We’ve bought a second Museum Pass and so were intent on seeing a couple of museums today (Sunday 23 March). I do recommend these passes. You can get them for two or four days and they let you avoid queues.
The day dawned cold but clear. So off we went back past the Hotel de Ville and Notre Dame. These places have become so familiar! We found the Memorial des Martyrs de la Deportations open, so visited that in passing. It’s a moving memorial. Very austere. A small triangular court-yard, through the apex of which you catch a glimpse of the Seine through bars. Through a very narrow passage-way to a small circular room where the names of the camps are recorded. The main corridor from there has walls covered in tiny gold lights representing those who were deported. We were told we could take photos for our private use but not to post them. Here’s the explanation that’s out the front.
We walked on up, past the Lefebre Church and our first restaurant, Paris Terroir. Having dined in others since we have a better appreciation of the uniqueness of that experience. The lack of traditional French sauces in particular. In daylight, we got a better appreciation of the very fine looking Trades Hall building which lies between restaurant and church.
Joe had a surprise for me in Rue Cardinal du Laimoine. Here is the house where James Joyce edited Ulysses in the home of a friend. I was very pleased to see it. He was in the third house down and at the end of the row there is a garden. Lovely to think of him walking or resting there after his hours of editing. He was a horror at that – the poor French printer nearly went mad with all the changes! There is an Institute of Irish Cultural studies nearby but we didn’t investigate that.
The weather was steadily getting colder as we walked further but was still sunny when we came upon a Marche on Rue Monge. These markets are always full of wonderful food – fruit, vegetables, cheese, meat and bread. As well as other stuff which varies. Here there were lots of flowers, clothes and household goods. We bought some fish – Lotte that a friend has recommended we try, lemons, tomatoes, white asparagus and bread. I would have loved to buy so much more!
We were very close by the Paris Mosque which is where we were headed for lunch. We tried to visit the Mosque but a gentleman in clerical garb shouted something at us. After a moment of confusion the man next to me asked if I spoke English to which I answered ‘oui’. He laughed. And went on to tell me that I’d been told the Mosque was closed until 2pm. Continuing our experience of friendly Parisians. There was a lovely garden that we saw only briefly. When we came back, still before two, our cleric was shooing people away from the front of it.
We lunched at the tea-rooms attached to the Mosque. Lovely and warm inside court yard covered in square marquees that would be uncovered in summer. They covered the area well which was good because in the middle of our lunch it started hailing! We were okay but a couple of tables had to move a bit when water came through holes or gaps in the canvas. The place was full of couples and families. A lovely atmosphere. Great food. Cous-cous and tagines. And pastries.
We managed to get to our first museum, the Institute of the Arab World, between what appeared likely to be continuing rain squalls. We’d passed this beautiful building before and on this overcast day it looked even more spectacular. The tiles are incredible seen from the inside. They are building a display of railway carriages from the Orient Express outside. There were about three outside the building that we hadn’t seen on our last visit.
It was beautiful inside as well. Exhibits of incredibly old objects about language, writing, pottery, scientific discoveries, religion and domestic life. The material was beautifully displayed – white walls and glass display cases meant the overall impression was of lightness. Explanations of gallery contents were in English as well as French. We started on the seventh level and walked downstairs through different floors. The overall impact is to reinforce an understanding of the common heritage and overlapping traditions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. And also a clearer understanding of the differences in, and richness of, cultures and traditions within the Arab world.
We came out to cold and rain. Pleased to have our little umbrellas. Although I was freezing (and grumpy) by the time we got to the Musee Cluny. Here our Museum Pass was worth every euro it cost. We were able to stride past a line of wet and bedraggled people waiting to get tickets and go straight in. One of them, a Frenchwoman, accosted Joe for jumping the queue. We’d been here before but I’d got tired before the end and there was more to see which we were able to do on this visit. It really is full of beautiful things. I still love the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries best
But there were lots of other exquisite objects. The beauty is in the small things here. Like the little statue of St Barbara pictured below. As well as architecture – the chapel ceiling is beautifully constructed. Apparently historians are reappraising the Middle Ages, coming to regard it as being inappropriately named and labelled as a period between two others. Increasingly it is being appreciated as a rich historical period in its own right. I agree.
The rain had stopped by the time we emerged although it remained cold. We were able to walk home. Saw people queuing at a polling station to vote in the municipal elections here. No-one handing out ‘how to vote’ cards, so we assume it’s not allowed. There are posters plastered all over the city and we’ve had people try and give us pamphlets at Metro exits a few times. Home we had a delicious meal of fish and white asparagus. This Parisian life.
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