5 Days in Paris
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We enjoyed many cafés and met up with a friend from tennis at Luderee. I love that my children know people from around the world thanks to the sport. The Quest Tour at Le Louvre with our Muse guide Charlotte King was a favorite. Having a guide explain the unique stories about the many exhibits made the experience more valuable and exciting. Visiting the Eiffel Tower and Arc De Triomphe made for exceptional views of the city, both equally majestic in their unique way. The Arc is free from peddlers as the Eiffel is littered with annoying people selling cheap trinkets that were just spray painted ten minutes prior.
Being a writer of fantasy and lover of all books witches, vampires, demons and such, I loved the Catacombs and Gargoyles. My daughter, unfortunately, became claustrophobic under the ground inside the tunnels of bones. She enjoyed it but needed to get above ground as soon as possible. The stacks and stacks of bones are fascinating, but you get a sense of emptiness down there. Six million bones are unfathomable. It puts life in perspective. The body seems very unworthy when stacked in a bone graveyard. I’ve often wondered if I wanted to be buried or cremated and thought buried, but now, I think cremated. What good is a bunch of bones once the soul has flown away? You learn in the Louvre that the belief in a soul has always existed, been celebrated and kept safe in many interesting rituals. For instance, the Egyptian Ha, Ba, and Ka seem entirely crazy now with the advancement of science, but there is something to be said about a society that made such an effort for immortality. None of us can comprehend non-existence. I mean, I based my entire novel on a society of immortals.
We also visited cathedrals the size of small towns with soaring heights that put a crook in our necks trying to look up. With inlaid walls of gold and vibrant colors and intricate stained glass and detailed sculptures, these buildings inspire us to worship and hope to bless our souls for salvation. Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur are beyond magnificent. There are no words to do their beauty justice, and the fact that these establishments were built hundreds and hundreds of years ago is pure amazement. But again, we seek immortality and safety for our souls so of course it makes sense to build a cathedral that represents beauty and strength. You can’t help but feel the immense awe as you approach these architectural wonders, especially Sacre Coeur as it sits atop a hill the pinnacle after hundreds of stone steps. Isn’t that the idea? The keepers of our immortality must sit above us common folk. Notre Dame has very few stairs to its entrance, and yet I found its effect on me greater. Something about it felt extraordinary and imposing.
I sought the Gargoyles and finally found them on the sides of the Notre Dame cathedral. As the little creatures stretch out from the stone walls, some look about to fly away while others peer down at you ready to pounce. Other Gargoyles are perched more regally like little generals protecting the divine. Unfortunately, nothing seems to deter the trinket peddlers.
These are the things you must see when you visit Paris. But be advised, there is a lot of walking and staircases. And don’t believe the rumors of rude French people. People can be rude all over the world. You’ll find that smiles are contagious. We had courteous service everywhere we went. But the times have changed, and people are aware of the dangers that threaten our humanity. We entered a small hotel to use the toilettes and got reprimanded for not following the instructions for one person only. In other words, only one person was allowed to go downstairs to use the bathroom; the others were required to remain upstairs. The receptionist explained rather crassly that they are in the highest state of awareness for further terrorism and are taking precautions.
Up and down the Champs Elysees you will find Muslim women holding paper cups. They kneel in silence on the hard concrete and some bow down their heads to touch the floor and outstretch their arms with the cup. The cups are empty, and I wonder why they continue to do this, and why is it only women. This according to my mom and my friend, who have visited Paris before, is a new development. I assume it’s due to the refugee problem throughout Europe. There is something disturbing about a silent beggar.
On Sunday, our last day, our busy but peaceful Champs Elysees was filled with protests and celebration. We rounded the corner to find a crowd of people, the Armenian flag waving, people chanting, a man with a microphone protesting, cars draped with Armenian flags slowing traffic, police vans everywhere and police officers standing throughout with guns and body shields. They said we were safe, but if they had body shields were we safe? Yes, it turned out we were. The demonstrators delivered their message and left. At the same time, Paris was celebrating Saint Germaine’s win of the French Cup. A beautiful French flag rippled in the breezeway of the Arc De Triomphe, stripes of blue, white and red filling the entirety of the space. It was great to experience both the anger from the protest and the joy of the celebrations at the same time. The city was alive.
The multi-culturalism makes this city both diverse and segregated. As much as I enjoyed seeing the many different faces of all sort of nationalities, it can be unsettling when people pass you by looking serious and carrying mysterious backpacks. We live in a world where it is our duty to keep watch so we can protect our fellow man should we be called to do so, but on the other hand, to feel such distrust for another person, a stranger, weighs heavy on the heart. But this too is not new. When you travel to such a historic place as Paris, and you revisit the past through the sightseeing and museums you learn very fast that nothing we are experiencing today is new. Hierarchies of wealth and status, conquerors and their conquered, chaos and peace has existed for centuries, and as it seems, will continue. But just think if it didn’t what would we be? A bunch of identical robots? No thanks, I’ll take the risk to have the beauty.
