. Stark Athleticism On the Elysian Fields . As I w…

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Stark Athleticism
On the Elysian Fields
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As I write this, USA is about to tie Italy 1 to 1 after a grueling game with USA down two players and Italy down one. I didn’t watch the game as much as I looked in on it from time to time when I passed bars, cafes, and hotel lobbies during my last walk of the evening. In all, I must have walked at least ten miles around the city today, which is good, considering that the self-diagnosed osteoarthritis in my right leg will probably mean that I will need to be wheeled around the city on my next trip. I’ll at least be adding a cane to my routine, if only because you can get some cool looking canes.

The day began with a soccer theme, as a matter of fact. My first order of business was to find a store called Go Sport near a big church called La Madeleine. A Greek temple in appearance, La Madeleine was built in the 18th and 19th century in honor of Mary Magdalen. My daughter, Marguerite, whose travel soccer league team, the Caldwell Jaguars, just finished in first place, asked for a FIFA-approved ball. This would be a lot easier to purchase in Europe than in the US or on the web. I also had to make a run to the pharmacy, which is a fundamentally different experience here than going to the Walgreens or CVS stores I am more accustomed to. Things are cleaner and they sell less crap, which is nice. And everything is blue and green. There is a certain intimidating formality. Very old school.

I noticed on the way that the Musée de l’Orangerie doesn’t open until 12:30 pm. This glass-roofed pavilion greenhouse, built in the 17th century, served as an indoor citrus fruit garden for royalty until it was turned into an art museum in the 20th century. The structure was deemed a suitable venue for the eight large water lily or Nymphéa panels that Monet donated to France. After I got the ball, I made a plan that would bring me back to the museum at about 11:30. I started with a walk through the Tuileries gardens that stretch between the carrousel arch of the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde.

The Tuileries is a tree-lined walk over white stone and sand with a few small buildings on either side and a couple of big round pools on which people sail toy boats and around which people sunbathe. The Place de la Concorde is a busy but beautiful square with dangerous traffic and a famous sculpted water fountain. In the center is its hieroglyphic-carved obelisk perfoming its sundial function under a brilliant blue sky.

Continuing on, we enter the Champs Elysées near the Grand Palais, and the scene soon morphs into something like 42nd street with shops, theaters, hotels, stores, and tourists. It ends at the Arc de Triomphe. I took the Metro back to the l’Orangerie and waited in line for an hour with a voice major from Boston University who is discovering Europe this summer.

The Musée de l’Orangerie is a favorite of mine because it also houses the collection of Jean Walter and Paul Guillaume, which includes many Soutines, Utrillos, and Modiglianis. It just reopened after about five years of renovation to the building. The Monet Nymphéas are on the top floor, lit by the sun through the glass roof.

After the museum, I set off for La Marais, the traditional Jewish quarter, which is a beautiful place to stroll through. It has the Picasso Museum and the Hotel Carnavalet, a museum of the history of Paris featuring a great statue of Louis XIV in the courtyard and a cork-lined room replicating the one that the hypochondriac Proust wrote in. I walked back across the islands in the Seine and ate dinner near the Boulevard St-Michel on the left bank, during which I witnesses one of Paris’ many car-on-motor scooter collisions. Nobody got hurt, and the police don’t get involved. Names, insurance policy numbers, and Gittanes were shared, and everyone involved had an aparatif. After that, I basically did a lot of walking along the river as the book stalls closed and Saturday night got underway. People were hurrying off to cafes and restaurants or picnics down by the barges.

It’s after eleven now, the game did end in a tie. I’ll spend the next few minutes packing for the trip home so I will have time in the morning to take a walk. There is a great place to go on Sunday mornings in Paris. I’ll show you.

Until then,
Vanx
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Photos by Verb-Ops
Statue in the Tuileries
Arc de Triomphe
Louis XIV at the Hotel Carnavalet
Restaurant on the Quay Voltaire