ (in Luxembourgish, yeah apparently that is a real dialect), but also saying ‘Cathédrale Notre-Dame’ (in French), and ‘Kathedrale unserer Lieben Frau’ (in German) because these poor buggers live in a strange little confluence of culture that is smack dab in the middle of France, Belgium and Germany… all the while they seem to be trying to keep their own thang alive.

Construction first started on this cathedral in 1613… so it’s kinda shiny and new compare to Metz yesterday!

Some very cool carved beasties in the western portal.

While the church is predominantly an example of late gothic architecture, it also has many Renaissance elements and decorations. I love these high vaulted ceilings in these beautiful old churches. I can’t imagine what medieval people (I know I’ve ranted about his recently but it bares repeating), who had no mass media in their day to day lives, made of these extravagant buildings.

The organ gallery is unusually at the very front of the church, above the main entrance. It is not a very large cathedral all things considered, so I guess it doesn’t need to be located closer to the main altar place where masses would be delivered.

Luxembourg Cathedral has some frescos, which appear to be in high medieval style, but they are in such good condition, I suspect they may be latter additions. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of English information to go by in this visit.

I love the enormous vaulted ceilings.

There were a couple of rather bold mosaics in some small altar spaces either side of the main nave… again, I couldn’t ascertain how old these mosaics were, but I can confidently say, they are not as accomplished as many of the high medieval golden religious mosaics I have seen in many other churches and institutions, leading me to think they are also a rather more recent addition.

The stained glass windows around the central nave are in keeping with the original construction time of the church – approx 17thC, however the glass towards the towers at the front of the church are of much later, added in the 1930s and then replaced in the 1980s after a fire caused one of the towers to be severely damaged.

Even modern stained glass is beautiful. It’s surprising we don’t see stained glass elements included more in modern architecture… but I guess everything comes down to cost these days.

The enormous columns throughout the cathedral have different patterns carved into them. I can’t say I’ve noticed this in other medieval religious monuments. I mostly recall seeing plain, smooth columns, or in some cases fluted columned, but these have knotwork or diapering patterns carved into them, and hardly any of them match?

Below the Cathedral is the crypt which houses the remains of many important Grand Dukes and Grand Duchesses of Luxembourg… the oldest being a tomb for John of Bohemia (1296-1346), and then a long line of modern Dukes and Duchesses: Marie-Adeliade (1894-1924), Marie Ann the Infanta of Portugal and Consort to William IV (1861 – 1924), Felix, Prince Consort of Charlotte I, and a bunch of others up until like five years ago.

The small chapel where the royal family of Luxembourg gathers for the farewells is under the Cathedral and not really open for public use.

The tomb of John of Bohemia mentioned above (1296-1346)…

The exit brings you out onto the main square of the Kneudler – or basically the altstadt (but we don’t call it that in Luxembourg because we are being all Luxembourgish.

The Kneudler is the area surrounding the Place Guilliame II, who is depicted on his horse here.

In 1923, this memorial to the Luxembourgers who volunteered in WWI was created by artist Claus Cito. The very noticeable Gëlle Fra (or Golden Lady) overlooks the Place de la Constitution. 1923… feels like maybe they probably wished they’d waited a few years to build this one; could have saved themselves having to build a second one to honour the volunteers of the next clusterfuck.

Luxembourg is a city built over an enormous ravine with huge towering bridges spanning the two plateau’d areas that comprise the old city and the new. So many streets we wandered along had very high drops down to the river below.

Many walking and biking trails line the river and wind up the steep paths to the city. I dare say building housing in this area would be expensive, hazardous and potentially a flood risk, so it’s all enormous public park spaces.

Grand Duchess Charlotte (1896-1985), who ruled in her own right from 1919 to 1964.

The Grand Ducal Palace, which is rarely open to the public and was most definitely not open to the public at the moment as the family is in residence due to it being the Duke’s birthday, like yesterday.

Complete with beautiful carved stone turrets, and beady eyed guards staring suspiciously at tourists and having to tolerate us wankers taking their photograph.

Around the corner – literally – from the Grand Ducal Palace is the Luxembourg National Art and History Museum. Best thing about it : it’s free! Luxembourg seems to like free, they have entirely free public transport here, since 2019. All local trains, trams and buses are 100% free for locals and tourists alike, so the city seemed to have hardly any cars in it, and we found when walking the streets, there were plenty of paid parking spaces available as most people were using the free public transport.

Now unfortunately, this was going to prove to be one of those museums where if you don’t speak one of the languages that they seem to want to embrace (French, German, Dutch and Luxembourgish!), details were going to be scant, but we did what we could.

Merovingian clasps, fibula, buttons and brooches.

I love how the temporary little sign informing visitors that an object has been removed is written in English – when hardly any of the other descriptive panels are!

