Pentecost Sunday offered Janice a chance to get downtown. We began by attending Mass (good Mennonites that we are) at St Eustache, not more than a 10 minute stroll from the Hotel de Ville (City Hall). St Eustache claims to have the largest pipe organ in France, one which I try to hear several times each visit. My favourite works were the ones the organist improvised--at full lung capacity. The choir sang well, doing several works I know. We understood virtually nothing of the sermon because the echo made it difficult to hear. Fortunately, the scripture readings were all printed for us. This shot was taken about 2 seconds after the final "Amen" You can just make out the choir standing in the center, behind the new altar.
We eventually decided it was time for lunch (2:00 p.m.) and were happy to find a place where we had enjoyed having lunch two years ago. It is obviously geared up for tourists . . . why else would menus be available in Russian and English? We sat inside because it was a bit chilly. The table next to ours had two older Parisian women who thoroughly enjoyed being together for brunch.
We had a perfectly poached egg wrapped in lightly smoked salmon on a bed of arugula with a light cream dressing. Our main course was also salad-like, salmon carpaccio (truly sliced thinly) with various vegetables.
Refreshed, we resumed strolling and happened upon the Galerie Vivienne. I hope to do a longer blog on it someday, for this is surely one of the most beautiful covered galeries in the city, possibly because it has recently been renovated. All of the luncheon tables were filled, as were we, so we simply enjoyed walking through the covered hallways.
As we continued walking beyond the galerie, one window display caught our attention, a furry bicycle, complete with tail and cat whiskers.
One store had an enormous window display of old sewing machines, a stack of boxes that was two floors high and several large windows wide. People enjoyed stopping to see the museum-like display (but my photo is more about reflections).
We eventually came across a series of streets that were blocked off, so we hung around, figuring there would soon be some sort of action. Sure enough, thousands of people--families and groups of friends--came walking down the middle of the street. We later learned that this was the "Fédération Française de randonnée pedestre", a 15 km walk organized by this rambling club, starting at the Bastille and wending through many of the most interesting parts of Paris. According to the report just posted by the club, 22,000 people took part in this ramble, the 4th annual such walk in Paris. Everybody was carrying a booklet of maps explaining the area in which they were stolling. Folks would stop and take photos . . . they were having a great time. At the end, people with orange jackets came along and picked up any debris, and police cars followed, ensuring that no traffic interrupted the walkers. I must get better organized and take part next year.
One of the aspects of Parisian architecture I really admire is the 19th-c. housing. Granted, these structures are not for the poor, but I enjoy looking at the various levels, and the ways the different levels interplay with each other as the eye goes from building to building. Law prohibits buildings being higher than 6 storeys.
By 5:00, we finally arrived at the Monceau Park Janice wanted to revisit. She had seen it last in 1989. We walked through some of it, just enough to see that the grass had families enjoying holiday picnics. But it was suddenly turning darker and we felt the rain starting, so we headed back prematurely.
Many people had the same idea, so the métro cars became quite full. After some folks got off Line 1 at Gare de Lyon (also a train station), I had enough room (and courage) to stick my arm up with the little camera and quickly take a photo. I was having difficulty with claustrophbia, so I was glad when we emerged from the train and could finally climb the 35 steps back to street level and (relatively) fresh air. (This is one of the trains in which all 10 cars are completely open to each other. I figure there must have been about 70 people per car, times 10 cars, and even on the holiday--with work on this particular Line--there was a train every 5 minutes.)
Tomorrow is Pentecost Monday, a major holiday in France, but for us, I think the day will be rather like others. Janice wants to work to get through more books because we have a three-day trip which starts on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, as usual, love from us both,
Evan
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