Vive la France!

What is so special about Paris? The history, the art, the architecture, the wine, the cuisine, the people? For certain I cannot answer this question.  I simply state that walking down Les Champs Elysees and looking up at L’Arc de Triomphe will fill you with emotion.

It’s never good to be sick when you’re traveling, but we struggled through with the flu making the best of the situation. Fortunately, our dear friends, the Dillys & Chaneacs, provided us with comfortable homes, delicious food, warm companionship, and activities to the extent we were able to enjoy.

First stop was Christian’s lovely flat on the canal. The gentrification in his neighborhood is interesting and reminds me of parts of Los Angeles. The hipsters move in renovating the flats, trendy businesses follow, property values and rents go up causing a huge change in both the affordability and the vibe.

We started each day with a bowl of cafe au lait and a fresh croissant purchased that morning from the bakery down the street.  Mmmmmm (This is part of the culture shock when I return home. It just doesn’t seem civilized to have a loaf of bread with preservatives sitting around for a couple weeks when I compare it to fresh bread from a local baker. I feel the same about a big refrigerator/freezer in comparison to the European custom of buying just enough fresh produce, meats and fish for one day.)

Over the next couple days, we enjoyed countless stories of different eras in French history that explain the narrow streets, the grand boulevards, the architecture, and the monuments.

Here are two perspectives of the Louvre. The first is of the main plaza and the second is from the inside looking out to the pyramid designed by Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei (1989). Like so many structures in Paris, it seems opposed to the buildings around it. Yet, somehow, the French blend many styles and make it all work together. 

I won’t bore you with a thousand pictures of beautiful courtyards, balconies, walls, cathedrals (Notre Dame, Sacre-Coeur, Basilica of St. Denis), and fabulous, engraved, wooden doors at every turn, but the truth is that next to the food and friendship, my favorite thing about Paris is walking the streets. It’s far better when you walk with someone who knows the history so we were in great luck. This is no slight to the culture that is arguably the finest in the world, but with the flu we opted out of the concert that we had planned and kept our activities to relatively low-key walks and cafes.

On Friday afternoon

From métro “Pont Marie” (near “ile de la cité”) to “place des vosges” through  rue Saint Paul, rue de Turence….. (avec ses hotels particuliers et les portes)

Puis nous sommes revenus vers le Palais Royal – Louvre au travers du “quartier du Marais” (avec ses petites rues: rue des rosiers)

On Saturday

Nous avons descendu au travers les “passages couverts” (en partant de la station de Métro Pelletier, pour arriver dans les jardins du Palais Royal)

Successivement nous avons parcouru

– le passage Verdeau

– Le passage Jouffroy

– le passage des panoramas

Puis après avoir marché un peu le long de la rue Vivienne, (et vu le palais Brognard) nous avons fini par la passage Colbert – Vivienne pour arriver dans les jardins du Palais Royal

l’aprés-midi

A pied par l'”avenue Kleber” de l “Arc de Triomphe” à la “Place du Trocadéro” (donc en face de la Tour Effeil)

Sunday (after Versailles)

Nous avons déposé Monique “Porte Maillot” (en bas de l’avenue de la “grande Armée” qui arrive à l’arc de Triomphe”
De la porte Maillot nous sommes allé vers Montmartre par l’avenue des Batignolles , somme passé devant le restaurant (le Wepler) ou nous avions mangé samedi soir, puis pris le boulevard de Clichy.

C’est le long de ce boulevard que nous avons vu divers “cabarets” (dont le Moulin Rouge) quelques boutiques “Olé-olé” et entrevu le sacré coeur

I won’t belabor the point but will mention that where Switzerland had almost no diversity, Paris is a big city composed of people from all over the world with substantial populations of people from Africa, Asia and the Middle-East. This is more true each time I visit. We saw a protest every day complete with marchers and police designated to keep the demonstrations peaceful (but definitely not quiet).

Sunday we went to Versailles — about 45 minutes or an hour out of Paris. It’s a nice change from the city to clear air and nature.

We enjoyed a delightful lunch at a cafe by the grand canal. Here’s Daniel with his decadent dessert of crepes with ice-cream, banana, and chocolate. 

The pools and fountains were beautiful but the water wasn’t running in the fountains due to the season (March). I expect the fountains will soon be turned on once the fear of freezing ends. Similarly, the gardens were gorgeous but they lacked the colorful flowers that will fill many areas when the weather warms.

Spending the afternoon strolling the grounds at Versailles with my son and friends of 40 years is my idea of a wonderful day.

Next question, why does so much time pass between my trips to Paris? My first visit was when I had just graduated from college and, with a backpack and a dream, I embarked upon circumnavigating the globe in one year. I’ve been back briefly a couple times but the real answer as to why so much time passes is that life gets in the way. That’s not meant to undervalue “life” in any way because it is more valuable than a trip. I certainly wouldn’t take back any of the full life that was curbing my travels. There were 3 decades of building a marriage, a family, a home, and a career; and, overlapping years of caring for an aging father, and somewhere in between, perhaps, there were years of confusion. In my experience, there are years of focus and years of confusion; years of commitment and years of opportunity. I probably won’t return every year as I now feel like I must but I, also, will not wait another 10 years.

“A walk about Paris will provide lessons in history, beauty, and in the point of Life.”  Thomas Jefferson

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” Ernest Hemingway

“Paris is always a good idea.” Audrey Hepburn