We walked abut a half hour to the Picasso museum. We were avoiding the mass transit due to the strike. Upon our arrival we were told that we had to come back to see only a limited area of the museum. So we switched the order of our visits and went to the Carnavalet Museum first. This is a combination museum inside an old mansion. It was the oldest museum in the city of Paris and opened in 1880. In 1989 the adjacent mansion was annexed and the two are now conjoined into a single museum. In the basement we found the oldest artifacts with historical significance. One the upper floors there were period rooms. Many of these rooms were plucked out of other mansions, paneling, ceilings and all. We headed out to lunch and had a great meal.
The rounded domes are great and we imagine ourselves sitting in one of these balconies
Giddy up!
Grand buildings all along the walk
Some sort of zany hop-scotch or a restoration
Art Deco Metro stop
Great ironwork
Many shops had decorative flourishes
The damage to the wood seems to be in the wrong area to be caused by the knocking
This is a goods pour of wine
Every so often a set of tiles just pop out
The knocker at the door of the Carnavalet
The entrance is decorated with pictographic signs from the time when illiteracy was an issue
Most of the placards were in French so the shop that had this merman remains a mystery
Lots of cats, perhaps exterminators?
The friendly lion
Keys are an easy one.... locksmiths are found here
The goat knows
This cat is asleep and the mice are out in force the vines above identify this as a wine maker
The Griffon may have been a hotel or restaurant
A very ornate sign. During one of the modernizations of Paris entire neighborhoods were demolished and rebuilt. Many of these signs were salvaged prior to the destruction
Three rats one heart! This is a cheese maker
I spy with my little eye, three barrels of wine
Castles for stone masons? Signs for hat makers
Some of the signs had photos of where they were hung
A famous restaurant that has been around since the 1582
Slow deer crossing sigh
A lobster and pear salad establishment
Lobsters!
Le Barber shop
The skylight
In the basement with the oldest stuff
Knights and crusaders
Tomb decorations
After the Jewish cemetery was dug up and the area re-developed some of these tombstones were rediscovered centuries later
A picture of Paris when the Pont Neuf was being built
A model of the walled city
What time is it?
Moving forward in history we find fantastical clocks
Ben Franklin was the US emissary to France
He had a portraite
Back to the skylights
This enitre staircase and painting was reclaimed from a mansion that was being demolished
A fine garden outside
These panels were moved here from a different building
In fact the entire room was moved here
Details on a lacquer panel made during France's oriental phase
Flying Dragons
So many drawers
The ceiling was fantastic
Across the garden
A large baloon
Why are there musicians in the trees?
A few more oddities, a lamb-dog and a little queen
The long hallway
Oh so fancy!
Inlay so superb
Every clock has different times
Characters from Italian puppetry
Monkies?
Wigs
Various rooms are filled with period furniture
The harp is elaborately decorated
Oh My Pigeons, a board game!
A mysterious plaque, these are markers that identify strategic sites with regard to the French Revolution
Another mystery bit of ceramic tiles
Fantastic gates on the side
Through the gates
Wreaths for everybody
Our lunch place
I got the dumplings and the spicy beef dish
Leslie is thinking about her order, maybe a poke bowl?
Beer drinking Geisha
A tasty lunch for both of us
It has been 3 years and 97 days since we began our Migration
