Centre Pompidou from the street.Panoramic_view_mainEntrance
Built 1977 on the initiative of then president of France, George Pompidou. Centre George Pompidou – Musée national d’art moderne as the proper name is, celebrates 40 years this year 2017. It was not without controversy when it was built since it was a very modern and industrial looking building. As the blog title indicate it was among many different things called Notre Dame de la Tuyauterie (Our lady of the pipes). This was mainly due to the exposed mechanical systems and a lot of exposed ducts and other mechanical system parts – some compared it to an oil refinery. Architects: Renzo Piano, Richard Rogers, Gianfranco Franchini, Ove Arup, Peter Rice, Mike Davies, Su Rogers
Centre Pompidou from the main entrance side.César le pouce – “the thumb” outside the centre Pompidou during the César exhibit.The sculpture garden outside the Centre Pompidou.Centre Pompidou lines on Wednesday December 27 2017 – a rainy day in Paris.
Just remember that if you bring an umbrella (at least a full-size one), a backpack etc. you will also have to be in line for the coatcheck which can be quite long on rainy days – be smart and wear a rain jacket and no backpack!
George Pompidou in the main entrance hallway.Centre Pompidou is 40 this year.Gathering, by Daniel Firman.Chez Georges restaurant on the top floor has nice views of Paris and good food, even vegetarian options.
Paris – ville lumière. During the Christmas season this takes on a slightly different meaning than the one that suggest it is the city of enlightenment as in centre of education, when all the lights shine in unison it is not too far fetched to interpret “ville lumière” as city of lights…
The upscale shopping center Galeries Lafayette in Paris is decked out for the holidays. The after Christmas Sales are on and if you go inside you will find one of the most elaborate displays ever.
Galeries Lafayette on Rue Lafayette.
The magical display inside Galeries Lafayette in Paris. Below is a still picture of the display.
Galeries Lafayette Christmas display.
Here is a look down Boulevard Hausmann by the Galeries Lafayette:
Boulevard Hausmann by the Galeries Lafayette.
A beautiful art deco Metro station entrance:
Metro entrance to line 3 Parmentier stop.
Another look at the ever so beautiful Eiffel tower:
Eiffel tower Paris.Eiffel tower from the butte de Montmartre and Sacré Coeur.Sacré Coeur.La Opera de Paris.La Opera de Paris sculpture.Arc de Triomphe as seen from atop Galleries Lafayette.Arc de Triomphe.Arc de Triomphe.Le Escargo Montorgueil. Leaves no doubt of what is served here!Le Moulin Rouge in Montmartre.Le Grand Rex Theatre.Musée du Louvre.Musée du Louvre – an animal in the interior parts guarding a grand staircase.Notre-Dame de Paris western facade.La Seine and la tour Eiffel.
Up side down Christmas trees are said to be all the rage in the US this year. Tate Britain in London commissions a Christmas related work of art each year from different artists. Below are pictures of the work commisoned for the 2016 season, an upside down Christmas tree by Iranian artist Shiraze HoushiaryTate Britain London, upside down Christmas tree 2016 by Iranian artist Shirazeh Houshiary.
A snow globe with a Christmas tree scene under the Eiffel tower in Paris 2014.Closer look at the 2014 Eiffel tower snow globe.This Christmas tree in London’s Trafalgar Square is donated to the City of London each year by the country of Norway as a thank you for their support during WWII. This one is from 2013.A plaque that shows where the tree is from.Another London favorite, Carnaby Street Christmas decorations, this is from 2016.Boots drugstore on Oxford Street in London during Christmas 2016.Another London tree at St James’s Place.The beautiful Covent Garden Reindeer from 2014, another London favorite.
And, to end the Christmas parade: Here is our little feathered friend from Hyde Park to sing bye – bye for now.
The Clipper Cutty Sark was built on the River Clyde in Scotland in 1869 for Jock Willis Shipping Line. It was originally designed to carry Tea from China to England and to do this as fast as possible. A Clipper is a three masted, square rigged ship with a narrow hull and a shallow keel, this was important when sailing up the rivers in China to load Tea. It was one of the last Tea Clippers ever built and also one the fastest, actually it was likely the fastest.
Cutty Sark masts and rigging sen from the BowCutty Sark masts and Rigging as seen from the aft Poop deck.Details of the rigging.Mooring bittsCutty Sark’s copper clad keel.Interior of Cutty Sark with the planks mounted to the steel frame that make up the hull of the ship.
