The Bold Soul: A Writer's Life in Paris

Optical illusion

Centre Pompidou as seen from gardens outside St. Eustache at Les Halles This photo, which I took a long time ago, makes the Pompidou Center look like it's smack-dab in the middle of a country wheat field, instead of in the heart of Paris. It's not digital trickery, either... there are gardens next to St. Eustache and I guess I just caught this at an interesting angle looking over these tall grasses. Some Parisians detest the look of the Pompidou because of it's inside-out architecture (all the heating ducts and so forth are on the OUTSIDE of the building), but I really like it. It's one of the more interesting structures in the city, and considering it houses a modern art collection, I think the design is very fitting. Read more →

Escaliers

Because I just can't get enough of these picturesque staircases in Montmartre. Except when I have to walk up one of them; then I am bitching and moaning about it the entire way up. In between trying to BREATHE. By the way, I forgot to mention that I have this photo available as a small poster in black & white, here at Cafepress. Just $9.99! Read more →

Reunited, and it feels so good

Sculpture: The Kiss, by Rodin Georges is joining me today in New Jersey after six days and nights apart. Need I say more? Read more →

Thinking

"The Thinker" (and a pensive tourist) In the gardens at the Rodin Museum, with the church housing Napoleon's tomb in the background. Read more →

Remembrance

One memorial that many visitors to Paris may not know about, or even notice because of its location, is the Deportation Memorial (Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation) which was created to commemorate France's more than 200,000 deportees during WWII. The memorial is located just behind Notre Dame's rear gardens at the tip of the Ile de la Cité, and admission is free; it's below ground so don't look for a building or monument, just enter through the gate and descend the staircase into the memorial. I took this photo in 2007 when my best friend was visiting (that's her in the photo, reading one of the inscriptions). Neither of us is Jewish but you don't have to be Jewish to be deeply moved in such a place. It's a small memorial designed to make you feel completely trapped, as if you were someone in one of the camps; behind the iron bars pictured here, there are 200,000 lights along the two walls, one for each of the victims. The round placque covers the remains of an unknown deportee, with the inscription, "Dedicated to the living memory of the 200,000 French deportees sleeping in the night and the fog, exterminated... Read more →

When is a wall not just a wall

Answer: When it is a remnant of the ORIGINAL wall built around Paris by Philippe Auguste, circa 1200 or so. You can even see a bit of a tower there at the end. There are only a few places in Paris where bits of this wall still exist, and this one in the Marais is one of the largest portions left standing. This is one old city. My American brain sometimes can't quite grasp being in a place that is so old that you can find ancient Roman structures (the Arène and the baths at the Cluny) mixed with the Medieval, Renaissance, Art Nouveau and Modern, all within a space of just a few square kilometers. Read more →

Nuages

My favorite view of Paris, from the Pont des Arts looking towards the Pont Neuf. I think it always looks best with some clouds in the sky. Read more →

I miss him already

Georges and I have only been apart for something like 24-36 hours... and I miss him being beside me already. Counting down the days until we're together... Photo taken in the Jardins du Luxembourg. Read more →

Église Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois de Paris

I was going through some photos of Paris I've never posted (as far as I know) and came across this beautiful stained glass from the Église Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois de Paris. (For Desperate Housewives fans, this was the church where Eva Longoria married her sweetie last year.) I had forgotten how beautiful this church is until I revisited the photos. It's just behind the Louvre, so if you're in the neighborhood, stop by and see for yourself! Read more →

Joyeuses Pâques

Photo: Polish bookshop on Blvd. Saint Germain des Pres, 2007 Yeah, I know I'm a few days late to wish you all a Happy Easter. Unless of course you're observing the Orthodox Easter which is this Sunday the 19th. In which case I'm a few days early! And if you think these hand-painted Easter eggs are gorgeous, I wish I could show you the amazing eggs my dear Ukranian friend, Lesya, makes. I still have a few that she made back in 1979, the year we graduated high school. Utterly gorgeous and each one takes hours to paint, with intricate traditional patterns and vibrant colors. If you've got a moment, please send some good energy to my friend (Lesya in Stroudsburg, PA)... she's facing a pretty major health issue (with surgery) right now and she believes in the power of prayer. Thanks. Read more →