Paris avec Peder

Within an hour of arriving in Paris, Peder--who is studying in France for the semester--and I were taking on the city. Just walking to my hotel in the Latin Quarter, I saw the Notre Dame and the dome of the Pantheon. We had a very Parisian lunch from an open-front bread and cheese store that we ate on the seine next to Notre Dame before going inside of the massive cathedral. We continued our walk along the seine to the Louvre. I was there for about five hours and only saw two of the four floors and the indoor sculpture gardens. What I did see was mind blowing. While I’ve head about and seen Rembrants and Divincis in conversation with my artsy family, I had never imagined what they would be like in person. I especially loved the Vermeers.  They were tucked away in smaller rooms off of the larger halls. The tens of small pictures on the walls were each incredible rich. One of the funnier moments was walking by the painting “Gabrielle d’Estrees and Her Sister” and realizing my grandparents have a replica on their bathroom wall.

Walking back from the Louvre, I realized that Paris really is more beautiful at night—everything seems golden! Peder had found a small orthodox church in the Latin Quarter that was the site of nightly classical music performances. We heard Bach’s “The Well Tempered Clavier” played by a graduate student in piano performance. It was so nice to be able to pause and listen to beautiful music in such a calm atmosphere.

Afterwards, we found a small restaurant for dinner that offered, as many Parisian restaurants do, a special three course meal. I had fish and mussels along with an apple tart and salad. Peder got a trout that came out with its head still on! It took a bit of work to figure out how to go about getting the bones out.

The next day involved more whirlwind touring. After taking in the beautiful dates, figs, and sea food at a farmer’s market, we went to the Sainte Chapelle. The chapel was built especially to highlight the art of stained glass windows—the windows were so ornate and even the walls covered with the original gold stars. Its beauty was helped by the lovely sunny day flooding the room with light.

Keeping up our pace, we went to the Pompidou art museum, one of Peder’s and our friend Geoff’s (who is also studying in France) favorites. Collectively they’ve spent ten or so hours there. I was enchanted with the Matisse paintings and enjoyed seeing the museum’s other works by Calder, Picasso, the list goes on and on. The museum’s building was also very cool—its walls glass with different colored tubes going up the sides that hold the escalators!

Back to the historic part of town, we spent the rest of the day bumming around Montmarte, the artist’s district on a hill that overlooks the city. We ate pizza and our second round of pastries for the day after looking in the many shops with hand made clothing, instruments, and jewlery. We were left just in time to see the sun set behind the Eiffel Tower—the pair from New York who were watching it next to us called it the belle lumier.

The most beautiful light in the city had to be on the Eiffel Tower which I finally got to see up close after watching its search light circle around from my hotel’s balcony.  We managed to catch it when it the smaller lights are set to sparkle, making it and all the surrounding buildings dazzle. We also ended up at the arc de triumph during a parade of veterans that was walking down the Champs-Elysées. We had excellent luck with timing.

Today I’m on a train off to Den Haag, my last stop in Europe. While I didn’t want to leave Paris, it was a truly amazing weekend. I owe it all to Peder, the best tour guide, who really knew what the city had to offer and how to make the most of stay that was too short. Who wants to go back with me?