Paris
Un tethered from the Chartres group I have led from the train station to the Peace Hotel, I wander solo amongst the summer crowds of Paris.
I just walk, first finding the river and following it along past the book sellers and the sidewalk cafes, until I am in the plaza in front of Notre Dame. The bells are clanging and carrying on while crowds of searchers wait in long lines to file into the cathedral.
There are Gypsy’s and watchers and large groups of tourists listening to guides in many languages all around me. Now I sit and I watch.
Across the bridge and all around Shakespeare and Company there is a literary event which has been going on for days. Under a large white tent a crowd listens as a poet recites. It is a mystery who he is. But I like his reading.
Hours later when I get back to the peace hotel am just in time to join a few folks for dinner. We wander around and find a restaurant where we share some lovely food from the Mediterranean. On this two day visit I have The best escargot I have ever had, plates full of steamed vegetables, some salads with cheeses and a crepe with nutella. Breakfast was coffee crème and croissants. I was told by an expert that the first coffee of the day would be an espresso and then something with hot milk. Oh well, I must be an American.
Waiting for the sun as the blue sky pulls away from the grey clouds on the summer solstice, some of the group from the Chartres journey decide that we will see if we can watch the sun come into the special place inside St Sulpice, like it spoke of in The Davinci code. This church has posted signs in reference to the books, basically referring to the book as a bunch of hoho. Over time as the earth has shifted and with the daylight saving thing going on, I lost patience and had a walk with some others and then got on a train for a visit with my friend Bernie.
The gem of Paris was my visit with my dear friend Bernie. We met way back in 1975 I think. Bernie was living in Tucson, Arizona with his wife and new son, writing and playing music. In all of the ensuing years we have kept in touch through both of our many lives.
And now we have come to a place together of such great connection. It is a joy and a pleasure for any bit of time I get with this friend.
The next day I took my seat on the Thalys, the fast train from Paris north to The Nederland. Across the fields red roofed towns clustered around town churches and I left France.
