I've posted on Flinders Street Station before but I found some more history which I found fascinating on one of our cultural websites about Melbourne. We learn alot from blogging don't we?
A favorite meeting spot was under the clocks at Flinders Street Station over the years to this day.
Before the grand plan, Flinders Street Station was no more than a few timber and corrugated iron buildings. This cyclist is riding towards the first station.
But it did have a clock tower, even before 1900. The first station was called the Melbourne Terminus in the mid 1800s.
The Grand Plan and the winning entry.
A scene not long after the station was officially opened in 1910.
In 1899 it was announced by the Government that there would be a competition to design a new station for Melbourne. The above design submitted by Fawcett and Ashworth rewarded them with the 500 pound prize. Designed in the French Renaissance style the building spans two city blocks. Work began in 1900 and wasn't completed until 1909 and the official opening was the following year. Fawcett and Ashworth's original design was altered over the decade of building due to financial constraints. Today the station moves 110.000 commuters with 1500 trains passing by daily.
A Postcard of Flinders St Station, the Yarra River and Princes Bridge heading towards St Kilda. To the opposite side of Flinders Street Station is the Princes Bridge Station servicing the north and south eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
This postcard shows the great dome and the smaller ones with the tall clock tower at the end of the station building spanning the two city blocks.
Peak hour commuters in the 50s.
Very quiet here, must be Sunday in the 50/60s when Melbourne would be closed
Behind locked gates - The train strike. Check out the art nouveau leadlight.
Flinders Street Station today at dusk.
None of the photographs for this post were taken by me - I am not that old or talented. Images come from Google.
The next "Wednesday's in France" will be most probably the last post on our 2008 trip to France. Our last museum visit was the Louvre where we focused on the Egyptian exhibits.
If you enjoy the posts of France , don't despair as we still have the 2009 and 2010 trips to go.
In an earlier post we mentioned that our apartment was just around the corner from the St Michel fountain so it was just a short walk along Boulevard St Michel to Boulevard St Germaine and you come across the Gallo Roman baths in full view behind the iron bar fence. At night flood lights bring the ruins to life. Along the walk you will find some great book and CD shops to browse through or maybe stop at a cafe and enjoy a coffee or wine while watching the passing crowd. The collection of Moyen or middle ages art is housed in the Musee de Cluny, a 15th Century building that incorporates the ruins of the Gallo-Roman baths.
The Gallo-Roman baths or Thermes de Cluny - from the 3rd Century.
The museum is entered by a small street behind the intersection of the two Boulevards. Entering through an arched doorway you see a serene courtyard garden and you forget that you are in the hub of the Latin Quarter.
The Building
Entering the doorways into the courtyard, you can turn your back on Paris and drift into the middle ages.
The Stained Glass
The Statues
And Wood Sculptured Scenes
The main attraction of the museum are the tapestries depicting the Lady and the Unicorn from the 15th Century - for some reason Sue decided to sit this one out, but I have to say I was taken back by the artistry and craftsmanship of these tapestries. The photos you see here were stolen from Google images as photos were not allowed and you can understand why when looking tapestries of over 500 years old. How fragile they must be and susceptible to light.
Friday night started out with a "FILUM"night with friends - The film was the Alan Ladd western, "Shane". These friends of mine run a regular nostalgic film night maybe six times a year. It was a good start to the weekend. The same friends, well maybe 30 of us still taking in the nostalgic theme on Saturday morning had a bike ride using bikes from a past era. That was all a bit of fun.
The big event this weekend though was our son Andrew leaving for Paris and then London. He flew out Saturday night for Paris to a convention at the University of Paris where he will present a discussion paper. After five days in Paris he goes to London to meet his Tutor for the next two years. He's transferred his scholarship so England so he can study and be closer to his girlfriend who lives in Leeds studying medicine.
Maybe we will eventually visit England after this next trip to France - we'll see what the future holds.
Andrew, our travelling man about to board for his 26 hour trip to Paris How exciting for him.
Back to Melbourne and it was time to start some back and front yard clean-up. We seem to hibernate a little in winter and the gardening does get away from us in the colder months. With the rain and the sun of spring, the garden has all this new growth with the colours of summer giving life back to the property.
Purple, crimson, red and white mix with the lush greens. So this weekend was one of weed-pulling, mowing and generally cleaning up. It's looking good....
There's not a great deal of planning that has gone into our garden over the years - It sort of evolved around us. It has a bit of a cottage feel about it. Neither of us are much of gardeners but we do like to enjoy sipping a glass of wine on a good day while "looking" at the garden.
Now that we have the outside starting to look reasonable, I think there's a list of inside jobs lurking somewhere in Sue's handbag. We've now lived in this house thirty years next year and even the renovations are needing renovating now. After raising two boys, now 26 and 23, 3 dogs and several cats, there's a few blemishes here and there that need some attention. Maybe there will be some subjects for future posts - but not too soon I'd say as the good weather is here with us now.
All in good time - life's for living - we'll get there eventually.
We're not quite sure why we didn't discover Musee Carnavalet on our 2006 trip - maybe we didn't know it existed or maybe it was just a time thing. This time with one whole week in a Paris apartment, we had more time to indulge ourselves with the museums of Paris.
Musee Carnavalet is located in two mansions on Rue de Sevigne in the Marais and is devoted to the history of Paris from prehistoric times. The Hotel Carnavalet was built in 1548 and the Hotel Peletier during the 17th century.
Some of the exhibits came from an archaeological dig in the Parc de Bercy in 1992 when a neolithic village was unearthed. I have to admit that my memory becomes a little hazy when looking back on the photos of Carnavalet and my other favorite museum on the Left Bank - the Musee National du Moyen Age, but that comes next week.
Statue of Louis XIV in the courtyard of Carnavalet.
The painted wall room of two centuries ago.
We've mentioned before of our passion for the Art Nouveau period of furniture, architecture and sculpture. Australia does have some fine examples but Paris, New York and Glasgow, Scotland I believe sprouted the origins. We loved the exhibits at the Musee d'Orsay but relocated the showroom of the Jeweller, Georges Fouquet absolutely enthralled us. One could imagine the wealthy wanting the beautiful pieces made by this craftsman.
The entrance to Fouquet's shop front.
His whole interior design was the work of Alphonse Mucha - I didn't realise this at the time of the visit and its only when researching for this post, I became aware of this fact. I'm a big fan of Mucha since my early art student days.
Many of Fouquet's pieces were designed by Mucha. I found some examples posted below.
What an inviting entrance to do business with Monsieur Fouquet.
Looking out from the reception area.
The crab necklace.
Two pieces designed by Alphonse Mucha and produced by Georges Fouquet.
Paintings hanging on the walls follow the history of Paris over the centuries.
Models of Medieval Paris are recreated in glassed boxes hence the reflections.
I probably could have stood for hours looking at Paris once was!
In the forecourt of Notre Dame you can discover the Gallo Roman foundations of the Parisi tribes ancient city. We saw it on our first trip. The buildings you see in this recreation no longer exist.
