While April in Paris offers an
almost cliched allure, if you
ever have the opportunity to go to Paris in December or January, grab it! Airfares are ridiculously low, crowds are few and the weather's not that much different than in New Orleans (40-50 degrees with occasional drizzles).
And during the holiday season, driving down the Champs Elysees at night, with the Arc de Triomphe illuminated and all the trees along the way lit up with Christmas lights, is an absolutely spectacular sight. It is, how you say, magnifique!
Last spring, Rip and Marsha explored some of Paris' sights, shops, restaurants and bars. Here are some others seen during a recent visit.
Museums, Museums Everywhere
As Rip & Marsha mentioned,
the best way to see the museums of Paris is by purchasing a museum pass which gives you access to over 60 sites. If you're culturally inclined, and I don't mean just bar culture, not only will you save money with the pass but time also as it allows you to bypass waiting lines. This especially helps at the Louvre where the new Egyptian section is extremely popular.
After the Louvre, Paris' most famous museum is the Musee d'Orsay (1, rue de Bellechasse, 7th arrondissement), located in a former railway station along the banks of the Seine. In this beautifully renovated building you will find many of the world's most recognizable paintings from 1850-1905: Composition in Black and Grey (Whistler's Mother), The Gleaners by Millet and Manet's Dejeuner sur l'Herbe along with Monets, Cezannes, Van Goghs, Gauguins, Rousseaus, etc., etc.
The Musee Carnavalet (23, rue de Sevigne, 3rd) and the Musee Picasso (5, rue de Thorigny, 3rd) are both conveniently located in La Marais, Paris' gay-est area. The former presents the history of Paris and is worth visiting just to see the 17th century mansion that houses it. With a collection of hundreds of paintings, sculptures and drawings, the latter takes you through every stage of the career of this century's greatest artist and shows how events in his life affected his work.
A stroll through the Tuileries Gardens will bring you to the Musee de l'Orangerie (if you haven't been cruising anyone along the way). In addition to superb Impressionist and 20th century paintings, this small museum contains two oval rooms that are circumscribed by Monet's Water Lilies, done by the artist as a gift to the people of Paris to raise their spirits after World War I. Sit down and take the time to absorb this tranquil, mesmerizing work. The only thing missing is some New Age music.
At the Musee Auguste Rodin (77, rue de Varenne, 7th), you can see the creations of France's greatest sculptor. Such masterpieces as The Burghers of Calais and The Gates of Hell can be found in the museum's gardens while smaller works are inside. Rodin's most famous piece, The Thinker, stands (sits?) close by the museum's entrance gates; if you position your camera just right, you can get it, the Hotel des Invalides which holds Napoleon's tomb and the Eiffel Tower all in one shot.
One of the things I liked about the museum pass is that it prompted me to visit museums I would not have otherwise. The following are three of the many that are included in it.
Musee Antoine Bourdelle (16, rue Antoine Bourdelle, 15th) was the home and workshop of this student of Rodin best known for his Herakles. Powerful sculptures, some of monumental size, display Bourdelle's talent for intimacy on a grand scale.
Fans of Honore de Balzac will enjoy the Musee Balzac (47, rue Raynouard, 16th) filled with memorabilia and illustrations from his books. Located on a street that has not changed much in the 150 years since the author lived there, one can imagine him scurrying out the back way to escape his many creditors.
On a rather nondescript street near Ste. Trinity Church, lies Musee National Gustave Moreau (14, rue de la Rochefoucault, 9th) the former house and studio of the 19th century Symbolist painter. In the days before Freud, his mythological and Biblical scenes must've made folks wonder if he was sniffing a little too hard at his paint tubes. Even today, they remain open to interpretation.
Two museums were not included on the museum pass but were well worth visiting anyway. If you liked NOMA's Monet show, you'll love Musee Marmottan (2, rue Louis Boilly, 16th) home to those and many other of his paintings, including Impression au soleil levant (Impression at Sunrise) which gave its name to the Impressionist movement.
Strangely absent from most guidebooks is Espace Dali, situated near Montmartre's Place du Tertre (18th). Descend into an almost cave-like surrounding where Dali's fancifully surreal paintings, sculptures and installations can still tantalize and captivate your imagination. Though descriptions are mercifully in both English and French, every few minutes Dali's voice is heard over the atmospheric mood music saying something in French that I can only presume is witty, profound or both.
And Now For Something
Completely Different
Although the Basilique du
Sacre-Coeur is only 84 years
old, it is as recognizable a Parisian landmark as Notre Dame or the Eiffel Tower.
Perched high on Montmartre's Mont des Martyrs, it is a marvelously overdone church in the Romanesque-Byzantine style. Try to get there a little before sunset and head up to the dome. The far-reaching view as the sun goes down and the city's lights come up is, in a word, unforgettable.
