Yesterday (May 19th) I spent the morning at the Centre, getting organized, etc. and we walked to the best market, about 10 minutes from here, which is open Wednesday and Saturday mornings. I fear we are already in a rut of sorts, buying still more of that special sauerkraut with bacon, more couscous with various vegetables cooked with it, some amazing Swiss cheese (Emmenthal) and a tiny round cheese, normally the size I associate with goat cheese but this was made of cow’s milk—a unique taste to my tongue, and very good spread on bread. More fresh broad beans (called Co-Co here), strawberries, new potatoes, etc. Our favourite bakery is closed today and the other is simply not as good, but we were stuck. Next week we will stockpile bread supplies to get us through that one day, though baguettes hardly last more than an hour.
I went downtown after lunch, hunting for another church to admire and shoot. Today’s victim was the parish church Sainte-Elisabeth-de-Hongrie, Notre Dame de Pitié, not far from République. I’ll spare you the shots until later, but just one for now, showing the side aisle straight ahead and looking through an arch into the main sanctuary. The sunlight was again interesting because of its intensity. Our weather is finally started to feel springlike, getting into the low 60’s or so.
What I will show you are some casual shots taken on the streets of Paris, either as I stroll along or while waiting for someone interesting to move into a special sunlit spot—without a car or other people getting in the way. This is harder than it sounds, and it requires more courage than I can muster for more than a few minutes.
Some streets in Paris have a very nice sameness about them, partly because the city restricted the heights of buildings very strictly, partly because of design fashion. When parts of Paris were leveled so that Haussman and others could redesign it, the major streets were made very wide and even today have a certain grandeur about them. I try not to think of the tens of thousands of people who were forced to move so that this urban renewal could take place, but more than a century later the results are still visible.
I also enjoy some of the more fancy buildings of past centuries which have touches of pure folly. For instance, I could imagine myself having a little study in this little tower's top floor. But I would hate to have to pay for a new roof job.
Sometimes I like to look inside buses while they wait for the traffic light to change. It is interesting seeing what people do in order to while away their commuting time. I could imagine this gentleman reading the paper every time rides the bus, oblivious to the throbbing city beyond his window.
I've shown you some truly narrow streets in villages. Some Parisian streets also still retain their original dimensions. They may have been thought reasonably wide 800 years ago, but traffic congestion has changed. Medieval streets were mud and filth (the chamber pot could be emptied out the window more easily than carried to the river), but now they are completely paved, not a weed to be seen anywhere. The sidewalk on the right is just wide enough for a man's shoulders, but you instinctively go closer to the buildings when you hear a car coming. The sidewalk here on the left is much wider, but that only invited people to park their cars and delivery trucks on the sidewalk. Slowly, over many decades, Paris has been putting in iron barriers of various types in order to reclaim sidewalks for pedestrians. The last government very actively pursued policies which are purposefully discouraging people from using cars in Paris--and it is working; driving is hardly worth it. You can't really see it here, but all streets in Paris are graded so that street cleaners (people with brooms) can turn on little water faucets at street gutters (pavement level) and wash each gutter either daily or every other day. In spite of millions of people in Paris, the city is quite clean.
I don't know quite why, but even though I love coffee and am retired, I can't see myself "wasting" time just sitting at a café drinking coffee and reading. Yet that is what Parisians love to do most. They meet friends at cafés or have business meetings at those little tables, or just sit and soak up the sunshine while pretending to sip their coffee or drinks. However, I do enjoy shooting photos of people sitting outside, and am slowly learning how to do it without getting into a confrontational situation. Young people especially like this part of Parisian life.
I am also intrigued with some of the restaurants which manage to get some of the enclosed seating out onto the sidewalk, with lots of glass windows which can then be opened in good weather so that you are both inside and outside.
Rain is predicted for tomorrow, but I don't mind because it is very clear that Paris needs rain, both for the trees and plants and for the streets. Janice is getting into her work quite seriously by now, dealing with problems caused by the official reworking of the Classification Décimale Universelle (not to be confused with the Dewey Decimal System). She tries to explain it to me, but I don't quite get it. Which is why I go out and take pictures.
Love from us both, Evan
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