Tossed by the waves

The coat of arms of Paris, made official by the Baron Haussmann 1853, has as motto in Latin
FLUCTUAT NEC MERGITUR  which translated to English means "she is tossed by the waves but does not sink".   There is something magical when observed and registered and suddenly this symbol of the boat with full sails on choppy waves one can recognize everywhere.  On school entrances, on the city halls of the different arrondissements, on uniforms, on paper baskets, in windows, in museums .....  it can become an obsession to discover the 'tossed ship'.  https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVvXTyctUWikA6donnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTB1NzF1OGo5BHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA0ZGTkZQMDFfMQ--?_adv_prop=image&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&va=coat+of+arms+of+paris&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

One of my favorites is this highly stylized form which keeps the essential symbol of a ship with full sails in the original colors of red and blue of the Paris Commune and the royal white. Sailing smoothly on a calm sea.

Some symbolism for France ? On verra ....

On April 2, 2014 the work by French light artist Claude Lévêque was installed in the iconic glass pyramid by IM Pei above the entrance of the Louvre.  The 22 meter zigzag line in blood red neon is installed between the top of the pyramid and the stairs below. After the terrorist attacks in Paris on January 7 it appears to me like an upsetting symbol for the danger in which the unity of the French Republic finds itself.

The artist, who is sensitive to social issues, mentioned in an interview at the inauguration of his work last year "The political situation in France is very serious and must be countered through civic positions clear and determined. We must be very vigilant."

I do not know how it happened, but for the first time, one of the glass squares in the inverted pyramid had cracked. As security the perimeter is now roped off.  A certain beauty is in the spidery pattern but  I hope it can be restored very soon.

http://www.hotellouvremarsollier.com/blog/leveque-exhibition/

Park without castle

The Park St. Cloud just to the West of Paris and Boulogne-Billancourt, can easily be reached by public transportation.  There one can walk for hours in a designed landscape under large trees and on straight walks designed by Le Notre already in the 18th Century. The castle which then was existing for the brother of Louis XIV, was destroyed 1871 and now its layout is just marked with pyramidical formed trees.  To our surprise there are plans to reconstruct the castle again!   http://www.reconstruisonssaintcloud.fr/english.html

Actually, the interesting topography and the 450 acres of parkland are gratifying enough. The view from the park's terrace shows plenty of buildings.  Dare we say, that there are already enough castles in France?

Chilled to the bone

Looking at the Rhododendron leaves in the garden, we can quickly judge how cold it is. Faster then looking up the weather app on the iPad!  This morning with temperatures of -20C they were curled like cigarettes and now - early afternoon - by the warmth of the sun they opened up somewhat.
More cold and the (long awaited) snow will come this weekend:  http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/snow-midwest-northeast-thursday-friday/40234992

With all the civilized world we feel icy even inside when hearing the news from the terror attack in Paris.

Where are the good and warming rays of empathy which will give hope to thaw the hearts?

New Year's reflections

One of the Buddha sculptures in the Yale Art Gallery in New Haven communicates to us, with his hands making the Abhaya mudra: "have no fear, peace, protection and benevolence".  Suitable to take to heart these days and for the coming months.

Our reason to travel to New Haven was to see the show "Roman in the Provinces".
http://artgallery.yale.edu/exhibitions/exhibition/roman-provinces-art-periphery-empire

This exhibition will travel to the McMullen at BC and can be visited there starting February 14.
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/artmuseum/

All over in Europe there are still Roman ruins and the cultures and languages are rooted in the Roman empire. Therefore this long gone empire is always fascinating to learn more about. The facts of human nature are surprisingly familiar even to us in the 21th Century.

This early Byzantine mosaic (ca 6th century BC), for example, with the personifications of Pleasure and Wealth as something to wish for is indeed still in our aspirations.  Apolau (pleasure) a beautiful women leaning and holding on to Plouto (wealth) who is a man spreading gold coins. A situation continuing to be familiar to us in modern times.