Wednesday, August 17, 2011
DeliEffiel
My favorite thing in Paris is the Eiffel Tower (And the cafes, and wine and cheese and Seine and the Latin Quarter, but I’m narrowing down here.)
Many people all over the world are probably uttering that same sentence, but we all have different reasons for liking it. For me it is because of the constant reminder.
I could be deeply lost in tiny roads filled with 500 years of footsteps and conversation, far within the Latin Quarter across the city, when all of a sudden with the slightest bend of the road and the parting of a building, the tip top of the tower comes into view.
Or I could be at the top of Montmartre on the highest point of the glimmering city in crowds clinging to the rough iron fence every couple of feet to see the tower from in between stubborn tree branches. From this angle at the top of the hill, the tower sticks up dramatically from the low city, puncturing the sky. The onlookers gather and wait with bated breath for the top of the hour when the tower starts glittering against the sky. When it starts, a collective gasp and hush fall over the crowd, and the entire city for the five minutes.
Or I could be down in the Champs de Mars with the giant metal structure looming over me. I can sit at the concrete foot, the bottom of the legend, and while avoiding the dozens of street peddlers selling miniature versions of the tower I can look up behind me at the giant tower that I’m leaning against, physically touching it, yet it still looks like a painting.
No matter where I am in the city, the tower seems to show up at the perfect time almost to say, “Hey! You’re in Paris!”
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Water Lilies
Yesterday morning, I went to The Musée de l'Orangerie, which is home to some of Monet's famous Water lilies.
It is hidden in a corner of the The Tuileries Garden right along the bank of the Seine. It was a very interesting musuem, somewhat spaceship-like.
It was a wonderful place, however, they were out of english maps and english audio guides so I didn't know where I was or what I was looking at.
After I managed to find my way out of the museum, I wandered up the Champs-Elysses (but not too far up) then back down along the river, stopping to watch painters creating scenes of the Seine.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Day of the Dead
...A trip to the Cemetery?
While the French are known for their "Joie de vivre," they certianly take good care of their dead.
I went to the Père-Lachaise cemetary to find the graves of famous icons buiried in the best city to live (and die in).
I had a map, but was able to find the graves easily by looking for the hordes of people, except at lonley Gertruide Stiens grave.
It was interesting to see the graves of famous icons, but it was even more interesting to see how previous passers-by had payed their respects.
Oscar Wilde's grave was covered in red lips and thank-yous, amists and ignored sign to respect the grave and not deface it.
Jim Morrison's grave, behind a barracade and surrounded by tattered tee wearing teens making their pilgramage, was filled with empty beer cans.
In contrast, Gertruide Steins grave was immaculate and plain, and although her partener, Alice Toklas is buired beside her, her name is carved on the back like a hidden afterthought.
The cemetary was also home to many heartbreaking Holocaust memorials, graphically depicting the pain that the Jewish had felt durning the occupation and the war.
Edith Piaf is laid in a nondescript black family grave, surrounded by a bunch of frenchies singing "La Vie en rose"
Finally I visited the famous composer, Fredrick Chopin's grave and thanked him for the soundtrack to my childhood.
It was the most famous people I'd ever seen in a single day...does that count?
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
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