The three of us took the high speed EuroStar train to Paris last Thursday morning. The trip takes less than 3 hours, and travels under the chunnel for only 20 minutes. Using metro passes, we made our way into the city. We actually found same hotel where our family stayed 21 years ago, taddy corner to Saint Sulpice, near rue Saint Germain, and decided to stay there again. After a quick freshen up, we all walked toward the river Saine, and Notre Dame cathedral. This church is breathtaking inside and out. The aura I felt inside almost made me want to practice my faith again, but I know my spirituality lay elsewhere, and not with a specific religious denomination. After taking in the church, we walked around the side to see the infamous ‘flying butresses.’
Shortly after on a corner cafe, Jane, my father and I enjoyed Paris in style, with a bottle of fine Bordeaux. We all soaked up the beautiful fall day, people watching with Notre Dame nestled in the background. I quickly sketched the scene. It was decided we go find the Eiffel Tower and beginning to get dark, so we knew the views would be amazing. And indeed they were. All lit in a brilliant orange glow, we aproached the tower from the east end of the park. On the hour, for 10 minutes or so, the whole thing sparkles and flashes with thousands of LED’s. The sight is, needless to say, amazing. We all bought tickets and went to the top; you have to. It was a bit windy and chilly at the top, but definitely worth it. Although, I must admit, I felt more of a presense inside Notre Dame than on top of the Eiffel Tower.
The day was long, we were hungry and tired, so we all enjoyed a quick bite to eat; onion soup, fries, bread, crepes, and ham & cheese, all ‘French’ style, and retired for the night.
Friday, we first enjoyed ‘petit dejeune’ of coffee, fresh squeesed juice, and coissant. Then off to the George Pompidou Centre, an ultra modern building that houses modern art. We saw three amazing, and I stress this word AMAZING, shows. Robert Raushenberg’s ‘Combines’, an Yves Klien retrospective, and a show encompassing dozens of artists work revolving around cinema and motion. We all had thoughts of seeing more museums that day, but after this afternoon, we did not want to injest any more art. In fact, I am having a bit of art overload these days.
I have seen countless works of art, and made dozens more. Sometimes a separation is needed, where does the ‘seeing’ of art end and the ‘making’ of art begin? Don’t get me wrong, it is great to see masters from the past and the modern thinkers, but too much of a good thing can be very daunting. I presume, without awareness, overexposure can be stiffling, and harmful for artists. We are always searching for new ideas, and struggle towards avant-garde, and if not careful, inundation can lead to improper immitation.
Instead of hitting up the Louvre and Musee d’Orsay that day, we put them off til the next, and went shopping instead. Jane found some great clothes, and I got my mop chopped at a salon. This could be my best haircut ever. Then we all went out for a real fancy dinner. Some of the best food ever (I hope I don’t keep saying this), delicious escargot, beef tenderloin, lamb leg, and giant prawns, and chocolate dessert. We had a hard time understanding the menu, so I suggest anyone traveling here to have a pocket French guide. Jane and I had so much fun picking up tidbits of words, we are going to learn this language again (both of us attempted in high school-the ‘Kapretz Method’).
Saturday was our last day, so we woke up early, and walked to the Louvre. This place is massive, but I am happy with the amount of ground we covered in just a few hours. We observed obvious paintings like the Mona Lisa, or sculptures like Venus de Milo. We saw enormous works by Henri David, Delicroix’s famous French Revolution picture, and Gerricault’s Raft of the Medusa, as well as their huge Ruben collection, and my favorite dutch masters like Vermeer and Rembrandt. We also ventured through rooms housing Egyptian relics, and Mesopotamian treasures, including the Code of Hammurabi. The list goes on and on, maybe I will write a blog soon about just my experience there.
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We skipped Musee d’Orsay, mainly because of the art overload theory I mentioned earlier. Your mind needs time to process and absorb, before more input. So we just strolled through the streets of Paris, stopped for crepes with Grand Marnier and coffee, and then grabbed some sandwiches-to-go at a market before taking the train back to ‘Londres’. What a beautiful journey. Click on Eiffel Tower below for many pictures; over 250 images so be patient.
