Paris
Hello ~ I’m Scott and welcome to your 5-Minute Vacation for July 21st. I share these snippets of our travels in the hope that my photos and stories will allow you to go on a vicarious vacation and “get away from it all,” if only for a moment. I appreciate you inviting me into your inbox today.
We came across this very appropriate advertisement in a Paris subway station. The text says “Add a touch of YEEEEEEEEE-HAWWW to your journey.” Read on for the deets.
Paris. It’s always a good idea. And wow, is The City of Lights having a busy month.
In addition to the newsworthy recent elections at the beginning of the month, July 14th was Bastille Day1 and July 26th is the beginning of the summer Olympics. Today, however, I’d like to take you back to the first week of this year.
To celebrate Rosemary’s retirement and the imminent move to our new home in Texas (yeeeeeeeee-hawww!), we spent our last week in Europe in Paris. On New Year’s Day, we took a train from Frankfurt to Gare de l’Est, hopped on the metro for a short ride, and then schlepped our luggage a couple of blocks to our hotel in the 9th Arrondissement (not too far from the Louvre).
(A quick aside: Even with cancellations and last-minute platform changes, I will miss traveling by train. There’s so much less hassle than air travel.)
Our room. The petite, yet functional, bathroom is at the end of that looooooong hall.
It was a typical January in Paris: windy, rainy, chilly, and crowded with still-on-holiday-break kids. It was great to be there.
The chilly rain didn’t stop us from going on a couple of food tours in the Marais. In addition to old faves like wine and cheese, of course, there were new things, like escargot on the left, and chichi pastry which is choux dough2 filled with flavored cream and topped with a flavored disk (lemon for me, dark chocolate for Rosemary), on the right. It was the first time I’ve had escargot and I must admit it was OK. The pastry was yummy, of course.
One way to beat the rain is to go to a museum. We went to the Louvre to revisit all our faves, including The Mona Lisa (La Joconde, in French). The French phrase for “a lot of people” is “beaucoup du monde” which translates literally into “a lot of the world.” It felt like “a lot of the world” was visiting Mona at the same time we were.
Once you get done with the famous and must-see art, there’s much more to enjoy at the Louvre. For instance, did you know that the Louvre dates from 1190 and was originally a fort? We didn’t, until we went to the basement and saw the foundation of the castle fortification.
We’ve learned that in museums it’s fun to go to the back galleries because there’s usually something fun and/or quirky lurking about. In one of the Louvre’s back galleries, we discovered this unassuming gallery of empty picture frames. I know there was a serious reason for this gallery, but all I remember is that I think the Louvre missed an opportunity by not naming this gallery “The Hall of Frames.”
While Notre Dame may be the best-known church in Paris, especially after the heartbreaking fire of 2019, I think Las Sainte Chappell, a mere two blocks away, is the most beautiful. We visited La Sainte Chapelle in 2002 and have wanted to return ever since. The magnificent stained glass windows begin about 10 feet off the floor and top out at about 50 feet off the floor. I’ve been taught that stained glass windows like these were originally meant as teaching aides. If that’s true, how did anyone read the panes at the top?
In addition to the windows, every other surface in La Sainted Chapelle is covered with beautiful details.
We found a fun restaurant on this street on our final windy, rainy, and chilly night in Paris. A windy, rainy, and chilly night in Paris is still a night in Paris, which means it’s still a good idea.
That was Paris during the first week of this year. Now, let’s jump to the present for:
A house update
It’s been a long ride. We signed the first contract in this process in April 2022. The builder with whom we signed that contract abandoned our project and is now in jail. We found another builder who has been doing a wonderful job, so I’m happy to say that the end near. The cabinets, countertops, and appliances have all been installed. All that remains is painting and the trim out (installing the plumbing and electrical fixtures plus turning on the AC). With any luck, we’ll be in our new house sometime during the first week of August. Yeeeeeeeee-hawww, indeed!
Until next time ~
Yeeeeeeeee-hawww!
PS ~ Want a bit more Paris? Check out my previous 5-Minute postcards from Paris here, here, and here.
PPS ~ If you are new to my photography, you can see more at scottgilbertson.com.
Also known as French National Day, celebrating the anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 during the French Revolution, as well as the Fête de la Fédération that celebrated the unity of the French people on July 14, 1790 – sourced from Wikipedia.