Gallivanting Grandma

Monday December 9, 2019

It’s amazing how quickly a week in Paris slips away! Early December proved to be a good time to visit the French capital. The weather was mild, there were fewer tourists, and sparkling Christmas lights were everywhere. I saved the saddest sight for my last day.

Last April there was a massive devastating fire in the attic of the 850 year old Cathedral of Notre Dame which nearly destroyed the iconic landmark. The roof and spire collapsed but most of the treasured relics were spared. The entire area around the cathedral is fenced off. Scaffolding has been erected and the flying buttresses were supported by huge joists. The French government has pledged restoration and completion in five years. I hope so…

Le Palais de la Citi, which was built as a royal palace in the 14th century, is also located on Ile de la Cite.  La Conciergerie was used as a prison during the French Revolution and Marie-Antoinette was held there before her execution.

The current exhibit in la Conciergerie was about Marie-Antoinette. I saw the queen’s prison cell which later was turned into something of a shrine. The exhibit claimed that Marie-Antoinette has become popular recently due to modern media and commercialism.

The incredibly beautiful Sainte-Chapelle is hidden among government buildings down the street from la Conciergerie. The small 13th century chapel was commissioned by King Louis IX to house his collection of relics and is known for its exceptional stained glass windows. Even in the winter light, they glowed.

Le Tour de l’Horloge, which is one of the towers of le Palais de la Cite built about 1370, was the first public clock in Paris.

It’s impossible to walk around Paris and not bump into history. La Fontaine du Chatelet aka la Fontaine de la Victoire was built in 1806 to provide fresh drinking water to the neighborhood and to celebrate Napoleon Bonaparte’s victories.

This was a floating restaurant under dark clouds on the Seine:

Eventually, I made my way across the river to the Left Bank and walked to the oldest church in Paris, l’Eglise de Saint-Germain-des-Pres. The Benedictine Abbey was founded in the 6th century. The current church was dedicated in 1163 and rebuilt over the centuries. Incredible!

The interior of the church was lovely and impressive. A Christmas market encircled the church selling gifts, cookies, hot chocolate, wine, jewelry, and cakes.

It’s so much fun to wander along the old cobblestone alleys and byways of the 6th Arrondissement.

My final dinner in Paris was an unusual treat: Japanese food! Kodawari Ramen – Tsukiji is a fun eatery located in the first arrondissement.  Tsukiji is the name of the famous fish market in Tokyo. The restaurant’s decor is a chaotic hodgepodge of Tokyo fish-market finds. The servers were young and enthusiastic and spoke English. Delicious hot noodle soup was perfect on a chilly winter evening! Hard to believe I was in Paris!!

The trains and buses were still not running due the current railroad workers’ strike. This caused some inconvenience this week because my excursions were limited to the central part of Paris. But, on the positive side, it was also good because I had to walk everywhere and I experienced the heart of the city at a leisurely pace, on a more personal level.

I’ll spend tomorrow flying home and be back in New York by late afternoon. My week in Paris confirmed why “The City of Lights” is my favorite city in the world!

Sunday December 8, 2019

It’s so much fun to wake up in the morning to look out the window and see Paris!!!  Unfortunately, my week here is rapidly flying by. La greve continues without an end in sight.  Neither, President Macron’s government or the striking railroad workers union are willing to yield or compromise. It seems this will be a long strike.

Nonetheless, I rode the automated #1 Metro to le Jeu de Paume. The original handball court built in 1861 is now an arts center for modern photography and media.

Current exhibits were black & white photos by the American photographer, Peter Hujar and mixed media works by Zineb Sedira. Both artists’ works were interesting and thought-provoking.

It was pouring rain outside so I took my time exploring the galleries. Afterwards, I walked toward l’eglise de la Madeleine. The church was built in the style of a classic Greek temple and is always thrilling to see.

The rain had stopped but all the streets were wet with colorful reflections. I followed the fallen sycamore leaves up the grand Boulevard des Capucines .