Unforgettable in a different way are the ancient Catacombes (1, pl. Denfert-Rochereau, 14th). Used as quarries in Roman times, these underground tunnels were transformed into a labyrinth of ossuaries in the 18th century. Headquarters of the Resistance during World War II, les Catacombes, with thousands of bones and skulls lining its walls, would make the ultimate place for a Halloween party.
After the Catacombes, which have remain unchanged for 200 years, I was expecting the Musee des Egouts de Paris (Museum of Paris' Sewers, entrance on the Left Bank side of Pont de l'Alma at quai d'Orsay, 7th) to be like something out of Les Miserables. Instead, this subterranean eight year old museum, uses old photos, maps and diagrams, and displays various artifacts to give a history of Paris' sanitation system which is more closely interwoven with the growth of the city than one would have thought.
The museum is set within a modern, working sewage station and on-the-job egotiers (sewer workers) will answer any questions you have, though it probably helps to speak French. Fortunately, all the displays and short films use English. Not for those with sensitive noses. (By the way, both Les Egouts and Les Catacombes accept the museum pass.)
Emerging from the Alma-Marceau metro station en route to Les Egouts, I saw an interesting sight. What had been a recreation of the Statue of Liberty's flame placed there by the Herald-Tribune Corporation as a tribute to French-American relations, has been transformed into a memorial to Princess Diana as it is approximately above the spot where her car crashed. Notably, amidst the flowers and photos that have been left there, a number of messages make reference to the three victims of the tragedy-Diana, Dodi and the French-born driver, Henri. (Note: Parisians scoff at those who mistakenly think the monument was erected just since the August accident as a commemorative.)
And while we're on the subject of the deceased, the Cimetiere du Pere- Lachaise (main entrance on Boulevard de Menilmontant, 20th) is the most visited cemetery in the world. See Jim Morrison's tomb now before plans are carried through to move it due to the vandalism it attracts. Along with Moliere, Proust, Bizet, Seurat, Balzac and Chopin, lie such gay icons as Gertrude Stein, Edith Piaf and Oscar Wilde, last seen with a "Silence=Death" decal affixed to the back of his burial chamber.
Although all of the above are within walking distance of the center of the city, to make life easier and save your feet for dancing at night, consider getting a metro pass. Paris' subway system is fast, clean and will get you everywhere you want to go. The pass will save you money and is a lot more convenient than getting the little tickets every time you use the metro.
Vive La Culture!
For those who want to partake of
Paris' performing arts scene
but are not fluent in French, don't despair. There is still lots to do.
Paris is host to two world-class opera houses, the huge Garnier of 1860 (as in Phantom of the... ), which also features ballet performances, and the modern Bastille where Tosca, Tristan und Isolde, Carmen and Billy Budd are on the upcoming schedule. Tickets can sometimes be hard to get, so you may want to book in advance.
Founded by Moliere over 300 years ago, La Comedie Francaise (2, rue de Richelieu, lst) continues to thrive. Because it mostly offers the classics, it's possible to get a translation beforehand to follow along. In this sumptuous theater, generally top rate acting and direction make this a treat at very reasonable prices thanks to government subsidies. Currently in the repertoire are Lessing's Nathan the Wise and Moliere's Les Fourberies de Scapin.
I took a chance and went to the Theater L'Oeuvre where Sarah Bernhardt and Eleanora Duse once performed and where Ubu Roi premiered. A production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was playing there with Jean-Pierre Cassel and Marie-Christine Barrault (Academy Award nominee for Cousin, Cousine). Though the style was more Gallic than New England, Albee's breakthrough play was still forceful and Cassel was excellent.
I was luckier at the Theater des Champs Elysees on the posh Ave. Montaigne. Tango Pasion, which has played on Broadway and around the world, was appearing there and I was able to get a ticket moments before the curtain went up. It was a dynamic, exhilarating show with superb dancers whose legs stepped, kicked and spun with devilish precision and whose bodies made you think they were having sex with their clothes on.
The theater itself, where Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring had its first tumultuous performance, has undergone a makeover and was reopened in October of 1987 by President Francois Mitterand. It now sports beautiful murals on the ceiling of the auditorium and throughout the building. Upcoming concerts include Jean-Pierre Rampal (Mar. 11), Yo Yo Ma (Apr. 23), Kathleen Battle (Apr. 25) and Seiji Ozawa conducting Mahler with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Mar. 20/21). Step outside at intermission and you can see the Eiffel Tower, all aglow at night. To die for.
If all else fails, do take advantage of any of the numerous, usually free concerts and recitals held almost daily in many of Paris' churches. Wandering in La Marais on a Saturday night, I heard music coming out of Notre Dame des Blancs Manteaux, a church whose history goes back to 1258. Entering, I discovered a concert made up of three choirs, one French and two from Germany. The final selection, a sublime rendition of Saint-Saens' Christmas Oratorio, took advantage of the church's fine acoustics and sent me back onto the street with a smile on my face, the first of many that evening.
[Next issue: Paris' gay scene where one can eat, shop and be merry.]
