Rainy Paris: A Letter of Complaint

Dear Paris,
You really tick me off, you know that? Every time I visit you, it pours rain. NOT NICE! Granted, the past two times maybe I deserved it, going in February and March, but explain May! Is it me? Is it personal? Is it becuase I can't speak French? Or, maybe because I try to and it insults you?

Well give it up Paris! Because I am not scared of you and I will not stop coming! Though you may try to stop me from trapseing through your fancy Luxembourg Gardens with crazy monsoon rain that destroys all my shoes, I'll just wear boots! And besides, there is always some place indoors I can run....like any number of your fabulous art museums, or a brasserie, until the sun comes out. And I don't care how many maitre d's scoff at my bad French or my lack of knowledge about the wine list, I will still make reservations and eat your rich, yummy food. And I will continue to marvel loudly in the streets over your floofly, wedding cake-like architecture and fancy, glittering Eiffel Tower that lights up like the Vegas strip every hour on the hour. So forget about it Paris, I will not be deterred, I am not intimidated by you and all your extremities -- I'll be back!

Love,
Cat

Ok, that was really dumb and I probably just lost 2 of my 3 readers. But seriously. Three times in Paris and it has rained on me every single time -- what's up with that??

But it didn't ruin my good time. One weekend was spent with Kate and another short trip two weeks later with Jeff. Both times we stayed in St. Germain des Pres, a very central and lovely neighborhood in the 7th Arondissiment.

Rainy Paris Visit #1: Weekend with Kate (17-19 February)
Kate and I had a leisurely weekend of wandering, food and drink. Highlights included visits to Debauve & Gallais, the oldest chocolate shop in Paris; Laduree, an amazing patisserie which I love for its amazing variety of macaroons (the vanilla and red berry are my favourite varieties); St. Chappelle (I had seen it before but wanted to go back, it's just a dazzling kaleidescope of gorgeous stained glass); we strolled past Notre Dame; walked around the Marais neighbourhood; visited the Pompidou (the fantastically-designed modern art center, where we saw a very wacky and disturbing exhibition called "Big Bang"); we strolled past the Louvre at night (lit up in all its glory); and ate at the restaurant at the Palais Royal -- where the maitre d' informed us for no apparent reason that he likes New York, but prefers Paris (I told him in response that was a good thing, because that's where he lives! I don't think he really wanted a response though ;) We also had a nice crepe experience at a brasserie called "Cafe Mondrian" on Blvd. St. Germain that was quite a scene. They have big, fancy drinks there (with umbrellas, coconuts and lots of fanfare, not very French) and a lively crowd. I had a nutella and banana crepe -- to die for.

Sunday, after breakfast at the famous Cafe Deux Magots (known for its notable literary patrons) Kate and I split up and did our own thing. I went to the Monceau neighbourhood (lovely park there) and toured a fantastic mansion that belonged to a wealthy banking family (the Commondos), still with all its spectacular original furniture and art collection. Unfortunately, the remainder of the family were all killed at Auschwitz during the war, they were Turkish Jews. Gorgeous mansion, rather tragic story.

After that, I stumbled across the Musee Maillol, a gem of a gallery featuring artist Aristide Maillol's sculpture and drawings -- all of nude women. The museum was established by a woman named Diane Vierny, who was a regular model of Maillol's. The sculptures were very beautiful. The whole gallery is dedicated to the beauty of the female form, and it has some real treasures in the collection....including a whole room of Matisse pen and ink drawings of women, none of which I had seen before and all of which I adored; a Renoir; a couple Gaugins; some drawings by Deagas, Picasso and Cezane; and a room of garishly colourful paintings by someone named Camille Bombois who I had not heard of before. It is a really sweet gallery...you can check out the website at www.museemaillol.com.

Rainy Paris Visit #2: Quick visit with Jeffie (8-9 March)
Jeff came to visit me in London for a week, but we had to make a run to France because I had to go to a new business presentation in Chablis for work. So, I took Jeff with me and he played in Paris for the day while I worked out in the country. But Wednesday, after we arrived, we had an excellent dinner near the hotel with amazing food and friendly service, then we walked off that big dinner with an hour stroll (in the rain) around Paris. It was fairly warm though, so besides geting a little wet, we enjoyed the lights of the city. Jeff particularly enjoyed seeing the Eiffel Tower "go crazy" (as I like to say) on the hour when it lights up and twinkles for about 10-minutes. We came back from Paris on the Eurostar late Thursday night.