Wednesday, May 6, 2009

The Flowers are a bloomin' in Paris!

Date: 4/25/09

Mom made it to Paris for the sunniest week I’ve seen in Paris thus far. It was so great to have her here and we walked EVERYWHERE so I wasn’t even feeling bad about the chocolate mousse we ate with dinner almost every night! Luckily the Fromont children were still on vacation and I only had to work at my internship twice so that left a lot of time for mom and I to do some exploring. As busy as we were, it didn’t feel at all rushed because she came to visit Paris (and me) when I was studying here two years ago, so we didn’t feel the need to see every tourist attraction, instead we just meandered through the streets and stopped where something grabbed our interest.

She arrived on a Saturday morning and while she rested, I went to the market to buy us some fruit for breakfast. I can’t remember how our promenade began but eventually we were at the Place de la Concord in the center of Paris and visiting the Madeline Church. We continued our walk to the Opera Garnier, where we were going to take a tour, but we had just missed the cut off. It did rain on Saturday, so we popped into the Galleries Lafayette to feel the power of French fashion first hand and view the beautiful stained glass domed ceiling. After a quick Café Crème, we continued and discovered the Trinity Church. It is under some construction but still a beauty. Mom also got a kick (or maybe that’s not the right word to use in relation to a Church) out of the Chapel of Saint Rita (the namesake of a friend of hers). As we continued we realized that we weren’t far from Montmartre and her favorite monument in Paris, The Basilica of the Sacred Heart. So on we walked, and then we were climbing (because the Sacré Coeur is at the top of a very steep hill in Montmartre).

Oops! All of sudden, we found ourselves in the red light district and quite a few men wanted us to come inside and see a different part of Paris! Well at least we got to see the Moulin Rouge. We continued our ascent through Montmartre and got to the Sacré Coeur around dinner time, so we popped into one of the restaurants at the Artist’s Square for some yummy French grub. Not a bad start to Mom’s trip.

The next morning we went to the American Cathedral for church. It is very beautiful and of course, the services were in English. Mom and I realized that it wasn’t actually a Catholic Cathedral about half way through when a woman reverend gave the sermon. Mom thought it was just European but I knew something was up. Welp, Episcopal services aren’t THAT different from Catholic services, and they had a baptism, so we got to see babies! I figure we’re all praying to the same God, we are just going about it a little differently.

One thing mom really wanted to see this trip was Marie Antoinette’s Petit Trianon (a much smaller home behind the main chateau) and Hamlets at Versailles, so after church we made our way in that direction. Since it was Sunday, they also had music playing in the gardens and a water show with the many fountains. The music helps you feel somewhat transported in time. Mom got a real kick out of the Hamlets too! I have videos of the hamlets and the end of the water show, so I’ll try to get that up on Flickr, if I can ever get an internet connection on my computer for more than 20 minutes.

On our return to Paris, the weather was chilly but clear so we had a little snack of chocolate and banana crepes and made our way up the Eiffel Tower! It just never gets old to look out over Paris and see all the monuments embedded into the skyline of the neighborhoods.

Another good day, but boy were we tired.

Monday took me away from Mom to ICOM. It was an interesting day for me, as my boss was let go from her post, and mom spent her day with one of her walking tours of Paris, after which we retraced her steps so that I could see all the little nuances that I would never have known about otherwise. We stopped for a late afternoon glass of wine and plate of cheese, in a very French fashion, while we looked out over the street and did some people watching. There was a very friendly pup that came to visit us and mom got to see first hand the insanity of Parisian parking!

We decided to have a rest when we got back…rest is a bit of an understatement. It might also be dubbed the BIG sleep because we didn’t wake up til 9:30! We settled for eggs and potatoes for dinner and laughed that even in Paris we fall to old habits of breakfast for dinner. Also, Mom beat me in Scrabble after dinner…some things never change!

I spent Tuesday morning playing with the kids. Interestingly, their English was exorbitantly better than usual. If only I got to watch them in the morning, when they are fresh and not tired, more often!

Mom and I met up and travelled out to the Bois de Boulogne so that I could show her all the beautiful flowers I had discovered the week before. If only Dad could have been there to tell us what we were looking at, since that’s his specialty. Mom knew a good deal of the names of the flowers. My knowledge is near nil, but I think they all look pretty!

