Tag: architecture

Yelly Writes

Notre Dame, la plus proche de mon coeur!

Yelly

“I wanted to see you again, touch you, know who you were, see if I would find you identical with the ideal image of you which had remained with me and perhaps shatter my dream with the aid of reality.-Claude Frollo ” ― Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame

When I visited Paris, I said to myself the next time I went, I would buy myself a ticket to go around Notre Dame, to walk through its aisles, to gaze up at the beautiful rose windows, to crane my neck and stare at the beautiful flying buttresses that have held my imagination ever since I learned about them during a Humanities class in high school, to climb as high was what was permitted to gaze at Paris from its heights. The last time, I stared at Notre Dame from a seat in the square just in front of the cathedral and I imagined how much I would enjoy myself during the next trip with quite possibly a day adoring the beautiful Lady of Paris.

I can’t be sure I can do that now. Because the beloved cathedral that has stood the test of 850 years and has watched Paris evolved is burning. My heart breaks as I watch the breaking news on telly. The beautiful spire that has towered over the roofs and the nave collapsed as the world watched. I’ve read from reports that the gargoyles were seen tumbling down from their lofty posts.

I’m going to stop watching the news now. I don’t think I can bear hearing about the flying buttresses collapsing. I know that Paris can rebuild, as it often has, because it survives and it evolves. But even if they rebuild The Lady, it will never be the same again.

I’m going to try (very hard) to remember Paris and Notre Dame the way I saw Notre Dame last. Beautifully incandescent in the unexpected Parisian sunshine and blue skies 💔

Yelly Snaps

The Cecil Brewer staircase

Yelly

I love it when a store has a photogenic feature.  It makes for a great marketing opportunity!  Heal’s on Tottenham Court Road has such a feature.  Heal’s first opened its doors in 1810, at a different location.  But as luck would have it, the Heal family produced an amazing architect, Cecil Brewer who designed their flagship store on Tottenham Court Road.  The store is a large, open space filled with beautiful things.  I am always tempted to take a bowl, or a mug or a plate or a set of place mats to the counter and take the beautiful thing home to my tiny flat!  I haven’t succumbed to the urge yet, but I think it’s only a matter of time until I allow myself the indulgence.

Apart from being responsible for the architectural masterpiece that is the Heal’s flagship store, Cecil Brewer was responsible for creating the beautiful spiraling staircase that so many photo buffs have photographed.  It’s a star feature on Instagram for people visiting London.

I visited Heal’s primarily to look for Duralex cups because I wanted to bring them back to the Philippines as it carries a line of clear glass cups and saucers that my dad loves.  But apart from the Duralex cup hunt, I really did want to take a photo of the Cecil Brewer staircase.  I took a photo before, but I wanted to take a better one.  So after checking on the cups, I went to the back of the store and took my photo of the staircase from the foot of the spiral looking up at the beautiful light fixture.

I loved this latest photo.  Mostly because it was very quiet at Heal’s on the day and I had the spiral staircase all to myself (for a while, anyway).  After posting it on Instagram, a few days later, the picture got featured on Culture Trip London‘s (amazing) Instagram feed.  To say that I was tickled pink is an understatement.  The only word to describe how I felt was the Filipino word kilig.  It’s nice to be recognised like that.  Ha!  I’m really pleased that I’m taking noteworthy photos because it’s so much fun learning how to use a camera, properly!

The Cecil Brewer Staircase, Heal's London

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