Paris

Paris. Often visited before. This time trying to reveal its pleasures to a friend new to Paris. So we do the tourist things, but I try to find something new, even in the well-known places. It is good having a hotel in a residential area, watching mothers bringing their children to maternity and elementary school early in the morning, the children wrapped up in hats and scarves and warm coats, each with their own backpack. Amazing that everybody comes on foot, not by car. After delivering their kids safely to their carers and teachers, the young mothers and fathers do some shopping in the small supermarket opposite and go either back home or to their respective jobs. I enjoy the happy chatter and noise of the children down my window, the starting of scooters and mopeds, useful means of transport as they can be easily parked anywhere.

Crib in the Church of the Dome

Crib in the Notre Dame

Churches and the aftermath of Christmas: Every church still has a crib, probably till February 2^nd, Candlemas, the presentation of the Christ child in the Temple and the end of the Christmas period. In the streets of Paris the stalls of the many Christmas Fairs are being broken down and removed, a rather sad sight. But there are still illuminations everywhere.

Crib in the St. Pierre Montmartre

It is great to notice that the famous churches, the Notre Dame and the Sacre Coeur, are not just tourist attractions but still places of worship. After a morning Eucharist my friend and I walk around the magnificent church. When we are at the back of the choir, in the ambulatory, we hear this heavenly music, sung by female voices. We think it is a recording, one of those with Gregorian chants often heard in churches and cathedrals. When eventually we can see into the choir again, we discover 12 nuns in the stalls, singing the office of the hour. It is noon. Do they sing the Sext? One nun is playing the zither and accompanying them. It is as if angels have descended from heaven. Their voices send shivers down my spine and take my breath away, so pure and ethereal is their chanting. Completely covered in white flowing robes, except for a black veil, they seem to be the angel choir which has come down from heaven. It reminded me of the Singing Nun, Soeur Sourire, who in the sixties made a name for herself with her pure voice.

Different view of the nave of the Notre Dame with a large carpet on the floor, woven in 1830

Notre Dame

Of course the Saint Chapelle, no longer used as such, is another must, a highlight every time I go. The vibrant colours of the stained glass windows and the painted walls, columns and vaults ar unbelievably beautiful. No iconoclasm here fortunately!

Sainte Chapelle Paris

Next to the Sacre Coeur is the church of St. Pierre, older by far than the Sacre Coeur and a haven of peace among this tourist part of Paris, Montmartre and Place du Tertre with its fake bohemian atmosphere and artists, and the excorbitant prices in the adjoining cafes. It is an ancient church, well kept, a place for prayer and reflection. No noise from the bustling streets penetrates the ancient walls of this serene church.

 

St. Pierre Montmartre

The mad drive down to Pigalle in a minibus, a kind of shuttle, through the narrow and steep cobbled streets is a first and a godsend for my companion. We have to hold tight not to be thrown through the bus. But we arrive safely down, in a fraction of the time it took us to walk up the “Mont”.

Seeing the Eiffel Tower through the Peace monument, a glass monument with the word Peace written or edged in 32 languages and 12 different alphabets, is a new experience and a moving surprise. This Wall for Peace at the end of the Champs de Mars and in front of the Military Academy is not mentioned in any of my guide books! Is was built for the Millennium, so has been there for a considerable number of years.

 The Dôme des Invalides is not far from here, so we pay Napoleon a visit. What is more interesting is the church at the back of the Dôme and connected with it, although not accessible from the Dôme for us tourists. Here too is a crib. It is a modest church, rather plain compared to many other churches in Paris, but light. We leave it via the courtyard, lined with canons, their mouths forever empty.

And there is another first, a ride on the Ferris Wheel on the Place de la Concorde in the dusk. It is rather scary to look down, but the view down the Champs Elysees, its trees still decorated with blue Christmas light, is amazing. We go round three times, enough to get a good view in all directions. That it is dark makes it all the more interesting, seeing the big boulevards as paths of light, the red tail light of the many cars as slightly undulating serpentines, as well as the illuminated Eiffel tower. Taking pictures through the glass of our capsules or the slits in the metal framework isn’t easy, but the views are imprinted on my brain.

The Lady and the Unicorn

I can never resist the Musée de Cluny, le Musée du Moyen Age. Apart from the beautiful and very modern looking medieval carved wooden statues and miniature ivory sculptures, what always attracts me most are the Flemish tapestries of the Lady and the Unicorn, representing the 7 senses, although what the 7^th really is, is not very clear. Especially the one of the lady playing a portative, a small portable pipe organ, allures me: the unicorn, the symbol of chastity and purity, and the pipe organ, the music, hearing and sound. The colours, still vibrant and bright are absolutely amazing.

Besides the museum houses a set of beautifully carved oak choir stalls from Blois, France. Formerly taking pictures in the Museum was not allowed, and I had no chance to extend my collection of misericords. But the ban has been lifted, so I had a go at photographing quite a few interesting ones.

In the streets of Paris the stalls of the many Christmas Fairs are being broken down and removed, a rather sad sight. But there are still illuminations everywhere.

Then there is the abundance of concerts, although the beginning of January, after a very rich and busy Christmas time, isn’t the best time of the year music wise. However, the concert in the Théâtre des Champs Elysées is wonderful. An all Tshaichovsky programme with the Philharmonia Orchester and Vladimir Ashkenazy as conductor,  its main attraction is the concert for violin, with Vadim Repin as soloist. It has attracted a full house, and we only managed to get two tickets on one of the balconies at the far end of a row on the left. So we only see half the orchestra. Fortunately, with a lot of neck craning and using our upturned seats as misericords, we manage to see both the violinist and the conductor, a sight not to be missed. The audience is spellbound and absolutely quiet: no coughing or sneezing. Although our seats are not very comfortable and we are extremely hot being under a low overhanging upper balcony, it is all worth it. The introduction, the suite Romea and Juliet and Symphony nr. 4 after the interval, are an extra. If the violin concerto had been the only music performed that evening, I would have been just as happy. Still, we get an encore as the audience applauds for minutes on end.

Repin

Another concert, totally different, is a performance of Mozarts Requiem in the Church of St. Germain des Prés, on the well-known boulevard. During the day the interior of the former Abbey church looks dark and dirty. In the stage lights I see that every inch of wall and every pillar is painted in beautiful colours. Blue, red and gold being the main colours, and the ceiling blue and sprinkled with golden stars, as I have seen in various other churches. In spite of the poor organisation – we have to wait outside until 5 minutes before the start of the concert, which begins half an hour late – the atmosphere is magical. In fact the first part of the concert, a violin concerto by J.S.Bach, is the best part. The violin is pure and because of the acoustics the wonderful sound sings through the church. The choir singing the Requiem is far too big and the sound becomes mere noise, probably because of the acoustics and the position of the choir. It seems the sounds mingle, circle, mix and there is no clear melody any more. However, attending a concert in this church is special. 

Eglise de St. Germain des Pres

After the concert I have wine and cheese in a cafe opposite. Not at Les Deux Magots, the famous cafe and the haunt of Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir after whom this square was named, but at a cafe with another well-known name, Napoleon. Here they serve more than just champagne at this hour of the night. And it is full and warm and cosy inside. The trees in the square are still decorated with Christmas lights. Over the floodlit church tower I see the moon.

When I cross the river Seine on my way home, the Eiffel tower shoots a shower of stars up its tower, something it does every hour on the hour. It is midnight, my birthday has begun! Even the Eiffel tower seems to celebrate this memorable day.