Tag Archives: Vacation

Visiting Brussels

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Day 18     Wednesday, Sept 17, 2025

We have fairly relaxing morning. We call our bank and sort out an issue with our debit card and last night we had to call one of our Mastercards because it got blocked…because we are in Belgium.  Yet they don’t want to know that we are travelling anymore!  So it caused problems when we tried to add it to our Apple Wallet.  Same thing has happened to our other Mastercard, so we still have that to sort out tonight. I guess we should have done some things before we left home…like putting our email address as the contact to verify our cards when we  use them online instead of it being our home land line!  But who knew?

Once we sorted that out I worked on my paper journal, drawing some animals at the Lille Zoo from photo reference.  Not as much fun as drawing at the zoo but it was cold and windy and we didn’t have a lot of time there.  Drawing from reference photos is a good way to familiarize myself with the shapes and anatomy of animals and birds. This helps when I am able to draw at zoos in person. I set a time limit for a page so that I don’t spend too long. It is more like drawing live that way.

We catch the train into downtown Brussels which involved a 20 minute walk because in order to use Brussel’s busses or trolley cars you need to have a contactless debit card or use Apple Wallet. Our problem is our Debit cards should work after we called the bank last night to sort out the problem, but they still don’t, so we can’t use them. My MC won’t load onto Apple Wallet because of problems trying to verify it! So we walk to a train station were we can buy a paper ticket. Unfortuntely there doesn’t seem to be any place near us to purchase paper tickets for the bus or trolley cars.  

A half hour later after a very smooth rain ride we arrive in Brussels.  First stop is to see the Mannekin Pis Fountain.  It is the most famous fountain in Brussels.  The last time we visited this little statue was 46 years ago on our first trip to Europe. 

I used to have the cutest little wooden plaque with sculpture of the Mannekin Pis but somehow lost it. I wanted to buy a new one…well that sure didn’t happen! All the souvenirs were incredibly tacky, and ridiculously expensive as you can see in this photo.  So no souvenir for me.  We did buy two postcards to send to our grandchildren and after we left the store the owner chased me down about a block away from the store.  He insisted that I had stolen one of the key chains that we had been looking at. He said he had it on camera, so we went back to the store and I told him, in French, to look at his camera. I said that I am not a thief and that I didn’t even touch the key chain he was accusing me of stealing. I am sure I looked guilty, I felt hot and I am sure my face was red. After a few minutes of conversation and looking at his security footage he admitted that he made a mistake and apologized. We chatted a bit more, and all was well. I shook his hand and said I understood how hard it must be when he does have people steal from him almost every day.  

We see one of the big pink sculptures that we saw all over Paris two years ago. The enormous  candy-pink sculptures created by Philippe Katerine are now on display in Brussels.

The Grand Palace Plaza is surrounded on all sides with very ornate buildings…

….including the City Hall…

…and the Brussels City Museum.  I am done in and need some tea and pastries. I think being accused of stealing was rather emotionally exhausting. It wasn’t easy to find a coffee shop. We had to walk several blocks but found one with a quiet table away from all the smokers.  We had a pot of mint tea with real mint leaves and the most delicious croissant and Portuguese tart.  

We pass a shop with these ‘toy’ cars in the window. The white and red car are €219.90 each, and the green and orange ones are ‘only’ €579.05 each!  This is $941.61 Canadian! I wonder who buys these expensive model cars.

The Cathedral Saints-Michel-et-Gudule is another enormous cathedral. 

The Nave stretches into the distance. The statues on the pillars are the Twelve Apostles. There are many stunning stained glass windows surrounding the ornate altar.

This sculpted scene called ‘Entombment’ is beautiful. Cathedrals often have amazing art work.

The pulpit is an intricately carved wooden masterpiece.

We are hungry and head back to this little square to buy some of Brussels famous frites with mayonnaise.  No photo, we were hungry and they were gone in no time. Bob is walking towards the train station.

We took a wrong turn on our way to the train station and discovered this enormous white Smurf. Of course we needed a photo!

I had a little rest beside several of these beautiful flower towers.

On our walk from the train station back to our apartment I see another sign that Autumn is coming.  It is still unseasonably cool for this time of the year. 16 Celsius and windy.

There are many very large houses along the walk home.  This one has its own magnificent tree.