…to the magnificent Palais Garnier aka l’Opera National de Paris. Another one of my favorite buildings in Paris. The entrance to the Opera Metro station was firmly closed:

I had planned to take a guided tour of the Opera house but changed my mind when I arrived. I continued walking to the fun and colorful “art nouveau” Galeries Lafayette flagship store with its fabulous dome:

It’s difficult to see in the photo above, but a suspended walkway was built over the open space in the Galerie so people could walk out and take selfies with the tree. There was a very long line!

I went up and out to the roof (with hundreds of other tourists) to see the panoramic views of Paris:

The dark clouds were gone as the sun set over the Opera Garnier and endless tourists were busy taking selfies.

“The City of Lights” is a fun place to visit in December!

Saturday December 7, 2019

Today was overcast and a mild 50 degrees so I set out to walk to the Rodin Museum.  The French workers strike continued today so there were no buses, trains, or Metros. According to Google Maps, the distance from the hotel to the museum was almost two miles. Not bad.

I walked along the Seine River and crossed over to the Left Bank on le Pont des Arts. This pedestrian bridge was called “the most romantic bridge in Paris” because it was the place where lovers would write their names on a padlock then lock it on the grating of the bridge to insure that their “love would last forever.”

The bridge was full of locks the last time I was in Paris, but recently the government declared that the locks were damaging the bridge and had them all removed. The grating was replaced with heavy clear plexiglass. Which gives a nice view of the river but no place to put locks. Today there was one enterprising young man selling padlocks on the bridge. I noticed some determined romantics used the lamp poles to make their declarations:

A big change I noticed this time in Paris was that there were many more bicycles and scooters all over the city. Automobile lanes were reduced by half to allow pedestrians, bikers, skaters, and scooters more roadway. Driving in Paris had always been really difficult, but now it must be much much worse!

Public Electric Scooters:

Electric-powered bicycle:

The 7th Arrondissement seemed like an up-scale residential area. I enjoyed strolling along the Seine and looking into art gallery and shop windows. The French expression is faire du leche-vitrines which means to go window shopping, but is literally translated as “licking the windows.”

So, I had fun licking the windows in the 7th Arrondissement! There was so much to see!

For some reason, rue de Varenne where the Musee Rodin is located, was blocked off to traffic by the police. I never found out why and I didn’t have the nerve to ask the heavily armed police officers. They didn’t stop me from walking up the street.

Le Musee Rodin is housed in a lovely early 18th century chateau.  It was used as a workshop by Auguste Rodin from 1908 until his death in 1917. The sculptures were arranged chronologically in the museum which made it interesting to see Rodin’s artistic development.

The elegant garden highlighted many sculptures.

After a while, I walked to the Musee d’Orsay:

This is one of my favorite museums because they have a wonderful collection of Impressionist art. These are two of my favorite paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir:

A view across Paris from the Musee d’Orsay to the church of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre:

There were many more windows to lick on my way back to my hotel. A shop called The Golden Goose sold Italian leather sneakers which cost between $350 – $650!  One of the designers was in the window of the shop autographing his sneakers. The sign on his shirt said, “Sneakers Maker.”

I walked up rue de Seine to explore the 6th Arrondissement as the winter sun disappeared and night took over beautiful Paris.

I always wondered how Parisian sidewalk cafes functioned in the winter and whether they served coffee indoors when the weather became cold and rainy. Well, I discovered they’re still outdoors with awnings overhead, heavy plastic curtains, and cozy heaters. Nice….

AHhhhh Paris…….

Friday December 6, 2019

The French workers strike continued today and public transportation services were severely disrupted. All the Metro lines were closed except the two automated lines which are #1 and #14.

The #1 Metro cuts through the center of Paris along rue du Rivoli, so I took it to la Maison Europeenne de la Photographie – la MEP.  My goal this week was to visit as many museums as I could despite la greve.