Cruiciform Fibula – Zwiebelknopffibeln. 😐 Yes, that’s the level of information we got here. lol
Oh and that they were worn by high functionaries and officials. But no where or when…?

Merovingian jewelled pieces, gold and garnet. Clasps and necklace pendants. Bertrange.

Buckets c.560-570 AD. One extant, one reproduction. Bertrange.

Merovingian belt buckles

Merovingian era beads.

And suddenly we jump to some glassware, 1stC Found at a necropolis for nobles in a different find in Bertrange.

Orfevrerie Merovingienne. 6-7thC of local provenances.
A collection of gold and garnet fibula, ornaments, buttons and accessories. Some from bracelets, necklaces. Motifs are inspired from Germanic art, and early Christian design.

Spoons! Merovingian also, and they’re quite petite compared to spoons seen in other museums. Approx 50mm in length.

Carved monuments from ‘La Colonne de Jupiter’ – a regional monument that was devoted to the population. Objects are all 1stC and made for Jupiter Optimus Maxium and to honour emperor Nero.

Fragments of decoration from a funereal monument, c.2nd-3rdC.
Cal air, Wasserbillig op der Spatz.

Seals of various Luxembourg nobles, ranging from 1340 to 1530. Impressions all taken in 1851.

Official regalia and medals of various noble and marital orders:

Busts of Jean l’Aveugle and Elisabeth de Boheme, Pierre Blanc, c.1872

Reliquary of the True Cross.
Gold and various gemstones, c.1230-1240

No plaque for this one… le sigh.

Virgin and Child surrounded by Saints – Crucifixion. Oil on wood.
Paolo do Giovanni Fei, (1345-1411).

Virgin and Child surrounded by Saints,
Lorenzo do Bicci (1350-1427), oil on timber.

Virgin and Child,
Unknown Venetian painter. 15thC, oil on timber.

Saint Bernardino of Siena and Saint John the Baptist,
Giovanni Ambrogio Bevilacqua, (1481-1512), oil on panel.

Madonna and Child surrounded by Angels and Saints (freaky looking saints!)
Giacomo del Piscano, c. 1475, tempura on panel.

Group of Saints – Heligengruppe.
Don Silvestro dei Gherardcci (1339-1399), tempura on board.

Crucifixion.
Simone del Crocifissi (1350-1399), oil on board.

Virgin and Child.
Unknown veneto-byzantin artist. 13thC-14thC, oil on timber.

Holy Kinship, Frans Floris (1516-1570)

The Adoration of the Shepards,
Joachim Beukelaer (1533-1574). Oil on canvas.

Saint Jerome
Attributed to Joos van Cleve (1485-1540), oil on board.

Charity
Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553), c.1538. Oil on canvas.

A Boy and Girl with Their Pigeons in a Loft – the only ‘domestic’ scene in the entire museum.
Henri Voordecker (1779-1861), c.1833, oil on canvas.

The Temple of Vesta in Tivoli,
Attributed to Jean-Joseph-Xavier Bidauld (1758-1846), oil on canvas.

Francesca de Rimini (1255-1285) and her brother in law, Paolo Malatesta (1246-1285), embracing while reading – both were married to other people but fell in love. When Paolo’s older brother discovered the affair, he killed both his wife and brother with a dagger, (a story originally told by Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedies, 1320).
Sculpture originally attributed to Antonio Canova (1757-1822), c.1790, but since determined to be a work by Tito Angelini (1806-1878), an important Italian Romantic sculpture.

Isaac Blessing Jacob,
Argus Wolffort (1581-1641), oil on canvas.

Bacchus and a Follower,
Jacob Jordaens (1593-1678), c.1645, oil on canvas.

Roman mosaic of the Muses of Vitchen.
10.3 x 5.9m. Polychrome mosaic, 1stC AD.

Grand Marble Vase, 2-3rdC AD.
61cm tall, 70cm diameter, carved from a single piece of white marble.

Roman amphorae
1-3rdC AD, terracotta. Diverse provenance – used for the commercial transport of wine, oil dates, and that fishy stuff the Romans loved but I can’t remember the name of right now…. Garum! Remembered. 🙂

Oil lamps, GalloRoman 1-3rdC AD.

Fragments of large fresco-style mosaics popularised in GalloRoman restaurants.

All museum’d out, we went for some drinks and were having a lovely time with some Long Island Iced Teas and some Pisco Sours – until a bunch of French people came along and reminded us of how Europeans still love to chain smoke! Yikes! Happy B’Day Angus.

Dinner was at a local French restaurant called ‘Copin D’abord’. We had a delicious meal made from local produce. Entrees: clothed foie gras and mango chutney, and scallops in Galician sauce. Mains: Beef Bourginon and rump steak with Forrester champignon sauce. Desserts: unstructured Lemon Tart and Crème Brûlée and Panacotta. Delicious!

