Invitation To France, Vignettes-1

Chapter 1 Paris

We like to drive and park and walk exploring as we go, then drive and park and walk again, and at times park and take the Métro. … explore … as far as our bodies permit

There is just no reason that Jim should feel so welcome and so comfortable as he drives from here to there, but for him Paris is a delight.

In Paris, as in Venice (and very few other cities), a wrong turn can result in serendipity: “… the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.”

High School … tour groups from the United States … first group was from a small southern city, the later group from a large northeastern city. Jim talked to … both … , and he never found why this latter group even bothered to come to Paris.

Chapter 2 The Sights of Paris

Notre Dame Cathedral … Fortunately, Napoléon Bonaparte decided he needed an ecclesiastical masterpiece as a properly impressive setting for his coronation, so this beautiful Gothic edifice was preserved.

Famous book stalls line the riverside on the Rive Gauche, the Left Bank of the Seine, … the top and sides of the boxes have been unfurled, merchandise is displayed, and we are in the midst of a bustling shopping street.

La Sainte-Chapelle … Eleven hundred thirty-four different scenes from the Bible are portrayed, and when the sun shines through those marvelous windows, jewels of color embellish the old stone floor.

The ostentatious foyer and palatial decor of the Paris Opera, designed and built by Charles Garnier in the mid-1800s, make it well worth a tour.