With our picnic in hand we strolled along the path and stopped at a bench to eat our sandwich and chocolate éclairs while we enjoyed the scenery. A peacock stalked us for a bit and I thought I was going to have to throw down! Luckily, he strutted his way to other unlikely victims and sweeter smelling goods, so mom and I could enjoy our delicious treats in peace.

Side note: Peacocks have a very strange call. It rather reminds me of the cry of Cosmo (that’s my cat). It’s quite noticeable at first and then it just gets on your nerves. The sound definitely does not match the beauty of their colorful tails.

Fearful that we would run into the scenario of the previous night after so much walking, we decided to stay out until dinner instead of heading back home. Though this was a good idea in theory, perhaps we would hit the Andy Warhol exhibit, except it was closed on Tuesdays. Ok, so perhaps we would go to the Musee D’Orsay and take in a few Impressionist paintings, nope that was closed too. Hmm, well it was only 7pm and rather early to dine in Paris, but whatever, haven’t the French heard of Early Bird specials? There must be plenty of restaurants near the Musee D’Orsay…oh those are all closed too? Is nothing open in Paris on Tuesdays?!?!?!

Finally we stumbled on a quaint Italian establishment (there were 7 of us in the joint for the entirety of our meal), and enjoyed a tasty pasta dish.

We took advantage of the ability to sleep in on Wednesday but made it down to the Street Market before it closed, so mom got to see all the vendors (fish, meat, clothing, toy, purse, jewelry, flower…they were all there). We each got a new French top, which we sported while we took in the flowers, a scoop of chocolate ice cream and the general sights in the alternate universe that is the Luxembourg Gardens on a sunny day. It really is to be experienced this alternate universe where nothing exists but pleasure in the company of others. Time has no meaning. Gentlemen bring their chess sets, playing cards, or Petanque balls to challenge each other in a game of wits and skill beneath the Chestnut trees. Children can enjoy one of many activities, be it, sailing miniature boats in the fountain, swinging around the large play structures, riding ponies, building sand castles, kicking around a soccer ball…you name it and it’s probably an activity within the gates of the Luxembourg gardens. The bee keepers were busy keeping their bees, lovers were entranced, some people were reading, others were drawing, a few snoozed in the sun, but most were just engaged in conversation with their companions. Truly, this place is like no other. How can you have a bad experience in a place which exudes such peace?

Eventually, we decided to see a bit of the city, so we took a stroll, similar to one that I wrote about earlier on this blog. We saw the Pantheon, La Sorbonne, La Musee de Cluny (think Roman vestiges), the skinny streets of the Latin Quarter, and finally Notre Dame Cathedral. We ended up in the Latin Quarter for dinner (pizza and calzones…we couldn’t seem to get away from the Italian influence!) One man had the sole post to call people into the restaurant, a Siren, of sorts, for Italian cuisine. Every so often he would clap his hands and say…rather sing, “Piiiiiiiizzzzzzzzza!” It worked on us anyway, and eventually he filled the restaurant. Once this task was completed, he cut out. People watching in the Latin Quarter offers some of the best in town during the evenings. It was such a lovely evening, I hated the idea of going underground to take the Metro home, so Mom and I took in a few street performances on our leisurely walk home along the Seine. It took us about an hour to get home because I didn’t realize how far we actually were from home…Mom is such a good sport!

I went to ICOM again on Thursday for part of the day, after which, Mom and I decided to trek back up (via metro) to Sacre Coeur to see the inside during the day. The sun sets against the stained glass windows so that it ignites the air with a red radiance which fills your soul with a warmth which I cannot fully express. It rises through a set of blue windows which I can only imagine begins the morning with a coolness likened to purity. Truly awesome.

For dinner we went to a café at La Place du Trocadero. Scrumptious steak, wonderful wine, decadent desserts and candid conversation…this dinner was a wonderful end to a wonderful week.


The taxi came to pick mom up the next morning at 7am. Must every goodbye be so abrupt? Thankfully, Mom’s travel home was much less stressful than Anne’s. I feel so blessed to have been joined first by my sister, then by my mom in Paris. They made for two amazing weeks (almost as if I’ve had two separate vacations within Paris with Annie and then Mom).

Mom must have packed the good weather in her suit case, because with her went the sun. It’s been warm and rainy…wainy, if that word doesn’t sound pleasant, it’s because it isn’t. Aw well, c’est la vie!

I find there is always something to look forward to in Paris, up next…my birthday! But how shall I celebrate??????

No comments:

Post a Comment