We split up on Thursday morning with Jen, Dietrich, Emily, Charis and I heading out for a Victor Hugo tour, Gramps recovering from what he believes was a bad bit of seafood in the Quartier Latin and the rest of the group headed to the Louvre.
Our tour began at the Maison de Victor Hugo, which is housed in the Hôtel Rohan Guéménée, where Hugo lived the longest in France.
This was another site that raised a lot of intriguing historical questions. I had known Victor Hugo chiefly as a novelist but was introduced to him here as a political figure of some significance. I was also surprised to learn that he wrote Les Miserables from exile in Guernsey and that he had a lifelong mistress. (This “arrangement” of one wife plus lifelong mistress never ceases to amaze me.)
Acquiring some food from a nearby sandwich shop and the best produce market we saw while in Europe, we ate in the park adjacent the Hôtel. I will be forever kicking myself that I didn’t shell out a little extra money to purchase one of the amazing small lunches I saw in a local deli. After we ate the kids were able to play on the small playground while I captured some more candid shots. (Parisians: Volume III, forthcoming)
From there, we made our way to the nearby Church of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, the site of Marius and Cosette’s marriage in Les Miserables. We also discovered some gigantic clam shells that were holding the holy water and only later did Jen discover that they had been given to the church by Victor Hugo himself, whose daughter had been secretly married there.
This was the first church in which I came across something I would see and appreciate numerous times throughout Europe -- art projects and installations in the church, mostly by local artists or parishioners. This particular installment was a very compelling series of photography done by different artists illustrating each day of creation. This inspired me to begin my own while travelling, and while I have not yet entirely decided on selections or if I might want to get a few more shots, the shot below is a serious candidate for the Second Day of Creation:
“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”
We had one more site to get to, Luxembourg Gardens, but decided to call it a day a little early.
On the way back to our apartments we stopped at a more American style kids park for Charis to get some good ol’ down home play in. In the movie Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell says, “God made me fast. When I run, I feel his pleasure.” Watching Charis at a park, I think this is probably true of her even at the age of five. Here is a special dedicated slideshow to our little whirlwind:
_____
_____
We also encountered the largest, most condensed family we would see in France here at this park. Three boys, two girls and an infant, all under eleven or twelve, at least, with a mom on the phone the entire time. I actually understood for the first time why children are sometimes called “little chickens” when I saw them squabbling over a skateboard. It was a joyous romp somewhat like the one I used to watch whenever my Grandpa Mohler used to throw tomato worms or fish entrails over the fence to the Barton’s chickens back on Mohler Road in Ripon, California. Again, a dedicated slideshow:
_____
As a bonus surprise, we passed by an American cafe on the way home and they were celebrating the Fourth of July, Parisian style!
After joining up with the other group in the late afternoon (though Gramps was still out of commission), we headed back to Montmartre, which was a bit disappointing. You could tell that there might be an interesting way to spend some time there, but we were caught up in some tourist vector that wouldn’t let us go. Trinkets and uninteresting restaurants hurrying the crowds in and out. I can’t escape the feeling that we likely missed something here, but perhaps not. Perhaps there is nothing left of interest there and to look would be forcing things.
Day 08 Reflections
Reflection One: For a child, the playground is special because it is a playground. It’s being in the middle of Paris changes nothing. This means that my children, to varying degrees and in different ways, will each have experienced Paris in a very different way than Jen and I.
Reflection Two: By this point, I believe I had almost entirely forgotten the responsibilities of my job and other affairs at home. This is a very good thing from time to time. The relentless pace of responsibility is dangerous to the soul. A true vacation, such as this one, genuinely rejuvenates -- an interesting word to explore more fully in this context.
re·ju·ve·nate
verb ri-ˈjü-və-ˌnāt\
transitive verb
1
a : to make young or youthful again : give new vigor to
b : to restore to an original or new state <rejuvenate old cars>
2
a : to stimulate (a stream) to renewed erosive activity especially by uplift
b : to develop youthful features of topography in
Click below to watch the slideshow or double click for more options. If you cannot navigate the slideshow, click here to go directly to the album.
_______
Glad you included my favorite little redhead in the gray dress.
ReplyDelete