Our first day of class was at the Musee du Moyen Age in the Latin Quarter of Paris. The museum was a gothic townhouse of the abbots of Cluny…. I have no idea what that means either.

The main feature of the museum was a set of five tapestries from medieval Paris. The tapestries were used to insulate the cold castles as well as a means to communicate with the illiterate since the only people who could read or write back then were royalty and clergy.

There tapestries were so detailed and ornate as well as very mysterious. There is not much known about their origin.

There were also MANY other pieces of art from medieval Paris.

A lot of the art was of the Virgin Mary and an infant. ALL of the art had very strong Christian themes. This one was BY FAR the chubbiest of the sculptures.

This is a comb used during that time

I just finished a class at OU called Freedom in Rome in which we studied the rise and fall of the Roman Empire so I was espeicially excited to see the ruins of the Roman baths but unfortunately they were closed for restoration. My teacher did reassure me that we would see some Roman baths.

These were the heads of statues that had been beheaded. I can not remember why the people decided to be head these particular statues. I think it has something to do with the fear that they might be kings? I definetly zone out while my teacher was explaining the significance of these statues. The restored replicas of these head are in Notre Dame which I will see next Friday and I’ll be sure to remember why they were beheaded

Alyse Marie › Edit — WordPress

But don’t worry, even amongst all of this culture and refinement in Paris, I’m still reminded of my roots often.

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