The Cutty Sark was built from East India Teak for the portions above the waterline while American Rock Elm was used for the bottom parts. The deck was made of 3.5″ Teak and the tween deck from 3″ Yellow Pine. The rudder was made from English Oak. Cutty Sark was built with three decks; the Main deck, the tween deck and the lower Hold.
The Liverpool house was at the stern of the ship and it held accommodations for the Master and also the Masters Saloon which was the most luxurious part of the Cutty Sark. It has a big wooden table for studying charts and to dine on. The Saloon has very nicely aged Mahogany paneling all around. The Liverpool house also accommodated a pantry, a head and accommodations for the First and Second Mates as well as the Steward. The portions below the main deck were mainly used to carry cargo.
Ladder leading to the Liverpool house in the Stern from the Poop deck Wheel area.Master’s cabin in the Liverpool house on the Cutty Sark.Pantry in the Liverpool house at the Stern to serve the Master and other officers on the Cutty Sark.Masters Saloon in the Liverpool house.
In 1872 a forward deckhouse was added to house the crew that were not housed in the aft deckhouse, they had previously slept under deck in the forward part of the Cutty Sark. In addition it held the workshop for the carpenter and the sailmaker as well as the Galley.
An image from a cabin with a hologram of a young sailor writing a letter, to home maybe…Workshop onboard the Cutty Sark.The ships galley.Among the provisions were live animals such as pigs and hens kept on deck.Cutty Sark & the Tea trade.
The cargo that Cutty Sark was built for was tea from China. As steamships came onto the scene in the latter half of the 1800’s, they started competing for the cargo. With steamers becoming faster with improvements in the steam engines and since the steamers were able to use the shorter Suez Canal route to China that was not well suited for a Clipper, even the fast Cutty Sark (17.5 knots was the highest speed recorded) eventually became a victim of the changing times. There used to be a premium paid to the ship that arrived first with the first Tea of the year, so speed was very important. After the Tea trade was gone for the sailing ships there were efforts made to keep Cutty Sark sailing with other cargo, such as Wool from Australia and at times she had other freight going to Australia, such as the piano seen below. However the glory years had definitely come to an end and she was eventually sold in 1895 to a Portuguese firm for £1,250.00 and renamed “Ferreira” after the owner of the firm that bought her.
After having had many owners and seen many events she came to England in 1954 and was placed in a dry dock in Greenwich in South East London. She was carefully restored and re-rigged to be ready for exhibition. The Duke of Edinburgh was instrumental in setting up the Cutty Sark Preservation Society in 1951 and laid the foundation stone for the dry dock himself. Today he is the president of the Cutty Sark Trust which currently is the entity in charge of the continuing preservation efforts.
Wool bales from Australia.Close up on a Wool Bale.Piano destined for Sydney Australia onboard the Cutty Sark as cargo in 1889.Ship’s bell and the story of how it was stolen and ultimately returned.
The name Cutty Sark was taken from the poem “Tam O’Shanter” written by Scottish poet Robert Burns. It was the nickname of the witch Nannie Dee who together with other witches and beings were chasing the farmer Tam O’Shanter when he was on his way home after a night of drinking in town. Nannie Dee eventually snagged his horses’ tail before he managed to cross the River Doon to safety because witches dare not cross water. Nannie Dee was wearing a Sark (Scottish term for a chemise or undergarment) since this was given to her as a child it was ‘cut’ meaning it was way too short. “Cutty sark” was the name Tam O’Shanter used when, after seeing Nannie Dee dancing outside the haunted church and thus awakening his desires, he cried out: “Weel done cutty-sark!”. The figurehead of the Cutty Sark is a carving of Nannie Dee.
A carving of Nannie Dee is the figurehead on the bow of the Cutty Sark.Cutty Sark’s namesake Whisky
Cutty Sark Whisky was created on March 3 1923 and it was the brainchild of Berry Bros. & Rudd – London Wine & Spirits merchants that are still located at 3 St James Street in London. It is a range of blended Scotch Whisky and is a product of Edrington plc of Glasgow with offices located only 10 miles from where the Cutty Sark was built. The home of the blend is considered to be at the Glenrothes distillery in Speyside, Scotland. The currently used label (since 1955) has a drawing of Cutty Sark that was made by a Swedish artist, Carl Georg August Wallin .
Tate Britain London, upside down Christmas tree 2016 by Iranian artist Shirazeh Houshiary.
