The Sights

I do not like crowds. I especially do not like crowds of tourists someplace where I'm trying to absorb the local atmosphere. But I am pleased to say that the American tourists in Paris behaved themselves much more admirably than I've observed in London. However there was one very obnoxious woman in the Louvre who was swearing loudly because of a long line for the women's bathroom (like that never happens in America!).

Sadly, there are a lot of pickpockets and con-artists at the big Paris sites as well. Therefore we did not frequent a lot of touristy places in Paris. Our two major tourist destinations were Notre Dame and the Louvre, with some other less touristy sites that we enjoyed exploring as well.



Notre Dame
I must say that I tend to be very jaded when it comes to churches. My mother has dragged me into what seems like every church in Europe and Great Britain, and it takes a lot for a church to engage me now. Notre Dame engaged me; it moved me, it got to me. It wasn't some stuffy antique or memorial that felt more like a museum than a sanctuary - it was a living place of worship. Mass was being held when we arrived at Notre Dame, increasing the already sacred feel of the place. And even with throngs of visitors from all over the world, everyone was hushed and respectful. I don't know how they've managed to keep that feel despite being the top tourist destination in Paris, possibly even in the whole of France, but they have and I am glad.

I had had these grand fantasies of doing some brilliant sketches of the gargoyles up by the bell towers, but the weather, the crowds and the two hour lunch closures of the 400 some odd stairs to the towers ruined that idea. In some ways the stone creatures jutting out from the sides of the building were cooler than the famous gargoyles, anyway. Note: if it has a drainspout coming out of it, it's a gargoyle, if it doesn't, it's a chimera.
















The Louvre
The Louvre, built as a fortress in the 12th century and serving as a royal palace for some 800 years, has been a museum since 1793. The original moat from its medieval beginnings still exists underground and was quite impressive to walk through.

I remember my French teacher in Middle School talking about how he wanted to rollerskate through the Louvre. In some ways, it would be a convenient mode of transportation through the labyrinthian museum. We knew we'd die of exhaustion before we saw every work of art in the place, so we chose our personal top 10 and got pretty exhausted anyway.

One of my "must see" pieces was anything by Vermeer. We found that the Louvre had two of his paintings, one of which was on loan to an art museum in Atlanta, GA of all places!













Although the Mona Lisa was not on either of our must see lists, it was still worth stopping and checking out the crowd she attracted.


















The Venus de Milo (Paul kept calling her the Intravenus de Milo from Spinal Tap) was worth seeing. I'm so judgemental though; I couldn't help but notice how large and out of proportion her right foot seemed to be - like I could've carved it better! Regardless, it is a beautiful statue.

My favorite statue, however, is the Winged Victory. I love the drape of the cloth, the feathers on her wings and the sense of action. It is still such a beautiful piece despite being headless and armless.















The Catacombs
At some point a few centuries ago, the church cemeteries in Paris started to run out of room. Three quarries under the city were converted into new homes for the remains. One of them, started in 1803 in Montparnasse, is open to visitors. It is an eerie, macabre place that we were looking forward to visiting. 130 steps down and you enter the world of the dead, with long passages filled with the bones of millions of people stacked neatly all around you. Here and there scattered throughout the tunnels are memorials with poems about death in French and Latin. Flash photography is not permitted out of respect for the dead, so our photos were a little dim.




























The Musée D'Orsay
Since this was actually a business trip for Paul and he had to earn his keep at some point, I went to the Musée D'Orsay while he was at the conference. This new museum (1986) is housed in a magnificent old railway station and the architecture rivals the artworks. I was lucky enough to be there during a special exhibit on pastel works featuring many of my favorite artists, including Cassatt and Degas.

Both at the Louvre and the Musée D'Orsay there were artists with easels and paints set up copying the paintings. I admired their powers of concentration in such a noisy, busy atmosphere, as well as their talent. I wouldn't have had the confidence to do such a thing.































The neighborhood where Paul's conference was held (Marais) was a treasure-trove of old buildings and great architecture. I stumbled on a 14th century timber house while I was exploring the area. There were also some great old wooden doors.














In this same neighborhood, I found a courtyard of boutiques and had to laugh at one of the shops. You just can't get away from the mystique of the American West.















We went to the Île St. Louis in search of the best ice cream in Paris - more about that on the food section of this blog - but on the same street as the ice cream shop was Église St-Louis-en-l'Île with a very unusual steeple and a beautiful clock that attracted my attention.