Metz, Metz.

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We chose to go to Luxembourg today via Metz. Two reasons really, 1) I wanted to see the Metz Cathedral which is supposed to be quite something and 2), Angus has never been to France, so he wanted to stick his toes onto the other side of the border.

Metz Cathedral is the main seat of the bishopric of Metz, Catholic, and is dedicated to Saint Stephen. The Catholic Church in this area dates back to the 4thC, but the current cathedral was *only* built in the early 14thC – *only*? Like that is a short time ago! Hello?! Australians here, buildings, architecture and artworks are never more than 200 years old where we come from! Six hundred year old cathedrals aren’t *only* anything, in our minds.

It has a gorgeous stone facade.

The Portal of Christ entrance, which was the main entrance to the Cathedral until the 18thC. This was originally a Gothic designed entrance, but over time it languished unmaintained, until the 1700s when it was completely redesigned and rebuilt in a later style.

Metz Cathedral has a distinctive yellow coloured stone, that is mined locally. It is called Jaumont stone and is rich in iron oxide, which gives the stone a glorious golden hue. It is said that even in foul weather, the Cathedral photographs well due to the warm yellow limestone used in its construction.

The Portal of the Virgin is an entrance facing the Place d’Artmes and was used as the main entrance of the cathedral until the 18thC. It was built in 1225, and had become quite dilapidated and covered over (presumably by vegetation… the brochure didn’t make it very clear what had covered it over?). The sculptures were created by Augusta Dujardin and were restored in 1885; apparently recent research has found pigments in trace amounts that show the sculptures were painted in red and green, orange and blue hues. It sounds like it was extremely colourful and would probably have been really garish to our modern sensibilities.

Just above head height are these delightful details in the stone work… love them! The pelican looks more like an eagle, but c’est la vie. 🙂

The Nave of Metz Cathedral one of the tallest in France (3rd tallest or something), and it is all done in a fabulous Gothic style – finished between 1486 and 1520. The cathedral has long been nicknamed “The Good Lord’s Lantern”, (La Lanterne du Bon Dieu) due to it’s simply enormous square footage of stained glass which comes in at a whopping 69,920square feet of glass! Or 6,498sqm for those not using ‘Murican Freedom units.

It’s hard to make it out – but the entire walls leading up to this stunning vaulted ceiling appear about 50% stained glass.

The bulk of the glass is done in Gothic and Renaissance styles by master glass makers Hermann von Munster, Valentin Bousch and Theobald of Lixheim… or no doubt, designed by them dudes and actually executed by a bunch of their forever nameless apprentices.

A Roman 3rdC bath holds pride of place just inside the main doors and it is primarily used for baptisms.

So much glass!

The walls of the church are lined with these discreet, heavily carved timber confessionals.

In keeping with the Good Lord’s Lantern theme of the church – there is also more modern artistic glass work here done by Charles Laurent Marechal (Romantics period), Roger Bissier (a Tashist), Jacques Villon (Cubist… yuk!) and Marc Chagall and Kimsooja. It’s truly spectacular how they’ve tied in all this beautiful old work with these creations with modern artist.

It’s weird to see such modern decorative art techniques side by side with obviously medieval design elements, but the overall atmosphere of the cathedral is really stunning. The construction itself was a huge and very long undertaking…

Sadly, the famous Metz covered markets were closed today. Mondays in Europe, suck.

After the Cathedral, we wanted to see some of La Cour D’Or Museum, which is supposed to house some of Metz’s most interesting local Merovingian artefacts. We ran into some immediate hiccoughs; the museum is created in an old monastery and the curators/designers decided that the medieval collections belonged in the medieval cellars under the buildings (at least four floors down and back up again – not in the least bit accessible and my bung knee hated so many flights of stairs). And we also had a lot of info lost-in-translation… mainly because there were none. Translations that is. I’ve tried to record what I could, but a lot of this is just going to remain vague.

The Gallo-Roman galleries were particularly poorly labelled, nothing that wasn’t in French and many objects with no placard at all! From what I could read these objects ranged from 1stC BC to 3rdC AD… which looks about right to my exisiting knowledge base.

House gravestones, all found locally from Roman periods.

House Gravestone, limestone, c.3rdC BCE, local origin.

No idea, not a sign, plaque or info sheet in this room.

From what I could gather this room was curated to centre on representations of various Roman gods, but given the eroded state of the pieces, it was difficult to make out which gods were being depicted.

Altar to Mogontia, Gallic goddess and healer of springs, limestone 1st-3rdC AD.

Mithra’s Relief, Gallo-Roman period, limestone.
The large Mithraism relief was designed as an architectural decoration in which the framing of small layered scenes plays a key role around the central scene. Gods and a sacrifice scene in the centre.

