This place is an absolute jewel on so many levels. An intimate setting in a historic building from the 15th century, housing treasures from the Middle Ages, the Musée de Cluny has always been one of my favorite Paris visits. It is located in the same neighborhood as our last visit, right at the corner of Bd. St-Michel and Bd. St-Germain in the heart of the Latin Quarter. Before you even enter, you have before you one of the rare non-church buildings in Paris dating from the 15th century built in what is called secular Gothic. It was originally the home of members of the Cluny religious order.

The Musée de Cluny is now called the Musée Nationale du Moyen-Age. Here you will find a beautiful collection of sculpture, stained glass, and other art objects from the Middle Ages, from around the 12th to the end of the 15th centuries. Another amazing aspect of this museum is that long before it was a house, it was the site of Gallo-Roman thermal baths called the Thermes. This facility, built around 200 A.D. was open to the public, and many of the ruins can be viewed from the street as you pass by. You can also visit the restored baths on the interior of the museum. Another reminder that Paris was a flourishing city almost 2000 years ago! But of all the beautiful objects in the Cluny, perhaps the most compelling is the work called La Dame à la Licorne (The Lady with the Unicorn).

This is a six-panel tapestry housed in its own private room and dates from around 1500.. A tapestry is a woven art form, in this case in wool and silk, and most frequently originating from artists in Flanders, in what is today Belgium. Your first sight of this magnificent work will take your breath away. There are six large panels arranged along the walls, each panel showing a noble lady with a unicorn on her left and a lion on her right. Each panel depicts one of the five senses, and you see a portion of the display at the top of this page. For a detailed look at each panel accompanied by music of the period, see the video included at the end of this blog. The 6th panel is shown just above and is the one that has intrigued people down through the centuries. On the tent above the lady is written “A mon seul désir” (to my only desire). What does it mean? Is it a “6th sense”? She is reaching into a jewel box. Is that a hint as to the meaning of the words? I would be interested to see what my readers think of these words. Please leave your ideas and comments below. I have thought a lot about these words and what they might point to. If we ask ourselves, “what is our only desire?” and look more deeply within, I believe we will find that what humans long for is something way beyond the everyday needs and desires of our lives, something beyond the understandings of our mind. I think we all feel some kind of an attraction to a higher and deeper sense of being, of goodness, truth and beauty. For me, this is said beautifully in the expression “Enchanted by the Mystery.”

From the moving Mémorial aux Martyrs de la Déportation which we visited in our last blog entry, we move across the street to the magnificent Notre Dame de Paris. I like to stop first at the rear of the church to appreciate the dramatic flying buttresses (les arcs boutants) and to give a little overview of Gothic churches.

Many of the major Gothic cathedrals in France are built on ancient worship spots from before the Christian era. Early peoples recognized a special attraction or energy at those locations and designated them holy places. So these cathedrals have an element of sacredness not just because of their being a Christian place of worship, but from far back in human history. And over the years participants in my tours have reported feeling in fact something that moved them inside these churches. But let's get back to the view we have before us, the flying buttresses. Prior to the 12th century, church architecture was based on the Roman style, with its rounded arches which could only support a moderate height. But in the 12th century a breakthrough happened. Architects discovered the principle of the “buttress”, a support on the outside of the building which pushed in against the weight of the walls. This style allowed the walls to go much higher, and also incorporated the graceful pointed “gothic arch” associated with this time period. Another marvelous aspect of the buttresses was that the walls could be thinner, which allowed windows to be installed and this caused the flourishing of the art form we all love, stained glass windows.

So as we stand here we admire the particular kind of buttress known as “flying buttress” which show us dramatically the thrust of these supports against the walls. It is interesting to note that the most authentic and beautiful Gothic churches were all built in the 1100's and early 1200's. At the front of the church, always flooded with tourists, move back away from the entrance to get a perspective on the façade. Over the west entrance is a row of 28 statues called the King's Gallery. They represent the Kings of Judea and Israel, mentioned in the Old Testament. But in 1793, the Revolutionaries thinking they represented the Kings of France pulled them down and cut their heads off! The heads can now be seen in the Cluny Museum. It was only in the 19th century when the famous architect Viollet le Duc did renovations on the church, that these statues were re-created and installed where we see them today.

The rose window over the entrance is nearly 30 feet across and is so perfect that it has never shifted in over 700 years. It forms a halo to the statue of the Virgin and child supported by two angels. The twin towers are 226 feet high and in the right (south) tower is the great bell, tolled only on solemn occasions. Inside the church there are hundreds and hundreds of tourists which often make the experience feel less than sacred! Try to let that go and sink into the beauty of this exquisite monument over 850 years old. Usually you must follow a path to the right. Be sure to stop at the transept, or the cross section that goes across the altar in the center. Here there are several things to notice. First, to the left and above you are the breathtaking north and south rose windows. Be sure to take your time here to enjoy the vibrant colors and the stories they tell. And just in front of you, to the side of the altar is the delicate and lovely 14th century statue of Mary with the Child—Our Lady of Paris. The next visit of our day on Ile de la Cité takes us to the beautiful Sainte Chapelle and ends with our picnic at the other tip of the island. Don't miss it!