Visiting Paris

Paris

Living in Paris.

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Paris has many commendable aspects-

architecture, museums, the Seine, history.

street life and the fact that everyone hangs out in cafés in Paris. where social climbers go.

I’ve never been to any of those.

offerings at reasonable prices.

One such is Bert’s Café.

And there’s the

Some cafés are pretentious,

Our friends choose places with good

It’s near Metro Alma, an area popular

with tourists, where the unfortunate Lady Di met her demise.

There’s a memorial, but it’s not to

her, but many who visit think otherwise.

Some people go to Bert’s on their own, more came to chat with friends, the Seine at their back.

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I must mention the pastisseries – the fabulous displays and the endless delights. cheese and the desserts, why aren’t the French obese?

Paris is attractive in good measure for the architecture.

But I also like to look at the Seine

and the boats on it.

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Between the

Impressionists made Île de la Jatte famous.

Seurat

painted ‘Sunday Afternoon on this island in the Seine across from Courbevoie.

We’ve come to know people and been invited to their place.

Here’s a little

look inside into some traditional flats.

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For almost two years we stayed in a place in Courbevoie.

We became friends with people in the village. hour or two a week with me chatting in French.

One spent an

I learned a lot that

way and got to know her, something that is hard to do as a tourist.

She and her husband, and other friends, came for dinner and they invited us to their place, and visited interesting sites together. became a part of the community by volunteering to lead English conversation sessions.

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We

Our friends often met us at the Bar de la Gare, just below our flat.

I’d go down early to draw

and paint. Here’s one of the small watercolor paintings and inks I did there.

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The restaurants, bistros and even the more mundane kebab and crepe shops have a visual charm that is hard to find so pervasively elsewhere.

Outdoor seats are occupied in almost all weather.

There are charming views of the Paris and the Seine from the Courbevoie side.

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Art is everywhere here.

Even the scooters can be beautiful.

Metros entrances from the early days are attractively designed.

There is a lot of street life.

Montmartre.

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I ran across a street theater on

Here’s one of the characters:

There are the fabulous areas outside of Paris.

I

go for the historic, such as Fontevraud Abbey in the Loire, where Richard the Lion Heart is buried, along with his father Henry II and his mother, Elanor of Aquitaine.

The abbey was part of Henry’s

penance for ordering the murder of Thomas Ă Becket.

Since I have a warm spot for van Gogh I went to Auvers sur Oise.

Vincent died in this village, as recounted in the film Loving Vincent.

grave, and sat where he did to paint the church.

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I saw his

Then there are the museums.

Once we lived near the Louvre.

went as often as we could afford. is from another museum, though.

Often I would draw.

I often stood

to draw a painting I like, such as this one of the impressionist Berthe Morisot. Mostly I do these in pen and ink.

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We

This one

Winters are dark and gray. On some of those days that meant making stuff up. Or a drawing a view from a window.

Or searching for the charm of a Paris apartment.

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And when the weather clears, it’s time to join the street life.

I spent many Fridays helping prepare a lunch for the less fortunate, some street people and others.

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I rode there on a bike.

For prints, originals and travel blogs go to http://www.garyjkirkpatrick.com/

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