The MEP is a major center for contemporary photography which is housed in a lovely 18th century mansion. The museum is also a place for photographic restoration and conservation for the city of Paris and other museums.

There were several excellent exhibits currently on display. There were photographs about life in the Brazilian Amazon taken by Tommaso Protti who won this year’s prize for photo-journalism. There were also large photos of the Israeli/Palestinian border taken by Harley Weir who is known for fashion photography. The main exhibit was a retrospective of the photographs by Ursula Schulz-Dornburg. Her thought-provoking black and white photos were taken during decades of travel across Asia and the Near East.

It was raining lightly when I left la MEP so I walked to the Centre Pompidou several blocks away. There was a line of tourists at the entrance:

On this rainy chilly December day, it seemed that the Pompidou Center was a popular place for tourists to hang out and stay warm and dry in the huge central area of the building:

The Pompidou building is very photogenic and I missed my Nikon which I had left at home this time, but I took pictures with my cell phone:

This couple was NOT part of the exhibit:

It was still gloomy and raining outside:

There was a fabulous retrospective of the works by Christian Boltanski:

Here’s my Impressionist view of Paris from a window at the Centre Pompidou:

It was a fun day and I was able to ride the #1 Metro back to the hotel.

Thursday December 5, 2019

The main reason for my spur-of-the-moment trip to Paris was to see the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit at the Louvre. I felt lucky to be able to get a timed-ticket for this special winter exhibition. It was a huge undertaking for Louvre museum curators who amassed the largest grouping of da Vinci’s works from collections and museums all over the world. However, weeks ago when I ordered my ticket on-line, I never anticipated a major French railroad worker’s strike – la greve – which was scheduled to begin today!

My hotel, le Relais du Louvre, is located across the street from the museum so I wasn’t too worried about getting to the exhibit. But, all national and international trains and the Paris Metro stopped running today. Teachers, air-traffic controllers, hospital workers, some police planned to demonstrate. Many businesses, shops, and museums were closed in solidarity and also because employees couldn’t get to work.

I crossed the street to the Louvre and happily discovered that the Louvre was open! I had read that “only” 5,000 tickets per day were sold for da Vinci’s exhibit and it was crowded with tourists. I joined the line to enter the exhibition and spent several enjoyable hours among the works of the greatest artist and genius who ever lived.

Leonardo da Vinci only painted 15 paintings, but he completed many beautiful drawings and sketches. He also filled notebooks with mechanical, botanical, and biological drawings, as well as scientific designs and concepts. He was a sculptor, inventor, architect, and an engineer. His conceptions of flying machines, a parachute, gliders, helicopter, and other innovations are well documented.

da Vinci lived in France during the last years of his life and died in the Loire Valley town of Amboise in 1519. It was an excellent exhibit!

Although the Louvre was open to the public, I discovered that due to la greve many galleries were closed and there were no ticket-takers at the main entrances to the three main sections. Free admission today! Although many employees were unable to get to work, the museum opened popular tourist galleries: French paintings and the Mona Lisa.

I left the museum through the wonderful “skylight” designed by I.M. Pei, la Pyramide Inversee, and explored the Carrousel du Louvre. This is an underground shopping mall which extends from the museum to the Tuileries Gardens.

Looking across the Tuileries Gardens, the top of the Eiffel Tower was hidden by fog:

There was a Christmas Market set up in the gardens along rue de Rivoli with regional food, crafts, and carnival rides:

Although the weather was chilly and damp, I think it’s a great time to visit Paris because of many Christmas lights and decorations. “The City of Lights” really seemed to be glowing!

In the old days French restaurants were open only during specific hours and Parisians seemed to eat late. Today, many eateries are open all-day every-day. I had a light supper at Brasserie Loup on rue du Louvre, a short walk from my hotel. It was warm and cozy inside le Loup. There was a lively young crowd and a friendly server who enjoyed practicing English.

It was a good ending to an amazing day!