The Mersys Go to the Cloisters!

We had a grand day out last Sunday!  Just me and Mr. Mersy wandering through the Cloisters (a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art) in the middle of Fort Tryon Park all the way up in the very northern reaches of Manhattan.  It was hilly and rocky, and we were in the middle of a forest on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River.  It had stormed the day before and the air was just hazy enough to protect us from the sun and let us gaze out over the water without squinting.

We wandered through the medieval chapels and gardens, among the columns and tapestries, gazing through the stained glass and at the illuminated manuscripts.  With architecture saved and salvaged from European ruins at the beginning of the last century, there is an outpost of the Middle Ages right here in NYC.

As we wandered, I remembered visiting the Musée de Cluny (Musée National du Moyen-Âge) when I was living in Paris.  I felt like a little kid waiting with glee to see the unicorn tapestries (La Dame à la Licorne) and spent a long time turning round and round looking at all the details and the adorable little expressions on the unicorn's face.  The unicorn tapestries at the Cloisters are horribly sad and bloody and not at all charming- I'm including the least bloody pictures below.  Needless to say, I was very shocked!  (But, if you look carefully at the second picture, you can spot a great little rabbit in the undergrowth on the right.)

Here is a much more pleasant image from the Musée de Cluny website- I hope that you enjoy it and find the expression on the unicorn's face as charming and enchanting as I do!  Click here!

And as I was wandering through one of the galleries at the museum in Paris,  I backed up to get a better view of a wall hanging and bashed my head into a six foot tall iron sconce standing in the middle of the room.  For a few moments, all I could see were stars, but I could hear two sets of opinions about my clumsiness: the American tourists were horrified that such an accident could occur and thought he museum should better cordon off the area, while the French visitors thought I was a real imbecile for not looking where I was going and that I should pay better attention in the future!

Mr. Mersy and I spent all afternoon slowly taking in the Cloisters and enjoying all the plants in the Medieval gardens.  We looked at the details of the architecture and the funny little faces of the imps staring down at us from the stone columns.  It was a gorgeous day!

How were your weekend adventures?!

Lots of love,

~Mersydotes