On Monday Sept 17 I had a wonderful lunch with friend Patricia, and later I met my tour mates and our guide Stephen, who has a PhD, wow. He's friendly and funny, and we all introduced ourselves and told something about why we'd chosen this trip. Thank goodness, there are a bunch of people who have come alone, 5 of us to be exact. Whew! We probably ate dinner but I can't remember. Geez it must have been memorable :D We had a boat ride on the Seine, the same one I did last night, but it's always good to do it again. Why not? I'm in Paris! For some reason that day I took a photo of dog poop laid out in the shape of a cross, which is just all kinds of wrong. There is a lot of dog poop in Paris, so watch your step. Apparently I wanted to capture the whole Parisian experience, leave it to me.
On Tues Sept 18, it's "hit the ground running" day. We get on the Metro, which was pure comedy to me. Everybody else got the hang of it quickly, but to me it was a backwards maze that made my head spin off it's axis. Stephen does a great job of explaining it, but of course I don't get it and never will, so I basically follow Stephen like a little puppy. He will surely get tired of me, but right now he's generous and tolerant. He walks fast, so it's a good workout for me, the shortie. Some of the tourmates seem to have a sense of direction, hallelujah. Stephen eventually leads us to Saint Chapelle cathedral, which is sort of awe inspiring, except one side of the cathedral is being renovated, so it was covered in a giant billboard thing. What a buzz kill. But it's still beautiful. I just wink one eye and the billboard goes away, voila!
We had a "walking tour" and walked through the Latin Quarter , St Germaine, the Invalides, and other neighborhoods that each gave Paris a different flavor. In each of those districts, the architecture is breathtaking. The streets are narrow and surrounded by tall stone buildings that reflect the historic heritage of France. I saw some famous areas that were featured in the movie “Midnight in Paris” with Owen Wilson. Sometimes we’d just happen upon it, and someone would say “OMG those are the steps Owen Wilson was on in that movie!” Everyone grabs their camera. Later on we'll look at our photos and go "OMG, why in the h*** did I take a photo of STAIRS, I officially hate stairs and never intend to climb another stair."
We were in many gorgeous catherdrals such as St Sulpice while mass was going on in Latin, and in Notre Dame (incredible.) My very favorite was the exquisite St Sulpice, by far. Of course Notre Dame has the "flying buttresses" and Stephen gave us a little lecture on that, which flew right over my head, so I don't remember what that's all about. I think it's something to do with Gothic architecture and roofs not caving in on the rest of the structure. I don't get the flying reference though. Fortunately I'm not the tour guide. Lord knows how that would wind up, my having the directional dyslexia and all. We'd have to call it the "timbucktu" tour.
We strolled the gorgeous Musee L‘Orangerie and the Jardin de Tuleries (garden), I was moved to tears by Monet’s Water Lilies painting, which is laid out in a circle around the room. Knowing that Monet went blind and his impressionistic method was partially driven by the loss of his vision was moving to me, beyond words. Just knowing I was there, in person, in Paris, in this important place made me weep. Some of my tour mates saw me and I pulled it together, yet I felt such gratitude and worship being in this place. I feel so blessed. Wouldn't it be great to have a remote control and put the experience on "pause" now and then in order to fully absorb it. That's how I felt in front of The Water Lilies.
Later we hit the d'Orsay Museum, which is really pretty cool, but my new friends Cindy and Sandy and I farted around too long, and then found out the museum was closing in 45 mins! This art is getting to me. Being inches away from these famous works of art was simply unbelievable. We also saw of course a gazillion tourists, and it was hard to even see the art half the time. I did see a guy with a Rick Steves tour book in his back pocket, which is also art, the art of back door travel. Not quite Monet, but whatever.
Me and the girls had our dinner on a park bench on the Seine. Dinner included a large baguette and sweet cream butter, fromage (cheese) wine, olives and a pastry. It was divine! We reviewed our tour mates’ names, and quizzed each other. We called Jerry and Janine, "city and country" and we called Craig "that guy with the cute baby face." We got the Gary's mixed up with different wives. We'll get it eventually LOL!! All the others went out to enjoy various cafe's in Paris, and apparently nobody had a ham and cheese sandwich or banana.
It is now Weds Sept 19 and today we had a guided tour of the Louvre, but it went by fast with the Louvre tour guide able to elaborate only on selected popular works, but it was far more moving when I was there on my own and able to truly stop and absorb the history and the emotion.
Today we are leaving Paris and meet our bus driver Matt. I am on the bus. With wine J Maybe 9 oz or so. Pleasantly buzzed. 13.9% alcohol in this product. Next to me are Vicki and John. He is a recently retired optometrist and she is a retired teacher. Lovely company. I am fully present, does that make sense? It is absolutely ok to be alone and safe and guided. I couldn’t drive right now, blood alcohol level too high. Perhaps I can't walk either, cuz at the rest stop I can barely get off the bus, and then can't figure out the bathroom. Once I'm inside the stall, I'm tipsy and laughing and hoping nobody can hear me!! Once back on the bus, I get emotional, what the.....? Too much wine? No. Not too much wine. Too much meaning to this moment. Not the bathroom moment. To so many other meaningful moments. Is there “too much?” On your trip of a lifetime, the one you have dreamed of and never thought possible? No. Certainly no. For me, there is not enough Kleenex for the tears of gratitude. Thank you, thank you, thank you……
On the bus, Christy behind me is coming down with a cold and she feels really sick. Like I did the day before my trip. I feel wonderful, thank the Lord. Her husband is Jude, and she is a trouper and a good sport. We all spent $4195 for the tour, and that doesn’t include airfare (or alcohol/souvenirs) so poor Christy. I will be especially nice to her, and don’t worry - I will wash my hands a LOT (and brush my teeth.) I say a little prayer for Christy.
OK, hmmm what? Oh great Stephen is announcing room numbers at our next hotel in Beaune, France. Holly: you are in room 14. I hope it’s on the bottom floor. Oh dear, now Stephen is announcing an upcoming orientation walk upon arrival. Great. I’m not sure I can walk a straight line at this blessed moment Haha!!!! Can I fake it? I'll soon find out. Stay tuned.
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