Note: Picture above – detail of the center of the Galleries Layfette Dome.
Paris is my favorite city. I just love it, and a visit to it is always appreciated. We are staying tonight at Hotel de l’Europe again, up by Gare du Nord. Not the best neighborhood, but the hotel is safe, and the customer service is top notch. It’s a block and a half from the train station, and easy from the airport, so it’s been perfect for this trip.
Gare du Nord train station (North Station) is really an architectural wonder. A little rough around the edges, but when you look, the bones are exquisite. I wish I had had my camera out when we walked into the station from the train this morning, but alas, I did not. However, after the last blog with the picture of some detail of Gare du Nord from earlier in the week, my dad sent me this note about his time in Paris during the Korean War:
“The photo of the Gare du Nord train station brings back a flood of memories of my Aunti Mame, when I was drafted into the US Army in 1956 and stationed at Sampigny France. I would get enough money to make the train trip to Paris and my mother’s twin sister, Aunt Dorcas, would meet me at the station and we would have a wild time in Paris.“
My Great Aunt Dorcas was an artist, and she was living in Paris, studying painting at the time. Dad told me that she once took him to the Moulin Rouge, and told him ‘not to tell his mother’! I thought of those stories while walking into the station. How many other stories those station walls could tell!
Just as last week, we were let into our room at 11am, when we arrived. We were able to get settled, then headed out for a real meal. Both of us wanted something we knew we could count on, so we headed off to our old standby, the Galleries Layfette, for some real food. A rib eye steak, and a slab of salmon for Sharon, and we were good to go. I got some new pictures of the dome, which never gets old, then we headed up to the roof for some pictures.
It was the first time we’ve been on the roof when it was sunny. Usually it’s been raining. It’s amazing how much closer everything looks in the sunshine. I could see the Grand Palais over by the Effiel Tower. I’d really wanted to go see it this time, as it looks like an amazing place in the pictures I’ve seen. A really good example of the Beaux Arts school of architure. But it was just too hot to traipse all over the city today, and we decided to save it for another time.
Instead, we went to one of my favorite needlework stores, Les Bonheurs des Dames, in a neat inside passage, Passage Verdeau. As we headed into the covered passage, we were greeted by a pretty, sleek black cat. We tried calling, ‘kitty, kitty, kitty,’. Nothing. I recalled another story from my Dad of his time in France, when a cat wouldn’t respond to ‘kitty, kitty, kitty,’ but would come, purring, to ‘le chat, le chat, le chat’, so I tried that. No go.
While we inside the shop (I highly recommend it. They have wonderful things!), the shopkeeper told us the cat’s name was Napoleon, and he belonged to the bar across the passage. Apparently he patrolled on a regular basis, as we saw him marching past as we had something to drink at the bar. We were beneath his notice, clearly, as he had important work to do.
As I’ve said, I love this city. From the wrought iron rails to the uniform 6 story buildings, but each unique in it’s stonework and decoration, to the unexpected views. One which surprised me again today on the way to the needlework shop. Walking across a narrow street, there was a surprise view of Sacre Coeur, centered perfectly on it’s hill. It’s those kind of things, like the stunning courtyards glimpsed through the double doors in the buildings that keep me always looking for new things.
I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story of today.
Suzanne’s Travels 