Mona and Marais

Yesterday, despite our attempt at an early start, we left the apartment about ten o'clock, but since a rainy weather report made us adjust our day's plans, the later departure didn't affect things too much.  So off to the Louvre with about thousands of other people.

The Louvre -- how do you describe the magnitude and size?  So much art!!  We hit the biggies and then checked out the Dutch paintings and the sculptures.

Crowds around all the most famous pieces

I always feel a little sorry for the Mona Lisa, what if she wants a day off?  So many adoring fans.

Lots of Greek and Roman images!

And, lots of Mary and child images too.

After our fill of culture, we headed off to the Marais.  Exiting the metro at Bastille, we had to hover under a store's awning during a thunder and lightning storm with hail.

blue skies one minute

pouring rain the next

Luckily, the storm passed quickly and we wandered the Marais, window shopping and snacking.

loved the iron balconies in this neighborhood

gourmet chocolates

resting outside the Pompidou 

fun sculptures outside Pompidou

My kids have become addicted to Magnum bars, so when we saw a store that made ones to order, they had to try them.

made out of Magnum sticks

Yum!

About seven o'clock, the Marais turned into a party with lots of people having drinks outside of cafes and music blaring into the streets.  We loved the disco balls in the windows above one bar.

The Marais neighborhood was great!  The shops were endlessly interesting -- one favorite was a fishmonger, where she had decorated her display of fish with greenery, and the architecture was also really fun to explore.  A great first full day in Paris!!

On the Mackintosh Trail, Again

As I described here, Charles Rennie Mackintosh is one of Glasgow's most famous people.  A designer and architect, his designs intertwine natural and geographic elements with simplicity and light.

My mother-in-law Gerri, my Glaswegian buddy Barbara, and I went to the Mackintosh House on the campus of the University of Glasgow.  This "house" is actually reassembled principle rooms from the the house the Mackintoshes lived in from 1906 to 1914.  Although you can't take pictures of the interior, this shot from the brochure show his use of light and dark contrasts.

This bedroom was a design for another house -- it feels very surreal to me, like a Dali dreamscape.

Mackintosh's wife, Frances Macdonald was an artist herself, mostly working with metal sculptures that seem very art-deco to me.

Then, Liam, Gerri, and I went to visit the Mackintosh Church at Queen's Cross, where Mackintosh again used simple lines and natural symbols to create a striking building.

blue rose stained glass window

bird protecting nest detail on pulpit

Once again we are lucky to live in a city where so much of the creativity and vibrancy of the Victorian era is still present and accessible!

Yesterday was Gerri's last day, and we are so sad to see her leave.  All our parents (and parent-like aunt) made it over to see us in Glasgow.  We loved showing them (and all our other visitors) the city we've come to admire so much.

Now, a week to pack in some fun Glasgow things, then onto France and Germany!

Our Neighborhood -- Hillhead Architecture

Last week, my walking tour buddy Barbara and I set out for another neighborhood walk.  Armed with yet another  West End Heritage Trail map, we explored the architecture of Hillhead, which is roughly the area between Byres Rd, Great Western Rd, and University Ave.  This area is dominated by the university, so unlike the more residential areas we've explored, Hillhead has been altered and developed.  Old buildings from the 1850s and 1900s are tucked in between newer, concrete buildings added by the university.

So the oldest house in Hillhead is right behind the mod student center and across the street from the towering library.

Florentine House

A block of buildings like this

 is across the street from a block like this

terraces of Bute Gardens

door detail from Bute Gardens

There are some treasures, but you have to search for them.

 Like, the Western Baths ( a private swim club and gym) where we pretended we wanted to get on the waiting list so that the manager would give us a tour of the inside.  The pool's claim to fame are trapezes and rings over the water -- Cormac and Declan really want to go!

A hidden garden

viewpoint off Oakfield Ave

renovated stables at Coach House Trust

Barbara's building -- she lives in the bottom two floors and had the stained glass door and panels re-done

Two buildings opposite each other on Great Western Road

Cooper's

Hubbard's

Then on the more grim side, the old Hillhead High School which housed the primary until just this year when they moved to a new building.  Imagine four years old going to school here?  Looks like a Dickens' orphanage.

Another great tour that showed the diversity of architecture in the West End!

Our Neighborhood -- Partick Architecture

Last evening, Liam and I went on an official walking tour (with a real guide, instead of just a map), led by architect, Fiona Sinclair.  Roughly, Partick is the area running along Dumbarton Road below Hyndland Ave, to the west of Byres Road though we started our tour on Byres Rd.

At one time there was a required one percent for art in new buildings, so we saw two things that show the range of public art.

