springtime in paris

mom and i spent the week of april 16-23 in paris. when i pictured springtime in paris, the first thing that came to mind was rain. not drenching, downpouring rain, but those showers said to bring may flowers. i pictured light sweaters and scarves, rain jackets, unbrellas, and light coats. i thought some red wine might be nice to warm me up at lunch or dinner. it wasn't going to be paris in summer, afterall. paris in springtime just might keep us on our toes; inside museums for the wet parts of the day and out and about during the dry times.

sometimes what i picture in my head cannot be farther from what actually takes place. we had glorious summer-like weather. temperatures were in the mid to high 70's and it was dry as a bone. in fact, i found myself wishing for a rain shower to dull down the dust that would blow around in the parks and gardens. not once did we need to find refuge inside, though at times it was nice to take a break from the sun's strength. the evenings came late as parisians enjoyed the light that lasted well until 9pm. it was easter week, so the city was crowded with french and foreign tourists alike, waiting in queues for just about every sight there was to see. we found if we were patient and looked around there were quiet corners to get ourselves into.

the photos above are some of my favorites from each day of the trip, in order. the children playing in the first photo were along the seine near the eifel tower. mom and i had stopped to have an ice cream cone on our first afternoon in paris. our flight had arrived that morning, and after a stop at luxembourg garden and a bit of time getting settled in the apartment, all mom wanted to do was see the eifel tower. we walked along quiet streets until we reached hotel des invalides, where tourists posed near cannons and we could glimpse the tower for the first time. the crowds there gave way to some more quiet streets before reaching the park that spans the distance between the ecole de militaire (spelling out the window) and the eifel tower. people lounged in the grass and kids played. people walked their dogs and drank wine in the afternoon sun. there were throngs of people below the tower itself, so we crossed the street and bought a snack and walked over to sit on a wall overlooking the river. there, below us, a man made giant bubbles and children chased them. i love these moments when i travel; here i am half a world away from all i am familiar with yet there are so many universal things that tie us together as humans. kids everywhere want to chase bubbles. it was a happy moment. we spent the rest of the day walking back toward the apartment and visiting le grande epicurie to pick up some pasta for dinner; we cooked for ourselves and went to bed early.

sunday's photo is of the stained glass windows in st. chapelle. this church dates back to the late 1100's when it was built to house religious relics including the crown of thorns. it is built within the walls of what was then a palace, and is now a governmental building of sorts. this was our second stop of the day, the first being mass at notre dame. it was palm sunday and expecting crowds, we left for the church early and paris was just waking up - or going to bed, as the case may be. when we emerged from the metro onto boulevard st. micheal the sun was just beginning to crest the tops of the buildings. there was only the sound of birds chirping and a few people's high-heeled shoes clicking on the sidewalk. we crossed the seine onto ile de cite and for the first time mom had a view of notre dame in all her splendor. it really is a sight to see, the bell towers looming over a tiny square. at the door we made a donation and received branches of what seemed to be a type of boxwood; they did not have palms as we are familiar with here. mass was said in french and i found myself meditating with the sounds of this language in the back of my mind. there were people of all countries at mass and we found ourselves near other english-speaking folks. while i haven't spent much time in a church lately, my favorite part of mass remains wishing one another peace; this was a highlight this day, too, because for whatever reason brought us all to paris, there we were shaking hands and wishing heartfelt peace. it was a quiet way to start the day. following mass we went to a small cafe on the corner overlooking notre dame as well as ile st. louis. we ate un petite desjunes and people-watched. the bells rang out and it was a perfect morning in the perfect place. next we walked some side streets to st. chapelle and stood in line to see the famed stained glass windows; the funny thing is, you walk in and you are on the ground floor, and there aren't any stained glass windows, just a rather sad looking statue of st. louis (maybe louis the 2nd? - my brain doesn't retain these things). mom wondered if that was it, maybe we'd been had, but no, there were steps to the second level, and there you walk into a grand room framed on all sides by these 20-foot sections of stained glass. it is awesome. candy for the eyes, the colors were so vibrant because of all the sun outside. it was nice to just sit and look for a while. we wandered ile de cite for a bit, finding a nice cafe for lunch. we ate salads and i discovered my absolute favorite thing in france - toasted bread with honey and goat cheese. oh my. my salad came with four huge servings of this treat and i ate it all. my mouth is watering as i type this. i want it for dinner. i want it for breakfast. oh, chevre. after that break we were off on a meandering route, sampling ice cream on ile st. louis, window shopping and people watching on rue mofftard, and finally winding the day out at the jardin des plantes. after a snack of banana we walked the sun drenched paths, marveling at the flowers before taking the metro back home, resting, and grabbing dinner at a local cafe. it was the longest day of the week, i think.

