Summary
Our good weather held on for another day. We had tickets to a show called ““Renaissance : de Vinci, Raphaël, Michel-Ange – L’expérience immersive à l’Atelier des Lumières””. It was… a bit overwhelming. Lots of bright, flashing lights, loud eerie music and pictures of artwork moving on the walls. That done, we headed off to the Parc Floral in the Bois de Vincennes on the far east side of the city. We had been reading that tourism is down in the U.S. but I can assure you that is not the case in Paris. We had further been reading that birth rates are down. I can also assure you that is not the case in Paris! After lunch and appreciating the azaleas and rhododendrons we took ourselves home for a nap. Dinner at our favorite, Le Récamier, for scrumptious soufflés!
Details
Each night before we go to bed we look at the weather forecast for the next day. When we rise (now) we look at it again and (more importantly) we look out the window. The outlook for today was cloudy all day, but not rainy. Looking out our window now, it’s clear blue sky. We’ll take that and hope that it sticks around. We’ll see.
We have breakfast downstairs, again and then head out. We have tickets for “a show”. It’s a glorified slide/video/multi-media show. They’ve taken over a big warehouse and they project still and moving pictures on the walls (and ceiling and floor) and added music (loud) and narration. The subject is the renaissance and Leonardo, Raphaël, and Michelangelo.
The narration is in French (we can understand maybe 5%) so we’re glad there are subtitles. Sadly those are in French, too, mostly. A few of the many surfaces do have English language which is where we focus. There’s also lasers and strobes. As we wander around, if they happen to be projecting a moving image on the floor it feels like you’re moving. We quickly get settled.
It’s well attended and it’s a huge space, so that balances out. We’re glad we went but aren’t sure we learned much. They did computer simulations of what statues like the David would look like only half done (with much of the marble slab still untouched). It was fine. It’s been around a long time. I’m sure it’ll be around a long time. It doesn’t require much staff, so I’m sure they’re making money.
Back outside we see it’s still blue sky and springtime in Paris. For sure we should go visit a parc/garden! There are many in the city proper (Tuileries, Monceau, Buttes Chaumont, Montsouris, Jardin des Plantes, Luxembourg,…) but we’re thinking to go to one of the two biggies. We went to the big park to the west of Paris last time we were here (Bagatelle/Bois de Boulogne), so this time we’re going to [head east, to the Parc Floral. Its name sounds promising.
We’ve been here many times and it seems every time we come there are big swaths that look like they’re “just about to be planted with annuals”. The perennials, thankfully, are usually putting on a spectacular show and this visit is no different. They have a great bonsai exhibit, but the best is the winding walkways with towering rhododendrons and azaleas. Brides are typically there, as they are today, with somebody taking pictures.
We lunch in the park, it’s borderline OK. On our way out we see a Japanese sword skills exposition going on. This is in conjunction with a “Japan-France cultural exchange” we’d seen advertised. The participants are in costume and wooden demonstration swords. They do their movements synchronized. Unrelated, off to one side, is a peacock, not used to being ignored. It has its colorful plumage all the way out and is trying hard to get some action. “What’s it take for a peacock to get some attention around here??!”
We take the M1 metro back to our room. A sign indicates today’s manifestation (strike) has this metro line shut down, but below that it seems to say that the authorities said “the hell you are” and so the line is running. We have no trouble getting back to our hotel and spend our time sitting in the afternoon sun, out on our small balcony, sipping wine.
Closer to dinner time, we get as gussied up as we’re able and head out. We have a reservation at Le Récamier, a soufflé restaurant we visit every time we’re in town. At the 68 bus stop we check to see how long till the next bus. Whoops! Due to the strike this line isn’t being served. Crap.
We hike way over to the M10 metro line and hop aboard. GPS tells us that due to the strike our intended stop, and the one before it, are not being served. On the negative side we’ll have a much longer walk to our restaurant. On the positive side, since so many stops aren’t being served, the metro just whizzes past them lickety-split. We’re at our (wrong) stop in no time.
Dinner is, as always, great. Everyone around us seems American. The couple at the next table, a young professional couple from Boston, strikes up a conversation. They always come here, too, but now it’s just for a dessert soufflé. They’ve been shopping and have some bags with fancy brand names. We don’t ask but assume they in high tech, well paid. That’s Boston (and many other US cities). Their next stop? Somewhere else for some chocolate mousse. Wha??
After dinner we walk a bit and in the process notice that the previously shuttered metro stop is now open. We head in and have no problem getting back to our hotel. Strike over. I hope they got what they wanted (I guess).
Photos
