Paris - and street food

We have been thoroughly enjoying Paris, the views, the sights, the rain and the street food. It has been raining off and on since we have been here - not hard, just the light drizzle we are accustomed to in Seattle, and the first evening we were here, when the sky turned froma clear blue to a threatening gray we immediately took a walk through the Tuileries. Interesting, Parisians all put up umbrellas at the slightest hint of moisture - unlike we Northwesterners who have to be facing Noah's flood before giving in to open one. But it does not inhibit the locals from going out - in fact I think the crowd in the garden was even more lively than they had been earlier. We watched a vendor rent pond boats to the kids, and parents sat by the side of the fountain drinking tea and espresso. Civilization is good.

Rome had seemed a bit harsh to us, and Paris has been just the opposite. People are happy, the traffic is not as frantic - and then there's the food. Street food. there are vendors everywhere, selling incredible pasries to eat on the spot, and croque monsieur (ham and cheese sandwiches grilled with more cheese on top - could it get better....and big slices of quiche with anything and everything inside from salmon to potatoes (don't knock it til you try it...)

More pastries.

Okay so about the sights - we had planned on first hitting the Louvre but it was closed. So we ewent to the D'Orsay - it is an astounding collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art. While I have seen masterworks by any one of these greats over the years, the brilliance comes through when you can stand in a ddoorway and compare the oeuvre of one to the other - like the undertone of Renoir (blue and sienna) with that of Monet (pink). AAnd then there are the works themselves, walking around the corner to find yourself nose to nose with Whistler's Mother or two VanGogh self portraits painted two years apartt in very different styles, the first confident and satisfied, the second made with short, less arrogant strokes and showing a face that had gone gaunt and eyes that no longer pierced through the paint.

Did I mention the onion soup? you get it at the corner shops as well; it is paler and lighter than waht we know at home, and the cheese and bread on top are crisp and rich. Goes very well with a Croque Monsieur.

Our room at the Regina has a tiny balcony, we look out at the upper floors of the Louvre and just to the right over the Tuileries to the Eiffel Tower. The light show is wonderful at night - I had always thought it would be a little hokey but it is enything but. In addition with the alternating clouds and pink and gray sky, the show is all the more dramatic - added to last night by a full moon circling overhead.

The Louvre is an experience in itself. It would be possible to spend months there and not really see it all - but we did our best in a day. Venus D, Winged Victory, and Mona of course - the latter behind a wall of glass and super protected as was The Pieta in Rome - it is true that to get a good look at her it would be better to study a good art book - but to experience it in the same room is irreplaceable. Miles later and ready to leave we followed the signs to the exit which are not all that truthful, and we found ourselves a bit lost, ending up in the sub floor level walking through the moat of the original castle. I thought it was cool, but I thinik Mary was happy to emerge eventually under the bright light of the I M Pei pyramid.

Palmiers. We have Palmiers at home, but here they are denser, the cookie a little more chewy and rich - it needs less sugar than the ones we find at home. Makes a good late night snack.

The Ile de Citi is much smaller than i had imagined, and a lot of it is covered by government buildings. In fact a lot of the streets were closed off this afternoon by platoons of Gendarmes - I am thinkning maybe the new President was about to drive through. I had really hoped to see Ste Chappelle but the line was enormous, so instead it was off to the other end of ther island to visit Notre Dame, which is as dark, enormous and slightly creepy as you would imagine, as well as the archaeological excavations under the plaza revealing the foundations and first floor remnants of the original Roman city built there. After that, circling through the center of the island revealed a huge plant and flower market with dozens of shops and vendors - I would have bought a lot of stuff for the garden at home but everything I wanted weighed a ton so had to settle for some seed packets of crenelated tomatoes and pumpkins.

There was a pastry I had this afternoon, light, kind of like an eclair shell but sweeter and crunchier, filled with a cream flavored with praline. Also worthy is the dense chocolate cake similar to a very dark brownie, drenched in almond-flavored liquid cream...oh and the almond tards which are like a thick rich cookie...

Anyway, it is a city that has truly captured both of us. It is much too big to see in four days, too much to see in a month. I suppose that's why so many people want to stay forever. If not for the views, for the food.

I am going back up to the room now, the sun should be setting and I don't want to miss seeing the lights come on. Then we're going to walk over to the Louvre to take some evening photos. Maybe a couple of Palmiers.

Bon Soir