My Burkina Journal: Passing through Paris

The cold was a shock to my system, but the strikes did not hit the Paris Metro or RER particularly hard. I took the Supershuttle to my place, sitting in the front seat next to the driver, and because I spoke French and chatted with him (?) was the first to be dropped off! I certainly didn't complain!

I missed the Paris Book Fair which had been the week before, and my niece, Becky, decided not to join me as she had originally planned. In addition, my friend Rebecca and sometime (French) theatre companion left three days after my arrival for the states, and my frequent Paris travel partner, Judy Koucky decided to remain in the US because of the Easter holiday. This made for a much quieter time. Even my first scheduled Saturday luncheon date with friends Jean-Jacques, his companion Genèvieve, and Anne-Marie and Jean-Marc, was cancelled because a freak accident. It was to be held at Anne-Marie's childhood home, but the daughter of Anne-Marie and Jean-Marc had suddenly taken a fall, and to prevent a miscarriage was now temporarily confined to a wheelchair. She was now staying with her parents and the burden of extra guests was just a little too much too soon...

Instead, I joined a Paris Meet-up group--they really are everywhere it seems, and participated in an open-house art-walk held in various ateliers located in the 6th arrondissement. About 18 or 19 of us first visited a museum in Montparnasse honoring the resistance movement and the liberation of Paris.

This was followed by a walk to the various ateliers scattered throughout the arrondissement.

When I recounted my walk to my friend Geneviève (mentioned above) she was most interested in seeing photos of the artwork as she herself is a ceramic artist. I had visited her and Jean-Jacques the following day. Unfortunately there were mostly paintings, drawings, lithography and sculpture, and no ceramic art to show her.

Actually there was also photography, engravings, calligraphy and a couple of creative jewelry artists, but I managed not to see the works of the sole ceramist listed in the informational flyer we received.

paintings of Constance de Maistre

a sculpture by Patrick Renauld

art by William Réginald Alcorn

here was too much was crammed into a very small space

metal sculptures by Florence de Ponthaud-Neyrat

posable sculptures by Iris Vargas

We then stopped the Eglise St-Ignace where pre-Holy Week services were just underway on the Saturday before Palm Sunday

This church is completely hidden from the street outside

And then a final stop a a place that made "American" cakes (cupcakes?) which also featured an atelier (across the street) where you could learn how to make them yourself...

This Alice-in-Wonderland cake was quite clever

And then, there were always the little everyday problems--I had issues with my wifi when I first arrived, then problems with the television and the decoder box had to be replaced. "Madame, your decoder box is VERY old--you've had it since 2008." I also had the joy of spending an hour or so (being cut-off several times) with four separate technicians as my remote for the television wasn't the original one, and I couldn't get the image on the screen to stop rolling... I FINALLY figured out through experimentation myself, with no help from SFR, that I had to press "0" when I turned on the tv to prevent this... (!) The good news is I got a EUR 15 reduction on this month's bill, and two months of free movies (which I won't be here to watch) because I've been a customer for so long... Well I can see that SFR is working for my business...

Although spring is a bit tardif this year, there are more and more signs of its growing presence. I attended the Easter sunrise service at the American Church, where I frequently attend while in Paris, and even the sunrise was muted. Nevertheless it was Easter and we shared the paschal greeting: "the Lord is risen!" with its joyful response "He is risen indeed!" Breakfast, lovingly prepared, followed afterward upstairs in the Thurber Room, a large meeting room inside the church. It still was a good time to be in Paris and it would be bittersweet leaving...