Paris Journal 2007

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This drawing of a domestic cat is from an old zoological catalog whose text was written by a naturalist named Buffon. Buffon used to run the Jardin des Plantes, where we walked on Wednesday. Buffon was not a cat lover. He wrote: “The cat is a domestic infidel that one only keeps by necessity for opposing one other domestic enemy (the mouse), even more incommodious, and that one cannot hunt.” The dragon made from aluminum cans and other recyclables is still in the Jardin des Plantes. I had thought he was supposed to be just part of a temporary exhibition last year. Walking along the Seine in the middle of a busy weekday in the middle of busy Paris, we encountered very few people. While we enjoyed this view of Notre Dame, it would be cloudy one minute, and gorgeous the next (right).

Tuesday, July 3, 2007 We arrived in Paris at mid-day on Sunday, and it has been gray and rainy ever since. Sunday evening we walked up to the Champ de Mars, as is our habit, and once again we were surprised. There we found 15,000 scouts, all celebrating a hundred years of scouting. When we arrived, the festivities were wrapping up, but we heard cheerful music from a live band that was whipping many of the scouts up into a frenzy. They were waving their arms back and forth over their heads, singing loudly, waving flags, etc. There are 140,000 scouts in France, from age 7 to 20. Robert Baden-Powell started the scouts in 1907 in Britain, and the movement reached France in 1911. After that surprise, we walked back down La Motte Picquet to La Gauloise, where we were instantly greeted warmly by the entire staff, all men dressed in crisp white shirts, little black bow ties, and neat black slacks. We ordered the special of the day, gigot d’agneau (leg of lamb), which was perfect. When we left, the entire staff wished us a good evening. It is nice to be remembered. I’ve been sorting out computer, network, wireless, and antivirus updating problems here at the apartment where we normally stay. So there hasn’t been much exploring of Paris yet this summer, except that we went for a nice walk through part of the 7^th arrondissement yesterday evening. Nothing has changed. At least not much. All of the improvements that were being made to the rue du Commerce here in the 15^th are finally completed, and the street is no longer filled with loud construction noise and automobilists honking horns in frustration. The street is now more oriented toward pedestrians than toward autos, and the businesses seem to be thriving. There is much more “formula retail” on the rue du Commerce than there was ten years ago. But that is part of a much bigger change as Paris has steadily grown more and more “prosperous” since the early 20^th century. Paris would not be complete without her cats. Parisian cats are so important that the tourist shops carry T-shirts depicting Paris cats. They sell very well. Yes, I own one, and I gave one to my niece years ago. Many of you may have seen the report of recent research on housecat DNA, or more specifically, mitochondrial RNA that is passed down through the maternal line. Like Brian Sykes’ Seven Daughters of Eve, the description of his research concluding that we humans on Earth today are all descended from one of 7 women who lived a long time ago, this latest research has found that all 600 million domesticated cats today are descended from one of 5 matriarchs who lived somewhere in the Near East. The researchers also conclude that these 5 wise felines chose domestication themselves. They chose to associate with humans who tolerated them because of their rodent-hunting skills. Ever since I was selected by a stray cat named General Burnside, I’ve suspected that cats chose to be domesticated, and that people did not domesticate them as they did with dogs. Thursday, July 5, 2007 Yesterday, we went for a very long walk along the Seine in the middle of the day (5 hours or so), starting from the apartment in the 15^th and ending at the Jardin des Plantes. It was the best weather we’ve had so far this week, but it was very unpredictable. One minute the sky would be blue and sunny, and the next it would be cloudy and rainy. We stopped for lunch and the view at the Six Huit, a restaurant on a boat permanently anchored across from the south side of Notre Dame. It seems that we always stop there on rainy days. They needed our business. Only one other party was there when we arrived, and they were actually on their way out. The service was nice as always. Every time it started to rain, the server would extend the awning over us, and when the sun came back out, he’d roll it back again. We had our newpapers, so we just lingered for quite a while over a delightful Niçoise salad (with fresh sardines, not tuna) and cheese plate, reading, eating, talking, and lounging, until the weather improved. Even so, we were hit by another rainstorm when we were in the Jardin des Plantes. It thundered. We stayed under the tall, thick allée of plane trees, reasoning that the nearby buildings were even taller than the trees, so the lightning would strike there first. Everyone else in the park did the same. Every plant lover who comes to Paris should see the Jardin. It has a large, formal garden running through the middle, with museums on each end (including the natural history museum). On one side is a big botanical garden, and large greenhouses that are now being restored. On that side, too, is the old zoo. The Jardin has an outdoor café that we have frequently enjoyed. This year, there is an exhibit of large panels on the botanical garden’s iron fence, reproducing pages from the natural history museum’s old zoological tomes. The illustrators are not as good as Audubon, but the exhibit is indeed interesting. Next →

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