Reaching the ground water level in the catacombs in Paris.
A man living in the 18th century dedicated several years to carve these models out of the stone in the catacombs...
... when he was barely finished he was killed by sliding rocks in one of the tunnels of the catacombs. Ironic or simply sad?
Gustav in the catacombs of Paris.
We spent the whole afternoon here, my neighbours Gustav and Isabelle, our friends Anders and Daphne... and I!
This is a picture pretty much representing what it looked like down there. (yes the walls are covered with human bones).
Paris catacombes. To access: go to RER stop Denfert-Rochereau and cross the street outside the station building. You will see the line begin right next to the little parc in front of you.
It's almost a surreal place. And a little spooky.
Did you know that Paris' catacombs were created because one used the stone material to build pretty much everything here, for example the foundations of Notre Dame.
In the 18th century there were problems with too crowded cemeteries too close to the city center of Paris so new cemeteries outside of the city (for example Père Lachaise) were created in the same time as the remains in the old cemeteries (which were shut down) were relocated right down to the catacombs where they rest until this very day. So nowdays you can wander around these hall ways where the walls are made of human bones, piled up in neat piles. This is the fascinating (but a little creepy) truth..
Busy saturday: we visited the catacombs...
... not a particularily cosy pleasant experience, but certainly an interesting one I must say.
I have also been to my first class of French aerobics and I've also done some massive shopping in H&M (yes I know that this is Paris, but there's nothing wrong with the pricelevel in H&M...)
It's not italian, but I enjoy my café noisette all the same!
Lisa And Robert were here this weekend buying me a delicious late-birthday-dinner!
Merci bcp!
...A typical saturday afternoon in Paris!
So, where do you want to go next?
(I'm pretty familiar with Paris by now, but this little guide "Paris pratique" is definately a handy help sometimes...)
This bridge makes me simply happy!
I want to live in a bridge too...
(Ponte Vecchio / Firenze)
I didn't even need to photoshop this Firenze street photo!
It's not that difficult to understand why I want to move here, huht?? If I only spoke italian... actually, for the moment I'm quite occupied with just understanding the French spoken in school...
Ok, since there already are lots of commercials on these pages...
... I might as well add my own advertisment: The church choir I'm singing in will throw a concert on March 29th at 6 pm in the Swedish church, l'eglise suédoise à Paris, métro Courcelles. We'll be performing
the complete REQUIEM by Gabriel FAURÉ
as well as much more.
If you happen to be in Paris on sunday, bienvenu(e)! C'est gratuit! :)
On the top of the world!
(Well... atleast not far from it. On top of Brunelleschi's cupola on the dome in Florence.)
Inside the doumo de Firenze.
How could I forget to show you when we walked between the actual -every architect's secret dream- double shell of Brunelleschi's dome in Florence?
Hi hi, are they actually going to sing for me??
Yup, they did. Happy late birthday Laura!
Forum Romanum / Rome
It's grand, allright...
(cupola of St Peter's Cathedral)
St Peter's Church / Rome
We're actually standing in line to go in to the church, no I'm not kidding...
More Italy...
... this is perhaps the most italian of all the pics I took during the trip!
Spring in Paris!
Yesterday I went out to visit a site for a school project. I ended up documenting the Parisian spring instead!
Yet another of Firenze's beautiful Renaissance churches.
We were lucky to come here right in time for the evening prayer in Latin!
A glimpse of Firenze.
Nice paintings inside of the dome.
The dome in Firenze. Can't believe I walked all the way upp there!
To access the roof of "Il duomo" costs 9 euros...
...and yes, you have to climb all the 436 stps yourself, no elevator! Anyway, it's totally worth it, you get to climb inside Brunelleschi's dome, between the two structuring shelles. Very cool!
Florentinian cat.
Look exactly like Smulan though...
Sunset in Firenze.
Pas mal du tout, n'est-ce pas?
More Firenze (can't help it): the famous medival bridge Ponte Vecchio...
