Despite flurries of snow this morning, Paris is back...

Chère amie, cher ami,

Like a poisson d'avril -- the French phrase for April Fool's -- snow began to fall this morning in Normandy...and in Paris. Henry sends his dispatch...and suggests a walk around town. After long months of restrictions, Paris is coming to life again with the Spring.

Elisabeth

Ma chère Mère,

Spring came to Paris. The daffodils were out. Parisians, including Hermine and myself, flocked outside last weekend to drink a café, converse, read a book, sketch the scene, write notes in a journal…flânent…stroll along in the sunshine.

And then, early this morning, the first flakes of snow started to drift down from cloudy skies. It’s supposed to be cold tomorrow. But t’inquiète pas…there will be sun. And we will be out and about this weekend, taking advantage of long walks and the great new pop-up scene – cafés to art galleries – here in Paris.

What did we do last weekend? Well, in the search for new discoveries, we left our familiar environment around the apartment in the Latin Quarter and headed up towards the Marais and the Place des Vosges.

We started at the medieval abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Près…crossed over the bridge onto the Île de la Cité, where les gendarmes and la Garde républicaine stand guard in front of the Palais de Justice…strolled through the 18th-century Palais Royal and its flower gardens in full spring bloom…and turned north to the bustle of the Marais and the BHV, where you bought all the tiles and fabrics for our old apartment…and I believe a few dresses as well, chère Maman.

Passing Saint-Germain-des-Près, we noticed that the Mairie of the 6th arrondissement has just hung lampshades along the Rue de Seine and the Rue Jacob. Rue de Buci, that pedestrian street connecting Saint-Germain-de-Près to the rest of the Latin Quarter, is hip and lively, too. The outdoor shopping is in full swing.

I noted that Saint-Germain-des-Près is back to hosting its usual live concerts.  There’s a series by the Hélios Orchestre -- it invites young musicians to play alongside established performers. Chopin is on the program, I’m glad to see.

Saint-Germain is vibrant…touristy yes, but there are also true historic sites and those very special cafés, the Deux Magots and the Café Flore. Even if one is not a fan of history, Hemingway or Sartre, it’s impossible not to be struck by the weight of our cultural heritage in this quartier.

Paris is coming alive again. As we reached the banks of the Seine near the BHV, the crowds were so thick you could barely squeeze through. People stood around at pop-up bars and cafés, the air buzzing with many languages besides French -- British, American, Australian accents, Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish. Europe is on the move again, too.

In front of the Hôtel de Ville (the headquarters of the mayor of Paris), we passed the large square where we once or twice went ice-skating -- this winter, the Mairie filled it with man-made snow and put in a slide for sledding instead. These warm days, street dancers bring their own loudspeakers and put on shows.

“Be prepared to pay if you’re going to watch,” they warned the audience. Everyone laughed and most of us tossed in at least a couple of euro.

Going a little further to the East, we walked to the Place des Vosges. This part of Paris is neither medieval, like the 6tharrondissement, nor classic like the 18th- and 19th-century constructions in the rest of Paris. The square was inaugurated by Henri IV in 1605, and it’s one of the earlier examples of city planning in Europe outside Italy. Inspiration probably came during the French military campaigns in Renaissance Italy. Green lawns and fountains lie within the rectangle of red-brick buildings. The main gate - an archway - faces south. We enjoy coming here to sit in the sun on a winter’s afternoon.

Our walk up the river and around the Marais was enough of a bain de foule (a bath in the crowd) for a day.

Returning closer to home, the whole of Saint-Germain-des-Près (one of the four districts in the Latin Quarter) now bustles with gallery openings and pop-up art exhibits. The galleries along the rue de l’Université and the rue Jacob have turned into gathering spots for artists and their patrons and friends. Inside, tables are laid out with drinks and apéritifs. No bouncer or owner stands at the door – relaxing after all those months of health passes (now abolished) required to get into restaurants or to have a café, even outside.

Almost all the outdoor terraces nowadays are filled with people -- students, office workers, tourists. A line often extends outside the trendy little Saint-Pearl (near where I live on the rue des Saints-Pères). The comedy club across the street attracts an audience most nights. Baristas, bartenders, and waiters haven’t had so much work in many months.

East from Saint-Germain des Près are the major bookshops, always an invitation to linger. On boulevard Saint-Michel, Gibert Joseph takes up a whole six-story building of books on every subject and for every type of reader – schoolchildren, romance readers, lovers of literature, history and philosophy, adepts of the occult, classicists. Here, also, we are close to Notre Dame de Paris.

I have a particular soft spot for Our Lady of Paris. My apartment looks out towards its spires.

Entry to the cathedral is still blocked after the fire of 2019. But the square in front, on the Île de la Cité, is full of life. Performers attract small crowds. A purple-haired harpist plays in the shade beside the Hôpital Hôtel-Dieu. Cars and scooters weave around the crowds crossing the streets.

For more calm and quiet… while still sous le charme of classic buildings… I like to walk up boulevard St Germain to the West, towards the 7th arrondissement and Eiffel Tower. The esplanade in front of Les Invalides is a place for picnics and pick-up soccer games. The structure was initiated under Louis XIV as a magnificent retirement home and hospital for the wounded veterans of his many wars. As it was also an arsenal, it was stormed in 1789 by a mob. They used the stored cannons, swords and guns to attack the Bastille on July 14. We went to a son-et-lumière show at Les Invalides one summer; it’s back again this year, starting July 16. (Presented in English at certain hours.)

I went past our favorite restaurant, La Fontaine de Mars, on the Rue St-Dominique. Still a classic. It’s great to see French families here as well as couples and friends, and, of course, visitors to Paris.

We noticed something new while crossing the Seine the other day. On a stone pier that juts up from the water and seems strangely disconnected from the metal structure of the Pont de l’Alma, is a statue of a Zouave. It’s all that remains of the original bridge, which celebrated the famous victory in the Crimean War. In the 1970s, the bridge was rebuilt. The statues on the other three piers were moved onto dry land in Paris, but the Zouave, representing his heroic regiment, stayed.

The Zouave has always been regarded with affection in Paris. There is even a song about his charms and his blond mustache (Le Zouave de ma-grand-mère, my grandmother’s Zouave.) 

The Zouave is also used as a measuring stick.

Parisiens will say that the Zouave has les pieds dans l’eau (his feet are wet), or that il a les genoux dans l’eau (his knees are wet) during the seasonal rising of the Seine, swollen by the rivers of Eastern France in the Fall and Winter. This is rather common. But in the great flood of 1910, the water went up to the Zouave’s bicep. So far, it has never gone over his head.

As we walked past the Musée d’Orsay, back on the Left Bank, we saw just how high the water rose in 1910. A straight black line, about 5 or 6 feet up from the ground, is painted onto several buildings. At that time, the trees along the Seine were completely under water.

Yes..each season brings its own distinctive charms. Wind, rain, and shorter days have their own melancholy pleasures. But now, Spring is here…in the park of the Palais-Royal, the magnolias bloom with pink flowers. Everywhere, the lindens trees sprout lacy green buds. The blackbirds give song. And Paris has come alive.

Henry

The Chateau de Courtomer is available for family get-togethers, holidays with groups of friends, weddings and other special events. Please contact Heather or Béatrice — both speak English and French — at info@chateaudecourtomer, +33 (0) 6 49 12 87 98 (Heather) or +1 (443) 840-9134 (Beatrice).

www.chateaudecourtomer.com