Paris Journal 2008
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Yesterday was beautiful and it was Sunday, meaning we could walk along the Seine where cars usually travel. So we did, starting at 2:30. We also finally made it over to the Right Bank. Jean-Pierre the taxi driver had told us last Tuesday that the renovation of the Tour St. Jacques was finally complete. For years, it has been enshrouded in scaffolding and netting. We were determined to see it in all its gothic glory, so we made that our goal for the day. On our way there, we had a delightful surprise which I won’t tell you about until tomorrow. How’s that for suspense? When we arrived at the Tour, it was clear that the work is not yet done. The area around the base of the tower is still enclosed in construction fencing. However, enough of the park in the square is now usable, so the old folks and some not-so-old folks from the neighborhood were enjoying the weather there. Jean-Pierre told us that the stone used to make the tower (and many other monuments and churches in Paris) all came from a quarry near Chartres. That sounds right to me. It is beautiful light stone perfect for carving gargoyles and images of saints. A sign on the construction fencing informed us that the restoration project’s goal is to preserve and consolidate as much of the décor and statuary from the 16th and 19th centuries as possible. Only stones that were too profoundly degraded were totally or partially replaced. The sign’s message continues with a bit of history. It says that the tower has dominated the right bank of the Seine since the beginning of the 16th century. It was, at the time of its construction, the bell tower of the church Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie. A little after the revolution, the church was sold stone by stone under the condition that its bell tower would be saved. So the tower, isolated and abandoned by its disappeared church, was purchased in 1836 by the City of Paris. It was then transformed into a freestanding tower, an urban ornament rich in sculpted décor, punctuating the Saint-Jacques Square which was established in 1855. There was no English
translation of the sign, so you’ll have to rely on my slightly irreverent
translation. After our tour around the
tower, Tom wanted coffee. I remembered
a quiet neighborhood just north of the Hotel de Ville (city hall), with a
street called “Bad Boys” in French. We
went there, and decided that the cafés on Bad Boys Street were tourist
rip-offs, and we went instead to the terrace of an Italian restaurant nearby,
Le Jardin du Marais at the corner of the rue du Roi de Sicile and the rue
Veille du Temple (tel. 01-42-78-80-98).
Yes, this is the western
end of the Marais. I am used to
thinking of the area by Place des Vosges as the Marais, but that is only the
eastern part of it. As we made our way to our
table for two on the corner, one of the customers on the terrace said to me
“I like your button.” (This is my
Obama 08 button.) I said thank you,
and we shook hands, then we did a fist bump, ala Michelle and Barack. The intersection where we
sat with our beverages was busy with pedestrians. Everybody seemed to be shopping. It is a good place for people watching, and
the restaurant has the look of a good place to have dinner. It was orderly, well-designed, pleasant,
and the basement where the restrooms are located has been lovingly restored,
with its stone arches intact. Maybe
some day we will have lunch or dinner at this restaurant. From there it is a straight
and short walk down to the Seine to take the bridge over to Ile St. Louis,
but we took a slight detour to go down the charming pedestrian street, rue
des Barres, instead. Two cafés there
have extended their outdoor seating to take in the full width of the cobbled
street. The other side of the
street is the back of the St. Gervais street.
There we saw the only homeless person’s tent that we’ve seen all
week. It seems that the authorities
are making the homeless less visible.
The encampments that we were used to passing along the Seine were not
there yesterday. On the bridge between the Ile St. Louis and the Ile de la Cité was a Swedish juggler who was fluent and funny in French and English. Part of his act is demonstrating the styles of jugglers from various countries. He also had a George Bush juggling imitation, which was goofy as you can imagine. After watching the juggler for a while, we went on to the next act on the bridge, the Back Leg Breakers, a jazz trio that included a German pianist, a German acoustic bass player, and an African-American vocalist. They were playing early jazz with a boogie-woogie style, including some early Nat King Cole. We enjoyed listening to them so much that we put 2 euros in the hat. The pianist, in particular, was superb. We took the metro from Maubert Mutualité back to our neighborhood, stopping at the bakery and the Chinese takeout for food. It was about 7:30, and we wanted to enjoy our meal on the balcony, but it was just too windy. Today, the wind is wicked out there. Cynthia S. wonders if we are following the story of Ingrid Betancourt. We are indeed. On Saturday, Ingrid was at the Val-de-Grace military hospital where she had blood tests. The doctors there told her that her 6-year ordeal in the jungle has not permanently damaged her health. She was elated to hear that. While we were wandering about Paris yesterday, she was spending a quiet day at home with her family. |
Monday, July 7, 2008
The
Seine on a Sunday.
The
Tour St. Jacques
Below
is the only homeless person’s tent we’ve seen this week. It is behind the St. Gervais church. Don’t ask me why the lettering, Medicins du
Monde, is backwards. I didn’t reverse
the photo. Someone must have reversed
the stencil when labeling the tent.
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