A Paris Minute

Turns out you can fit a lot into twelve hours in the "City of Lights." My amazing friend Alison took a solo trip to Paris so that she could coincide with Matt and me as we traveled the city with his parents for a few days between London and Amsterdam. Sunday, July 30 was the appointed date for a very, very happy reunion.

We started with a walking tour of Le Marais. A fun fact learned on tour: "gargoyle" comes from the fact that these carved stone extensions serve the purpose of guttering waste water off the walls of buildings. Through the hole in their mouths the rush of water makes a gargling sound, and bingo -- gargoyle.

Le Marais has a history of comings and goings, of war and peace. The signs of the passing ages are worn on the neighborhood's surfaces. There are the remnants of fortified walls commissioned by King Phillip II Augustus, off fighting in the Crusades and (rightly) concerned that his sometime ally King Richard the Lionheart of England would infiltrate France in his absence. A cannonball from the 1830 July Revolution remains lodged into a the facade of the Hotel de Sens, today's Forney Art Library.

Le Marais became home to merchants, traders, and artisans over time. Eventually Jewish immigrants escaping to "free" France from pogroms elsewhere in Europe joined this community. Some of them became especially distinguished as jewelry makers, conserving every stitch of precious material, shaking gold dust from their smocks and hair so that it could be collected and re-processed. Standing in the sunny garden looking at the smelting furnace chimney, I loved picturing the precision of their craft.

Matt, Alison, and I already knew Le Marais for the tragedy of World War II, when under Nazi occupation the Vichy government deported its substantial Jewish community (estimated at around 9,000 people in 1940) to concentration and extermination camps, resulting in the deaths of over half the population. We stopped at a school where our guide Benjamin reflected on this catastrophe and on how the majority of local people didn't resist it. Around two hundred children were taken from this one school alone. The headmaster's attempt to hide and protect some of the children barely scratched the surface of the many deaths of the Shoah.

After Le Marais, Alison and I met up with Matt and his dad to admire Sainte-Chapelle's stained glass panels, dating from the 13th century.

Next Alison and I took a tour of the Palais Garnier (Opera House). I've listened to a lot of "Stuff you Should Know" and "99% Invisible" podcasts. This informative guided visit felt like experiencing a pod like that in real time and space. Who knew that an entire extra wing of the building held stacked scenery changes that could be rotated into use?

From the Opera House we walked to the 2nd Arrondissement for wine and cheese at a sidewalk cafe. Then it was dinner with Matt and his parents: boeuf bourguignon, escargot, salade de lardons, filet, and chardonnay. Delicious.

To cap off the night, we attempted to get into Bar Hemingway for cocktails. This proved too selective for us, or at least we just never found the right door; in any case neither we nor the other group of three tourists we saw poking around at the Ritz gained admittance.

Instead, a perfect end to the night -- photos and fond farewells on the Pont Neuf. Thank you, Alison, for coming to be with us. Your joie de vivre is always evident, and it simply sparkled on our day in Paris.