Below: Metalworking has existed in Lorraine (the region Metz is located in), since the Iron Age. While the Gauls worshipped Belisama, the goddess of metal craftsmanship, in Rome, the cult of Vulcan, god of fire and patron of blacksmiths, was growing in this area. Some metal deposits were found in the Vosges, north of Lorraine and the southern Sarre region. Minerals were extracted and processed in workshops from ingots. There were around a a dozen of these workshops in Gallo-Roman times in the Mediomatrici region.

Remains

Merovingian beads, most of the of indeterminate provenance. 🙁

Round Cloisonnee fibula. 6thC, silver and garnet. Houdreville.

Merovingian Belt buckle.

Merovingian belt buckles.

Bucket, Merovingian style. Modern reproduction.

Merovingian beads.

Reliquary box, lid lost. 10th-11thC, cetacean bone.

Saint-Arnoul Elk Horn, c.1000AD (possibly older).


Reputed to have come from the ancient Saint-Arnoul Abbey in Metz, (subsequently owned by a Metz collector, a Parisian antique dealer, a Russian Prince, Tsar Alexander III, then a Dutch Banker), the elk is carved with a frieze incorporating lions, snakes, dragons and hybrid vcreatures in intricate scrollwork. According to Metz historians, the elk horn was believed to have been suspended from the vault of the funeral chapel of Emperor Louis the Pious (814-840), and believed to have been a symbol of power for the son and successor of Charlemagne.

The museum is built into a sprawling old monastery, it is enormous to get around.

Relief map of the city of Metz, c.1829-1850.

Underground cellar space housing GalleoRoman sculpture, sarcophagi and carvings.

After our wander through the museum, we had to find some lunch – at a French cafe of course.

Angus choosing a Poulet Cordon Bleu, and I went for the Steak Tartare! And of course, when in France, champagne with lunch. ❤️

The Cathedral dominates the town here, every direction you turn, you get another amazing view of it’s beautiful yellow limestone facades.

Stopped for a baguette (so Angus could make himself a proper jambon beurre later) and saw these cute chocolates – didn’t buy any, because chocolate, but thought they were cute.

Fort de Queuleu

Memorial to the Resistance and Deportation, inaugurated on 20 November 1977, when the fort became the property of the city of Metz.

Fort de Queuleu was built in 1868 when Lorraine was still under French rule, as part of a fortification system southeast of Metz. While construction was interrupted during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), it was continued and improved by the German Empire between 1872-1875 after they conquered the area and renamed it, Fort Goeben. It was then part of the first line of ring defence in the fortifications of Metz. It wasn’t operational during WWI as it had no strategic purpose and saw no military action at that time, but it was repurposed as a detention centre during WWII to house, detain and interrogate members of the French Resistance.

When the local Moselle valley was under German control during WWII the fort was being used by German occupiers as an internment camp (S Slonderlager) to house members of the French Resistance. The fort was called the “Hell of Queuleu” and while it wasn’t a concentration camp per se, it was used as an interrogation/torture centre for captures and arrested members of the Resistance.

Between 1500 and 1800 people were detained at Queuleu, and put under the command of one, Schutzstaffel Hauptscharfuhrer Georg Friedrich Hempen. 36 people died at the fort, and only four managed to escape via a ventilation shaft. Many well known resistance prisoners were held there – Joseph Derhan, Jean Burger and company. Almost all of the prisoners that were held there were transferred to concentration camps as the American forces approached Metz in 1944, and the fort was evacuated entirely by 17 August 1944, with people moved to Ravensbruck, Struthoh or Schirmeck.

This appeared to be a (rather disturbing) art project from a local school. It’s a Jewish child cuddling a teddy bear made entirely out of bullet casings.

Outside, Fort Queuleu now seems primarily repurposed as, dare I say it, some sort of summer camp where school kids come to recreate and get a bit of uncomfortable history smashed into them. There are accomodations here, hiking trials, playgrounds and all sorts.

Thus endeth out day in Metz, and onwards to Luxembourg we went.

Heidelberg with bonus Castle

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Heidelberg! Such a cool little town in southwestern Germany on the Neckar River. It is mostly famous as a university town. Heidelberg University was founded in the 14th century and the place, unsurprisingly, has a real student hangout kinda vibe. Lots of cafés, a bit of street art, and I understand they have amazing Christmas markets here. There is also a Literature Festival happening here at the moment, which is adding to the student ambiance – lots of people sitting in cafes reading a book of all things! The red-sandstone ruins of Heidelberg Castle, a noted example of Renaissance architecture, stands on Königstuhl hill and we plan on checking that out if time allows.