We have never stayed in a neighbourhood with so many large houses…maybe mansions would be a better term?

There is such a variety of styles. Some traditional and some more modern looking.

This is the lane behind our bnb, which has a huge corner lot. This black cat was determined to cross my path as we returned from getting groceries, but I figured we had enough challenges for the day so I managed to avoid him!

Our bnb has its very own little robot lawn mower…it the cutest thing as it maneuvers itself about the yard cutting the grass.

Brussels, Belgium

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Day 17     Tuesday, September 16, 2025.

Our Airbnb is in the basement of a huge old house on the outskirts of Brussels.  You can see the widows to our suite which is actually quite bright.

The suite has a lot of character. We got settled last night and just before bed plugged in all our electronics…and we blew the breaker! All the lights in our suite went out. We messaged our host, who came down in her jammies to fix everything. We were lucky she heard the message beep on her phone as she was already asleep. It was quite the day yesterday!

I really needed a quiet day, so I stayed home and got all caught up on the blog. That feels really good. It is hard when I get behind. It takes quite a while to get each day’s post done but I really love having this souvenir of our trip. I joke that when we aren’t able to travel anymore we can revisit trips on the blog and say “remember when..”

Bob gets restless on these stay at home days so he goes to visit a car museum in Brussels. He writes the rest of this post.

Autoworld is located in a plaza near the Art & History Museum, Royal Museum of Military History and a Napoleon Museum. It is the building to the left of the arches.A 1896 Bollee Voiturette called a Mother-in-Law Murderer, because the passenger sat up front.  It could go 30 kph.

A 1913 Peugeot. The spare tire is bolted onto the front tire, rather than being mounted on the fender.

A classic 1937 Cord with front-wheel drive and retractable headlights.

A 1936 Citroen fitted with a gas generator (behind the front fender) used during the Second World War. As gasoline was in short supply, the car used the captured gas (from burning wood or coal) to fuel the vehicle.  

I thought the first vehicle ever built was the 1770 steam powered Cugnot.  But 100 years earlier in 1672 a Belgian priest in the Imperial Court of Peking designed this steam powered vehicle called an Eolipyle.  It was 2 feet long and built as a toy for the Emperor.  High-pressure steam comes out the front and forces the cups on the shaft to rotate, similar to how a waterwheel works.  Instead of water turning the wheel, the high-pressure steam turns the wheel.

A Fabrique Nationale 1930 car built for a Shah but never paid for or delivered.

A one-of-a-kind 1991 Lotec TT1000 based on a Ferrari Testarossa, with twin turbos and 1000 HP. It was fast, 370 kph and cost $3.6 million.  

And for something more budget-minded, a 1959 Heinkel Kabine. This model came standard with hydraulic brakes and a reverse gear. The original cost was around 300 euros. 

A 1991 Audi Quatro prototype made out of wood.

A 1939 Horch Cabrio.  August Horch started his car factory in 1900 but left in 1908 after a dispute and started a new company Audi (based on the Latin translation of his name).  In 1932 both companies merged with 2 others to form the new Audi, hence the four rings in the logo.

Driving to Belgium

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Day 16    Monday, September 15, 2025

Today we drive to our next location in Brussels. We stop on the way to visit a zoo in Lille, France. It isn’t a very big zoo but we are surprised that senior admission is only €3!

They have a lot of interesting birds. Clockwise… Blue Winged Kookaburra, Helmeted Curassow, Masked Lapwing, Rainbow Lorakeet.

This Crested Partridge seems to like Bob’s whistling.

The Prevost Squirrel lives in tropical forests.  Several of these squirrels are very busy running up and down all the branches in their enclosure. They look like they are playing.

Who doesn’t love Meerkats?  They certainly seem to love each other!

These two huge tapirs share their enclosure…

…with two of these beautiful Maned Wolves from the South American Savannah. They are not in fact related to wolves or foxes. They are their own genus.

This Siamang uses its feet and hands to get at their food.

These are White Pelicans. I am reminded of the time years ago I sat and drew one of these beautiful birds in the Greek Islands. The bird I drew was quite tame and hung about near the fishing wharf. I sat about three feet away from this enormous creature and spent a lovely hour or so drawing him. The locals gave him a name, which I don’t remember, but he was definitely a male.

