They don’t actually enter the museum till after 3 minutes:
Italian collection at the Musee Jacquemart-Andre, Paris:
This museum has many paintings by Claude Monet:
Chartres Cathedral, also known as Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Chartres (French: Basilique Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a medieval Roman Rite Catholic cathedral located in Chartres, France, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) southwest of Paris. It is considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The current cathedral, mostly constructed between 1194 and 1250, is the last of at least five which have occupied the site since the town became a bishopric in the 4th century.
The cathedral is in an exceptional state of preservation. The majority of the original stained glass windows survive intact, while the architecture has seen only minor changes since the early 13th century. The building’s exterior is dominated by heavy flying buttresses which allowed the architects to increase the window size significantly, while the west end is dominated by two contrasting spires — a 105-metre (349 ft) plain pyramid completed around 1160 and a 113-metre (377 ft) early 16th-century Flamboyant spire on top of an older tower. Equally notable are the three great façades, each adorned with hundreds of sculpted figures illustrating key theological themes and narratives.
Since at least the 12th century the cathedral has been an important destination for travelers — and remains so to this day, attracting large numbers of Christian pilgrims, many of whom come to venerate its famous relic, the Sancta Camisa, said to be the tunic worn by the Virgin Mary at Christ’s birth, as well as large numbers of secular tourists who come to admire the cathedral’s architecture and historical merit.
The museum below is in the town of Albi has 1000 works by Toulouse-Lautrec:
This museum in Toulouse has many paintings by Pierre Bonnard (they start at 5:25):
GREECE
Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis. In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god Apollo after he slew the Python, a deity who lived there and protected the navel of the Earth. Python (derived from the verb pythein, “to rot”) is claimed by some to be the original name of the site in recognition of the Python that Apollo defeated (Miller, 95). The Homeric Hymn to Delphic Apollo recalled that the ancient name of this site had been Krisa. His sacred precinct in Delphi was a panhellenic sanctuary, where every four years, starting in 586 B.C. (Miller, 96) athletes from all over the Greek world competed in the Pythian Games, one of the four panhellenic (or stephanitic) games, precursors of the Modern Olympics. The victors at Delphi were presented with a laurel crown which was ceremonially cut down from a tree in Tempe by a boy who re-enacted the slaying of the Python (Miller, 96). Delphi was set apart from the other games sites because it hosted the mousikos agon, musical competitions (Miller, 95). These Pythian Games rank second among the four stephanitic games chronologically and based on importance (Miller, 96). These games, though, were different from the games at Olympia in that they were not of such vast importance to the city of Delphi as the games at Olympia were to the city of Olympia. Delphi would have been a renowned city whether or not it hosted these games; it had other attractions that led to it being labeled the “omphalos” (navel) of the earth, in other words, the center of the world (Miller, 96-7). In the inner hestia (“hearth”) of the Temple of Apollo, an eternal flame burned. After the battle of Plataea, the Greek cities extinguished their fires and brought new fire from the hearth of Greece, at Delphi; in the foundation stories of several Greek colonies, the founding colonists were first dedicated at Delphi. ( source Wikipedia )
Jacques Cousteau and others believed Greece’s Santorini to be the likely site of the legend of the lost city of Atlantis.
Crescent-shaped Santorini (or Thíra), the precious gem of the Aegean, is actually a group of islands consisting of Thíra, Thirassiá, Asproníssi, Palea and Nea Kaméni in the southernmost part of Cyclades.
The complex of Santorini islands is still an active volcano (the same as Méthana, Mílos and Nísiros) and may be the only volcano in the world whose crater is in the sea. The islands that form Santorini came into existence as a result of intensive volcanic activity; twelve huge eruptions occurred, one approximately every 20,000 years, and each violent eruption caused the collapse of the volcano’s central part creating a large crater (caldera). The volcano, however, managed to recreate itself over and over again. The Aegean Sea here is the most beautiful shade of blue.
ITALY
In Siena, Italy:
In Florence:
Monastery of San Marco, Florence:
In Venice:
In Padova (Padua):
In the Ducal Palace in Urbino, Italy:
In Rome area:
Vatican Museum begins at 8:25:
Video begins with Piazzi del Popolo and then goes on to Villa Borghese Gardens at 2:47:
Galleria Borghese featuring works by Bernini, Canova, Caravaggio, Rafael, Perugino, Messina, Cranach, Carracci, Rubens, Bellini, and Titian:
Great Byzantine mosaics:
Small church designed by Bernini:
Tiny chapel designed by Bramante:
English poet John Keats lived, died and is buried in Rome:
TO SEE KEATS’ HOME IN THE UNITED KINGDOM [CLICK HERE]
Jeff Grinnell's Poetry Platform 