In 2022 I posted three separate photographic essays entitled You can’t take a bad picture in Paris (parts I, II, and III). Now that we’ve returned from another family holiday in the city I’ve once again posted pictures in the hopes that the images will delight you as much as the city has enchanted us over these past twelve days.

But first, let’s begin with the incomparable Tatiana Eva-Marie singing the Cole Porter classic I Love Paris . . .

“I love Paris in the spring time | I love Paris in the fall | I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles | I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles

I love Paris every moment | Every moment of the year | I love Paris, why, oh why do I love Paris | Because my love is here”

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ART AND HISTORY IN AN ICONIC PARISIAN NEIGHBORHOOD

As mentioned in my post about our evening of opera at Palais Garnier, each family member took the lead in planning an activity for all to enjoy. Claire chose “Montmartre: A journey through art and history” where we saw monuments like Moulin Rouge and Sacre-Coeur and walked in the footsteps of legendary artists like Picasso and Van Gogh who lived in the area at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

It was an enlightening and delightful introduction to one of the city’s best-known neighborhoods undertaken on a picture-perfect early fall day.

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THE TREASURES OF MUSEUMS

Paris is a city of extraordinary museums. While we’d visited the most famous on earlier visits, Candice put together a tour and scavenger hunt at the Louvre (once a teacher, always a teacher!) using Elaine Sciolino’s highly regarded Adventures in the Louvre: How to Fall in Love with the World’s Greatest Museum as her guide. It made for a terrific “field trip” as we saw the “Big Three ladies of the Louvre”* and found often unseen treasures in out-of-the-way galleries.

Andrew encouraged us to visit Musée Carnavalet—Histoire de Paris (The Museum of the City of Paris), which we did on our last full day in the city. The Musée Carnavalet begins with a delightful opening exhibition of city street signs and includes in-depth and informative exhibits on such topics as 17th century Paris and the French Revolution. I was clearly taken by the historical signs and posters (from cheese shops to the response to the Charlie Hebdo shooting and the subsequent November 2015 attacks in the city.)

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WALK. EAT. DRINK. SLEEP. REPEAT.

Many of the early autumn days were filled with walks through various neighborhoods enjoying the architecture, people, weather, change of season, and unexpected treasures. There were—as is to be expected—multiple stops along the way to sample the city’s food and wine offerings. A special treat was our culinary tour of South Marais led by Paris by Mouth! Highly recommended!

After a satisfying Sunday lunch at a small Italian bistro we walked out the front door to discover that we’d been in the building where Thomas Paine, the great American patriot, had lived during his time in the city. That meant that I had to stop and explain to Andrew and Candice why Paine was the Founding Father we’d do well to find again.

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MUSIC. ALWAYS MUSIC.

Music was, of course, an important part of our time in the city and throughout our month of travel. Tatiana Eva-Marie is working on a new project of Django Reinhardt music, so let’s dip our toes into that era to conjure up thoughts of wonderful times, good friends, and happiness.

Beyond the music found during our night at the opera we also came across random street bands and took in gypsy jazz on a couple of nights at the restaurant at the end of our block, where the trio was playing in the style of Reinhardt and the Hot Club of France.

While walking through Luxembourg Gardens, Andrew, Candice, and I also stumbled into the most extraordinary concert by the chamber orchestra Le Balcon performing the Richard Strauss masterpiece Metamorphosen in L’Orangerie du Sénat.

“Strauss’s Metamorphosen is a profound elegy for 23 solo strings, composed in the final months of World War II as a memorial to a vanishing world and culture. The work, completed in 1945, features complex transformations of themes and a poignant quotation of Beethoven’s funeral march from the ‘Eroica’ Symphony in its final bars, symbolizing the devastation of the war.”

I have embedded a video of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra performing this deeply moving piece. When you have a half hour, stop and take the time to let the sound of this composition envelop you.

When you expect the unexpected, sometimes magic happens.

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CATHEDRALS RESTORED AND WELCOMING

We visited several churches during our time in Paris, but two cathedrals stood out. During our two visits to attend Sunday services at the American Cathedral in Paris we first 1) heard about the upcoming “blessing of the animals” for the feast of St. Francis and then 2) participated in the service when the blessing—for more than 100 dogs and cats (and perhaps some other pets we missed)—took place in the middle of this beautiful cathedral. It was a treat!

My selected activity for our visit was a tour of the restored Notre-Dame cathedral which was closed due to the disastrous 2019 fire on our last trip to the city. It was a moving and meaningful experience on multiple levels for each one of us.

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ALL ROADS LEAD TO PARIS

“Ménilmontant” was written by Charles Trenet in 1938 as a tribute to the famous Parisian neighborhood. Eva-Marie’s band mates playing the hot solos on this video are Kate Dunphy on the accordion, violinist Adrien Chevalier, Koran Agan on the guitar, and Eduardo Belo on the bass.

I’ll end with two photos. While Claire had already flown home, Andrew, Candice, and I (at least our feet) are seen at the Point Zero marker in front of Notre-Dame. This small and obscure plaque is the official starting point for measuring distances in France, and every road in the country is connected to this spot. When you see a road sign saying, for example, “Paris 200 km,” the distance is measured from this plaque.

And from our taxi on the way to the airport, it seemed appropriate that the Eiffel Tower was shrouded in mist, capturing the beauty and mystery of France, and calling us to return.

Thanks for traveling these roads with us.

More to come . . .

DJB

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*The “Big Three ladies of the Louvre” are the most famous and highly visited female figures in the museum’s collection. They are the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory of Samothrace.

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Photo of Parisian bridge by Léonard Cotte on Unsplash