Paris Journal 2011 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com

Photos and thoughts about Paris

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We passed a shop with nothing but umbrellas in the window. Of course, I’ve seen a couple such shops in the past, but they were over in the 5^th and 6^th arrondissements, in the more touristy areas. One of those two shops had especially ridiculously high prices. But the shop we passed yesterday was deep in the 15^th arrondissement, not in a touristy area at all. It was at 278 rue de Vaugirard. The magnificent umbrella that takes its pattern from the structure of the Eiffel Tower was my favorite. But there is also one with shorebirds that would be so nice for Sanibel. Of course, the shop was closed, but I may go back. I don’t know. I don’t like to have a lot of things to move back and forth, so I don’t buy much of anything at all. These umbrellas in the 15^th were around 38 to 45 euros – which is plenty for an umbrella, but these were especially fine specimens. I backed away from the shop so that I could see its name, above the door and display windows: Brice – baggages, maroquinerie. So it is supposed to be a leathergoods and handbag shop, but all I could see were umbrellas. Beautiful umbrellas. Like I said, there are no tourist attractions near this shop. There is a small hospital and an orphanage nearby, and we’d just passed a Hippopotamus Grill before we found the Brice boutique. As we went by the Hippopotamus Grill, a young couple, each pushing a stroller with a small kid in it, was entering the place. The young woman stopped and opened the door for the young man, who went straight in with the stroller, and did not reach back to hold the door open for her. Somehow, she was going to try to open the door again and get the stroller in ahead of her. So I moved over and opened the door for her. What was that young man thinking? How inconsiderate. She smiled at me, I smiled back, and we went on. A few years ago, Hippopotamus Grill was in trouble for serving – gasp! – American beef! Somehow, they’d imported it illegally. The popularity of American-style eateries among young French families is astounding. When you see a McDonalds in Paris, pop inside and take a look around; listen to the voices. Almost always, just about every customer in these places is French. And those places do a great, booming business. Also not far away from this spot is the Saint Lambert de Vaugirard church. As I looked up the rue Gerbert toward the church, I could see people pouring out of it. The evening mass had just ended. This is not an old church by Parisian standards; it was built in the mid 1800s, but it replaced the very old parish church for the village of Vaugirard, then in the countryside outside of Paris before it grew. The old church dated back to the 1300s. The “new” church is considered to be a great example of “neo-roman” architecture. Its organ is in a state of being restored. The work began in late 2007, and was to entail improving its airtightness. But as the work was underway, more technical problems were discovered. And so the work goes on and on. In the meantime, the church tries to get by with a smaller, electronic “choir organ” which was meant for a smaller room. But this church sometimes has 1200 people in attendance at mass! Using this link, you can see the church in 3D. Just hold your left mouse button down and drag to the right or left. The point of view is from the middle of the sanctuary, and you can look all around from there – 360 degrees. In fact, I notice, that web site has these 360-degree 3D tours of lots of places. I’m going to have to play around with that later, for certain. The small hospital near this church is the Centre Saint Jean de Dieu. Its main specialty is the treatment of children and adults with multiple handicaps, and it has existed for more than 150 years. Its home is now a modern building, however. Farther on, we noticed a very elegant looking Italian restaurant called Taormina, at 333 rue de Vaugirard. It was too early for dinner, however, so we went on. We ended up dining at a different Italian restaurant called Romanella on avenue Felix Faure. It was good, but not great. I suspected that the “beef” in my Bolognaise sauce was really horse meat; not unheard-of in France at all. We’ll have to try Taormina some other time. Earlier in our walk, we’d strolled through the Square Saint Lambert, one of our favorite neighborhood parks. One reason I like it is that people are allowed to use the lawn there. Another is the fantastic flowerbeds. Today I started wondering: who is this Saint Lambert, for whom this parish and this park are named? I looked him up. He lived a long time ago, from around 636 to 700 A.D. His uncle, who was bishop, was murdered, and so then Lambert was made bishop of Maastricht, in what is now Belgium. But his appointment was made by King Childeric II, who was then murdered. Childeric’s enemies then ousted Lambert from his post and he spent 7 years in exile before returning. He made a point of preaching the gospel to pagans in the Meuse, in what is now northeastern France. Then some of his relatives murdered a person named Dodo (I kid you not), so Dodo’s relatives murdered Lambert. Because Dodo was the father of Pepin of Heristal’s mistress, somehow Lambert became a martyr for his defense of marital fidelity. I guess he had criticized Pepin’s extramarital relationship. It is important to note that Lambert was related to Pepin’s lawful wife, Plectrude. Here’s a picture of a 15^th century painting of Saint Lambert’s murder. What a bloody time the 7^th century must have been! Saint Lambert’s feast day is September 17, which this year will be part of Heritage Days weekend. Loyal readers know that we look forward with enthusiasm to Heritage Days. We do so much that weekend, when we have the opportunity to visit places that are not normally open to the public. And loyal readers, I do appreciate you all so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your kind emails, Facebook messages and posts, and guest book notes. They mean more to me than you could possibly know. You’re the greatest. Now, would you all please keep Patricia S. in your prayers? She is one of the newer loyal readers of this journal, and she’s having major surgery tomorrow. Send those good thoughts and vibes to her from all around the globe. She’s one of Tom’s high school classmates from Gaffney, South Carolina. I love you all! May the Force be with you. God bless you. Sign my guestbook. View my guestbook. Note: For addresses & phone numbers of restaurants in this journal, click here.

Sunday, August 14, 2011 Umbrellas at the Brice boutique, 278 rue de Vaugirard. Square Saint Lambert, above, and the church of Saint Lambert de Vaugirard, below. Tom’s pizza and my salad with warm goat cheese on toast at Romanella, on avenue Felix Faure. Among the accoutrements brought to our table was a nice bottle of olive oil with hot peppers in it, for the pizza. ← Previous Next →