You're in for a suprise: A large rooftop dining room, under a huge glass dome, offering a prix fixe meal for 300 francs (85 cents). It includes salad or melon, meat plate, desert; and this is no thrown-together meal - nothing in Paris is.
The French are, admittedly, a very particular people. It is true: Nothing in Paris is thrown together. The city's layout, the location of monuments - all executed with geometric precision. The cuisine, architecture and fashion are precise. The decisions of all things Paris are calculated and exact resulting in a capital that is visually appealing and unwaveringly interesting to look at, to take in.
Walking through Paris inevitably becomes a sort of connect the dots of history, beauty and grandeur. Perhaps my favorite walk from this trip went like this:
First, we started in the 10th arrondissement walking South and happened upon the Museum of Modern Art. This being Paris, we thought it appropriate to go into a marche, buy some camembert and then head to a boulangerie for a baguette to sit and enjoy at the Place de Republique outside the museum. The hippies were there peddling jewelry, starving artists were selling their works to tourists, Parisians with their funny little dogs walked by, couples sat and enjoyed a bottle of red wine. Dad and I sat and ate out bread and cheese.
Once we finished our lunch we continued down Rue St. Martin to the Seine. We crossed the bridge over to Ile de la Cite and took in Notre Dame. We decided to continue our walk down the Seine. On the way back to the river we stumbled into the Marche aux Fleurs -- rows and rows of blooms in a beautiful outdoor flower market.
The walk along the Seine is absolutely phenomenal. The buildings that line the river are grand and full of intricate detail. I love the roof tops -- so distinctly Parisian. A closer look shows the clay chimney tops shared by the apartments within. Bridges are accented with gold fleur-de-lis. 
Even the metro signs hint at the city's affinity toward detail and design.
- Arthur Frommer in 1956 on Printemps
The French are, admittedly, a very particular people. It is true: Nothing in Paris is thrown together. The city's layout, the location of monuments - all executed with geometric precision. The cuisine, architecture and fashion are precise. The decisions of all things Paris are calculated and exact resulting in a capital that is visually appealing and unwaveringly interesting to look at, to take in.
Walking through Paris inevitably becomes a sort of connect the dots of history, beauty and grandeur. Perhaps my favorite walk from this trip went like this:
First, we started in the 10th arrondissement walking South and happened upon the Museum of Modern Art. This being Paris, we thought it appropriate to go into a marche, buy some camembert and then head to a boulangerie for a baguette to sit and enjoy at the Place de Republique outside the museum. The hippies were there peddling jewelry, starving artists were selling their works to tourists, Parisians with their funny little dogs walked by, couples sat and enjoyed a bottle of red wine. Dad and I sat and ate out bread and cheese.
Once we finished our lunch we continued down Rue St. Martin to the Seine. We crossed the bridge over to Ile de la Cite and took in Notre Dame. We decided to continue our walk down the Seine. On the way back to the river we stumbled into the Marche aux Fleurs -- rows and rows of blooms in a beautiful outdoor flower market.
The walk along the Seine is absolutely phenomenal. The buildings that line the river are grand and full of intricate detail. I love the roof tops -- so distinctly Parisian. A closer look shows the clay chimney tops shared by the apartments within. Bridges are accented with gold fleur-de-lis.
Even the metro signs hint at the city's affinity toward detail and design.
We wandered down the Seine to the Louvre, which has a storied history of its own. One, in the recent past, wrought with conflict and outrage over the addition of the glass pyramids (gasp!) in the courtyard. You see, some believe that these structures do not line up (literally) with the other monuments of the city and therefore throw everything off. Nothing in Paris is thrown together, remember?
Later in the week Dad and I made our way to the cafe in Printemps, truly one of our favorite pasttimes. Since Printemps is a department store (grand magasin) that consists of 2 blocks of 9 story buildings, it is no surprise that we discovered a new cafe. This one was on the top floor and was entirely constructed from glass. It was as if someone placed a glass cube on top of the building. From the rooftop you could see the most magnificent view of Paris. The afternoon we were there it was drizzly and a gray haze fell over the city. This didn't stop us from being able to spot Sacre Coeur and the Eiffel Tower, and even off in the distance the top of Notre Dame. Dad had a glass of red wine and I enjoyed the best chocolat chaud I have ever had, and as we sipped we looked out and oooo'd and awww'd at the beauty strewn at before us. The grandeur, the history, the detail.
I love Paris, I really do. There is something so alluring about its beauty. And from the 9th floor in the middle of that city, looking out over centuries of history and observing the passers by, I think it is hard not to gain a little bit more perspective on the every day -- an understanding that somewhere in the midst of the city where I live, in the midst of my comings and goings, even in the midst of my own life is beauty and something worth seeing, worth watching. There is history in the making and even though I lack a rooftop perch from which to observe and even though I lack that delicious hot chocolate, life is happening and it is good.
Nothing is thrown together -- the grandeur, the history, the detail. The beauty.
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