Angels and Shepherds in the 16th~ Missing Paris Day

Just across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower

and across the street from the Trocadero,

in the 16th arrondissement,

is the Cimetiere de Passy

where you and I have walked together before. 

I'm not sure if you know this about me yet

but I have a thing for

cemeteries. 

And angels.

I could spend entire days wandering around the alleyways 

looking at the ornate tombs and beautiful inscriptions.

Look how clean and perfectly lovely the cobblestone walkways are.

My sister and I visited our mother's gravesite during her visit home this summer

and it looks absolutely nothing like this.

A pioneer cemetery, we chose it because

 it had a natural, messy, chaotic beauty to it

that reminded us of her. 

With my niece and nephew,

we weeded and beautified her plot together 

until we had it looking respectable. 

I love how the little shepherdess looks like she's 

adding to the small garden plot from her own armful of flowers.
I still have a small cornucopia of photos from this walk in Paris
so we'll continue our stroll in Passy next time.



Cimetiere de Passy
2, rue du Commandant Schoesling
Metro: Trocadero


(Photo copyright: Kirsten Steen) 

From the Trocadero~ Missing Paris Day

It's been hot in Paris lately, I'm told. 

I'm miserable in heat without air conditioning

so I know how I would be 

but something in me would still like to be there,

walking the sultry streets~

enjoying the revelers in cafe chairs~

the picnickers on the lawn of the Champ de Mars~

the trucked-in sand of the Paris Plage.

The summer has flown by here,

weeks escaping like wind on the moors.

I've barely had time to catch my breath.

I had the weekend to myself which I thought would do it 

but I still feel like I just scratched the surface of my To-Do List!

Hope you all have enjoyed your summer

and are getting ready for that 

To-Do List that is fall. 

I can feel it already in the air. 

Enjoy the last precious days.

(Photo copyright: Kirsten Steen) 

An Evening Stroll~ Missing Paris Day

Just a little walk for us tonight along the Seine.

I ate at the Cafe Marly many years ago for lunch

and I'm thinking it's time to renew that experience. 

But I loved this shot of the arched ceiling and columns of the entry

so even if we're not breaking bread here together,

at least we can share the beauty of the exterior

and pretend we're on our way in for a little glass of bubbly.

Now a little walk across the Pont Neuf ('New Bridge').

According to the Paris.fr page on it, 

the design of the Pont Neuf marked the end of the Middle Ages 

and was the first bridge to be built without houses on it. 

But my favorite line about it is that it was seen as a meeting place 

for every kind of pleasure in Paris.

It was said that one could meet,

"a monk, a white horse and a streetwalker' here.

Most likely we have and just didn't recognize them. 

A look back across the Seine toward Notre Dame

(its spires shining in the background),

the Grande Dame of Paris.

At a little cafe on a corner near Notre Dame,

we can partake of a Parisian favorite:

 soup a l'oignion.

I'm told this dish is traditionally eaten at the end of a long night 

on New Year's Eve in France

but clearly can be enjoyed anytime. 

And we end tonight's walk reveling in the mysterious beauty of the shadows 

of l'Hotel de Ville, giving a somewhat ominous but thrilling sense.

It feels to me a little like a particularly good ghost story.

And we all know there are plenty of ghosts in Paris. 

Hope you enjoyed our little stroll.

So glad you could join me. 

Nothing like a night walk in Paris!

(Photos copyright: Kirsten Steen)