We enjoyed many cafés and met up with a friend from tennis at Luderee. I love that my children know people from around the world thanks to the sport. The Quest Tour at Le Louvre with our Muse guide Charlotte King was a favorite. Having a guide explain the unique stories about the many exhibits made the experience more valuable and exciting. Visiting the Eiffel Tower and Arc De Triomphe made for exceptional views of the city, both equally majestic in their unique way. The Arc is free from peddlers as the Eiffel is littered with annoying people selling cheap trinkets that were just spray painted ten minutes prior.
Being a writer of fantasy and lover of all books witches, vampires, demons and such, I loved the Catacombs and Gargoyles. My daughter, unfortunately, became claustrophobic under the ground inside the tunnels of bones. She enjoyed it but needed to get above ground as soon as possible. The stacks and stacks of bones are fascinating, but you get a sense of emptiness down there. Six million bones are unfathomable. It puts life in perspective. The body seems very unworthy when stacked in a bone graveyard. I’ve often wondered if I wanted to be buried or cremated and thought buried, but now, I think cremated. What good is a bunch of bones once the soul has flown away? You learn in the Louvre that the belief in a soul has always existed, been celebrated and kept safe in many interesting rituals. For instance, the Egyptian Ha, Ba, and Ka seem entirely crazy now with the advancement of science, but there is something to be said about a society that made such an effort for immortality. None of us can comprehend non-existence. I mean, I based my entire novel on a society of immortals.
We also visited cathedrals the size of small towns with soaring heights that put a crook in our necks trying to look up. With inlaid walls of gold and vibrant colors and intricate stained glass and detailed sculptures, these buildings inspire us to worship and hope to bless our souls for salvation. Notre Dame and Sacre Coeur are beyond magnificent. There are no words to do their beauty justice, and the fact that these establishments were built hundreds and hundreds of years ago is pure amazement. But again, we seek immortality and safety for our souls so of course it makes sense to build a cathedral that represents beauty and strength. You can’t help but feel the immense awe as you approach these architectural wonders, especially Sacre Coeur as it sits atop a hill the pinnacle after hundreds of stone steps. Isn’t that the idea? The keepers of our immortality must sit above us common folk. Notre Dame has very few stairs to its entrance, and yet I found its effect on me greater. Something about it felt extraordinary and imposing.
I sought the Gargoyles and finally found them on the sides of the Notre Dame cathedral. As the little creatures stretch out from the stone walls, some look about to fly away while others peer down at you ready to pounce. Other Gargoyles are perched more regally like little generals protecting the divine. Unfortunately, nothing seems to deter the trinket peddlers.
These are the things you must see when you visit Paris. But be advised, there is a lot of walking and staircases. And don’t believe the rumors of rude French people. People can be rude all over the world. You’ll find that smiles are contagious. We had courteous service everywhere we went. But the times have changed, and people are aware of the dangers that threaten our humanity. We entered a small hotel to use the toilettes and got reprimanded for not following the instructions for one person only. In other words, only one person was allowed to go downstairs to use the bathroom; the others were required to remain upstairs. The receptionist explained rather crassly that they are in the highest state of awareness for further terrorism and are taking precautions.
Up and down the Champs Elysees you will find Muslim women holding paper cups. They kneel in silence on the hard concrete and some bow down their heads to touch the floor and outstretch their arms with the cup. The cups are empty, and I wonder why they continue to do this, and why is it only women. This according to my mom and my friend, who have visited Paris before, is a new development. I assume it’s due to the refugee problem throughout Europe. There is something disturbing about a silent beggar.
On Sunday, our last day, our busy but peaceful Champs Elysees was filled with protests and celebration. We rounded the corner to find a crowd of people, the Armenian flag waving, people chanting, a man with a microphone protesting, cars draped with Armenian flags slowing traffic, police vans everywhere and police officers standing throughout with guns and body shields. They said we were safe, but if they had body shields were we safe? Yes, it turned out we were. The demonstrators delivered their message and left. At the same time, Paris was celebrating Saint Germaine’s win of the French Cup. A beautiful French flag rippled in the breezeway of the Arc De Triomphe, stripes of blue, white and red filling the entirety of the space. It was great to experience both the anger from the protest and the joy of the celebrations at the same time. The city was alive.
The multi-culturalism makes this city both diverse and segregated. As much as I enjoyed seeing the many different faces of all sort of nationalities, it can be unsettling when people pass you by looking serious and carrying mysterious backpacks. We live in a world where it is our duty to keep watch so we can protect our fellow man should we be called to do so, but on the other hand, to feel such distrust for another person, a stranger, weighs heavy on the heart. But this too is not new. When you travel to such a historic place as Paris, and you revisit the past through the sightseeing and museums you learn very fast that nothing we are experiencing today is new. Hierarchies of wealth and status, conquerors and their conquered, chaos and peace has existed for centuries, and as it seems, will continue. But just think if it didn’t what would we be? A bunch of identical robots? No thanks, I’ll take the risk to have the beauty.
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