All posts filed under: Paris

Landed in Paris

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So after what seems a long day of travelling, we have finally arrived safe and sound in Paris. After heading on an early 9am train to London, we then departed via Eurostar to the French capital. This was my first time of using the Eurostar, and it was much quicker than I had anticipated. Once we got to the hostel, and after we had unpacked our belongings, we met with our two tutors and headed out to the Montmartre area for a lovely dinner with both the groups. I just love Paris, there’s so much to see, and it seems every street you walk down offers you a new and different glimpse of Paris. We headed to the Moulin Rouge after of food, and lets just say that we saw some sights that are youngsters should not be seeing! Tomorrow ‘The Virgin’s Places’ are off to Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Lourve. But I’m hoping to have the time to quickly go to the Sainte-Chapelle, which is in between these two places. I cannot wait to …

Bye York, hello Paris!

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So today I am off to Paris with my current module – The Virgin’s Places: Chartres, Siena and Castile. During our week away we will spend the day visiting Chartres Cathedral, which I was lucky to go to the last time I was in Paris with Autumn’s module, Death and Devotion. I love Chartres Cathedral, as it’s a beautiful space – it’s so big and overwhelming. As well as spending the day outside of Paris in Chartres, we will be going to Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Lourve. I will also, in any spare time that we have, go and visit the Sainte-Chapelle – probably my favourite place in Paris! I will try and blog some photos about our trip, so keep checking back! I hope everyone has a great week, whether you’re a third year also going away (I know some people are going to Rome this week with the History of Art department!), or if you’re still in York.  

Busy, busy, busy

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Sorry for the lack of blog posting, it’s been an incredibly busy week! So, what I have been doing the last few weeks? Well, this term I started by new module for the Spring/Summer term: The Virgin’s Places. This term I will be exploring all about the Virgin Mary in various places around medieval Europe, focusing specifically on Chartres Cathedral in France, the city of Siena and in the Spanish kingdom of Castile. This course is great fun, and its really fascinating to be studying the extent to which these people from the Medieval ages saw Mary as their intercessor, guardian and divine source of help. This week we’re looking at Duccio’s amazing panel painting Maesta, which if you haven’t seen, it’s stunning! As part of the module I am back off to Paris next week! – boy, I cannot get away from there, 3 times in the last 7 months, not that I am complaining. Luckily we are travelling to Paris by train, which was a great relief to me and other students who …

Back from Paris, back to reality

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  So for some reason WordPress deleted a post that I wrote last week about the last two days of my Paris trip! How annoying. Anyway! So, I have returned from my Paris trip and it was amazing! It really does make a huge difference seeing the objects that you’ve been learning about in person. As  mentioned in a previous post, I went to Paris in the summer and went to some of the places that I returned to on my HoA trip. It was really interesting coming back, with the new knowledge that we have been learning about in the last few weeks, and I cannot believe how I experienced the same spaces in a new light. For the last few weeks in ‘Death and Devotion’, we have been focusing on the Gothic architecture in Paris, focusing on St Denis, Chartres Cathedral (just a little outside Paris) and Saint-Chapelle. It was great to see Chartres in person. I have never been there before, and it was incredible to get the opportunity to explore. The …

Day 1 Paris Trip

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So today is the first day of our trip to Paris, and what a great day it has been! This morning the ‘Death and Deovtion’ group ventured to the amazing Saint Denis church. There we explored and analysed the stained glass, the tombs of various French Kings and Queens and the crypt! After spending the morning there, we took the metro and emerged on the isle which houses Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle. In Notre-Dame we went around the treasury,  looking at the various reliquaries that the church possesses and then we had the rest of the day off! Tomorrow we will go to Chartres Cathedral, which I’m really looking forward to! It’s great to be seeing all these places in person, especially because I’ve been studying them for the last 4 weeks. It seems even stranger seeing as I only come to Paris about 3 months ago – since coming to the same places again, I’ve noticed just how much more I can see in the various buildings since doing my course. Posted from …