Paris Blog 3: Cluny

Roman Baths, Medieval statuary, stained glass, and of course, the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, one of the must-see museums in Paris.  The tapestries are the great draw, but there is so much more.
Here is our visit.

Architecture along the way.

In the Metro.
Mary, Deb, Neil, Sally, Bruce

Waiting for opening time.
Neil, Sally, Mary, Mary, Deb, Bruce, Adeline, Barbara

Inside the Courtyard.

Very somber, reserved group.  Except for Bruce

Part of a 12th. century alter piece.

Stained glass

Ivory

And here he is.

There is quite a lot of mystery surrounding these glorious tapestries. It is known who commissioned them, but not from whom

These heads were originally on the Notre Dame statuary, but they were lopped off by the mob during the revolution,
thinking they represented French Kings when, in fact, they were biblical kings.  Found in a pit in the
19th century.
 

Sally and Neil in the Roman baths

This is carved alabaster

In the graden opposite the Cluny I sat and rested, and this Wren  (We call in a Winter Wren in the US, and they are
fairly uncommon, but very common in Europe).  A very long, high warbling drunk piccolo trill.

View of the Cluny from the garden.

Blackbird (Robin Family)

Lunch

Verdi Requiem in Westerly, Providence

What a weekend!  Following hard on my return from Paris on Wednesday, I went to Westerly, RI on Friday to rehearse with the Westerly Chorus for two performances of the massive, grandiose, operatic, thrilling-beyond-belief Verdi Requiem.  A few final shots from Paris, a birding trip Sat. morning at Ninegret SP in RI, and then the two performances on Sat. PM in Westerly, and then Sunday aft. in Providence.

Breakfast in Paris every morning at the Little Regina Hotel.
Croissant slathered with butter and jelly, endless coffee, and yogurt.

Barbara, Sally and Neil our last morning.

Cat birds everywhere

Rufous-sided Towhee

Yellow0rumped Warbler

The annual singing Yellow Warbler.

At Westerly's George Kent Performance Hall,
L to R, Brian Diehl, Mark Weaver, and
Gary Buttery with his Cimbasso (in F)
I suggested to Gary we should find someone with  kilts, and we could photo him holding the Cimbasso
like a taber (log) and create another Scottish Game category,
the Cimbasso Toss!

Veterans Auditorium in Providence, R.I.
I haven't played here since my days playing with the R.I. Philharmonic
in the 80's

Prepping for the rehearsal.

The fabulous Westerly Chorus

Guest conductor David Hill (London Bach Choir,
BBC Singers, conferring with the conductor of the Westerly Chorus,
Andrew Howell, who prepared the chorus so magnificently.

Doing what bass trombone players do a lot, counting measure of rest.

A few very cool bass trombone "licks"

Final bows, standing ovation well earned.

David Hill, Andrew Howell, Sarah Callinan, Paula Rockwell, Brian Cheney, Kevin Short