Paris

Oh Paris, why did we shortchange you? When planning our trip, we were tight on time. We only had so much vacation saved up, only so much $$ to spend, and we wanted to go when we wanted to go. We wanted to see more of France than just Paris, and of course, we wanted to see Jean-Marc, which meant the long drive to the West Coast. I do not regret any of it, but I do wish very much that we had had 3 or 4 more days in Paris. When you’re looking at your calendar and planning, you don’t really realize how much time gets spent getting from one place to another. So. Paris. We had 2 full days there, but 3 nights. We had 3 things we wanted to see, one for each of us. Mine was the Musée d’Orsay. The Musée d’Orsay is an amazing museum, and has the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist works in the world. Prior to being a museum, it was a train station.  The picture above is of a window near the top of the museum.

Oh gosh, I am in love with this museum. If it were local, I would go all the dang time. Of course, impressionist art is my favorite, so it’s not a shock that I loved it. Maya is also a big fan of this genre, and we were in love. Ted was in like. He likes impressionist art OK, he was fine with being there, but I don’t think it was the highlight for him that it was for us.

That was enough for one day. We thought of eating in that part of Paris, but decided that instead we would go back to our little neighborhood (quite a busy one, actually) instead. We found a strange place with a gruff woman waiting tables, and really delicious food. Most of the restaurants we went to had very friendly service, and I would not say this woman was unfriendly, just very businesslike and somewhat anal. Being American, we ate early, and so when we came in, she was busy setting up tables. She sat us, then ignored us until she finally finished setting up. We were close to leaving, it took her so long. But she finally came and took our order, and the food was worth it. Ted had a steak that he said was the best of our trip, Maya had a fancy burger with foie gras on it, and I had an amazing saffron risotto with shrimp. So good.

Here is a picture of my risotto.

The next day, Maya wanted to see Notre Dame, even after all of the other cathedrals that we had seen on our trip. She studied this particular cathedral in college, and wanted to check it out. So check it out we did. Ted and I had seen it when we were in Paris back in ’93, and it was again beautiful.

I was struck by this Saint, who is apparently holding his own head in his hands.  Here is the story, from Wikipedia:

Saint Denis was a legendary 3rd-century Christian martyr and saint. According to his hagiographies, he was bishop of Paris in the third century and, together with his companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, was martyred for his faith by decapitation. Some accounts placed this during Domitian’s persecution and identified St Denis of Paris with the Areopagite who was converted by St Paul and who served as the first bishop of Athens. Assuming Denis’s historicity, it is now considered more likely that he suffered under the persecution of the emperor Decius shortly after AD 250. Denis is the most famous cephalophore in Christian legend, with a popular story claiming that the decapitated bishop picked up his head and walked several miles while preaching a sermon on repentance. He is venerated in the Catholic Church as the patron saint of France and Paris and is accounted one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. A chapel was raised at the site of his burial by a local Christian woman; it was later expanded into an abbey and basilica, around which grew up the French city of Saint-Denis, now a suburb of Paris.

Maya thought that this might be Joan of Arc.  I wasn’t sure, as there is another Joan of Arc statue in the cathedral, and we couldn’t really get close enough to be sure.  But I liked this shot that she took, for the light and the colors.

Another shot, just of the inside of the cathedral.  So beautiful.

I had no idea that the windows even opened, but look at this one!  Letting in a little fresh air on a stuffy afternoon.

Ted’s Paris wish was the Centre Pompidou, the modern art museum. He was in love. Maya and I thought it was fine, and there was some lovely art to be sure, plus a beautiful view from the restaurant up top where we had a glass of Sancerre and a snack.

Then it was back to our neighborhood, another lovely dinner, ready to leave for home early the next day. I am not at all sure WHAT we would have planned if we had stayed a few more days. I would have liked to find out though, because Paris is so vibrant, so beautiful, and we just loved it. And there is SO MUCH to do, it would not have been difficult at all. I do hope we can go back someday, I would like to spend more time there.  It’s difficult, because there are also OTHER places that we would like to see, and only so much money and time.  Sigh.