Along the Gilded Pont Alexandre III

If you ask Parisians about this past summer in their city, most will bark on n'a pas eu d'été (we didn't have a summer). It's true,... an erratic Spring flowed into July and August and pushed right into Fall (not a bad thing really), but when you expect a string of warm sunny days and instead they come scattered between long periods of cooler cloudy days, well in that case, Parisians had every right to complain...

But last week at the debut of Fall, Summer responded to all the bickering by showing up bringing continuous days of sunlight and warm temperatures, and it was glorious to say the least. So when Friday morning came around, it took less than a second to abandon the piles of paperwork on my desk and head to one of the prettiest and most ornate bridges in Paris, the Pont Alexandre III. The beaux arts lampposts and gilded statues were beautifully matched with the golden summer-like sunlight.

***

Read more »

Morning Light in Paris

Some Paris mornings draw you into their slow sleepy entrance into the day... like a lantern's flame, the sky's shifting shades gently wakes and illuminates the city in the most subtle fiery light.

***

Read more »

Of Paris + Gladiators: Arènes de Lutèce

Long before Paris was the Paris of Kings and Queens, Haussmann buildings and the Eiffel Tower, it was a small settlement called Lutetia, home to the Gallo-Romans, more than two thousand years ago...

I was so excited to discover that one of the two remaining remnants in Paris of the Roman period is in my neighborhood - Les Arènes de Lutèce (French for Lutetia), a partially reconstructed Gallo-Roman amphitheater originally built around the first century AD. It showcased wild animals, gladiatorial combat and theatrical performances until 280 AD, when it was sacked by the barbarian invasion, then buried for centuries until its foundation was rediscovered in the 1860's during the road construction of Rue Monge. A committee led by writer Victor Hugo pleaded for the site's preservation, whereupon more of the arena was excavated and restored over subsequent years.

Historians have estimated the amphitheater once held roughly 16,000-18,000 people. Some of the lower portions of the tiered seating was restored, the platform and niches from the stage settings are still visible, as well as cages where animals were kept before being let out onto the arena.

My son and I watched a burlesque show at Les Arènes de Lutèce recently, and I couldn't get over the haunting sense of the past... sitting in the ancient space of gladiators and wild tigers, of shouting spectators and stoic Roman statesmen. At once disquieting and extraordinary...

To see a video and animation of what the amphitheater looked like in its prime and where it stood in yesterday's Paris, visit: Lutece 3D: Voyage au Paris antique.

Les Arènes de Lutèce

Address: 47 Rue Monge, 75005 Paris (Latin Quarter)

Hours: Open daily - Summer 9am-9:30pm, Winter 8am-5:30pm

Admission: Free

***

"It is not possible that Paris, the city of the future, 

should renounce the living proof that it was a city of the past." - Victor Hugo

***

Read more »

Dahlias: A Beautiful Consolation

A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in...what more could [one] ask? 

A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars. ― Victor Hugo

The other day, I noticed these exquisite dahlias at the market up the street and couldn't resist taking two bunches home. The florist was quick to tell me that dahlias are extremely delicate and should be handled with great care, that I should change their water and clip their stems every day. Doing so would make them last longer, at least a week. So off I went (a half-hearted black thumb) with an armful of delicate beauty.

For the first couple days the dahlias lit up the room, each petal perky and bright,... but around day three I began to see browning. The disappointment that usually follows though, didn't. It was around the period of rentrée (back to school)... and their wilting petals seemed to parallel the ache that always comes this time of year - the end of summer and my boys heading off to school. So this time, I didn't blame my black thumb but accepted the fading dahlias as an act of consolation, mirroring the goodbye to the sweet summer days my boys and I spent together in our new city...

***

Read more »