The European Cup is on at the moment and everywhere is football mad. There are bus loads of football tourists everywhere. It’s largely the reason why we are in Germany for this trip – where there is sporting events, there is event transport requirements, which is huge part of what we are doing with our US clients for the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics – study tour ahoy. The Fan Zones are really interesting study in the logistical management of inebriated patrons!

Anyway, Saturday, so sightseeing at the Heidelberger Schloss.

The ruins of Heidelberg Castle dominate the skyline over the town. It has only been partially rebuilt since it’s near total demolition in the 17thC and 18thC. It is about 80m up the northern face of the Königstuhl mountainside and you can’t miss it from the Altstadt.

The earliest part of the castle construction was started back in 1214 and was later expanded into two large castles to hold an ever expanding court in 1294. In 1537 however, a lightning bolt destroyed the upper castle (photos of the split tower of the upper castle are below), and the present structures were then expanded from that time until 1650. The castle copped more damage from the Palapatine Wars and other fire incidents, and would you believe it? Another lightening bolt struck the caste in 1764, this time hitting a gun powder store, which utterly obliterated much of the rebuilt sections.

All of which is to say, that the castle is in various parts, ruins, and a hodge-podge of architectural styles from the different periods through which it was originally built, and then rebuilt after destructive events.

I love these big old fortification doors – with the itty bitty door to let people in and out without opening the whole thing.

Above: an obviously older part of the original castle.
Below: the later period Ottheinrichsbau courtyard…

Also inside Heidelberger Schloss is the Deutsche Apotheken Museum – a historical examination of the apothecary’s trade, place of work and products. It follows chronologically through from, traditional medicinal treatments to including a small glimpse at modern pharmacology. At the entrance is a showcase of this beautiful baroque pharmacy interior from the former Benedictine Abbey of Schwarzach (from Rheinmünster in nearby Baden). Beautifully preserved.

As someone with obsessive traits, I absolutely greatly appreciate and adore the orderliness of the apothecary’s store. Everything has its place and it is neatly labelled in delightfully matching jars!

Oooh… *shudder*.

The second elegant pharmacy set up was from the Kronen-Apotheke in Ulm and was built around 1820. The pharmacy owner at the time, Christoph Jacob Faulhaber (1772-1842) had a fondness for fine timber and very precise labels too – bless his cotton socks.

Around the corner from this is a Renaissance room with beautiful support columns that has the Germany Pharmacy Museum (a sort of museum within the museum) that houses an impressive drug collection full of drugs and botanicals. The walls are covered in large display cases that were made in the 1950s, and this part of the museum shares a history of the animal and plant extracts, roots, leaves, herbs and tinctures that were used to treat various ailments throughout history. Every cabinet is stuffed full of secret herbs, mysterious tonics or even poisons!

It was very interesting to look through all these old ‘medicines’ and see just how many of them were substances that we 100% now know to be utterly toxic to humans.

Part of the Drug Museum, had some rather more later period objects – most thanks to the German Bayer pharmaceutical company. Including some early penicillin etc.

The pharmacy below came from the Ursuline Monastery in Klagenfurt (modern day in south-west Austria). It was from 1730 and is an excellent example the extremely popular gold-framed baroque aesthetic of the time. The shelves are full of typical pharmacy vessels, all very colourfully decorated and coming from all different regions – faience and majolica pieces are everywhere. There are also pewter hot water bottles, and a wide variety of pharmacy equipment: scales, horn spoons, spatulas, mortars and weight sets etc. So orderly!

The canisters are beautiful!

The Herbist’s workshop/Herbarium.

Below is a pharmacist’s workshop, which is well fitted out with equipment and vessels. This installation is an example of an 18thC pharmacy, but this style was used well into the 20thC. The table in the centre of the workshop has a slot in the top, which money can be put into enabling drawers to be opened – which somewhat implies that it was potentially ‘self-serve’ in part? Or perhaps that workers were not trusted to openly access all medicines at any time, maybe?

I particularly noted the narwhal tusk (which must have been over 6’ tall/long) and was presumably kept as a novelty of natural history – and hopefully wasn’t used as a medicine?

Who doesn’t like a good taxidermied (or maybe more correctly, it’s tanned?) puffer fish. Which started a wee debate about how cool puffer fish are (FUGU!) and Angus had to educate me on the intricacies and ‘how amazeballs’ a puffer fish skeleton is. You learn something new everyday!

Below is a homeopathic pocket pharmacy from 1836… homeopathy fucking with allogenic medicine for that long – who knew? I always thought it was a recent hippy dippy, ‘I don’t believe in vaccinations’, kinda thing.

Above: a German microscope c.1869 and various lenses in a kit.
Below: early microscope slides with specimens

Benzin petroleum as a medicine… from what I could make out, it was used to clean wounds and cuts, and was also good at removing ‘fatty tissue’ >.> which is a bit vague. Additionally, it was good for cleaning out wounds that had had maggots in them… Yeuck!!

