Paris - St Eustache - 1er

Plate XXII - St Eustache Church ...

Even outside the cathedral you can hear heaven ring. Or buzz .... or pound … all thanks to the decision of the organ re-builders to include (as their donation to Paris) an additional third independent reed stop on the church’s pipe organ. Many classical music recordings having been made inside St. Eustache. I heard why this is so.

The unique church pipe organ, the largest in France, with some 8,000 pipes is today considered one of Paris’, if not the world’s, best (it certainly remains unique). Disastrous repair work done in 1978 resulted in its complete reconstruction by the Dutch brothers van den Heuvel between 1986 and 1989 earning them the Médaille de Vermeïl from the Societé Académique d'Arts et Lettres.  Public recitals and concerts are held frequently and for the classical music lover these are not to be missed (so I did not). Mozart chose the church for the funeral of his mother, and here in 1855 Hector Berlioz conducted the première of his ‘Te Deum’. 

In spite of the demolition of the market of Les Halles,

Saint-Eustache, with its renaissance styled interior is still known by Parisians as ‘the market cathedral’. Works alluding to its origins are found inside, including one stained glass panel depicting a pig. In one of the side chapels there is a 20^th century sculpture (not without some humour) depicting the 1969 departure of the market. Looted and desecrated during the Revolution, the now restored (though surprisingly still incomplete) Cathedral still holds other important works by notable artists including Peter Paul Rubens. The Gothic architectured building (the knave of which is also visible in the previous image - to give you its bearings) was built between 1532 and 1637. It is (after Notre Dame) considered by many to be the second most beautiful church in Paris. The site, established as a place of worship in the early thirteenth century, was originally that of a chapel named for Saint Agnes. Given church status in 1303 it was re-dedicated to the Roman general and Christian martyr Saint Eustace, the crypt remaining dedicated to Agnes.

Paris - Louvre Denon - 1er

Plate XII - Louvre - Denon Wing and Grande Pyramide ...

Visiting the Louvre is a little like eating the proverbial elephant – it is best taken in small pieces at one time. Of course those with limited time in Paris will try to (sadly even need to) fit it all into a single visit. I pity them for the art indigestion they will suffer. Even with my having taken several trips to the Louvre in the course of my first stay, I found myself at times numbly walking through an area thinking, “Wow! - more great paintings.” I consider myself to be an art lover, and when I realised one such occasion was after an almost cursory glance into the salon containing the (Peter Paul) Rubens’ Médicis Cycle – one of the major achievements of his career – I knew it was time to quit for yet another day.

On this, my first trip to Paris, I had one major disappointment with the Louvre – the grand French master-works of the 19th century were out of the museum on a touring exhibition. I mention this, not so much in anger, but more as a cautionary – it can happen. Recently, in 2009 even the Mona Lisa had the day off, as she was repositioned in the gallery. Amongst the must see works I had hoped to view were Jacques-Louis David’s Madame Récamier (a personal favourite), Napoléon on Horseback, and Napoléon Crowning Josephine (an identical work by David on view in Versailles, and which I did see, has an enigmatic but notable difference in that one of the ladies-in-waiting wears a pink gown in Versailles, but wears white in the Louvre version). Then, there were the works of Géricault, Ingres and above all Delacroix’ iconic Liberty Leading The People. All out. I rationalised that it is good to know that the Louvre shares its treasures by doing such loan exhibitions, and of course if any reason were needed to revisit this city, this would be it. There was still so much else to see here and my first day in the Louvre was spent trying to complete the works within the Denon wing - the French sculpture in the Cours Marly and Puget, the Oriental Antiquities, the Chambers of Napoleon III and the German, Flemish and Dutch paintings. Not to mention the Decorative Arts displays. Still quite a sizable jumbo.

I could not take it all in!!