A neon statue high on top of a commercial and residential building on the busiest corner of Byres Rd and University Ave.  The neon was never lit up, but the colors are still there.

A wrought-iron ship sculpture (to celebrate Glasgow's now defunct ship-building economy) on top of a new residential building done by a local housing association to replace a tenement that could not be renovated.

The late 19th century and early 20th century stone masons were artists in their right.  Architects would indicate places for sculptures on buildings but often it was the stone masons who decided what to do.  Here's an ingenious example of decorating the external drain pipe system outside the Western Infirmary on Church St.

This sculpture on the side of the Anderson College of Medicine incorporates a leaded-glass window and shows how discolored the sandstone can be.  Most of the sandstone buildings were cleaned as part of a city-wide improvement in the 1980s, but the cleaning is damaging to the stone so this was probably left alone in order to not ruin the figures.

All along the Kelvin River there used to be flour mills, most have been demolished and now most of the new buildings are student housing along with some older residential buildings.  Amid these high-rises and construction sites, one mill remains.  Bishops Mill is noted for its distinctive wheat sheaf finials (flour mill remember) and has been converted into flats.

New buildings incorporate old design elements

wrought iron fencing turned on its side to keep passersby from coming too close to the building

modern sculpture above a doorway depicting Glasgow (bus, sailing ships)

The most interesting part of the tour took us up Dowanhill St, which is a residential street that runs roughly parallel to Byres Rd.  The bottom four blocks of the street (south of Dowanhill Park) were tenements built for workers and their families due to  the street's proximity to the mills and the shipyards on the Clyde River.  These tenements would mostly be one or two room units with toilets and washing space in the alleys behind the buildings.  Their design though followed the Renaissance love for perspective and order with beautifully proportioned windows and decorative touches.  The idea was you could look down a block and the line of the buildings would flow down the street.

On the other side of Dowanhill Park you move from Partick into Dowanhill.  Many of the same design elements were used but the buildings held three or four units (a family per floor) and included stained and leaded glass, bay windows and marble entrances.  Doctors, lawyers and merchants lived in these buildings as opposed to factory and shipyard workers.  Continuing up the hill, the buildings become single unit villas so that one family would have three or four floors to themselves.  One street showing the whole early 1900s class structure of the West End!

slate roof, leaded glass, bay windows -- three units in this building

stained glass inside the entrance hall

This part of Dowanhill St is where I've decide I will live next time I move to Glasgow -- why not aim high?  Like maybe this single family house?

Our Neighborhood -- Dowanhill Architecture

Today, my new friend Barbara and I toured the part of the West End called Dowanhill which is where our flat is located.  I met Barbara when my dad and I did a walking tour of the West End two weeks ago, and she and I decided we would do more walks but without our guide (since we knew we could do just as well on our own).  So, armed with another trusty West End Heritage Trail map, we ventured forth on one of the most beautiful days Glasgow has offered up so far.  Meandering through the area bordered by Great Western Road, Byres Road, and Hyndland Road, we enjoyed the sunshine, warmth, chat, and oh yeah, the architecture.

Across the street from our flat is Kelvinside Church modeled after Sainte-Chappelle in Paris.  It was built on the site of Horselethill farm and is noted for it triple spires, soaring Gothic style and stained glass.

Beyond the church is Grosvenor Crescent, which is a charming semi-circle terrace with beautiful windows and dormers.

Despite the urban closeness of the terraces, tenements, and villas (all types of buildings found in this neighborhood), green spaces still exist -- residents-only parks which require a key to enter and private sports clubs.

Willowbank Bowling Club from King's Gate

 King's Gate is two pairs of double villas overlooking the bowling club.  Barbara and I enacted Heard Law and went down the driveway to snoop at the flats, trying to figure out if and how the villas had been subdivided.

On to Dowanhill Church -- Normandy Gothic in style with a tapering spire, now a pub, restaurant and  theatre, Cottiers (here)

An unusual stained glass window consisting of eight panels depicting the four winds and the four seasons at 117 Dowanhill Street highlights the variety of architectural details found in this neighborhood.

Ironwork based on a design by "Greek" Thomson found on Dundonald Road

Different style stained glass doorway at 19 Rosslyn Terrace

Another great door, this one at 1 Princes Terrace

Dowanhill still has some villas (basically a mansion) remaining as homes, but others have been transformed into commercial or civic space, many into doctors' practices.

Northcote, built in 1858 for John Alexander (now a doctors' office)

Elstow, built in1858 then enlarged and restyled in 1898

Kensington Tower, built in 1858 for Edward Alexander (father of John)

love these lawn statues!