Impressions of Paris

It is hard to believe that I have been to Europe five times before and never been to Paris.  We emerge from the metro station, craning our necks, trying to glance a peek of its famous tower.  We are, I think, expecting something much taller.  And then, after hurrying in anticipation, it is there - above the trees - a cloudy day surrounding it.  Arching, intricate, soaring and yet precisely engineered.

Eiffel Tower (detail)

Andrew and I on
the Champs de Mars

I love the Eiffel Tower.  There is something about its aura and color (not quite grey, and more a faded brown than anything) that makes it seem like I'm looking at an old sepia-toned photograph.  There is a hint of surrealism around seeing it from far away.  In fact, I find the sights of Paris to be more beautiful when glimpsed from a distance: seeing the Arc de Triomphe from the opposite end of the Champs-Elysees, happening to glimpse the Sacre Coeur between boulevards of buildings.

We spend three and a half days wandering through Paris - Cathédrale Notre Dame, Basilique du Sacre Coeur, the Rodin Gardens, Musee d'Orsay, and Place de la Concorde.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Interior of the gothic cathedral

Chandelier

Carving on the Notre Dame:
the headless one is St. Denis, one of Paris's
patron saints; legend says that he walked
away from the place where he was martyred
holding his head and preaching a sermon

Demon on the cathedral's facade

Dome Church (where Napolean
is buried) and lamps on
Pont Alexander III

The Eiffel Tower from
the Alexander III bridge

Spiral staircase in the Church of
Saint-Étienne-du-Mont

Rodin's "The Thinker" (detail)

One of Rodin's sculptures
clowning for the camera

Basilique du Sacre Coeur

Lovers' locks framing the
Concierge (where victims of
the French Revolution were
held prisoner until their
appointment with the guillotine)

Bicycle tour

Place de la Concorde:
the guillotine stood here
during the French Revolution;
now it has a random obelisk
(gift from Egypt) on which are
carved hieroglyphics and
diagrams showing how they
put the thing up

Detail of a fountain in
Place de la Concorde 

The Musee d'Orsay was once a train station;
now it is full of painting by the likes of Monet,
Renoir, Monet and other impressionists

Andrew's cousin Laure has lent us her apartment for as many nights as we want. Laure and her sister Helene take us to a delightful French restaurant one night where we all order something different and then share. Our favorites were: nettle cappuccino, a brie creme brulee, duck with chocolate sauce, duck foie gras with apricot chutney, apple tart tatine with caramel and butter ice cream...and the potatoes au gratin simply melted in our mouths.

* * * * *

Before catching the train back to Boundoufle, we picnic in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower - bread, cheese, wine and a rotisserie chicken.

Our view during the picnic

Sunset at the Eiffel Tower

A part of me wants Paris to still be in the Jazz Era - the Paris of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Picasso and Dali.  I think that I have that image of Paris in my head and it is there that I want to visit.  But I also enjoy Paris as it is - busy and sprawling, ridiculously ornate, hardly charming - often overwhelming in its total lack of city blocks and yet more beautiful because of its twisting and curving and forking streets.  I feel like it is a city filled with the held breath of expectation.  I am excited to go around each corner, wondering what I discover next.  I can't wait to explore it more - by the darkness of night and in the early morning light, when the crowd of visitors is not streaming through the streets and gardens.

PS: Did I mention that I love the Eiffel Tower?