The last enclosure is a large aviary for tropical birds. These Scarlet Ibis are so colourful and a bit comical with their very long beaks.

Darn, I forgot to take a photo of the information for these birds, except for the Cariama Huppé which is the brown one with feathers on his beak.

After the zoo we head towards the Citadel but unlike the one Bob visited in Arras, this citadel is still in use by the military.

The Lille Citadel is the headquarters for the Rapid Reaction Corps-France.  This is a high-level,   deployable operational unit for the French Army and a NATO-certified force. This unit comprises around 450 soldiers from 14 allied nations.

The white area of the Citadel is used by the military but the surrounding areas have been converted to parkland for the use of the public.

On our way back to the car there is a field with wild flowers.  I am surprised at how many wildflowers I see this late in the year.

Some of the bushes and trees are starting to turn colour.

There is a huge fair setting up next to the parking lot. Too bad we aren’t staying longer.

The weather is all over the place today. Sunny and warn one minute and then cloudy, very windy and rainy the next.  On our drive to Brussels we see a lot of wind turbines.  Many of them are really close to the road. They are so big!Everything was going well until we got close to a town called Tournai. Our route was supposed to take the yellow road that on this map ends in a no entry sign.  Instead we got detoured down the N50 which looked like we would still be OK but we weren’t. We were detoured onto the southbound lane of the highway which had a barrier to allow half of the road to be used for northbound traffic so it was impossible to make an exit left or right!  We had to keep driving..in the wrong direction …until we could get off the detoured road. We then rerouted our map to get to Brussels only to hit more detours, and then Google maps froze!..and Bob is asking me which way to go!!  We find a place to pull over and figure out a work around which means going in the wrong direction again until we get to a place called Mons, where we should be able to take a completely different road to Brussels. That did work but we hit at least four more construction zones where we were detoured again…only this time we kept going in the right direction. Needless to say we were both very happy to finally arrive in Brussels and check in to our Aibnb.

Screenshot

Quiet Day and the Citadel in Arras, France

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Day 15     Sunday, September 14, 2025

I stay home for a much needed rest and work on my blog and journal. Bob goes to visit the Citadel. He writes the rest of today’s blog…

The military Citadel was built in the late 1600’s to protect Arras. It could house up to 1500 troops. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Beside the Citadel is a park with a zip-line course. Notice how the platforms are secured to the trees so that there is no damage.

Sorry for being so long winded. Bob

Arras Market and Carrière Wellington. France

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Day 14.    Saturday, September 13, 2025

We visit the Arras market which is held in the Place des Héros in front of City Hall. It is packed with tables, tents and trailers selling a wide variety of goods. I adore these baskets, but they would be a difficult to take home.

Many shoppers are carrying beautiful bouquets of flowers. Two of these pink bouquets are only €5!

European markets often have an interesting assortment of mushrooms…

…and of course, many different cheeses.

We buy sausages, green beans, a baguette, a red pepper, bananas and two baskets of yummy Belgium strawberries.

This plaque with our shadows shows the Original Belfry survived from 1463-1914, and the City Hall from 1502-1914. They were both almost completely destroyed by German bombardment in October 1914.  They were rebuilt in the 1920s, using modern materials but replicating their original style.  

A view of the huge market in front of the Town Hall. The vendors were also located down the side streets of the square.

During our tour of the Boves on Wednesday our guide said that every building around the Grand’Place and the Place des Héros has underground cellars that are part of the caves that were dug under Arras. Each building has three levels of cellars, one at each of 4, 8 and 12 meters. Many restaurants and pubs are now located in these cellars. Each building’s cellars are “lined with metal” to prevent any thefts. Our guide’s English was fairly basic so we weren’t sure if she meant metal gates, or something else.

It is a short 10 minute drive to the Carrière Wellington.  We don hard hats and we are soon 20 meters underground.  

Tunnellers from New Zealand connected the town’s medieval chalk caves and tunnels to create a network of underground barracks to accommodate 24,000 soldiers in the First World War. Images and films are projected onto the cave walls throughout our tour. These are the NZ tunnellers.

The tunnels we visit today housed 1,500 soldiers in the weeks up to the surprise attack against the Germans on April 9, 1917. Film of British troops arriving in Arras

Images of individual soldiers were projected here. I wonder how many of them died in the coming battle. These ancient caves were used as building stone quarries for Arras in Medieval times. They are very large with high ceilings.

