The Trip....Day VIII: An American In Paris

Day VIII
Well today was rainy and cloudy and cooler and... probably one of the best days on the whole trip, which is saying a lot. We got up and Sandy had messed around on the internet the night before and found a place that was about a twenty minute walk from the Hotel called “Breakfast In America”. It was perfect and charming complete with booths, a counter, a complete diner breakfast menu and.... ICED TEA! In France! With lots of ice! It was awesome. Our waitress was a sweet English girl who sounded like she was from Chicago. She was evidently used to dealing with grateful tourists. When we entered there was a group of French kids...early twenties... who had clearly been out all night. they were watching baseball playoffs while eating. We ordered, had a perfect little breakfast (other then the hashbrowns which were really the dreaded potatos Obrien. By the time we were done the place had fellied up with a nice eclectic mix of people. It was a great start to the day.

Next we took a train to the Musse’ D Or’. I like art but have no appreciation for it and as I might have said before the religious art leaves me a little cold. This place however was full of the impressionists and most importantly some Van Goghs. It was awesome and a pleasure just to wander around. We spent a LOT more time there then at the Louvre. Some of the art there was of the kind that just moved me.

On the way back we hit the Cathedral of Notre Dame. there was no hunchback (very disappointing) but we inadvertantly went in while worship services were going on. This was a little odd and disjointed as tourists walked around the edges of the Cathedral while about 500 people worshiped and took communion. What a beautiful place. Unbelievable stained glass and architecture. Going to church there would have been nice. I like Catholics, good liturgical worship.

As a special accomodation to me we hopped on the Metro and went up to Père Lachaise Cemetery. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Père_Lachaise_Cemetery. There are Metro stations on two sides of it both which have floral shops next to them so that people can buy flowers for the graves.. It is also the final resting place of the late Jom Morrison. I have always liked the Doors hits but must admit to not owning a single Doors CD though you have to have respect for the body of work and the fact that we did not have to watch him grow old like so many 60’s rockers. How much better is a dead Jim Morrison then a live David Crosby? A lot is the answer. Morrison’s grave is in dierepair and was fenced off. I sat down on a grave next to it and we got yelled at so we went off to oscar Wilde’s grave. Anyone who was imrisoned, reviled, exiled and loved by the French cannot be all bad. He has a really pretty grave.

We went back to the Hotel and napped.

We got up and walked around the Latin Quarter which as I said seems a little like a good boardwalk or Dayton strip. It was a trip just people watching and walking around in the light rain. Paris is beautiful and we ended up getting some more pizza and drinking another bottle of wine and life was good.

After dinner we went to La Cave de la Huchette based on my desire to go watch jazz in Paris. We went in, paid a cover and walked downstairs into what truly was a cave. it appears that a lot of the basements in the latin quarter are carved out of the rock. The room was almost empty and we came in and sat and I went upstairs and got some...BUDWEISER! I had not seen a bottle of Bud in Europe up until that time. Eventually the place filled up and a lady began singing American standards like “Stormy Weather”. The band was tight but what was so much fun was the couples dancing and having an awesome time and between the beers, the music and the dancing it was a delightful evening. In fact it was a perfect day. But the trip was rapidly coming to a close.