Springtime in Paris

It is hard to believe that it is Spring.  When I arrived on the 15th of March there were remnants of snow on the ground at Orly and granules of sodium chloride substitute on the sidewalks.  I was fortunate, and just in time for Le Printemps du Cinéma 2013, 3 days of films at only EUR 3,50 each, a real bargain.  Since it was cold and miserable, perfect film-viewing weather, I managed to see Au bout du conte, L'Artiste et son modèle (with Jean Rochefort and Claudia Cardinale), Camille Claudel 1915 (Juliette Binoche) and Lincoln (which I missed seeing in the US).

The Sakerettes, a women's singing group from Cameroon via the UK

That first Sunday I managed to catch a group of women singers from Cameroon at the American Church in Paris, and felt I hadn't even left West Africa.  They were lively and had some of the African members of the congregation moving  forward and dancing in the aisles.

Despite the cold, spring was just under the surface waiting to pop out...

There was spring in this flower shop

And Easter according to the department store le Printemps

There were chicks and bunnies everywhere

Including chocolate ones in this confiserie

I managed take in an exhibit at the Musée Jacquemart-André. Eugène Boudin : au fil de ses voyages and enjoyed the seascapes of Monet's mentor.  If you've never visited this lovely hôtel particulier, it is worth a trip in itself, and has an adjoining café where I had tea afterward.  It was not far from the Parc Monceau, and since it was my first warm day, I walked back to my apartment afterward, taking a shortcut through the park, enjoying the improvement in the weather.

 And this afternoon a friend and I saw the hillarious play Cher Trésor starring Gérard Jugnot, the lead in the film, Les Choristes (The Chorus) about a music teacher and a challenging boy's school.  In Cher Trésor Jugnot plays the role of François Pignon, a somewhat naive, stereotypical French character created by director/screenwriter Francis Veber. Afterward we had dinner at the landmark restaurant, Chartier, which I hadn't visited in some 20 years.  Communal tables, noisy, inexpensive, good simple fare, and crowded.  Around since 1896, this standard at 7,rue du Faubourg Montmartre, near the métro stop Grands Boulevards, was just exactly how I remembered it.

 

Chartier--interior

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