Paris, 1

[tamaranth]

No one wants to look at 300-odd photos from the last few weeks. Instead, I'll present a Series, with 100-word explanations. Expect a lot of Tombs.

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Napoleon's tomb is made of red porphyry. It's huge, and looks like the sort of plastic that's meant to look like wood. He was not a tall man: he could be standing upright, in there. All Europe feared this man: he changed the world. Whole rooms, upstairs in Les Invalides, are full of his effects. His dog (stuffed), his horse (stuffed), his carpet, his handkerchief, clippings of his hair.
People stand, backs turned on the ugly tomb, studying the marble frieze of Napoleon's accomplishments. There's a bouquet of wilting flowers there on the inlaid marble floor, still wrapped in cellophane.

Comments

[drplokta]

Actually, Napoleon was slightly above average height for the time -- 5' 6½". (He's often quoted as 5' 2", but that's in French feet, which were bigger than English ones.)

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

5'6" isn't tall, though. And he could've stood up in it, easily. Though in fact there are five layers of coffin under that nasty exterior.

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

Porphyry. OK, same root as Porphyria, but I'm now officially intrigued as to why that name for that stone.

Looks like highly polished mahogany in the picture...

[marypcb.livejournal.com]

it's greek for purple ;-)
"beautiful and valuable stone," 1395, from O.Fr. porfire, from L. porphyrites, a purple semi-precious stone quarried near Red Sea in Egypt, from Gk. porphyrites "like purple" (the stone's name in Gk.), from porphyra (n.) "purple."

From this rather splendid page on igneous rocks http://www.gpc.edu/~pgore/geology/geo101/igneous.htm
I'd say it has to be Rhyolite Porphyry to be that colour ;-)

[moral-vacuum.livejournal.com]

You are a MINE of useful information, my dear.

Looks very smoothly textured for an igneous rock. Interesting.

[marypcb.livejournal.com]

shakes mine... normally it's use*less* info ;-)