This projection showed some of the NZ tunnellers who volunteered to come to Arras. In front of the image are pick axes and shovels used to build the tunnels. No sledgehammers or explosives were used as the noise could have been heard by the Germans. The German front line was very close to the town of Arras.

Bottles found in the caves, included everything from Perrier water bottles to beer, liquor, cream and HP sauce bottles.

A facsimile of the bunks that were made for the soldiers. It was damp and cold and water dripped onto the men as they slept.

This underground ‘city’ included running water, electricity, kitchens, latrines, a light rail system, and a medical centre with an operating theatre.The stoves used small wood fires, and the soldiers smoked while they were underground. I imagine the air quality would have been awful.

We hear a recording of a church service that plays while we view this projection of a soldier’s drawing of the service given just before the battle. 1,500 men crowded together in this part of the caves to attend the service.

This is Command Headquarters.  

A view down a long tunnel towards an opening where the soldiers will exit onto the battlefield after an underground explosion opens the way.

This last part of the tour was very moving.  Projections of men writing their letters home before the battle. The contents of some letters are read aloud and we hear if the writer was injured or died in battle. Then we see these steps leading to an exit. There is a film with shadows of soldiers charging up the stairs to exit a doorway that flashes bright with loud explosions. We can hear the soldiers yelling and breathing hard. It is so difficult to watch…so many died to launch this surprise attack on the Germans.   In a theatre after the tour we watch a film about what happened after this battle and I am shocked to learn that the British advance slowed in the next few days and the German defence recovered. The battle became a costly stalemate for both sides and 4,000 men a day died in the days after the surprise attack. The British had 160,000 casualties and the Germans about 125,000. Up until hearing this I thought this Arras surprise attack was at least a success. I really hate war!

On a lighter note…for dinner tonight we have a salad and an order of Arras’s world famous frites.  Yes, this is one €6.00 order of large frites.  More than the two of us can eat!

Amiens, France

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Day 13.    Friday, September 12, 2025

It is an hour drive to Amiens from Arras where we will visit Jules Verne’s house, the largest cathedral in France, and take a unique boat ride.

We luck out and find a parking space right beside the Jules Verne museum.  Parking downtown in French cities is very difficult, there are more cars than spaces available.  We have our picnic lunch in a little park right by the museum but these chestnuts were falling and landing with a crash around us…the spikes on the green fruit are very sharp and we decide to move to a safer bench.

Jules Verne (1828-1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright.  Jules Verne is the second most translated author in the world, ranking below Agatha Christie and above William Shakespeare.  His novel Around the World in 80 Days is printed in 18 languages.

The winter garden was the original entrance to the Jules Verne house.  Tropical garden plants were moved indoors here to spend the winter.

The dining room and salon on the main floor.

One of the second floor rooms was a reconstruction of his first boat.  Jules Verne loved to sail and his first boat was a 9 metre long.  His second boat was 20 meters in length and the third was 30 meters!  

This second floor room was a library. The second photos shows the original library with over 12,000 books.  When he read these books Jules Verne wrote notes on index cards to use as reference information for his novels.

From 1882 to 1900 Jules Verne wrote every day from 5:00 am until 11:00 am in this little room.

Climbing the tower which was added to the house by Jules Verne.  It allows access to all three floors of the house.

The third floor attic has a collection of original movie posters…

…and other memorabilia.  I look like I am one of the exhibits!

Bob and a fictional flying machine from one of Verne’s novels.  A view from the front of the house showing the winter garden.

it is a short walk to the Amiens cathedral. Notre-Dame d’Amiens is the largest medieval cathedral in the world.  It was built in 1269 and is twice the size of Notre Dame in Paris.

The sculpted decorations in the portals have survived in a remarkable state of preservation…

…and the 16th century wood carvings of the choir stalls are unique in the world.

Sandbags were used to protect the exterior and interior of the church during WWI.  The stained glass windows were removed and stored elsewhere.  Unfortunately there was a fire and some of the windows were destroyed.  A bomb did fall directly on the church but it did not detonate. Whether by faulty fuse, divine intervention or sheer luck, the cathedral stood unharmed.  Info and photo~ church heritage.eu

This is a massive cathedral…

…with stunning stained glass windows.

