The 4th in the 13th

On Sunday we moved from the 18th arrondissement to the 13th. We got the chance to experience suburban life on Blvd Péripherique - Paris's equivalent to a beltway (I-465 to Indy Hoosiers). Our cab driver was charming and I was pleased to have the opportunity to speak French with someone who would give me the chance. 

Our apartment in the 13th is tiny. Tiny kitchen, tiny bathroom, tiny shower. Fortunately, the living room and bedroom are manageable size. But it's only for 2 weeks, so nothing we can't live with.

In addition to getting to know the surroundings of our new "home," we've managed to do a lot this week. Just before we left the 18th, we saw the Monet water lily montage in the Musée de l'Orangerie. We saw these in Chicago when we lived in Chesterton, IN, many, many years ago. They are just as lovely in their home in Paris.

Monday we spent time getting to know the neighborhood. It seems there is a park in Paris everywhere you turn - and we found the one close to us. Actually, Chris found it. He goes running in the morning, so he's in a position to suss out the area bright and early. As usual, it was filled with Parisians hanging out. A lovely lake is a venue for some fun public art: wire "statues" of people, fantasy creatures, and wasps - as well as a live black swan! I told Chris we need to actually do something in the park (like have a picnic) instead of just walking through like tourists. On the other side of the park is the RER station (the suburban trains into Paris and environs), so we get to walk through the park on our way to transportation. 

Tuesday we walked to the Montparnasse area of Paris - about a half-hour trek from us. We were just wandering but were fortunate to stumble upon the Cimetière du Montparnasse, where a large number of famous people are buried. Among these are the philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and his lover, from whom he reputedly stole some ideas, Simone de Beauvoir. 

It's difficult to see, but if you can increase
the size of the picture, you'll see Sartre's
and de Beauvoir's names on the tombstone.

We had trouble finding Camille Saint-Saëns's grave and ultimately did not find it, but we were finally able to locate Man Ray's, which was remarkably modest and looked like it might have suffered some vandalism.  

Yesterday, we "celebrated" the 4th by going to Versailles - the site of ultimate decadent opulence of the ruling class. I was amused to see that the café there served up everything but cake (gateau)! Honestly, room after room of sycophantic portraits of kings and family - especially Louis Quatorze and family - was boring. There was plenty of gold and glitz, especially in the Hall of Mirrors, which lived up to my only childhood memory of Versailles. The armored knights and their steeds were pretty impressive, and the gardens were spectacular and went on forever. It's too bad they come at the end of an exhausting tour. 

We have a list of things to do next week as we head into our last 10 days in Paris (for now, at least) before we leave to make our tour around France. We still have to see the Rodin museum and I've noted that the catacombs are fairly close to were we're staying. So have a good week and I'll be back in touch.