Life in Paris is good. I decided to spend an extended amount of time in Paris, to get to know the city. I rented a nice little apartment (quite little: a bedroom that is mostly bed and very little room, and a small kitchen / living room) in the 6th arrondissement, very near St.-Germain des Pres (a great neighborhood on the Left Bank). I signed up for some French language classes (an easy Metro ride away), and I then dedicated myself to walking all around the rest of the city, exploring. I also dedicated just a little too much time to the wonderful patisseries, boucheries, boulangeries, charcuteries, brasseries, cafes, bistros, traiteurs, chocolateries, etc. Not to mention the evil creperies. Thank god I walk so much.
One of my first sights was the Catacombs, miles and miles of bones buried under the city. I am a bit of a sucker for an ossuary (how can one not be?). There are literally millions of people buried down there in miles and miles of tunnels. Apparently as Paris grew and grew, cemeteries were moved to make room for the new buildings (or more specifically the bodies were moved – and then re-interred here in bony piles. Each piles with a sign telling where the cemetery was and when the bones were moved. Over the archway leading to the main part of the ossuary, it reads: Arrète! C’est ici l’empire de la mort. Rumor has it that in other (non-bony) areas of the Catacombs there are under ground cafes, restaurants and cinemas – a whole underground world hidden under the feet of city. That same day, after the Catacombs, I also went over to the Pantheon and saw Foucault’s pendulum, worth the trip (and more dead people buried under it too – over the door of the necropolis (what a great word) is the inscription: Aux Grand Hommes la Patrie Reconnaissant (To the Great Men of the Grateful Homeland); buried there are: Voltaire, Rousseau, Alexander Dumas, Marat, Marie Curie.
As a side note, I also took a tour of the Paris Sewers (Musée des égouts de Paris, located in the sewers beneath the Quai d’Orsay). I’m not really a fan of Les Mis, but I do like odd tourist attractions. This was, in a word, stinky.
A long walk down into the 14e Arrondissement to check out a weekly book market at 87, rue Brancion (just outside Parc Georges Brassens) – a nice little market where local used and rare book dealers set up in an outside market, about 50 dealers in all. A lot of odd and strangely French books, although I did see some nice 18th & 19th century books (mostly Hugo, Dumas, Rabelais – the usual suspects) but even a few incunabula. After that I explored the Marché aux Puces down by Porte de Vanves.
Paris is a tourist city and there are indeed tourists everywhere; it is Paris after all. I did go into St. Sulpice (I walk by on an almost daily basis, so I finally stepped in). There was a funny little sign by the ‘Rose Line” that said in part: “Contrary to fanciful allegations in a recent best selling novel, this is not a vestige of a pagan temple. No such temple ever existed in this place.” Hehe. “The Da Vinci Code” opened the next week; I saw it at a theater two blocks away. Fun to see for the locations, but the movie itself was pretty silly. I also went on a little walking tour of the locations of the film Amelie. A nice little neighborhood up on Montmartre. Another tourist spot that should be visited is Pere Lachaise Cemetery, if for no other reason than to visit the grave of Edith Piaf (or Jim Morrison, depending on one’s musical tastes).
I was out at Roland-Garros, watching a bit of the French Open. Fun to see, lots of people, great tennis. I mostly watched the doubles, as I had the cheap tickets for “the annexes” and could not see any of the major events … but the doubles were great … the weather less so (a few rain delays). But seeing the great tennis got me inspired to play, so I have found an instructor here in Paris, and also looked online and have found at least one tennis partner. So I will be able to play! Now I will just need to pick up a cheap racquet.
Paris is a city that is accommodating. Last weekend was “La Nuit des Musees,” where all the museums are open until midnight and are free. I went to the Louvre. Saw the Mona Lisa, but mostly enjoyed just wandering about.
I’ve met a few nice people here. A Danish journalist from French class, Brian, and I have wandered about some. Today we are planning a trip to Versailles (it is a national holiday so no French class! Whoohoo! Ascension Day or Assumption Day or Consumption Day or something). Could be fun.
St. Denis is the patron saint of Paris and because of that, I felt it was important to make a pilgrimage to the Basilica of St. Denis. Brian and I went last week. The story of Saint Denis: He was the 3rd century Bishop of Paris who spent his time converting the pagans to the holy ways of Christianity. He was beheaded for his touble, on the highest hill of Paris (what is now MontMartre, the site of the Sacré Coeur church). But, being a good future saint, his story does not end there. He apparently picked up his head, dusted it off and walked off in a northerly direction, preaching the whole way. Where he finally dropped dead (and dropped his head no doubt) became a shrine and the future site of the Basilica of St. Denis. The Basilica is also where generations of French kings (and queens) are buried. I especially enjoyed the statues of St. Denis holding his head in his hands.
Of course Notre Dame is amazing too (except for all those damned tourists).
A plan for my last days in Paris. I thought it might be nice to walk through all the arrondissement in one day. Spiraling out from the Louvre and ending up out by, oh I guess, the Bois de Vincennes. Might make for a long day, but it might be a nice farewell to the city. In the alternative, I was thinking of walking down one bank of the Seine and back the other where it flows through the city. Or perhaps both walks, on alternative days.
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