Do you see the people? They give a sense of scale.

Looking towards the richly decorated altar…

and in the opposite direction, the organ that was built in 1549…

which has just been cleaned and restored.

Love this statue of Joan of Arc.

There is also a labyrinth from 1288.When we leave the cathedral, I look up and there are the gargoyles!  I am very fond of gargoyles.
We have time to walk back to the car for tea and cookies and a little down time before we get ready for our boat ride at the Hortillonages.

Shaped by generations of market gardeners known as ‘hortillons’, this site is the only one of its kind in France. The Hortillonnages are made up of a multitude of small cultivated islets surrounded by water, accessible only by boat on a network of waterways

We spend a relaxing 45 minutes travelling these waterways. We see market gardens, private gardens, cottages and some islands that look very wild and unkept.

The Hortillonnages have been here since ancient times. They are located on the naturally marshy terrain of the old bed of the River Somme. The site’s name has its origins in the Latin ‘hortus’ meaning garden. Nowadays, the ownership of this 300-hectare site is shared by over 1000 individuals who use it for market gardening or leisure activities such as gardening, fishing, and observing nature.

Walking back to our car we pass yet another war memorial, a reminder of the war and those who fought and died for France.

Lens Louvre

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Day 12.   Thursday, November 11, 2025

I did not know that the Louvre had a satellite museum.  It is located in Lens, which is about 25 minutes from Arras.  There is free parking and the museum is free to visit.  We arrive early afternoon and walk up a tree lined lane to the entrance to the museum.

The first thing we see on entering the museum is this Gothic Bulldozer. It is very intricate and difficult to photograph.  Zoom in for a closer look.Downstairs is an exhibit of Ukrainian Icons. Today the term «icon» refers primarily to paintings made with tempera (egg-bound pigments) on a prepared wood panel. Icons are also characterised by the use of gold leaf.  Museums around the world are safekeeping artwork from the Uraine until the war ends. The Louvre-Lens has four of Ukraine’s Icon paintings on display. This is The Last Judgement by Theodore Poulakis, 1661.

Alongside this exhibition space is a glass wall that allows visitors to view works in the restoration area of the Museum.The main exhibit at the museum is The Gallery of Time.

The Gallery of Time is an original showcase for a variety of art forms from different civilisations, all of which come together in an open-plan layout covering some 3,000 square metres. Visitors are invited to immerse themselves in the story of more than 5,000 years of human history and artistic creation. The Gallery of Time takes visitors on a chronological journey from the 4th millennium BCE to the 19th century, drawing on the collections of the Musée du Louvre and on other works which combine to tell a story of human creation, from the earliest recorded times to the most recent.
 

This is the beginning of The Gallery of Time. The first exhibit is the Roc-de-Sers, a stone with a carved horse that was part of a frieze found in a shallow cave in the south west of France. It is from 18,000 BC.

Some views of more than 250 pieces of art on display in this huge gallery.

And here, in no particular order, are a few of the pieces that we found especially interesting.

Francois Rude, Christ on the Cross.  Rude started this marble sculpture in 1885 but died before it was completed.  His student and nephew Jean Baptiste Paul Cabet completed it.  I found it very moving, and marvelled at being able to carve the crown of thorns in marble!

The Martyrdom of Saint Hippolyte, Cathedral of Sant-Denis, France, c. 1225-1250,  My first thought seeing this was what would it feel like to be pulled apart by horses? Egyptian Tomb Portrait of a Woman c. 150 AD.  I love these tomb paintings.  We saw several of them years ago when we visited Egypt.  Pieter Boel, c.1669-1671 Triple study of an Ostrich. 

Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, Paris 1714-1785, The Child and the Cage and The Girl with a Bird and an Apple. I fell in love with this two cherubic statues.  The dimples and folds in their skin were so incredibly life-like.

Élisabeth-Sophie Chéron, (1648-1711), 1672 Self Portrait.  This is the oldest self portrait of a French female artist in the possession of a Museum.

The Marching Player, 1063 AD. This statue is a replica of a Greek bronze original created around 440-400 BC.  I love the detail in his feet and toes.

Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Milan, c. 1527-1593. We have seen other work by this artist…it is pretty distinctive. This is Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

Rembrandt van Eijn, 1640-1660, Venus et L’Amour

Mourner’s Mask, New Caledonia c.1850

This was the last piece in the Gallery of Time.  A painting by Paul Delaroche, 1885, The Young Martyr.  A painting of a young woman who was killed for refusing to renounce her Christian faith.

We have a much needed tea break. I asked how big the tea was and was assured that it was very big…well, this rather ‘very large” cup of tea was €5.50!  Bob finds a spot to read and I go back to the gallery to do some sketching.  They aren’t the best sketches but I had such an enjoyable time doing them.  Two people asked if they could take a photo…people are always interested in what I am drawing.

We stay until the museum closes at six and we are surprised to see it is raining outside.  The Louvre -Lens is a very modern building, so different than the Louvre in Paris.  We really enjoyed the Gallery In Time”. It was interesting, and not as overwhelming as the Louvre.

Arras, France

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Day 10     Tuesday. September 9, 2025

Bob went for a walk this morning and I had a much needed sleep in. After lunch we go for a little walk to checkout the two big squares near our bnb.  As we walk along the side of the Grand’Place we read that during WWI the buildings on the right side were destroyed by bombs.  After the war this area was identically reconstructed.  We see some of the original columns with shrapnel marks and the smooth newer columns .

The Grand’Place was laid out to accommodate huge markets and was the site of one of the largest grain markets in France.  The wheat sheaves sculpted on the buildings facades are an indication of this.

The UNESCO listed Belfry soars high above the town hall at one end of the Place des Heros.  The square is bordered on three sides with Flemish-Baroque buildings.  Unfortunately the elevator to visit the Belfry is broken so we aren’t able to climb to the top for what must be a fantastic view.

Many of the streets and sidewalks are cobblestones…they are picturesque but can make walking a bit difficult.

This beautiful door must be at least four meters tall!  French doors are amazing.

We walk along the streets and get a bit lost but all roads seem to lead back to the Town Hall with its majestic Belfry.  It isn’t often that we see an old building actually being torn down.  Seems to us that they are usually eventually renovated instead. This one is definitely coming down.   I love the ivy growing up the side of the neighbouring building.  It is already starting to turn red….I suppose autumn is not far away.

The back of the town hall is pretty impressive as well.

We saw this gentleman walking around with his cat on his shoulders earlier.  We sit beside him on the bench and I ask if I can take his photo.  He tells us that he loves cats and he loves Canadians…in that order!

There are lots of interesting people, and I love people watching.  We see this young man and his dog, both dressed in Hawaiian shirts.

People here seem to like Teddy bears. We have seen several of them either sitting on chairs or hanging out of windows.

We go back to our bnb for a bit of a rest and then head back to the Place de Heros to try some of Arras’s signature fries for dinner at 9:00.  Many of the restaurants and bars don’t open in the evening until 8:00.  Does Bob look happy?

The Belfry looks spectacular all lit up…

and there are lots of people enjoying the evening.

The Trois Lappars  is the oldest house on the Grand Place, it was reconstructed in 1467 and its facade has what is known as a stepped gable.  Our bnb is only a couple of blocks from these two squares and all the shops and restaurants.

Driving to Arras

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Day 9.    Monday, September 8, 2025

Arras is only185 km from Paris but we like to stop and see sights along the way. I am navigating and I see this beside our road on Google maps.  I have no idea what it is!

When I zoom in, I realize that this is a gigantic car park!  A bit of Googling and we discover it is a carpark covering more than 28 hectares and containing more than 22,000 new vehicles!  

We arrive at Beauvais to visit its Cathedral but the first order of business is finding a bathroom…not always an easy task.  Then we walk through a huge square towards a carousel.  European carousels always remind me of a trip we made 46 years ago when our oldest daughter was only four years old.  We stopped for rides at every carousel we saw!  Travelling with Sue is similar, she squeaked and squawked until we let her have a ride!

The Beauvais Cathedral was completed in 1272.     

The cathedral was damaged during the Second World War but remained standing and was restored after the war.   The inside soars high above our heads and the light streams through the stained glass windows.Many of the pillars are still decorated with intricate painting.

The centre of the church is under renovation so we are only allowed to walk around the aisles and ambulatory behind the altar.  Bob is dwarfed by the tall pillars.

