One of the things many miss when they visit Paris is just the sheer delight of having no goals, of meandering the streets of Paris in whatever arrodissement in which you find yourself.
After a fun Friday night Saturday morning I set out to a cute restaurant overlooking the Seine and the south side of Notre Dame. Had a typical Parisenne salad (Nicose) and just sat and enjoyed the scenario. Then I wondered the fifth arrondissement happening upon the strangest chairs I have ever seen (photos); would you be enticed to sit on one of those chairs? Then on I went to find a beggar with his cat and two rabbits. At first it appears that the cat is about to eat the rabbits but upon examination was merely treating the rabbits as his personal pets, jumping on top, rolling them over with his paws. PAX.
Then I happened upon a cute open air market place, which I will have to return to, went on through Luxenbourg Gardens to a museum I had been meaning to visit for a month: Musee Zadkine, a sculptorist who lived in the early 1900s during the Picasso and Rodin period and you can see their influence on his sculptures. They also had a special exposition of a Chinese sculptorist, Wang Keping, who cust trees and then sculpts from the limbs. It was really a cool and interesting exhibit and none of my French or English friends have ever heard of it!. Tre cool when I discover such a find.
I walked near the canal last night with the twinkling lights at dusk and it was quite pretty (photo).
Today, Sunday went down to the other end of my metro line(always interesting characters to see on the metro: above photo) to the 13th arrondissement, Place d'Italie, where there was an art show going on all over the neighborhood in the artists' homes or studios. So I became acquainted with the 13th.They had the largest open air marketplace I have seen in Paris, literally blocks of vendors. If you couldn't find something wonderful to eat you must be bulimic!
If I wrote travel articles I would urge travelers to be sure they have relaxing, goal-less walks whereever they travel. It may be the favorite part of their trip.
So, what did you do with your weekend?
No comments:
Post a Comment