The Making of the Modern Mind

Manchester University, January 2017 (IDIV 240)    Instructors: Greg Clark & Steve Naragon



2011—London

2011—Paris

2013—London

2013—Paris


Photos from the January 2013 Class: Paris


Arriving at the Gare du Nord in Paris

Holding class in front of the Eifel Tower.

Looking east from the Eifel Tower.

Looking west from the Eifel Tower.

Sampling the Parisian cuisine on the Left Bank.

After a great meal at Le Pot de Terre (Left Bank).

After-dinner crepes on the Left Bank.

Crepes at Chez Nicos.

Notre Dame at night.

The Conciergerie, last home of Marie Antoinette and some three-thousand others heading off to the guillotine at the Place de la Concorde.

The easternmost tower of the Conciergerie is called La Tour d’Horlage (Clock Tower); this was the site of Paris’ first public clock, erected in 1370; the current clock dates to 1535.

A plaque marking the center of Paris — in the square in front of the Cathedral du Notre Dame.

Inside the Cathedral du Notre Dame.

Inside Notre Dame: Simon Matiffas de Buci (died 1304), the one remaining marble bishop in the ambulatory. The other statues were destroyed in the aftermath of the French Revolution, when mobs irritated at the wealth and oppression of the church had their way with much religous statuary. This figure is positioned directly behind the altar, with the characteristic lion asleep at his feet.

Inside Notre Dame: the Chapelle St. Guillaume with the tomb of Count Claude Henri d'Harcourt by Pigalle (1714-1785).

Inside Notre Dame: One of the many windows, this one depicting a pelican piercing its breast...

The Tour St. Jacques (Tower of St. James), built in the early 16th century and a fine example of Flamboyant Gothic architecture (the rest of the church was destroyed in 1793). It marked a beginning point for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. In the mid-17th century, Blaise Pascal studied barometric pressure in the tower, and the medieval alchemist Nicholas Flamel is buried here.

St. Chapelle.

St. Chapelle.

St. Chapelle.

A door latch at St. Chapelle.

The French biologist Claude Bernard (1813-1878), standing outside the entrance to the Collège de France.

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), with red lipstick and a highly polished right shoe, sitting across the street from the Sorbonne.

In the Musée de Cluny: This wooden sculpture dates from late 15th century Germany, and is called Christ des rameaux (literally, "Christ of the branches"; the Germans call it a Palmesel), as it was used to lead the Palm Sunday processions (thus the wheels). This Palm Sunday tradition dates back to the 10th century.

In the Musée de Cluny.

In the Musée de Cluny.

In the Musée de Cluny: This wooden sculpture from early 16th century Alsace depicts something relatively rare: an infant Jesus playing with Joseph.

The old Roman ampitheater (the Arènes de Lutèce), located in the Latin Quarter, was built in the 1st century CE and could seat 15,000 people.

Manchester students considering the lives of gladiators while wandering in the old Roman arena.

[St Severin]

Hanging out on the Place Maubert.

[ParisWalk]

The Collège des Bernardin was founded in 1245 by Stephan von Lexington, abbot of the Cistercian abbey at Clairvaux, intended as lodging for students at the newly founded University in Paris.

Outside Mitterand's old house (from 1972-95) on Rue de Bièvre.

Our tour guide discussing the founding of the university of Paris in the mid-12th century.

The wall of an old well, near the Notre Dame Cathedral (on the Left Bank).

Fine and angry art at the Pompidou

More art...

The beginning of a snowball fight outside the Pompidou Center.

The main entrance to the Louvre, with I. M. Pei's glass pyramid.

From a window in the Louvre, looking out on the Tuileries and the Carrousel Arch.

At the Louvre: Venus de Milo.

At the Louvre: This is Véronèse's "Marriage Feast at Cana" (1562-63). It's the wall-sized painting hung opposite Da Vinci's rather smaller "Mona Lisa". Some people notice it.

At the Louvre: Botticelli's "Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman." This is the young woman.

At the Louvre: This 18th century sock puppet makes Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" seem so utterly 16th century ...

At the Louvre: This painting by Ange Tissier (1814-1876) is of particular historical interest because it shows Louis Visconti presenting his plans for the new Louvre to Napoleon III (nephew to Napoleon Bonaparte) and his wife, the Empress Eugénie. This is the Napoleon who left his "N" on various bridges and buildings in Paris.

Inside the Jardin des Plantes, with an avenue of pruned sycamores

The Pantheon in snow.

Looking up, from the Pantheon's front porch.

Foucault's Pendulum

In the Pantheon.

A statue of moral courage, in the crypt of the Pantheon.

In front of the west facade of the Chartres cathedral.

Chartes is about 90 km south-west of Paris, about an hour by train. The cathedral is among the most famous in Europe.

In the cathedral.

In the cathedral.

In Chartres: The Chartrean version of apple pie.

In Chartres.

In Chartres: Heading down from the Cathedral.

In Chartres: A butcher shop once stood here, instead of a student from Manchester.

In Chartres.

In Chartres.

A staircase leading out of the cathedral.

St. Sulpice (of particular interest to Da Vinci Code fans).

The astronomical clock in St Sulpice.

Last night at the hostel in Paris.

Standard window fare in a local pâtisserie.

A fruit stand around the corner from our hostel.

Leaving Paris.

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