Below is the Augsburg travelling first aid kit that first belonged to a 17thC general. It is made from Ebony and fitted with finely crafted silver furniture, and filled with glass and silver vessels all containing various treatments.

The courtyard of the Schloss.

After exhausting ourselves inside the caste, we took a walk around the gardens and ramparts, getting to see first hand where the destructive lightning strikes had destroyed one of the caste’s towers.

The view back over the modern town of Heidelberg.

Back in the town centre, trying to decipher the civic art. Yep, I had nothing.

Dinner! How surprising to find schnitzel on the menu… I have a feeling this will be the first of many jagerschnitzel dinners this trip.

At the centre of the Altstadt is the enormous Gothic, Heiliggeistkirche (Church of the Holy Spirit). It stands some 41m tall and towers over the cafe-lined Marktplatz. The belfry is so tall, and the buildings of the square are built so close that it is impossible to get back far enough to take a photograph of the main facade… though photographic composition was probably not a huge consideration when the build was started in 1398 and finished in 1515.

Inside is a beautiful, but somewhat austere interior. It was originally built as a burial place for the Electors (princes) of the Palatinate, and as a primary place of worship for the residents of the Palatinate city. The various Princes’ graves were devastated during various Wars of Palatinate Succession, so now, only the grave of the builder of the church’s choir remains in the church – Rupert I, who was a German King in charge at the time the choir was built or something? Info can be hard to come by when there are language barriers. The most interesting thing about this place was that from 1706 to 1936, it was divided into two by a dividing wall… the nave was used for Protestant services, and the choir end was used for Catholic services. Fancy that!? Protestants and Catholics sharing like proper neighbours for 200 years! Since 1936, the whole church has belonged to the Evangelical Church of Baden.

The Catholic end…

I saw this striking armoury of heraldry, presumably belonging to notable local families. A little investigation relevance that they belonged to, wait for it… “The Society With The Donkey!” Yeah, I didn’t make that up. It was also called the ‘The Donkey’, ‘Zum Esel’, ‘Ober-Esel’, ‘Turniergesllschaft zum Esel’ and ‘Nieder-Esel’ – because every Donkey Society needs a bunch of secret handshake nomenclature. I’m just totally WTF’ing at this, in case you haven’t noticed. The Donkey Society dates back to 1387 and was like a knights’ association – it actually reads a bit like a union or guild (more that than a chivalric order), and it included members of the high nobility who were important during the reign of King Rupert (1400-1410). This frieze was only discovered in 1936 when the church reverted back to Evangelical ownership. How BIZARRE!

Top left is St George and the Virgin, which are a little hard to make out.

There are lots of cute little squares dotted throughout the Altstadt which no doubt were used as market spaces initially, and house public water fountains etc.

There are loads of huge and gorgeous waterfront properties on the Neckar River, just alongside the famous Heidelberg Bridge. I wouldn’t even want to hazard a guess as to real estate values just here.

Near the Old Heidelberg Bridge is the legendary Heidelberg Monkey – according to the myth, the monkey is meant to remain people who cross it from other side to look over their shoulder at where they have come from. Whether a person is coming from within the city or living outside the city, it was supposed to remind everyone that all were equal and no one is better than their inner city/outer city dwelling counterparts. Sounds much like a ‘Northside/Southside of Brisbane’ thing to me; so I’m sure the monkey had it’s work cut out for it because, as we all know, Southsiders are far better! Represent!

This current statue – depicts a monkey holding up a mirror to passersby, and was only placed here in 1979, but apparently there has been a monkey statue at this spot documented back to the 15thC… the original one was said to have been clutching it’s butt at people, but it sadly disappeared around the Palatinate War of Succession (1689-1693). You can stand under the head of this monkey and have your photo taken with your eyes showing out from above his huge cheeks… which seems to be something every man and their dog is trying to do; it’s quite the feat to snap a pic without some random tourist standing under the monkey’s face.

Screenshot

Reckless and Unlawful people – watch out!

Loved Heidelberg… didn’t realise until it was too late, that I missed the Tun by a bee’s dick! Next time.

L’Hôtel in Saint Germaine

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Sadly, we couldn’t stay at George V for most of our stay in Paris; two reasons really… primarily because it’s far too costly for us for an every day stay, but also because it’s in not an arrondissement that I feel represents Real Paris™️, overly well. So we moved across to Saint Germaine to a cool little boutique hotel called, (simply enough!), L’Hôtel on the Rue des Beaux Arts, near the Musée D’Orsay and a bunch of really cool and well known cafés and restaurants.