monday's photo is the view from the eifel tower's second viewing platform. we didn't go to the top because, frankly, we were sick of waiting in line. but i love how as soon as you get up high off the ground the world becomes so much more anonomous, and the shapes and colors of the landscape really take over. in the evenings all the grass in the photo would be covered in people, but on this morning i could really see the park. we picked out landmarks from on high and then returned to the ground without much of a plan - we'd had enough queing for a day (two hours) and didn't want to do the same for the boat taxi. we sat and ate a hotdog and french fries and wondered what was next. there was a boat tour leaving soon - an hour on a boat in the sun - and we opted to go that route. it was relaxing, first of all, and i might have fallen asleep for part of it. but it was also a fantastic way to see the city's landmarks, so many of which are along the water. after the boat ride we climbed the stairs to the trocodero and walked to a nearby metro stop to take us to the tullieries, the gardens outside the louvre. we sat here and had a snack of ice cream (mom) and crepe (me). the flowers were even past peak in these gardens and it was surprising how the warm weather had moved things along. it was still beautiful. we walked through the gardens to the louvre and, seeing no queue, decided to go in. with 40 minutes before closing we made a beeline for mona lisa and made it with time to spare. she's there, on a big, bare wall, looking at everyone as they look at her. it was cool to see her in person. i'm not a big art conniseur, so i can't tell you much about her, but she was indeed there in the louvre with 100's of other paintings and sculptures. i'm glad we ended the day with her. what a way to go.

tuesday we took a break from the city and went on a tour of the d-day beaches of normandy. this was my favorite day of the trip. i have been interested in world war II history for a very long time - both of my grandfathers fought in the war, though not in france. we joined a small group of americans and a british guide and drove the three hours to normandy. the countryside is jaw-droppingly beautiful, helped along by the perfect weather and sunshine, i presume. the photo i picked for the day is of the land at pont du hoc, where the rangers scaled the cliffs to disarm german gun mountings, only to find the guns had been moved away from the coast; they still had to fight some germans but it ended up not being the battle they had anticipated, at least on that part of the beach. the entire top of the cliff is riddled with bomb craters, some the size of my car, others the size of my apartment. the bunkers are still scorched from flame-throwers. they still look out at the atlantic, which on the day we were there was a brilliant turquoise. it is a humbling, beautiful, quiet place. it is difficult to imagine what it must have been like to be there during the battle. we visited omaha beach, seeing in person the enormous hill the allies had to attack as the germans shot them from above. we were there at high tide so we did not see the beach at its widest, as when the allies landed, but there are markers in the water for the low tide mark and it is easy to get a sense of just how exposed the beach was, and for how long. terrifying. the american cemetery sits at the top of the hill and we visited there, an immensely quiet space serving as final resting place for so many of the men who were involved in the battles of normandy. all of the headstones face west, toward the united states. it is something to see, amazing, really, and heart-wrenching. the day was already a full one when we reached a quiet farmhouse/b&b for lunch. we had a perfect french countryside meal of cheese tart with apples, salad, roasted chicken, potatoes, vegetables, and a few desserts. it was the best meal of the trip. i didn't want to leave normandy, i could stay there, live on a farm, ride my bike, and go to the beach. but, after visting gold beach, site of the artificial harbor built by the allies, and juno beach, we were back to the city. dinner was crackers, cheese, and pears. we were still too full from lunch!

