My Parents Visit Paris

My parents, our last visitors to Paris, brought the sunny skies and warm weather with them.  In fact, it almost got too hot for us their first week here.

Dad and Mom on Pont de la Tournelle

Mom checks out the view from our
balcony overlooking blvd Saint Germain

I was a bit concerned, since my parents are in their 80s, about getting around Paris and handling all the stairs in the métro.  So my strategy was to go everywhere on the bus.  We have 10 bus lines close to the apartment and I think we used every one while they were here. 
Saturday we walked across Île Saint-Louis to the right bank and the Marais to the Hôtel de Sens to see the Charles Loupot Poster Exhibit.  They enjoyed it as much as I had and I noticed new things this visit.

Garden behind Hôtel de Sens



Hôtel de Sens

Loupot
Painter of Posters

Their first Sunday here we walked home from church past the back of Nôtre Dame.  The cherry trees were in full bloom and it was gorgeous!

Nôtre Dame

We have been enjoying beautiful sunsets with our balcony view of the Eiffel Tower and Nôtre Dame.

Sparkling Eiffel Tower

Nôtre Dame

Eiffel Tower Sunset

The first week we went to the Gustav Moreau Museum on Monday.  This museum has been one of my favorite new discoveries.

Dad in Moreau's Dining Room

Moreau's Studio

We have been "roughing" it here in Paris with only a washer in the apartment and no dryer.  I was actually surprised at how well we did air drying everything from socks to sheets and towels.  The picture below shows a common sight during the last four months.

Drying Socks

On Tuesday we went to the Paris Temple by Versailles.  I was concerned about getting us out there because it is quite exhausting taking the métro to the train to the bus and it involves a lot of stairs.  That was not going to work for us this time.  So I found an alternate way to take the bus to a different train station with only a few stairs and we took a taxi from the Versailles train station to the Paris Temple.  It was a long and exhausting day but worth the trip.  I was sad this would be my last trip out to the Temple.  A cute couple from Tahiti took our picture.

Christus Statue at Paris Temple

We took our time Wednesday morning as we recovered from our full day Tuesday.  We went to the Orangerie in the Tuileries Gardens in the afternoon to see Monet's water lilies.  I don't mind seeing them over and over again with each visitor.

The Orangerie

Place de la Concorde in
front of the Orangerie

Thursday morning we saw the Eiffel Tower and then went to the Marais to Place des Vosges and the Maison de Victor Hugo.

Maison de Victor Hugo

Place des Vosge

It was a long walk home so we stopped part way at the Café St. Regis on Île Saint Louis for a late lunch.  The weather was warm and the walls of the café were open.  It was a delightful lunch and it gave us the energy to make it the rest of the way home to our apartment.

Café St. Regis

Dad at Café St. Regis

We loved the view of Nôtre Dame and Île Saint Louis along our walk home.

Mom and her Chicken Paillard

Nôtre Dame and Île Saint Louis

Friday we decided to tackle the Musée d'Orsay.  We enjoyed the Impressionists, Van Gogh, and more.  We arrived when it opened so it was not very crowded.  Usually there are throngs at the large clock with a view out to Sacré Coeur.

Bartholdi's Statue of Liberty

Dad and Mom at the Clock

I wanted Kelly to see the Antoine Bourdelle Museum near Montparnasse that I had discovered so we took my parents there on a very warm Saturday.  The bus ride was long and hot but the French were so kind to give up their seats for my mother.  Even though the buses are air conditioned, this is France and no matter how hot it gets in April and May, the air conditioning is not turned on until June! 
We enjoyed the gardens at the museum and the sculptures.  I now recognize Bourdelle's sculptures at the Musée d'Orsay, including his break-out piece, Hercules the Archer.

Dad in the Hall of Monumental Plaster Statues

Kelly and the Dying Centaur

Hercules the Archer

Sunday evening we took advantage of the continuing nice weather to take a bus up the hill behind our apartment to see the church Saint-Etienne-du-Mont and the Panthéon.  We arrived at the church during evening mass and enjoyed the beautiful music in one of my favorite churches.

Saint-Etienne-du-Mont

The Panthéon

On our final Monday we saw  Nôtre Dame and made a quick trip to La Grande Epicerie at Le Bon Marché to buy the good French butter to take home.

