The Cluny Musuem

After breakfast on Saturday, our first morning in Paris, we walked to the Cluny Museum, the national museum of the middle ages. The museum is housed in unique quarters: Gallo-Roman baths from the 1st-3rd centuries and an abbey from the 15th century. There are many works from Paris, but also from other medieval centers of civilization such as Brussels, Siena, and York. Seeing ancient works of art from cities we've visited or about saints we've celebrated since living here (Martin! Nikolaus!) seemed to make history come alive to me like I've always wanted it to, placing these objects in space and time.

Stained glass window depicting the Resurrection of the Dead

One of the highlights for me was seeing these stained glass windows close up, illuminated from behind and hung down at eye level. Many windows are from Paris' Sainte-Chapelle cathedral, removed during renovations in the 1800's, as is this one above. The surprisingly thick black iron that separates sections of glass helped me believe that this was from the year 1200, but the elegant black paint-brushed embellishments and shading made me wonder if we've really learned so much in 800 years, after all...

These heads once had bodies and were stationed on the facade of Notre Dame. Also from the 1200's, these statues of the kings of Judah were mistaken for plain old tyrannical kings and were destroyed during the French Revolution. The heads were once painted, and traces of color remain. Some tender-hearted group of people buried the heads, which were discovered in a presumably spooky way just thirty years ago. So many decisions throughout history have preserved these artifacts, and for some reason I think more about the hands that buried these heads more than the hands that carved them.

We saw much more that  I could comment on, including the famous unicorn tapestries. I would definitely describe my visit here as a spiritual experience.

Daisy, when she initially saw that we were entering a building that looked like a church or a museum, put her foot down: "I want to stay outside!" Chris and I heeded her request and took turns watching her in the gardens while the other had time to wander and ponder in peace. Besides needing a triple room, we also need to take turns at museums? It really is another stage of our traveling life with a child!

During my play time with Daisy, she taught me the intricate ritual of climbing and jumping she had developed with Chris around the garden. 

Soon, a Parisian family with two small girls arrived to play at the Cluny gardens before pancakes at Lulu's. Excited to have an English speaker around, the other mother brought up songs for Daisy and her oldest to sing together: ABCD, The Wheels on the Bus, etc. If I only had video on my camera, you'd hear the belting tones coming out of these sweet kids: 

I loved talking about raising kids in Paris and began envisioning a permanent life on the Left Bank. And affording designer clothes for little mademoiselles. Possibly coming to the Cluny gardens on Saturday mornings to brush up Daisy's English.

After Chris finished his turn inside, we gathered to leave and - plops! Chris received a gift from a pigeon, on his hair, neck, and shirt. Not the best time for me to bring up living in a large European city, I suppose...