I take a photo of the altar by putting my phone through the grating in the above photo.Bob took this photo with this light shining through the stained glass windows into this side chapel.

This “clock was built between 1865 and 1868 by Auguste-Lucien Vérité.  It is 12 metres high, and 6 metres wide. The 52 dials display the times of the rising and setting sun and moon, the position of the planets, the current time in 18 cities around the world, and the tidal times.” ~Wikipedia  We wait for it to turn 3:00 but not a lot happened other than three chimes and a few areas of the clock lighting up.

“In the 1990s, the choir started to become very unstable. In some places, the pillars had moved more than 30cm. The north transept had four large wood-and-steel lateral trusses at different heights, installed to keep it from collapsing.

Since 2000, scaffolding has been continually put up around the cathedral to overcome these problems. Also, the main floor of the transept is punctuated by a much larger brace that juts out of the floor at a 45-degree angle. It was placed as an emergency measure to give additional support to the pillars in an effort to stave off any further movement. Presently, Columbia University is performing a study on a three-dimensional model using laser scans of the building in an attempt to pinpoint where the weaknesses are greatest to see what further can be done to shore up the building.” ~Frenchmoments.ca

We take the smaller highways from Beauvais to Arras instead of the toll highway and see this Sommes cemetery.  This is the information plaque.  It is hard to comprehend that over a million soldiers were killed here.  I think that ghosts must walk these fields.

The headstones seem to stretch forever and so many of these young men were never able to be identified.  They are only “Known Unto God”.

I think it is important to visit these cemeteries and honour those who have died but they are  difficult and emotional visits.

We continue our drive and arrive in Arras at 6:00 to meet our host for our Airbnb.

Metier Museum, Picasso Museum, and Life Drawing

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Day 8.    Sunday, September 7, 2025

We picked up our car this morning, a Ford Hybrid with a nice big trunk.  Driving back from Gare de Lyon to our bnb went well, and our host let us park in his yard for the night which we really appreciated.  There are next to no parking spots on the streets in this neighbourhood.

I left for drawing in Montmartre, which was an hour away.  I arrived just in time for the session, and the organizer, Deni, remembered me from the last time I was here, two years ago!

Aurora, five 2 minute poses, 1 5min pose

Two 5 minute poses, three 10 minute poses

One very challenging foreshortened 25 minute pose.

Before catching the metro home I stop to watch four very muscular handsome young men performing for donations, while I eat a yummy crepe sucré avec banane for my dinner.

There were a lot of steps on this metro trip so I decided to count them on the way home. Including these 104 spiral steps I went up and down 456 steps!!  So, going and coming from drawing I climbed up and down a total of 912 steps. No wonder French people are so healthy!  I was rather proud of myself climbing these spiral steps and passing a group of people much younger than I am huffing and puffing as they rested on one of the landings! 

Short skirts are in fashion…very very short skirts!

While I was at drawing Bob visited two museums.  The Musée des Arts et Métiers is a museum of technological innovation that exhibits over 2,400 inventions.  This is the first battery that was invented in 1799 by Volta.

This first sewing machine was invented in 1830. Dozens of these machines were destroyed by 200 tailors in 1831 who feared for their jobs.

The first steam driven vehicle was invented in 1770.

Leon Gaumont’s Sonophone combines image and sound for the first time in the history of cinema in 1900.

Bob spent a lot of time at the Picasso Museum…he texted me that he wasn’t sure what the exit door looks like!  The very large L’Aubade (1942) painting of two figures symbolized the violence of the war years.  Baiser, or the Kiss was painted in 1969. There was an interesting wall of portraits and a room with many of his sculptures. These are only a few of the 5,000 pieces of art at this museum.

This early Picasso portrait of Gustave Coquot is from 1901.  Picasso’s started painting when he was eight years old and didn’t start cubism until his thirties.

Bob took a photo of this Modigliani just for me, because he knows that I love Modigliani’s paintings. It was in the Picasso museum because both artists were influenced by African art and Picasso admired Modigliani’s work. We drive to Arras tomorrow so tonight we pack and tidy up.  It was great being able to attend three life drawing sessions in three days but it was a bit tiring too.  I don’t think I will find many more life drawing groups for a while.