Well, it's Paris so....

I was thinking of a theme and then it occurred to me. Paris is Paris. It's a smorgasbord if smorgasbord was a French word. 

   ...and yet Parisians are so slender...?

It's spring, so there's that. The streets are filled with young lovers. Old ones too. I'm looking tired and dissolute but regrettably not being mistaken for a local. I recall that even when Ian and Helene's children were very young they could tell at a glance whether a person was English or French speaking and would address them in the appropriate language. And it's the same here. I do try on my French but it's futile. Are the French looking at me

contemptuously or am I misreading their expression and it's just a French one?

   Looking back to the Louvre/Pont Neuf

Paris was an afterthought on this trip. We hadn't booked flight back home when we left and Sophie found a very cheap one out of Paris so we trimmed our trip to Spain and came here three days ago. It's been a fantastic conclusion to our vacation. The galleries, the cafes, the amazing architecture, the street fashion. It's a real treat to take in the urban richness in this unique City of Light.

The Picasso museum was closed when we were in Malaga - I was very disappointed. So I made an extra effort to get out to the Picasso museum in Paris which is extraordinary and very inspiring. He was so courageous and inventive and curious and fearless. I just can't fathom how he swam alone in his oeuvre. No pun intended. 

I was equally blown away by the impressionist (and pre-impressionist) etc work at the Musee Dorsay. Some of my all time faves there. I could spend weeks.

.  Musee d'Orsay

   Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Degas - ouch!

The weather here has been totally 'Springtime in Paris' cliche which is also rewarding. The grisaille. The streets that are so picturesquely  reflective. The magnolias are in bloom. The chestnut trees are just starting to reveal their delicate buds. Hyacinths and daffodils are abundant in the Tuilleries and the Palais Royal. The 'toits de Paris' make one want to seize a paintbrush.

I really been missing music throughout my entire three weeks here. I decided to put on some earbuds and listen to some 50s Jazz from the American songbook. The music really compliments what I see all about me. Sarah and Satchmo singing Autumn in New York works just as well.

  Just about anywhere you look,       magnificent architecture

See ya soon!