ALSO!!! I should have mentioned this earlier, but I kept forgetting (and at first I didn't know)...if you double click on any of the images it will open up larger to the "full size" so that you can see them better! It makes them much more fun to look at! Keep that in mind : )
So, without further delay, I present to you my final and nostalgic day in Paris as well as my visit to Roussillon, known for its bright ocher!
Paris:
Our first trek of the morning was over to the Catacombes of Paris!! We walked and it was only around a 20-30 minute walk- not so bad considering everywhere else we had walked! The catacombs, at one point in their history, were a prison. I believe before that they were simply mines, then they became prisons, after which the bones of Parisians who had died from a plague of some kind were tossed in there and organized by the year they died and the graveyard from which they had been dug up. Eventually it was decided to make a kind of memorial or tribute to those who died by making the bones at least organized in a very interesting artistic design.
This was something that one of the prisoners created, I believe, during his time in the dark. I later drew this in my "Treasures of Provence" journal...but the image is so much better!
And here you have the skulls, yes those are indeed real skulls open to the air. I managed to resist touching one until the very end...when I had to at least put my finger on one to say I did it- it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, come on. The sign says "please do not touch" and "please do not use flash photography in respect to the deceased"...I only did the latter once by accident...
And this was my accident. Every time I turned my camera off the settings would automatically go to flash, and I forgot to turn off the flash again this time. But now you have a brilliant image of what the catacombs looked like! They literally are just stacked right on top of each other!
...Sometimes all the way up to the ceiling! However, that concludes the visit to the catacombs. One of my friends stuffed a tiny part of a bone that was apparently on the ground into her sock and snuck it out...my other friend thought she had a bone, but once she got out she realized that she had smuggled not just a bone, but of all things a glorious ROCK! She was, to say the least, quite disappointed. I stole nothing, I might add, though as we walked out there were two skulls sitting on a table that people had tried to sneak out...really? Skulls? How did they think that they would get away with that? I mean, come on. And can you say "EW?" Why would you want that anyway?...
On a lighter note, after the catacombs we decided to stay in the light and among the living, so we re-visited Shakespeare and Co. This is the outside where a beautiful tree was blossoming!
A better view of the front with tables and desk/dressers stuffed with books for sale. During this trip I bought the majority of my Shakespeare and Co books, most of which I have read now, and ALL of which have the Shakespeare and Co Stamp on the inside cover, of course!
Then, sadly, 'twas time to head over to the Gare Lyon and head back to Avignon where we would then take an hour bus-ride back to Lacosté. Even with all of the books and souvenirs that I bought, this is what I left with...basically, exactly what I came with. I am rather proud of that! It made the walk to and from the Gare Lyon much more barable than when I later re-visited Paris with my giant duffle full of 10 weeks worth of stuff. Ugh.
As we left, we of course passed Notré Dame once again, and this time I stopped to snap a picture.
This was just an amazingly awesome tree that I felt an urgent need to stop and capture!
Once again, Notré Dame...slowly moving further and further away. Why is this bringing tears to my eyes just by writing this. I guess I really miss Paris! It was so much fun and just...there are truly no words to describe it.
The Seine River the opposite direction from Notré Dame.
My last view of the Seine before returning to Lacosté...look at the beautiful plant life!And now it is time to visit Roussillon!!
Roussillon is known best for its ochre quarries. Sadly, I did not get a chance to visit them, however I did get to wander the village, buy ochre, and steal some from a cliff and rub it in my sketchbook- I now have a cute ochre smiley face in my book!
The colors were stunning! The bright yellow being naturally in the ground rendered me speechless, particularly when put against the vibrant green of the trees!
Reds, oranges, yellows, all glowing against the green of the trees! ...The light and colors I have seen in North America do not compare and never could compare if they tried with the colors that I saw in France, particularly here!
This is the village of Roussillon! The store where I bought ochre was just out of the picture and to the left of that road that is barely visible.
Once again, the colors. The natural landscape!...
This is one of the side roads that reminded me of what a certain someone described Italy to be like, so I captured this for them! You know who you are. I wish you could have been there!
Can you say coolest café ever?! Nature! Nature is incorporated everywhere in France...and it is just naturally there, not planted and manicured to the point it seems fake. ...Perhaps I should stop ranting about the States. There are wonderful things there, indeed, but I still have a bias that will be difficult to shake.
The colors!!!!
This was a grasshopper...just sitting there! Perhaps it was a sign to symbolize that I was just a grasshopper who had entered into a whole new world of knowledge and experiences and had so much more to learn...meaning I just have to return to Europe again to learn more! Oh no, what a pity! I can hope, right? But look at the dirt...can I call it dirt? That was the ground color. Everywhere.
And once again, just look at those colors!! I'm telling you all, there is a vibrancy and different light in Europe that just doesn't exist in the States except for very rare, few, and far between times...most often when there has been a giant storm that has managed to clear away most of the pollution that we create, but that is the closest that we come to this, and it barely compares.
Well, once again I apologize for the excruciating length of time in between my posts. I am more busy than I had predicted...but then, that always seems to be the case I guess. I will keep going with this until I "return to the States", so please bare with me. I hope you enjoyed the rest of Paris and the glimpse at Roussillon!
'Till next time!
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