Paris, once more

We meet downstairs for breakfast. This is the treat of traveling with friends: you get to start the day together.

We. pick up the conversation we last had on the farmhouse porch. One without end. About children, mothers, grandmothers. Elections in Poland, war in Israel, and the relation between the two. About our past lives. About the apartment in Warsaw I once owned that Karolina gutted, redesigned and decorated so beautifully for me.

And it could have continued, this endless stream of thoughts, of shared experiences, but of course, this is Paris, a city where words can flow, but so can the time, away from all you want to see and do here.

As is my habit in Paris, I tend to eventually wander off by myself. These guys are both architects, active participants in the world of design, and they have a full itinerary of Parisian sights, exhibitions and such that they want to cover. They ask me if I want to join up, but I'm feeling less ambitious and so I wave them off and we arrange for a later meetup.

Besides, I have one unfortunate and one fortunate commitment before me.

The unfortunate? Well, I got a call yesterday from the Auberge du Pere Bise. Madame Camic, do you, by any chance, still have the key to the bike you used the other day?

Oh dear.

In the flurry of the return (it was late, there was some truck activity in the parking lot, we were all distracted), I'd not remembered to give back the key. So, first thing on my list? The post office. Located at this intersection of streets:

The second priority is to make use of a ticket I have for the Picasso-Stein show at the Luxembourg Museum. 

(on walk to the museum I pass these kids on a field trip; maybe to the park? elsewhere?)

The exposition itself is not an easy one to view. Predictably so -- Stein is all about words and Picasso -- well, he's Picasso. The title of the exhibition is the Invention of Language: Gertrude Stein's and Pablo Picasso's Shared Revolution. All the descriptive text in the rooms of the museum is in French. But, the two were in the thick of a circle of artists, collectors, and women and men of letters in the Paris of the early 20th century and the exhibition focuses on their connections in that milieu, bring out themes that lead to the further creation of conceptual art in the later part of the century.

G.Stein: "Pablo is doing abstract portraits in painting, I am trying to do abstract portraits in my medium, words."

Possibly one of the more controversial (and therefore interesting) pieces displayed is one by Warhol, from 1980 I believe, created long after Stein was dead. It's a silkscreen called Ten Portraits of Jews of the XXth Century (Warhol nicknamed it "Jewish Geniuses."). Gertrude Stein is among those depicted.

It's interesting to see this show in the Musee Luxembourg, which is right in the park. Both Stein and Picasso lived just a few blocks from this park and both were visitors to it.

(from a publication about the two artists)

(oh, this caught my eye at the gift shop!)

Afterwards, I walk the entire Jardins Luxembourg. The periphery, the obscure corners -- all of it.

It's such a day for it! Warm, sunny, yet autumnal.

(the south end of the park draws young people from nearby schools during lunch break)

(I rarely photograph the Palace from this perspective...)

It's the afternoon and I'm wondering whether I should break my habit of skipping lunch in favor of some midday meal. I scour the neighborhood in search of an idea as to where I could pick up something. Ultimately I shrug my shoulders at every new place and go back to Les Editeurs. Sometimes the act of returning is everything! I always return to Cafe Varenne because of the level of perfection in the simplicity that one finds there. I return to Les Editeurs because it has saved me more than once and I would so miss it were it not there. Countless breakfasts, many lunches, occasional dinners when kids were in Paris. It's never great, but always good enough, and the seating is as comfortable as it gets in these outdoor-oriented eateries.

(salmon, cucumbers, and a blini)

(local strawberries and meringue are hard for me to resist)

(Evening walk to park, just before closing, for my daily check in with Ed...)

And now my friends and I meet up again to eventually make our way to a new place for dinner...

(a pause by a colorful doorway...)

...a restaurant that is recommended by the staff here: Brasserie des Pres (it just opened this June). It's big. It's trendy but ultimately traditionally French. It's a bit crazy, but the food is really good and it does have a more youthful vibe to it, which is appropriate, as my friends are... well, a generation younger than me.

And so the day ends. Well, probably not for them. They're off to explore the far corners of Paris.

Me, I retire to the quiet of my room. To write, to catch up on those back home, to enjoy the floating images that run through my head as I review the day.

with love...