L’Hôtel claims to be the world’s first boutique hotel, and is the ‘epitome of French style’. It was also the last home of Oscar Wilde and has a restaurant and bar named for him on the premises, with an impressive cocktail list, and a huge wall displaying all the famous people who have stayed here. I chose it because it sounded like staying in a quaint little piedaterre with it’s own story.

The street frontage is super discreet… no noticeable signage at all, our cab driver nearly missed it entirely.

The concierge, Antonia, and I became fast friends as she complimented me on my Rammstein t-shirt and was so excited to be seeing them in concert this year. Her eyes went the size of saucers when I told her I came to see them in 2022 – all the way from Australia! She was really nice and welcoming. Our room is a ‘chic’ room on the fourth floor of the building. The lift is so tiny, that it fits two people or two pieces of luggage – but not both! 🙂

A couple of the small waiting areas near the reception…

The Wilde’s Lounge… which has a spectacular, and ever changing cocktail list. We’ve noticed that there are a more French people staying here than foreigners, and it seems to be a favourite hang out of businessmen meeting over drinks. There is a definitely French ambiance permeating the entire hotel.

Some of little cosy nooks in the Wilde’s Lounge.

The view down into the stairwell is a little daunting…

Et voilà! Our chambre for the remainder of our stay; it’s called the Mata Hari room, though I am not sure why.

It’s filled with antique furniture and has fabric draped on the walls (to tone the pink down to a dark aubergine, one assumes), the decor is definitely not the style of your run of the mill chain hotel – bit of a minimalist’s nightmare, and not a piece of IKEA furniture in sight! But I think it will do very well for us for the rest of the week.

Beautiful pink orchids, and a wee gift it would seem… macarons from Richarts? Don’t mind if we do!

Richart’s is just around the corner and is on my list for a stop on the way out the door on Sunday to try and take some home.

I wonder if Mr K will go into some Pepto Bismol induced trauma by the end of the week.

The restaurant is cool little brasserie space that opens out onto a terrace and small garden in fine weather.

The one upside of staying at the Georges V? Everything else seem super affordable. Eggs Benedict for breakfast for €14? Sure!

We’ve been out and about in the neighbourhood quite a bit already, and have found this little landmark (/piece of graffiti?) to be the coolest indicator that our street, Le Rue des Beaux Arts, is the next right! It’s a cute little tiled piece. 🙂

The days have been full of work, meetings in the CBD (which is nothing like the rest of this beautiful historic city and looks like the downtown of nearly any modern city in the world really – boring towers of glass office blocks.

So in between meetings, we have been trying to catch an hour here and there to see some of the sights, and have purchased a few French champagnes that we’ve not seen at home to try. Gods help us if we like any of them, they probably won’t be available at home at all! This Nicholas Feuillatte Grand Reserve Brut was €43 (just for my future reference), bought from a local grocery store. Really delicious bubbly, with a strong but not overpowering flavour and slightly leaning towards that creaminess I like.

We chose to have breakfast at the hotel again – as we had to set out early for meetings. The eggs Benedict was so good, I opted for the salmon version this time.

Definitely can’t do this every day!

Time for another champagne interlude – this bottle of Alfred Rothschild was €34… very nice indeed. Crisp and light, not as brut de brut as some that are so dry you wonder if you are drinking, but lacking that creamy texture that I’ve come to really enjoy in my bubbles.

The rounded hallways keep throwing me off… maybe it’s the sheer amount of wine being consumed with most meals!

L’Hôtel has another unique feature that we thought we’d check out – a ‘hammam’ in the cellar! I was looking forward to this! Guests can use the hammam an hour a day free of charge, just need to schedule in private use of the space. There are showers, toilets, toiletries, massive plush towels and bathrobes available for use. A sauna and a plunge pool!

Which looked sooooo inviting….

… until I discovered the water temperature was about 20°C! Jesus titty fucking Christ! Who wants to get in and have a soak in that. 😐 We did wonder if it was here when Oscar Wilde and his ‘friends’ were living in the hotel; if these walls could talk!

Either way, this is clearly for those Northern European polar bear types. Managed to get my feet wet for a while before beating a hasty and sensible retreat – like any self respecting Queensland’s would do!

Decided on a soak in the decidedly 19th century tub in our room instead… fabulous.

The next evening’s champagne interlude: a Pierre Mignon Grande Reserve Brut – €35 from the Cave de Chat. Well rounded and a bit more brut de brut than some of the others we have tried this week. Really nice though. Don’t suppose it’s acceptable to come home with a AUD$70 a day champagne habit, is it?

Tomorrow, we check out and start the transit home. But before we go… one final glass of Jean Josselin champagne in the lovely restuarant while we wait for our car.

