After less than a week here, we are finally getting settled into our routine. Which is really no routine except to wake up and have a blast exploring this amazing city.
Our tiny (32m) yet comfortable apt., is located on a very busy (cafes/souvenir shops) street in the Latin Quarter right near Blvd. St. Michel. Notre Dame Cathedral is a 1-minute walk away. How perfect is this? Noisy, yes (thank goodness for double-paned windows), but so central. We just go out the door and voila! We are in the midst of busy Paris.
During our 2 months here, Miles will be giving one general lecture, a three 3-hour lecture mini graduate course at École des Mines (Mining School) and will work on joint research with his colleague at the Center of Materials in Evry outside of Paris. He will not be going to the center everyday and will work from home some days, giving more time to hang out with me and play tourist.
Besides just roaming around the many neighborhoods near by, we visited something different: les viaduc des arts. The city took an old viaduct and converted the top into a pedestrian promenade. We walked for a few kilometers along a very pretty tree-lined path called the Promenade Plantée.
The King's reception room
Our tiny (32m) yet comfortable apt., is located on a very busy (cafes/souvenir shops) street in the Latin Quarter right near Blvd. St. Michel. Notre Dame Cathedral is a 1-minute walk away. How perfect is this? Noisy, yes (thank goodness for double-paned windows), but so central. We just go out the door and voila! We are in the midst of busy Paris.
Our little street--rue de la Huchette
(Our apt. door is to the right of the pink neon light)
Notre Dame--right around the corner
During our 2 months here, Miles will be giving one general lecture, a three 3-hour lecture mini graduate course at École des Mines (Mining School) and will work on joint research with his colleague at the Center of Materials in Evry outside of Paris. He will not be going to the center everyday and will work from home some days, giving more time to hang out with me and play tourist.
Besides just roaming around the many neighborhoods near by, we visited something different: les viaduc des arts. The city took an old viaduct and converted the top into a pedestrian promenade. We walked for a few kilometers along a very pretty tree-lined path called the Promenade Plantée.
Promenade Plantée
Below the path on the street, are a series of old vaults converted into
exhibition spaces and into a series of craftmen's workshops and
galleries:
cabinetmakers, musical-instrument makers, fashion designers, textile restorers,
and other businesses related to the arts.
Chair maker
We decided this year, instead of going to a synagogue, to spend Yom Kippur in our own reflective way:
On Erev YK, we went onto YouTube and listened to Barbra Streisand sing Aveinu Malkaynu and a couple other cantors sing Kol Nidre—beautiful. Then we listened to 2 sermons by two American rabbis who spoke about different topics for Yom Kippur and gave us a lot to think about. One sermon emphasized the Jewish desire to choose to live life as opposed to just living. It also introduced the notion that wives like to feel special and that everyday a man comes home to enjoy being with his wife he is tacitly saying to her that he is choosing her, again and again. The other sermon emphasized our ability to not be a victim of our lives by making changes that positively influence our futures and significantly impact the world.
We fasted, and on the day journeyed by metro in the direction of Bois de Bologne. While in a transit station, we heard somebody playing “Jerusalem of Gold”. “Huh?”, we thought. An Israeli song in the metro on Yom Kippur? We went to investigate and found 10 musicians (Russians) who not only played that song, but klezmer and other Russian melodies. It really put a smile on our faces to think it was Yom Kippur, listening to Jewish music in (anti-Semitic?) Paris. Wonderful! It made us feel part of the tribe.
Russian musicians in the metro station
We then went to Bois de Bologne, a huge park on the west side of the city (similar in style to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco) and wandered around, thinking of the rabbis' sermons.
la Grande Cascade (Bois de Bologne)
Model boats on lac Superieur
Always have a Plan B: The next day, we started out on the train (1 hour) to Foutainebleau-Avon for a nature hike in the forest. We had heard about huge boulders and gorges worth seeing. Well, once we got off the train, it started raining and by the time we walked to the tourist office (1/2 hour) and found out where the start of the hiking trail was located. Since the rain continued, we decided on Plan B: visit the Fountainebleau Chateau. Not a bad 2nd choice! With over 1500 rooms at the heart of 130 acres of parkland and gardens,
Fontainebleau is the only royal and imperial château to have been
continuously inhabited for seven centuries and has the largest collection of original chateau furniture in France.
The inner courtyard of Fontainebleau with teeny Miles on the balcony
Once we left the chateau, the rain had stopped so we wandered around part of the vast gardens.
The Diana statue
The canal and endless walkways
Wow, you have certainly covered a lot of territory. I can only imagine your adventures to come. We are so glad you enjoyed the Viaduct des Arts and the Promenade Plantee. How wonderful to find those Russian musicians on Yom Kippur and then cap off your day with a visit to the Bois de Boulogne. What an ideal place to reflect. Sorry you got rained out for your hike, but what a bonus to visit the beautiful palace of Fontainebleau.
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