Week 29 – From Paris with Love

This was the first time for us to visit Paris – we’ve been to France a few times but when kids were little we avoided big cities. so we fell in love with the city this time…who wouldn’t?

First: DH (dear husband) uses walking poles for distances, eventually there will be a knee replacement but it has to get worse before it gets better. People were so kind in Paris to notice he has reduced mobility, always gave up a seat on the metro, showed us the elevator access and moved us to the front of the time. What caught me was that we never asked, people took note and took action – a kind thing to do…

So of course, Paris was about that tall thing, its really tall… not spending money to be terrified, but it was a nice photo op!

We visited the Musee d’ Orsay and on the way discovered the Sennelier store – a most famous Mecca of all things art supply related. I couldn’t find anything essential but on the second trips managed to spend a few euros….

And here’s my haul…a bit of paint, ink, loki style paper, an acrylic pen and a travel accordion watercolour book….

And a visit to Paris wouldn’t be worthwhile without the food!

Baguettes and croissants and more! A typical French breakfast? But it was pricey!

The Musee d’Orsay was wonderful and by far our favourite place, we enjoyed new-to-us art as well as some favourites…saw VanGogh…or parts of him!

The Musee is in a former rail station so the architecture is stunning..

I think we’ve seen this clock in a movie?

We took a bus out to Versailles and we both felt that although it was an “almost obligatory” trip, the grandeur and scale was a reflection of royalty and status run amok! Too much, too much! But the textiles were amazing! It was difficult to determine if they were reproductions or originals, nevertheless they were my favourite part of the day…

We skipped going to the Louvre, part of me didn’t want to face the crowds and I would rather see fewer places more thoroughly than breeze through a lot! And there were so many smaller museums that I would have loved to visit – close by was a historical Jewish art museum that would have been wonderful. A tour of Monmartre would have been wonderful, a visit to some of the flea markets would have been great…I still remember a flea market in Florence and buying vintage linen for 5 Euros a yard…. I think if anyone asks, a two week visit to Paris would be a minimum.

We did also visit the Catacombs, a macabre place but also a unique part of history involving urban and hygiene planning, a trip to Saint Chappelle…. It might be sacrilegious but we were rather underwhelmed by it and a walk around Norte Dame, scheduled to be reopened in 2024.

As a Camino pilgrim, I loved finding the Tour (Tower) de Saint Jacques, the Paris starting point to Santiago de Compostella in Spain, 1000kms distant. Perhaps one day I will start from there!

Au Revoir, Paris, Yassou Greece!

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