2015's first field trip: Musée du Moyen-Age

The program calendar turned out a little weird this year with our first classes happening on a Friday (yesterday) and the first round of morning class field trips today (Saturday). I was very happy with the weird calendar because it meant I could take my class to the Musée du Moyen-Age--that is its official name, Museum of the Middle Ages, but most people still call it the Cluny. It's a natural fit for my class (World Literature I) but it's closed on Tuesdays, which is my usual field trip day, so I've never been able to take a class there before.

The Cluny consists of 2 buildings that have been renovated and put together through the addition of some modern hallways and staircases. One building is the remains of an ancient Roman bath dating to the 2nd or 3rd century A.D., the Thermae. The other is the Hôtel des Abbés de Cluny, a 15th-century hôtel particulier (city mansion) that originally belonged to a monastic order and the abbot thereof. It houses a collection of medieval artifacts of which the best known is probably the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. They are breathtaking!

We arrived at the museum in plenty of time to sign up for a guided tour in English at 11 a.m. and, in fact, to take pictures in the courtyard before the tour started. I saw a group of women--tourists from Beijing, as it turned out--photographing each other and decided to ask if they wanted a picture together. They very excitedly said yes so I took their picture and then they all wanted to take pictures with me! One of my students said that Chinese people are very grateful and excited when Westerners are nice to them. I don't know if that's true as a cultural value but it certainly was in this case and these ladies were very sweet.

After the photo op it was time for the tour to start. Our tour guide was a very knowledgeable woman named Florence who not only taught us all a lot about medieval European culture but also answered the students' questions in impressive depth. The guided tour was worth the extra 4€ we paid for it, I think. Sometimes I scorn guided tours but then they almost always turn out to be good. Let's click through for some photos, shall we?

Courtyard of the museum

Students waiting for the tour to start

Another view of the courtyard

The gate into the courtyard

The Hôtel du Cluny had its own well--a sign of the wealth and prestige of its owners.

Detail of a stained glass window. Florence explained that elements like eyes and hair were painted in even when they would be too far away for people to see: it was more important that they be there than that they be visible, which is a sort of allegory for Christian faith.

My students checking out the ancient Roman frigidarium (cold room). You can't underestimate the thrill, for an American, of just standing in a place that's 1800 years old.

Florence explains the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries.

Students listening with the "Mon Seul Desir" tapestry in the background.

Visigothic votive crowns from 700 CE, around the same time Beowulf was probably composed.

Infant Christ giving a blessing. I just realized that I love this statue because he looks like a baby version of Buddy Christ.

The Pilierde Nautes is the single oldest surviving monument in Paris, dating from 17-34 CE. This side is a dedication to the gods, carved in Roman capitals.

Another part of the Pilier de Nautes

Detail from the Lady and the Unicorn

Flamboyant Gothic ceiling in the Cluny chapel

Original heads from Notre Dame cathedral's Portal of Kings

One of my students pointed out this face in the carving around a courtyard window.

This was a great first field trip. After the tour we went to lunch and all of the students agreed that they wanted to go back to the museum in the afternoon. I was not sure whether they would be interested in the Cluny at all so I was very pleased!