Ville avec Lumière à l'Intèrieur

Maison Saintonge, Paris 16, France

It is impossible to convey the character of a city in a single blog of some few hundred words.  I shall not attempt such a thing.  But for now, after two days of roaming this ville métropolitaine, I can marvel at what I have encountered.  Now granted, the heat wave broke, and we were treated to walking (about 10 miles a day) with temperatures in the high 70's.  But regardless, what we encountered were cafés bursting with energy and good humor, a city still basking in the success of the 2024 Olympics, art exhibits and a pulsing, creative culture that quite deservedly should be the envy of the world.

Some have described Paris as the "City of Light."  My experiences would be on a deeper level than just storefronts or illuminated bridges, or a spangled Eiffel Tower.  It comes down to a reverence for beauty, a holding up of the pursuit of creativity, a dogged devotion to the arts and to the artist.

We started out our day by crossing the city by Métro and arriving at the former Hôtel Biron – otherwise known as the studio belonging to one Auguste Rodin.  A fun fact to consider: the mystic and poet Rainer Maria Rilke and his wife were the pair who first introduced this hotel to the renowned sculptor.  The rose gardens were in full bloom, matching the perfection of cooler temperatures and cloudless skies. I had been here once before, but was glad to retrace my steps in artistic pilgrimage!

Later on, that first day, we went to a museum that has a deep hold on my heart: the Musée d'Orsay.  Let's first note that this incredible bastion of beauty, once a burned out train station, then rebuilt as part of the preparations for the 1900 World's Fair, is now breathtaking both inside and out.  There, within this sanctuary of artistic endeavor, thousands of pilgrims stood in line to see the largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings in the world.  Van Gogh, Degas, Gaugin, Renoir, Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec – these and their counterparts can be found under one roof. From the fifth floor (the floor that houses most of the works of Van Gogh), you can look out across the Seine: there is the Louvre, the Jardin de Tuileries (where the 2024 Olympic flame and its balloon are perched), the View Ferris Wheel, and far away, Montmartre and the spires of Sacre Coeur.  

My observation: this is a young city.  Most of its inhabitants have not known a global depression, nor have they known war, at least the likes of WWII.  They have, however, experienced terrorism: the attacks of November and December 2015, attacks that left 130 people dead in coordinated attempts throughout their city.  A decade and a memorial garden later (in front of St. Gervais church), there is, nevertheless, a sense of welcome, diversity and tolerance, a love of food and a delight in gathering that is sadly lacking in other places we've visited over the years. Whoever said that Parisians are rude and abrupt probably never spent a few hours learning some basic words and phrases to help convey their desires.  

It is good to be here! To look upon the Eiffel Tower (and the balcony, where Celine Dion came back from a long illness to christen the '24 Games with her achingly beautiful performance of Hymne à l'Amour).  To walk along the Seine – probably not as clean as last summer, but nevertheless shining as the life-blood of the city.  And yes, to visit the temples of extraordinary art, held holy in shrines like the d'Orsay.  It is not just a City of Light.  It's a city that cultivates a sense of interior light, keeping sacred a joy of life, the need to respect diversity, and celebrating humanity as only this remarkable city can do.  

Tomorrow: a recap of our pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris – one of the compass points of our journey to France.