...with Vasari's top archade from the 16th century.
As this photo from earlier this afternoon implies: there is no snow in Paris. Instead a beautiful 17 degrees.
We (Frida, Malin, I) spent a couple of hours in the sunlight outside of Sacre Coeur drinking macchiatos and listening to street musicians while gazing out over Paris' skyline. "Det ska va' gôtt å leva"...
Man and vespa.
Man and ball.
Man and bird.
Early morning and breakfast outside our hostel, which was situated directly in front of Piazza Piatti, the famous sloping square in Firenze.
Laura and Mallory -a little tired after all the impressions over the recent days.
One of Firenze's many Renaissance churches.
Basilica de Santa Maria Nouvella.
This side partly designed by Leone Battista Alberti.
Didn't we see a great many photos of this building in the Architecture History-class? You know the name!
Oh yes, you were right: ospedale degli innocenti.
Early italian renaissance building by Brunelleschi.
Firenze, ti amo! If Paris was to suffer an armagedon I would instantly move to Firenze.
My favourite place in all of Italy.
Oh yes, the italians love their dogs as much as Parisian people.
The bring them everywhere. Here a little furry thing in the middle of a mall.
Milan by night: the Mecca for fashion. While I walked towards the train station to take the night train back to Paris I walked past two fashion events on the same street!
One of them was hosted by Kenzo. i'm sure I saw Donatella Versace, but she dissapered before I could snap a picture. The whole area was a chaotic mess of cars, dressed up people, police officers, journalists, you name it...
Strange temporal sculpture in the city centre of Milan.
Situated between the dome and the giant art museum palazzo Reale (recommended!). I think the sculpture is there while the front side of the art museum is completely covered for a total renovation. It definately attracted people with it's strange forms and noise (oh yes, it played songs and weird sounds all the time). It reminds me of the temporal pavilion project we did in 3rd grade on Heurlins plats, remember?
Ta-da! Bright sunshine on Milan's central square: piazza del Duomo, view towards the galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and the gothic dome.
Spider web?
Nope, just a fantastic 19th century mall in Milan!
Why didn't they make Nordstan (in Göteborg) like this, when they tore everything down and built the mall back in the 70's? Nordstan is perhaps practical, but oh so ugly. It makes me depressed, especially the northern part, always shadowed by the large 7-floored parking house, who takes up all the space as well the nicest views towards the water and the opera house.But maybe that's intentional? I mean if you feel bad, you shop more.
The "galleria" hosts all the most exculsive of fashion brands: Prada, Rolex etc.
but before the rest of the Italy-pics, this Paris-by-night view from one of my favourite bridges near Île de la Cité.
A wonderful and stange hanppening occured this evening, involving a man singing very oddly.
Wow! Lake Como, only an hour by local train from Milan up to the mountains.
It was cold as h-ll that day, but incredibly beautiful as you can see for yourselves.
I survived...
... my first week of the spring semester at École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture Paris Belleville!
We did a course called "intensif" which definately meant intense... luckily it finished yesterday which means: no homework this wk!
Instead I will upload a some random pics from my train-in-Italy journey.
Wish you all a great day!
We did a course called "intensif" which definately meant intense... luckily it finished yesterday which means: no homework this wk!
Instead I will upload a some random pics from my train-in-Italy journey.
Wish you all a great day!
Blois castle is an eclectic heap of odd looking towers and oriels...
... can you spot the 4 completely different architectural styles???
Somebody please give the poor man something to eat!
(Another gargoyle on the roof of the Blois Castle).
Interior of the staircase at Blois castle. Why don't we make stairs like this one (twisting and turning, seemingly more baroque than renaissance) anymore??
Together in front of Château Cheverny! It was c-c-cold. the umbrellas are not for the rain but the snow!
Moi et mon tiramisu!
Ooauuh! My head hurts!
(Gargoyle in Château Blois)
Château de Blois with its famous Renaissance stairs dating from the 16th century.