Mom and Dad at Nôtre Dame

Rose Window in Nôtre Dame

Christ's Baptism

On the way home from Le Bon Marché we hopped off the bus at Odéon to get a crêpe at our favorite stand.  Mom and Dad loved the fresh jambon fromage crêpe.

Watching the crêpes being made

A crêpe with a smile

 

That evening we went on a Seine boat cruise.  This was the first time Kelly and I had gone this trip to Paris.  It was so eerie this winter when the Seine was flooded the cruise boats were idled for so long.  The river is finally down to normal levels and we had a lovely ride seeing the buildings and monuments from a new angle.

Cruising below Nôtre Dame

Eiffel Tower

Pont Alexandre III
Our favorite bridge

While Kelly and my parents went home on the bus, I stopped to buy something for my mother near Nôtre Dame.  The façade of Nôtre Dame is so pretty in the evening lit up by the setting sun.

Nôtre Dame

We were enjoying a decrease in the temperatures this second week and went to Luxemburg Gardens Tuesday morning.  It was fun to see the children sailing the boats in the fountain.  We enjoyed a little sun and a little shade from a palm tree and walked from the gardens to the church Saint-Sulpice.

Luxemburg Fountain and the Sailboats

Relaxing at Luxemburg Gardens

Saint-Sulpice

We admired the newly restored paintings by Delacroix in the church.  The statue of Saint Peter holding the keys is a replica of the one at Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome.  In the Middle Ages, pilgrims who came to the Basilica in Rome traditionally touched and kissed the foot of the statue and prayed to Saint Peter asking that he be merciful and open the gates of heaven for them if they died during the pilgrimage.  People observe this same tradition at Saint-Sulpice and you can see how the foot is shiny from touching.

Heliodorus Driven from the Temple by Delacroix

Spring Equinox line and Gnomen

Saint Peter with the shiny foot

After my parents left, I returned to to the Delacroix Museum on Saturday.  I wanted to see his house and studio in warmer weather.  They had a lovely exhibit about his paintings at Saint Sulpice.  He lived close by so he could easily walk there every day to work.  They showed some of his studies and the art that influenced him, along with paintings that drew inspiration from Delacroix's paintings in the church.  Flowers were blooming and I'm sure as the weather continues to warm, the gardens below his studio will be even more beautiful.

Study for Jacob Wrestling with the Angel

Chagall's Homage to Delacroix's
Jacob Wrestling with the Angel

Roses behind Delacroix's Apartment

Delacroix's Garden

Delacroix's Studio

Our last stop on Tuesday was to ride La Grande Roue in the Place de la Concorde.  It will come down permanently in May and my parents wanted to ride one more time.

La Tour Eiffel from the Ferris Wheel

We had done everything on my parents' list so on Wednesday I suggested that we go to the Jacquemart-André Museum and see the special Mary Cassatt exhibit.  I had taken my parents to this museum in 2009 and it is another favorite.  We really enjoyed seeing the home and art again. And we learned more about Mary Cassatt as we admired her paintings.  As an American Impressionist who lived in Paris, she is often overlooked in France.  Cassatt was good friends with Degas who mentored her.  He helped her paint part of the background of her painting of a child in the blue armchair.  The painting was rejected by the official French Salon but was displayed at the Impressionists Show.

Little Girl in a Blue Armchair

Baby in a Pram

We had a lovely dinner that evening in our old neighborhood at Café Central on the rue Cler. 
Thursday we went to Sainte-Chapelle in the morning and the rest of the day was a packing day--for both my parents and for us.  The last time my parents were in Paris, the inside of Sainte-Chapelle was full of scaffolding for restoration of the stained glass windows.  They wanted to see it once again without obstruction.  This time I noticed something I hadn't focused on before in the lower chapel.  It is a fresco of Mary and the Angel Gabriel--the Annunciation.  It is from the 13th century and is the oldest wall painting in Paris.

The Annunciation

After packing we walked over to the Pont de la Tournelle to say goodbye to Nôtre Dame and Paris.

Dad, Mom and Kelly
on Pont de la Tournelle

View from our Balcony

I think I wore my parents out but we had such a good time seeing Paris together and traveling everywhere on the bus.  They were able to see old favorites and also some new things.  And we look forward to seeing them next week in Utah.