Paris

I forgot how much I love Europe. Maybe it’s that I tend to be drawn to places that are less civilized; or maybe it’s vague memories of traveling through Europe on a ridiculously tight budget in 2005; subsisting on a diet of cheap grocery store bread and yogurt, sleeping on trains to save money, and sharing hostel rooms with the likes smelly, snoring Romanian men, among many other strange characters. Having an 8 hour layover in Paris today was an opportunity I wasn’t going to mess up, and I came with plans to live lavishly and a budget to match. That made all the difference.

My first item of business after leaving Charles de Gaulle Airport this morning was to spend some quality time at the Musee d’Orsay; Paris’s world renown collection of impressionist art. I spent three days in Paris in 2005, but never made it to the d’Orsay and have wanted to visit it ever since.

I started my tour of the d’Orsay by wandering through a gallery of iconic ballerina pastels by Degas. Further into the museum I spotted a piece titled ‘Le Pont d’Argenteuil’ by Monet that I particularly liked, and a vaguely familiar still life by Cezanne titled ‘Pommes et Oranges’. My favorite piece at the d’Orsay, and probably the most recognizable one at the museum, was a painting of a busy 19th century Parisian street scene titled ‘Bal au Moulin de la Gallette’. It’s interesting to me how a piece of art can capture a moment in time. The idea of painting a crowded city street, for example, seems uninteresting at first, but it was fascinating to me to look for all the details in the painting and to try to imagine what life was like for those people. One of the placards on the wall quoted an impressionist artist as saying that, “Painting is more an impression of an idea than a depiction of an idea. It allows the artist to dream in front of the canvas.” I enjoyed walking past painting after painting and trying to imagine what the artist’s dream was while he was creating it.

Another favorite gallery of mine in the museum was one featuring several works by Van Gogh and Gaughin. A few of the Van Gogh works were instantly recognizable; especially one titled ‘Self Portrait’ painted by Van Gogh in 1889. The Gaughin works were familiar too; although many of them looked similar and I couldn’t remember which was the one I’ve seen all over the place. Most of the Gaughin works were of Tahitian girls. I can only imagine what it would have been like to travel to Tahiti in the 19th centruy, as Gaugin did. Those people must have seemed so exotic and fascinating to him.

I wrapped up my visit to the d’Orsay by taking a quick look around a giant gallery featuring statues made bronze and stone. The marble statues exemplified classic European artwork, but I was most interested in a giant bronze figure titled ‘Saint Michel Terrassant le Dragon”. The statue depicted a strong, powerful warrior covered in armor and heaving a gigantic sword into the air. The emotions of strength, power and fortitude were such a contrast to the delicate ballerinas, peaceful landscapes, and thoughtful portraits depicted in most of the other works in the museum.

Thoroughly satisfied with my visit to the d’Orsay, I took the subway a few stops down to a station called Champ de Mars/Tour Eiffel; the nearest station to Europe’s most iconic travel destination, the Eiffel Tower. Jonny and I visited the Eiffel Tower in 2005 and we experienced everything I wanted to there, but I never got a very good picture of myself in front of the Tower and I wanted to be sure to do that today. After finding a good vantage point a few hundred yards from the structure, I had several different passers-by snap a photo of me. Fortunately I got a couple of shots that included the entire tower and even kept good proportions. I also enjoyed finding unique views of the Tower as I circled the thing, including one from a secluded, flower-filled park to the west of the tower.

Another quick subway ride took me to the banks of the Seine River just across from Notre Dame cathedral. After another photo-shooting spree I wandered to the back side of the cathedral, admiring the flying buttresses and other icons of gothic architecture as I walked, then headed across a bridge to I’lle St-Louis, a small island surrounded by the Seine.

Eating fine French cuisine at a café on the banks of the Seine was definitely the highlight of my day. Le Flore en I’lle, the café I ate at, featured a menu of fine French dishes, sumptuous Berthillon ice cream for which I’lle St-Louis is famous, views of Notre Dame and nearby street performers, and a prohibitively long line leading to the ice cream bar. After perusing the menu I settled on the Souris d’Agneau Confite au cumin, prunaux, amandes, gratin dauphinois (preserved lamb with cumin, prunes, almonds and dauphine-style creamed potatoes). The food was incredible. When I saw my waiter bring the dish out it looked like something I’d imagine eating in a lavish 18th century French chateau in the countryside. The gigantic leg of lamb was drenched in a French sauce made of wine and cumin, with perfectly tender meat that fell easily off the bone. Creamy potatoes covered in cheese accompanied the entree, and prunes, almonds and tomatoes to the side of my plate soaked in the sauce as I ate. Afterwards I treated myself to three scoops of famous Berthillon ice cream – one scoop each of wild strawberry, honey nougat and black chocolate.

After taking time to relax and enjoy my lunch I headed to the St-Michel/Notre Dame subway station and back to Charles de Gaulle. My experience in Paris was more than I hoped for – and certainly more than I thought I’d experience during a brief layover allowing me only four hours in the city. Someday I’ll come back to Paris and see Moulin Rouge, shop for Parisian antiques, and wander through the Latin Quarter. Until then, though, I’ll look forward to visiting a few other exciting destinations. St. Basil’s Cathedral is something that has always seemed intensely exotic and creative to me; it’ll be a pretty good thrill to see it right in front of me tomorrow morning.