The river Seine is one wide winding street of Paris. With it I traveled East to Ile de la Cité and West to the Louvre. Breathing a city scape.Parisians do at least two things really well. Pâtisserie and etiquette. Sing-song a sweet 'bonjour' upon entering a shop. Nosh a pain au chocolate for breakfast, lunch and midday snack. Savor café crème just as often. This is my weekend wintertime Paris.
Hotel République. A small room just a block North of the Métro with the same name. Small being the norm in Paris, I found the hotel quaint, funny and the bite size shower amusing. Why bother closing the curtain round oneself when there is a drain fitted in the tiled
bathroom floor? Contemporary pop commentary adorned our otherwise simple room. Audrey Hepburn and Abbey Road are joined by eight anime-inspired stuffed dolls behind two glass cases. Overdecoration is its own unique style and I appreciate the lack of design. Sleeping is no problem for weary travelers and the rumble of the train underground does not bother us.In the morning the Métro is dirty, crowded and rickety to our Swiss styled eyes. Tickets like confetti shower the floors in the station. Train number 8 toward Balard quickly becomes a morning routine. The Suisse Embassy is our destination and primary reason for visiting. Luckily the embassy is efficient and with two easy portions totaling forty minutes we have the necessary documents.
We devour the sights of Paris in two and half days. This is my third visit to Paris. I understand more of the city now and suddenly I understand that six years changed me. Such a short time in the life of the city.Louvre. Venus de Milo stands amid a throng of adoring fans. Her graceful contrapposto demanding a 360° view. Musée d'Orsay. Classical central hall with wings housing art rejects from the Louvre and various changing exhibits. Pompidou. A tangled maze on the outside enforces open space on the inside. At what cost? There is a reason for the term 'grand entrance'. Orangerie. Water lilies in all seasons. Napolean's Tomb. Opulence in death. Arc d'Triomphe. Opulence for Napolean's Army, with a lovely view. Saint Chapelle. Heavenly sanctuary of stained glass reserved for only the King then and Everyone now. Conciergerie. Historic prison and torture chambers, now with neat exhibits!
My favourite the Rue Cler. This pedestrian street is home to pastry shops, cheese and fruit vendors and at least one delicious coffee at Tribeca. On a rainy day we sit sipping coffee and listening to the quiet street. On a sunny day we purchase our picnic for our train ride home. A fruit seller holding out a bag of clementines shouts at passers by. Our luggage gives us away and we hear "make you like energizer bunny...2 Euros only".
One final metro stop and we cross through the ticket booth for the last time this trip. We toss our used tickets into the air. True Parisian style.
3 comments:
Omy my god, those pastries look amazing. How were they in comparison to Besalu?
Seriously good! All of the chocolate croissants we had were tremendous. Almond croissants were made with a slight custard to the almond filling, though, and I dislike custard. They were still good...but you know how I feel about Besalu Almond Croissant!
There were so many other kinds, though! One was doughy like a crueller, yet firm and sprinkled with coarse sugar. Yum. The apricot tart was lovely and, of course, sweet crépes!
J-you really made me feel I was in Paris with all those sights and tastes and smells. Hope you and David can return when the weather, and number of days, is perfectly suited to wandering the streets aimlessly; Paris was made for that.
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