Paris 2019 Day Four

Sunday, 24 March, I woke up and hustled to the boulangerie for some French breakfast, and then when all were ready we headed to Poissy way out in the banlieue northwest of Paris to visit the Villa Savoye, an inspiring masterpiece of modernism, and touchstone for the style. It was designed by Swiss architect Le Corbusier and finished as his summer home in 1931. It seems most remarkable when you consider what houses normally looked like at the time. Its rectangular forms, expanses of glass and open plan were groundbreaking. We walked back into Poissy and stopped at the Collegiale Notre-Dame; we had the fine mix of Romanesque and Gothic architecture all to ourselves. We ate lunch at an Indian restaurant in Poissy where they make a delicious onion baji. The curries, however, were in the northern Indian style and bland even by our wussy standard. Back in Paris we cleaned up yesterday's itinerary with a visit to the Sainte-Chapelle, which is always impressive. For supper, we bought savory crêpes around the corner on the Rue Mouffetard and ate them at home.

Kouign-amann, croissant aux amandes, croissant avec confiture 

de fraise, and chocolat chaud. Perfect French breakfast!

  

 A closer look at the fish seller on Rue Monge on the

way to the Place Monge Metro station

It's just barely spring in France

 Villa Savoye

 Le Corbusier said a house is a machine for living

 His design on stilts strongly influenced Oscar Niemeyer in Brazil

 Surprisingly, the original furniture pieces were comfy bits brought 

from the family's Paris home

 The very compact fireplace

 SKT and KBT in the kitchen

 This primitive laundry room really brought the rest of design 

into anachronistic focus

Pleasant outdoor spaces open from the interior

Full glass walls 

 Ramp up to the top level

 The staircase introduces an important curved form

that repeats and strengthens curves found elsewhere in the house

 Built-in elements in the bath

 The "lino" (linoleum) ramp

 Interesting triangular window shapes

 The garage 

 The caretaker's tiny house is also a modern classic

 The colors feel so current

 Collegiale Notre-Dame in Poissy

 Romanesque and Gothic

 Not a tourist in sight

Good onion baji

 Poissy is an attractive little town

 RER (regional express train) back to Paris

 Sainte-Chapelle buttresses (not flying)

 All glass without solid supporting walls

 Spectacular stained glass

 Escaped damage during the Revolution, and of course,

Paris was spared in WWII even though Hitler gave

the order to blow the city to bits

 The undercroft is beautiful, too

 Armed soldiers everywhere: AW watching this fellow

doing knee bends to sooth his tired legs

Waiting patiently for supper

It has been a fine weekend, and we are looking forward to the coming week. That's all for now.

OXO

D.