If all roads lead to Rome, it seems that all planes land in Paris. Certainly, the city’s most famous attractions are worth some selfie-stick puncture wounds, but sometimes one craves room to inhale. With personal space a primary goal, my friend Susan and I booked an apartment on Rue Cler, a pedestrian-only gastronomic wonderland.
We deposited our luggage in our apartment and collapsed at an outdoor table right outside our door. Over coffee and crepes at Ulysse, we noted that Rue Cler has just the right mix of tourists and locals who have time to stroll.
A grocery store with basic provisions is an unassuming presence on a street with two chocolate shops, two wine shops, cafes, and shops selling farm-fresh food and bakery products. A cheese shop carries 400 varieties of cheese. Two delis across from each other have an ongoing competition to offer the finest food for the best price.
As weary as we were, it was tempting to turn our Parisian experience into a food fest. But the Cluny was open, and I had waited decades to see “The Lady and the Unicorn” tapestries.
Medieval Masterpieces
Musée National du Moyen Age (formerly Musée Cluny) in the Latin Quarter is seldom visited by group tours. It is built on Roman ruins that have been excavated down to the mosaics of a Roman bath. “The Lady and the Unicorn” tapestries woven in Flanders in the 1500s consist of six panels celebrating the senses. In the last panel, the Lady, known as the Mona Lisa of woven art, makes an enigmatic statement: to my sole desire.
The museum houses the original heads of the kings of France from Notre Dame Cathedral and an impressive collection of medieval stained glass. A gilded silver reliquary of the Virgin and Child from the 1400s is beautifully crafted and was once believed to hold the Holy Umbilical Cord.
From Foucault to Rodin
We continued our time travel with a short walk to the Panthéon that Louis XV rebuilt in 1774 on the ruins of a church dedicated to St. Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris. One of the great neoclassical monuments, the Panthéon is now the primary burial place for martyrs and notable French citizens. In 1861, physicist Léon Foucault demonstrated how the earth rotates by building the 220-foot Foucault Pendulum beneath the central dome. Although it is now housed in the Musée des Arts et Métiers, a true copy commands the centre of the Panthéon.
Our next stop was the Rodin Museum. The mansion was closed for restoration, which probably discouraged visitors. The three-hectare grounds include a rose garden and a lake. Many of Rodin’s masterpieces are displayed in the gardens where he placed them, including “The Thinker.” Watching the play of sunlight and shadows on the bronze statues, it was obvious why Rodin placed so much of his work outside.
A Parisian Evening
We picked up a baguette, melon, cheese, roasted chicken, and a bottle of wine from Rue Cler shops and ate in our robes. After dinner, we walked to the Eiffel Tower to see it glowing with 20,000 lights. The lights twinkle for five minutes on the hour.
To get away from the carnival atmosphere in front of the tower, we headed to a little park behind it. We watched the stunning light show as if it were performed just for us. Heading back to our apartment, we were not too tired to stop at Ulysse for Grand Marnier crepes to top off our first day in Paris.
Hey! That’s a Monet, Not a Backdrop
We spent days seeking the lanes less travelled, but could not resist the Musée de l'Orangerie housing Monet’s magnificent water lilies. It wasn’t crowded, but a large group considered the art mere backdrops. Camera flashes, selfie sticks, and people jostling for the best background for family portraits diminished our experience.
Hushed Galleries and Gleaming Glass
Built before shopping malls, Paris’s 19th-century covered passageways are evocative of a time when people took time to linger. These arcades have glass domed ceilings and hand-carved wood features. Shops and cafes open to mosaic walkways. Galerie Vivienne has small shops of elegant items, a rare book store, and a tea shop, A Priori Thé. There, we enjoyed scones and tea at our “outdoor” table under the gallery’s glass dome.
On our last day, we decided the 13th-century Sainte-Chapelle would be worth the 40-minute security line. The upper chapel has 6,458 feet of stained glass windows. Two-thirds of the glass is original. More than a thousand Biblical figures are illustrated on a blue and red jewel-toned background. We were enveloped by light and colours.
Memories of the glowing glass of Saint-Chappelle carried us graciously through the airport lines the next day. Our lovely sojourn in Paris had come to an end.
Carol Stigger is a Chicago-based writer, teacher, and traveller who specializes in developing nation issues, microfinance, and leisure travel. [email protected]