I ❤️ Paris and could totally get used to the, ‘You walked across the road? You got out of bed? Champagne!’, lifestyle. 😀 It’s been a lovely stay, we got heaps of work done and gleaned so much useful information, and I feel like we smashed in as much fun and sight seeing as we could between meetings, visiting transport venues and seeking out transit operations.

We are looking forward to seeing how the Paris 2024 Olympics and Para-Olympics pans out in the transport sectors and see what we can learn to make sure Brisbane 2032 does it better… I have made a bunch of contacts with locals to follow up with them after the games, so it’ll be interesting to see what non-transport industry people make of how things go. At the moment, they all sound like they want to flee the city and rent their houses out. 🙂

A Parisian Miscellany

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We are in Paris all week for work, and most of the sightseeing we will be doing will be snatched minutes between meetings and venue and site visits. So I’m just posting some of my favourite pictures of all the super recognisable places that don’t need any much explaining into this post and will probably share it at the end of the week. Paris has such a famous skyline that hardly any of these buildings and monuments need a title, let alone a description.

The Eiffel Tower seems to have received a fresh coat of paint in readiness for the Olympics. It’s looking the best I’ve ever seen it. It is however, all closed off around the base, so you can’t walk around underneath it like normal at the moment, and most of the long park behind it (where one goes for that typical long shot of the Eiffel Tower) is all closed off in readiness for the Games also – they are erecting grandstands along the park and we think this is the venue for beach volleyball? But haven’t been able to confirm that – scratch that, it’s confirmed. Beach volleyball is happening in that park.

L’Arc de Triomphe…

Views from the top. Obviously I couldn’t go up with my fucked up knee… stupidly there is an elevator that will get you most of the way to the top, but given the AdT is on the world’s craziest and most notorious traffic roundabout, to get to the base of the monument, you need to go down a significant flight of stairs, go under the roundabout in a pedestrian walkway, and then up another significant flight of stairs to access the lift that goes up the monument. Well, done Paris. Yes, you’re an old city, designed without accessibility in mind, but that’s fucking stupid.

Train station under the Louvre to get to the CBD.

No one ever sends home their happy snaps of the Paris CBD… wonder why that is. Honestly, could be the downtown area of any modern city.

Market stalls lining the Seine… these are so typically, ‘Paris’ to me. I remember them so well from my first visit here in 1995. Back when I had 28 rolls of film to last me for a six month trip and taking photos was done sparingly! So I recall seeing mundane things like market stall and not taking any photos of them because we needed to save our shots for more interesting subjects. I also remember the processing cost when you got home, oh and the stress that the airport security x-ray machines were going to trash all your treasured images. I really should go dig up all my old travel pics and digitise them somehow.

A half hour spent shopping at La Samaritane… went in to see the peacock murals, came out having utterly brutalised the credit card! Spontaneous luxury shopping centres and unmedicated ADHD are a powerful combination apparently. 😉

Nearly bought a Tiffany key to go with my other ones, but it was only in rose gold, and my other two are yellow gold. It would have made a nice collection: Home, Paris, Fifth Avenue in New York, but I don’t do rose gold. When Mr K bought me that first key, I warned him that keys come in bunches…

Love the peacocks.

French jewllers… Van Cleef & Arpels. Beautiful and timeless pieces.

Back outside and heading back to the hotel (not sure which day)… I love that they haven’t modernised all the Metro signage.

More magasins along the Seine, selling touristy bits and pieces…

… and this one stall selling French Michelin guides from every year from the 1960s.

Early morning pics of the Louvre… where only crazy people (and Chinese bridal parties with their photographers and stylists), venture this early.

Mr K taking a selfie.

The Musée D’Orsay from the bridge.

Notre-Dame is still under repair… they were hoping for it to be open by the Olympics, but they’re looking to be six months behind schedule on that one and it’s now aiming to be open by Dec 2024. I wonder how different it will feel once it’s completed.

It’s truly an iconic building and it’s hard to believe that at one point in it’s history, the city considered tearing it down to avoid the cost of upkeep.

I’m not sure about the super modern colour scheme that Paris has chosen for their Olympics, it certainly makes the city look bright and different for the locals, but for visitors? I feel it detracts from the city’s old world charm.

Thus ends our week in Paris.

Only other observation I wanted to make note of, is that the Charles de Gaulle Airport is a full on dump compared to other international airports. It also feels stupidly haphazard with weird exit processes… mostly around VAT tax refunds etc – which all need to be done *before* you check in your suitcases, creating a crazy hectic and illogical situation where you have heaps of people lined up with enormous trolleys to get paperwork processed across two levels of the airport which has elevators barely large enough to put one person and one airport trolley into, and the little guys handing out cash refunds never asking anyone to show them the actual duty free purchases anyway, because who has time for that when you’re processing paperwork?! Weird.

We managed to see quite a bit of the city while we were here. Which was great.