April in Paris

This spring I went to Paris with a college friend. It was her seventh visit and my third, so we skipped a lot of the more usual tourist attractions and enjoyed things that are more off the beaten path, except for Monet's garden, which neither of us had seen. We both love, love, love Paris, and my friend has a savings account which will allow her to live there for several months. She says she will move there and stay until the money runs out. Her husband isn't fond of this idea because he worries that she may not return. (Two cute grandchildren will bring her back...I think.) Within three weeks of our return, we both decided that we "needed" to go back. That's the lure of Paris for us and for many expats who now live there part or all of each year.

It was April, the weather was cool, and on two evenings, it snowed! It was magical. Snow at home? Not so magical, but it was really pretty to see Paris by night with the snow falling. We stayed on the Left Bank in a neighborhood called Rue Cler. We had windows overlooking Motte-Piquet and it was so amazing to open the windows and look out to see this in the distance:

Paris is a wonderful city for children. There are small parks tucked in all over the city, and in the summer, lots of carousels. We came across a hand-operated carousel, and learned the derivation of the term "catching the brass ring." The children had sticks and as they circled past a post with brass rings hanging from it, they used the sticks to try and catch one. It was more difficult than it sounds, and I don't know if the children who were successful won a prize or not, but they were having a great time. The man in the center of the carousel is cranking the wheel to make the whole thing turn.

What is also fun about Paris is all of the art. Yes, there are more museums than you can imagine, but also, there is art in the streets, in the parks---everywhere!

THIS is an entrance to a Metro station:

A friend of mine and her husband recently returned from their first visit to Paris, and they did agree that it is a beautiful city, but they didn't (in their own words) "get" Paris. They saw sidewalk cafes everywhere, full of people drinking wine or coffee no matter the time of day. They wondered if the French work. Of course they do; they didn't see the same people at each cafe all day every day. But the French take time to sit and relax, and so do the tourists. It's a treat to just sit, drink rich, strong coffee or great wine, and watch the world go by. And because everyone from everywhere goes to Paris, you really do see the world go by.

So, if anyone is looking for a travel companion, my passport is ready...and so am I!