Sunday, April 30, 2017

A Blessing of Unicorns...


The month has run out on me, so no time to write anything to accompany these beautiful, beguiling beasts - the mythical unicorn - symbol of purity, incarnation of Christ. Or so the legends go.
This fine specimen is in the Palais du Tau in Reims, the Palace of the Archbishop, in which the kings of France resided before their coronation in the cathedral Notre-Dame de Reims.


In fact, the sculpture dates from the 19th century, part of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's restoration project of Medieval buildings and is set alongside the customary lion figure. The relationship between these two noble creatures has been highlighted in many myths, the most famous of which is surely the Lady and the Unicorn in the Musée de Cluny (Paris). The unicorn here in the Palais du Tau no longer has its spiralling horn but assumes the standard 'begging-dog' position. As for the regal lion, he seemed more mealy-mouthed than majestic, but nevermind!


The vast tapestries that cover the walls of the Palais du Tau are from the 16th century. These are full of intricate detail with symbolic meaning that is largely lost on us today, but are well worth discovering. Although we probably cannot really relate to the piety of the menfolk, the quirky expressions of even the humblest of the animals displayed are still revelant today. None of us have had the privilege of actually seeing a 'blessing' of unicorns, but how magical is that term of venery? That led me to look up other, equally unusual terms for animal groupings and I was not disappointed:

A pitying of turtle doves, a phalanx of storks, a parliament of rooks, a wisdom of wombats, a scream of swifts, a scurry of squirrels, a scourge of mosquitoes, a cackle of hyenas, a convocation of eagles, a crash of rhinoceroses, a charm of magpies, a kit of pigeons, a lamentation of swans, a scold of jays, a skulk of foxes, a shrewdness of apes, a flight of swallows, a flamboyance of flamingoes, an army of frogs, a murmuration of starlings, a sloth of bears, a mess of iguanas, an unkindness of ravens, a gaze of raccoons, a bellowing of bullfinches, a bouquet of pheasants, a barrel of monkeys, a labour of moles, an ostentation of peacocks, a pandemonium of parrots, a puddling of mallards, a pounce of cats, a fluther of jellyfish, a bloat of hippopotamuses, a business of ferrets....
and the list goes on....

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Election Day....


Screaming point here - Election Day in France. It's anybody's bet who will win this first race, but I think that whichever two do ride home, there will be a lot of losers too and not necessarily the also-ran candidates. As many people keep their cards very, very close to their chest, despite talking politics non-stop, there is no real way of knowing how things will turn out until the results are announced. That moment might well prove to be explosive and so everyone will lose out as the notions of Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité are put to the test, now and then for the final round in May.

Right, I'm off to vote!


The day after. Mixed opinions all around, but rather somber all in all...


Floral Starry Night....

Night Sky Petunia
True wilderness is short on the ground in a city, even more so when you live on the fifth floor of a block of flats. Nevertheless, glimpses of the weird and wonderful of Nature are still to be found, even if not strictly speaking very 'natural'.


Cue in the many cultivars that I love to gaze at in the local garden centre and the latest find that really took my breath away.... The Night Sky Petunia. The paint-splash petals truly resemble the stars up in the firmament above and underline how nature is able to replicate itself, albeit with a little help in this case.


I was not the only one to be amazed by the Night Sky; when I returned, they had all gone!


However, the other flowering plants were still there to be admired, revealing their often subtle magic.


All those veined petals, feathery leaves, tiny hairs and downy layers - often barely visisble at a distance.


Some the beauty is pure, obvious elegance....


Some is just plain simplicity...


Or just bright and jaunty...


Well, as a tenuous (and rather depressing) link to starry skies, here's Don McLean's Vincent.


But then, back to these beauties...


I just can't take my eyes off these! I might well have to go back to the garden centre and actually buy a pot this time...