5 Days in Paris

If you have never been to this lovely, feminine City of Lights…where do you begin?  For Mr. Al an me, we began with an overview of the city…a drive around to get our bearings.  And then I went to visit my painting friends in the museums. Standing in front of so many of the paintings I had studied, painted, and appreciated … so hard to explain what it felt like to meet them face to face, to be delightfully surprised at their size…some larger than I expected, some smaller…to feel the energy of the one behind the brush strokes…the masters who painted them.

But that’s not who Paris is. She is so much more. She is a walk along a tiny cobbled street peering into shops while eating ice cream.  She is looking up and seeing stone faces looking down. She is the beautiful language you so painfully garbled yet managed to have a simple conversation. She is sitting in the back of a cab, grateful it’s not you dealing with the crazy driving while dodging pedestrians, bicycles, scooters, and motorcycles. She is the architecture. Oh, and she is the food…French onion soup, incredible seafood, baguettes, crepes, meats, cheeses, chocolates…mmmmmm…chocolates.

And that was merely the tip of the iceberg. 5 days is not nearly enough time. I would have liked more time walking down the cobbled streets, sitting in a sidewalk cafe, and perhaps doing a little shopping…after all, Paris is fashion.

Here are a few images…..