Writing Cafe in Paris~ Missing Paris Day

(Photographs copyright: Kirsten Steen)

My last trip to Paris

I think I told you that I spent one particular day writing

in several cafes, churches and the infamous Shakespeare and Co.

trying purposefully to fit them all into one day.

One of the cafes was Le Champ de Mars

just across the park of the same name

which separates the 15th and the 7th arrondissement

and houses the monument-iful Tour Eiffel.

I have yet to walk through this park without being able to take my eyes off the tower. Funny that something so despised by the French in the beginning should become such a national symbol. Like the Golden Gate Bridge and Big Ben, anyone who sees this symbol in a photo or tv clip knows instantly where they are.

The tree-lined alleys are typically hopping with joggers,

le sport of jogging having 'stuck' in France.

On this particular day, I ordered myself a lait chaud

and set about filling longhand pages in my notebook...





...taking notes on the interior of the cafe...

...the people...

...and, as they were preparing for lunch,

the powerful French aromas emanating from the kitchen.

A friend of ours goes to Paris nearly every summer for two months

to study painting under a Montmartre artiste.

I've made a couple of requests regarding certain scenes in the neighborhood

and I think Cafe Le Champ de Mars might make the perfect subject matter!

Paris definitely has that je ne sais quoi

that attracts artistes of every ilk.

What is it, do you think, that inspires such devotion to artistry in this city?