Three Summers: Woody's right

Wednesday 4 May 2011

Woody's right

Paris in the morning is beautiful.
Paris in the afternoon is charming.
Paris in the evening is enchanting.
Paris after midnight is magic! (Woody Allen)

After our wonderful, wonderful week together in Argoules we arrived in Paris on a very warm and sunny Saturday afternoon and drove through the northern suburbs crowded with weekend market shoppers. The traffic was crazy and slow however by 2.30pm we found ourselves driving past the magnificent Hotel d'Ville, over Pont Notre-Dame and onto my favourite part of Paris - the centre, literally - the islands of the Seine, Ile Saint-Louis and Ile de la Cité. We stayed in an apartment for a week, just a hop, skip and jump from Notre-Dame, that magnificent gothic cathedral that has inspired so many other buildings since the 1200s.
It's 33 years since we have visited Paris and what a joy it was to observe Parisian life for a week. When I was a high school French student I loved Mde Poisson's classes. I loved the vocabulary and grammar classes but most of all I loved her energetic French culture classes where once a week she told us about French life, customs, traditions, history and current affairs. I felt the same energy this past week. Watching, listening, trying to translate newspaper headlines, engaging in the most basic of conversation recalled from the tattered memory of those distant high school years of study.

Paris is beautiful in the spring mornings. It's sleepy and quiet before 8.30am and we loved riding to the local boulangerie on Ile Saint-Louis to collect a couple of fresh, flaky croissants and a baguette for a picnic lunch later in the day.
Paris in the afternoon is charming. Sun sparkling on the Siene. Bouquinistes des quais all open and displaying their books from their UNESCO heritage listed green boxes. Cafes and bars full and lively.
Paris is enchanting in the evening. The sky changes to pink and we wandered the Latin Quartier through Place de la Contrescarpe to Rue Mouffetard deciding which restaurant we would choose for dinner, and watch the exquisite illumination of Paris begin.
Paris after midnight is magic. The roads are quiet again, shops are closed but cafes are still open, though quieter too. The lights twinkle and reflect off the Seine and the bells of Notre-Dame let us know it's midnight as we ride home over a different bridge every night.