Wellll, off on a new adventure today. Nikki read about some of the cool, ethnic neighborhoods around Paris, so this morning we headed out to find the African area. All revved up for colorful dress, funky food and drumming on the street. Intel from an ex-pat Nikki chatted with at length led us to believe we knew what we were doing….that’s when we made our first mistake (song reference anyone?). Hopped on for our first trip on the metro:
…did you know that I was once known as the queen of the metro in some circles? Anyway, we headed out to the Belleville stop (of the triplet fame?) and started our tour in a very famous cemetery called Pere Lachaise Cemetery, cited as one of the most visited tourist attractions in the city.
Not only beautiful and very old, but “home” to the last remains of a remarkable number of noted public figures from the military, the arts, philosophy, economics and politics. Some of the most notable:
- Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) – French novelist and playwright
- Frederic Chopin (1810-49) – Polish Romantic composer
- Colette (1873-1954) – French novelist and provacateur (legend has it that cats replenish the roses on her grave)
- Delacroix (1798-1863) – French Romantic artist
- Molière (1622-73) – French playwright (remains transferred in 1817)
- Jim Morrison (1943-71) – American musician and poet (one of the most popular graves in Pere-Lachaise)
- Alfred de Musset (1810-57) – French poet, novelist, dramatist
- Edith Piaf (1915-63) – French popular singer
- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) – Irish playwright and writer (remains transferred in 1909; traditional to kiss his tomb while wearing lipstick)
Over 6,000 acres, it was more than we wanted to tackle to visit them all, but we did see a few of the famous – see if you can guess which is which:
Upon exiting, we began walking through the streets. Not so funky, really. Stopped at a boulangerie to get some yummy baguettes stuffed with all kinds of meats and veggies and kept walking. Got to the spot marked on the map, but it appeared to be more of a Chinatown than Africa-town. After much more walking, and noticing that many of the cafes were occupied by men only (and seeing signs for Muslim butchers, which could explain that), we got back on the subway for home (too dirty to get a bite around there). Off near Center Pompidou (a very modern structure that houses modern art museum and dance performances, etc) and found a cool little courtyard in which to have some beverages.
Just so happened to be under a huge dance studio, so we watched the eastern dance class while we re-hydrated. Refreshed, we headed out to L’Isle de St. Louis for a little follow-up shopping, and I hear the strains of music and see a huge crowd in front of the Hotel de Ville. As my whole self was inexorably drawn toward and into the crowd (Valerie likened my movement to the Manchurian candidate), I yelled to the girls that I would meet them at the hotel in an hour.
The concert was sponsored by Good Planet.org to get people committed to lowering emissions by 10% and featured assorted folk, rock, and hip-hop artists. Evidently a couple of them were well-known because the crowd was singing along with their songs. So fun to be looking up at the Hotel de Ville, with all of its history, by the River Seine, under a beautiful sun, with people from another country who love music like I do and sharing the day. Stopped at little booths to see what they were all about (no Stacey, it wasn’t the hokey pokey) and slowly walked back to meet Valerie and Nikki. Aaaah, that saved the day for me and put me in a much better mood after thinking it had been nowhere near as incredible as the previous days.
As we were flopped on our beds, and not feeling like moving (our usual state after being out all day), we chatted about the evening and decided to boldly hop on the subway and venture over to a very highly rated Indian restaurant. After seeing that it was just a number of stops away on our metro line, w decided to take the plunge and head out. Getting there was as easy as pie, and as we headed in, we worried that not too many people were there. Would it really be good? Should we back out now while we could? Went in and ordered…asked what was good. The somewhat indignant French-Indian informed us that it was ALL good, all made from scratch, etc etc. We tried a couple things we’d never seen before and waited. Sacre bleu!!! We wanted to order more and more and more.
Incredibly good, unusual, spiced perfectly and we tried our best to lick the plates. You should ask about the funky dessert we had, if you’re interested. Too had to describe here. Back home and to bed. Going to try and get out early tomorrow…a big day planned!