wednesday's photo is the inside of sacre cour, a church that sits high above paris in the monmatre neighborhood. it almost has the look of a mosque, but on the inside it is very similar to many cathedrals i have visited. we spent a short part of the day there, once again in paris the crowds were thick. we began the day in a quiet way, having petite desjunes at a cafe overlooking the seine, following a visit to a small church across the street from our apartment where there had been an apparition of mary to one of the nuns. it was a small place, but i was amazed by how many parisians seemed to be stopping in for a morning prayer before they got on with their day. after breakfast we headed to musee de oranagerie, a museum designed by monet that houses eight huge panels of his waterlily paintings. it was a beautiful space, well-lit, and quiet. the panels are the length of the room's walls, maybe fifteen or twenty feet long by six or seven feet high. it is amazing to even think about painting on that scale. downstairs there were paintings from other artists including renoir and picasso. we went on a bit of a wild goose chase for a place i had heard about, a little bakery that serves lunch. the website had offered up the incorrect address - maybe on purpose. we missed it but ended up at an italian place, and you know me, i was happy with some parisian pizza for a change. that was at the bottom of the hill atop which sacre cour sits. so the next thing we did was get to the top of the hill and into the cathedral. we sat in a park outside and admired the quiet until a pigeon pooped on my head - we were out of there despite the good luck it was supposed to bring. we walked the back streets and ended up at the cafe featured in the movie amelie - we just looked, no eating for us. we hopped the metro and ended up near the canal st. martin, in a quieter, less polished corner of paris. the canal is in some parts of amelie as well. dinner that night was delicious - i had haddock and lentils.

thursday's photo is from the end of the day, the best end of the day of the week, until the last end of the day of the week. we'd just had a wonderful dinner - french onion soup, more salad with tasty chevre toasts, and coffee ice cream - and we went to the eifel tower. i wanted mom to see it when the lights came on. we watched and listened to the people around us, and as they illuminated the tower it glistened with the strobe lights against the orange sky from the setting sun. it was such a beautful night - it felt like july, not april. i was immensely happy. the day was spent at versailles, but first we visited the famous bakery, poliane, which was right in our neighborhood! i wanted one of everything, but we settled on some cookies and candies, and a couple of pastries for the road. breakfast was next door at cuisine de bar, which uses the pastries from poliane in their offerings. toast with butter and black currant jam was so good. mom's coffee came in a giant bowl. we laughed. it was a way to start the day. nonetheless, versailles. it is a comfortable train ride from the city, and the town itself is quiet and small. there is a pretty church with glass chandeliers. there is a small park that used to be part of the gardens used to feed the people at the chateau. there we saw people picnicing and kids playing. but, the chateau iteself is something to behold. oppulent, over the top, gaudy, and rich, it is unlike anything i could have imagined. of course, there were the crowds. inside the narrow hallways became nearly impassable and i was ready to throw in the towel even before seeing the famous hall of mirrors. but, we made it through and at each turn there is a view out to the gardens that await. being in the gardens was a highlight of the entire week. they were grand and immense. there were benches and comfortable places to relax. i ate sorbet as mom drank ice water near the grand canal. as we made our way back to the train station we stopped at a cafe for a drink; the sun was warm and it was nice not to be in a hurry to get anywhere. it felt like vacation.

our last day in paris offered a nice way to say goodbye. we didn't have much of an itinerary. we began the day at a favorite place of ours, luxembourg garden. we sat and read in the sun. as we made our way through the garden we found a cafe for a cold drink; we had brought pastries to the garden. we shopped along boulevard st. germain all the way down to the seine. we walked along the river and looked at the book sellers and people. we saw firefighters out near the river and a fashion shoot along with models navigating the cobbles in impossibly high heels. we found ourselves back in the tullieries, eating lunch at a cafe in the park. sandwiches were so tasty and the drinks so refreshing - i love the orange soda there. the view of the bicycles is the view we had from our lunch table. our frantic waiter seemed harried but we were in no hurry. we then walked through place de concorde and up the champs elyses to the arc du triumph. so paris, so crowded. we spent a bit of time there, but then went on an adventure, walking quiet streets to the printemps department store, where there is a roof-top cafe with spectacular vistas of the city. for the price of a coke, and no line, just nine escalators to get there, we remembered all the things we had seen in our week. we made it back to pack a bit before going to luxembourg garden once again, in the quiet of evening, before dinner in a cafe where count bassie once performed rounded out our week. i ended with a fantastic apple bread pudding. i think i can still taste it.

so, paris. with mom. we'll always have paris. always.