Jenni & Joe
The Itinerary
The Journal
The Travelogue
Practical Info
Write to Us

Bon Jour from Paris!

JOE: The "City of Light" is bright, sunny and spectacular … what a wonderful place to begin our six month adventure! We've walked about 100 miles in the 5 days we've been here and have been lucky enough to balance sightseeing with relaxing and enjoying coffee and dinner with our Parisian friends at some excellent cafés and restaurants. (For more details on our sightseeing please see The Paris Travelogue.)

JENNI: I think I packed too much. Even Joe is now beginning to wonder whether we really need that kitchen sink! Of course that's just a joke, but I'm serious when I say those backpacks are not lightweight. We're not far enough into our trip to know what we need and what we don't (and I put serious thought into why we packed what we did) so we'll be carrying them around as they are for a while longer. But I'm still going to look into postage rates for sending boxes home!

We're staying with Fabienne and Bob in the Bastille district of Paris. Fabienne is French (we met her during our trip to Paris last year) and Bob is from Washington, D.C. They have a beautiful romance that prompted Bob to quit his life in D.C. just two weeks ago and move to Paris without understanding a word of French - except the dirty ones. He starts French classes on Monday that will last for a year. Staying with Bob and Fabienne is wonderful - their home is a third-floor walkup with one bedroom - very comfortable. They show us parts of Paris and introduce us to Parisian cafes that we might never have seen if not for them. Our stay in Paris is that much richer because of them. They are looking into buying a convection/microwave oven for their kitchen, and Joe and I will give them a gift certificate to help them buy it. It's not much, and it's certainly not very romantic, but we figure it will be a permanent part of their kitchen and make their lives easier - good things to remind them of us.

JOE: To experience Paris is to feel a continuous assault of the senses. The weather has been just marvelous. The temperature is in the 80's with a smooth, cool breeze that caresses the face. The outdoor markets are colorful works of art. Imagine if the Kroger's lost power and they had to take everything outside directly to your street corner and sell it individually in booths. That's what the markets look like. Everything from chicken to fish to fruits and vegetables is in a display with hawkers constantly yelling for Jenni's attention. "Hey, you … Beautiful … BEAUTIFUL! Hey, BEAUTIFUL! OH MY GOD!" (That one got her attention, by the way!)

Now combine those scents with the aromas of all the different dishes from the thousands of cafés and restaurants and the vendors making fresh crepes on the street corners. But then add the noise and pollution of a big city and the dog poop that litters every sidewalk and you see what I mean by "assault of the senses." The visual landscape is overwhelming. Every corner has a sight worthy of a painting or a sculpture. While the Notre Dame Cathedral, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the Seine River are all beautifully scenic, the every day life scenes are what excite me. People walking everywhere … women who stride out with this air of confidence -- no, superiority -- that is charming long before it gets annoying. Paris is for the Parisians and they want the world to know: this is their house.

JENNI: Speaking of markets, on Thursdays and Sundays there is a market right outside where we are staying. We'll get breakfast there or some nearby café and eat it on a bench before starting our day walking and walking and walking, staying mindful of the poop while gawking like the tourists that we are at all the marvelous, curious, beautiful, ugly, interesting things we take in. Our first full day took us to the Eiffel Tower. We'd been there before, but this time we climbed the steps to the second level and saw the Parisian cityscape and its landmarks from (almost) a birds-eye view. We got there early in the morning before the onslaught of tour groups, and relished the few moments of privacy with the city of Paris. We went back a few nights later to see it light up the night sky - and every hour after nightfall for about ten minutes, the entire tower sparkles like giant July 4th or Bastille Day fireworks.

We also saw the Saint Chapelle Cathedral, located on the Ile de la Cite - a small island between two branches of the Seine that is in the heart of Paris. In fact, the Ile de la Cite was the original Paris - the entire city, or town, was located on this small island. King Louis IX, known as the "Devout King" built the Saint Chapelle to house the religious relics he bought from the Emperor of Constantinople. The relics, consisting principally of the Crown of Thorns, cost more than the entire chapel did. The King's family used the upper chamber as their personal sanctuary - the lower chapel was intended for the servants, and was much more humble than the upper chamber. The upper camber is is filled with awesome stained glass windows and skyscraping ceilings. Twelve statues line the walls above eye-level, and are created in two distinct styles: one style is more remote, with less detail. The other style incudes fine detail that attempts to give "life" to the apostle. The picture below shows the detailed style.

The tunnel where Princess Diana died became part of our tour around Paris when we stumbled across it...we saw it at nighttime, along with several other tourists. The monument of a flame is not there to remember Diana - it's an exact replica of the flame held by the Statue of Liberty in New York City (a gift from the French government) but people place flowers and pictures in remembrance of the Princess on this monument anyway.

We attempted to see theMusee d'Orsay, which is renowned for its collection of Impressionist art. I say "attempted" because the staff of the museum was on srike, and therefore the museum was closed. Apparently that happens a lot in Paris. I also attempted to see the Paris sewer system, but due to flooding, it too was closed. Not sure if flooding happens a lot in Paris, but I'm beginning to see a pattern. We did not attempt to see the Louve, although I heard that was open. We saw portions of the Louvre last time in Paris, and wanted to see some lesser-knowns this time around.

JOE: Yeah, that museum being closed left me with a bad "impression" too. We did get around to seeing the modern art museum in the Pompidou Center, though, which is outrageous yet beautiful if you squint your eyes, look at it sideways and don't try to figure it out.

JENNI: Although I would not say I'm a modern art fan, it does make me think twice about how to see things. Although I'm still thinking about that artist who "refused to represent the unrepresentable, and therefore represented only what could be understood." THAT's a real quote describing the artist's intent of a painting we saw!

JOE: As you can tell from The Paris Travelogue, we are not going hungry. A huge thanks to our very generous Parisian hosts. They have spoiled us with their hospitality, genuine care and sooo much food!. Fabienne has gone out of her way to translate for us and make our transition very smooth. Do NOT believe the stereotypes about rude Parisians. The people we've grown to know here are as genuine and warm-hearted as any we've met in the world! But they really have spoiled us because now we face a great deal of uncertainty as we will tangle with foreign languages and customs without a guide. And it won't be easy to sleep in hostels, cheap hotels and trains. And as romantic as it has been, we're still searching for time alone. This is a big, crowded, noisy city. I'm looking forward to trading the loud caucophony of the metropolis for a quiet beach! Stay tuned. We'll write more from our next stop -- San Sebastian --a small town in the Basque region of Northern Spain.