An American in Paris

May 15: An American in Paris. Actually, two Americans celebrating their 24th wedding anniversary. After resting following our 24-hour, sleepless journey, we recognized that we had little time to experience the French capital. We went out to eat at a nearby restaurant in the Latin Quarter, so named because the language was taught at many schools in the area in the Middle Ages.

One of the first things one notices is giant teddy beans seated throughout the establishment. When I asked why, I was told they were a sign of happiness during COVID. They’re not limited to that restaurant but also appear at various shops.

As we were leaving, I took particular joy in seeing three adults my age or older sitting with this specific bear, even though there were other tables available.

We wandered down to Notre Dame. It’s a mighty impressive edifice, even during its renovation following the 15 April 2019 fire that toppled its iconic spire.

I love this hidden garden.

This piece of art was a block from our hotel.

May 16: After breakfast, we walked around the immediate area. The Panthéon is “a monument in the 5th arrondissement…  built between 1758 and 1790.”

Ultimately, we realized we needed to take a tour bus around the city to see the sights at least. There were at least two Hop-on Hop-off bus tours of the city we saw, Big Bus and TootBus, which we took. It cost about 40 Euros, more if we wanted to ride the Seine, which we could have, but time was more a factor. We did stop at the Louvre, though we didn’t have tickets, so we didn’t go in.

We did see the noted locales, albeit briefly. C’est la tour Eiffel, taken on the tour bus.

TJ

We returned to the MUSEE D’ORSAY area because we had homework. Our daughter wanted us to make a video of us singing to the beginning of The Election of 1800 from Hamilton with something definitively French in the background. Specifically, she wanted us to emphasize the lyrics: “And they say I’m a Francophile: at least they know I know where France is!”

My wife had spotted a statue of Thomas Jefferson. We made a couple of attempts, but I don’t think they’re satisfactory, in part because of the lack of skills of the actors and film crew.

We ate at a nearby restaurant. While we were sitting, a dozen police vehicles, all with sirens, passed by; we never did figure out what that was about.

We decided to walk back to our hotel. It was farther than I anticipated, and we stopped twice. But what was great was that we got to see random images we photographed. We also purchased a couple of souvenirs for our daughter, including a pink beret and a wedding card for Deborah and Cyrille.

After a brief stop at our hotel room, we went to a restaurant only two blocks away. We stayed inside partly because it was cool and the cigarette smokers were out there. Even indoors, we could catch a hint of tobacco stench from the guy outside our window.

I was captivated by a table of eight people sitting outside, six women and two men. At least three people walked or rode their bicycles by and stopped to chat with the octet. It seemed very…French.