France Update #4

Well here we are with only one more day in Paris. The time has flown by! In one month we couldn't do and see everything on our list. I guess there is only one solution - we are just going to have to come back and visit this amazing city again! If not to see the sights, then to drink the amazing wine and when it comes to wine it's "go big or go home" as the photo below seems to indicate. Oh, for a bigger fridge and shopping bag!

We finally made it to Saint Chapelle, another gorgeous church with massive stain glass windows, accessed by a very steep and winding staircase. Almost right next to the church is the Conciergerie, a massive building which was turned into a prison in the fourteenth century, gaining infamy during the French Revolution as the place where many of the poor unfortunate people were kept before they met their fate at the guillotine. It is where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned and they have recreated her cell in a spot not too far from where she spent her last months of her life. It is a very foreboding structure and when I read all the names of the people who were executed in Place Concord, some simply for having noble blood, I felt sick. Seeing places like the Conciergerie, the Holocaust Memorial and the many smaller monuments dedicated to the French Resistance Fighters who sacrificed their lives during WWII, I am reminded of the brutality that has laid claim to the hearts of human beings.

I am glad I went but I was relieved to discover the joy of the huge Flower Market on Ile de Cite and on Sunday vendors line the street with cages selling all kinds of birds in every colour imaginable. We just couldn't stop taking pictures!

Paris is a city which  presents a feast for the senses. I saw a book at Chapters where someone published this huge collection of photos of Paris scenes, sorted by colour. It makes perfect sense. Then there are the smells as you walk down the street, especially really late at night when the bread is baking. The first couple of times I was in a grocery store I wondered why it smelled like sour milk and then I realized it was the cheese section. The French love their unpasteurized cheeses and I have really developed a taste for them, too! Then, there are the sounds of Paris and they include street performers who are really talented. We always stop to listen and have purchased some of their recordings to remind us of the time we spent here. 

A really fun New Orleans Dixie Jazz ensemble - the guy on the washboard had thimbles on all of his fingers!

This young guy was playing the most peaceful and soothing music on the sidewalk along Notre Dame Cathedral. It is a Ukrainian instrument that sounds like a harp. We bought one of his CDs.

These guys played pure jazz blues  on the bridge near our apartment and one afternoon Barry and I just could not resist having a little dance! I couldn't understand why everyone wasn't dancing!

We did quite a bit of shopping this week and hit a huge department store called Le Bon Marche, the structure of which was designed by Gustaffe Eiffel. It is jaw-dropping beautiful and jaw-dropping expensive!

Lots of really neat art and sculpture in this store and I managed to convince Barry to, ummmmm, engage with the art. We thought of putting a hat out for donations but decided against it when we noticed security in the vicinity.

Gallery Lafayette's famous for its domed ceiling which they decorate very creatively every Christmas.

Finally, we ended up at the the last in the trinity of shopping temples - Printemps, where I managed to buy a very nice scarf. The stores are very competitive when it comes to their displays. I loved these flowers hanging from the ceiling entrance to Printemps.

The French love their carousels and we found the cutest little one in a park right next to Le Bon Marche. It was filled with blooming flower beds, this late in the month and it had a pond with the two luckiest ducks in Paris, given the popularity of duck confit on all the menus.

Then there was the neat double-decker carousel near the Eiffel Tower. The little girl on the horse had such a temper tantrum when the ride was over. The operator convinced her mother to let her stay on for another ride and her little face looked so worried knowing that she would have to go through the same tantrum all over again when the second ride ended. She just couldn't seem to enjoy that second free ride!

Then the big girl below seemed to be having a hard time staying on top of her horse during the ride, maybe because of the several glasses of wine she had just consumed, beforehand!

We were really lucky this week. In that our visit to Notre Dame coincided with a Mass attended by a delegation from Mexico honouring, I believe, their patron saint. It was very moving and by the time it was over the security people had closed the cathedral, so there were only about a hundred people left in the church. I was able to get some interesting photographs in an almost empty space that is always filled with hundreds and hundreds of tourists and Catholics who are there to worship. Security tries to maintain an atmosphere of reverence but it is a challenge. During this particular evening it was so quiet and sacred. Below are some of the statues outside and a close up of the ornate door.

I was really captivated by the massive pillars, this time, and the effect of the chandeliers.

This week, we also spent quite a bit of time at the Eiffel Tower. We visited at night and viewed it from the Trocadero, a very long strip of fountains, illuminated at night. Then we did a daytime "Behind the Scenes" tour of the Eiffel Tower which focused on the importance of the tower as a communication centre, especially during WWI, as well as the original hydraulic operating system for one of the elevators. Line ups are crazy to get people to even the second level. The tour got us to the second level and the we could purchase tickets to get to the top. The views were unbelievable!

You can see the Trocadero and the Arc de Triumph in these next two photographs.

The view of the Seine in this photograph shows the leaves starting to change.

We finally got a chance to see Shakespeare and Company, the bookstore frequented by some of the most famous twentieth century authors. I was able to find a book about Marie Antoinette that I have been searching for in stores and online for the last six months. It is a very cool bookstore and I could have easily stayed for the whole day. It's filled with little nooks and crannies and you can see in the photograph below a bed on the top floor where an employee will sleep. I loved their version of the pickpocket warning, which is unlike the more serious posters you see all around Paris and the photo of   the young boy reading is very  evocative, I thought.

About ten years ago, I hosted a teacher from Paris when I had my townhouse. Since then Amelia and I have exchanged cards at Christmas time. I had a chance to meet her daughter in Toronto for a visit and three years ago Barry and I spent New Years Day with Amelia and her husband, Stefan, when we visited Paris. This time we spent a lovely evening chatting and catching up in the apartment and enjoying a nice dinner together at a nearby restaurant. It was a most pleasant way to conclude our time in Paris - great memories, great company and great food.

So tomorrow it is big packing time as we get ourselves organized for the road trip portion of our adventure in France. Thanks, once again for taking the time to send an email. It's great to hear what everybody has been up to and helps stave off the homesickness! Adieu for now!