Passionate Paris - Serenade in Montmartre

Strolling Montmartre earlier in the day.

Passionate Paris - French Jazz at Night

Passionate Paris - The Street is Theater

As an American I've become accustomed to the time-honored ritual of arriving home after a long day or week of work and dropping my bags at the door and my derriere in the nearest chair.

Not so with my new French friends. With smaller apartments and bigger social appetites, many, if not most, Parisians come home just long enough to drop off their baggage and perhaps a late-night baguette picked up on the drive or walk home from work. Then, it's off to their living rooms and dens. Only these special rooms are down a few flights of stairs and less than a block or two away.

These "living 'rooms" can be found all over France where the street is stage, the cafes are front-row seats, and the show is always going on. In the open air, locals and savvy visitors grab a curvaceous wicker chair and while away the evening savoring the free community theater in rich sidewalk scenes. Who would want to sit inside with so much action unfolding out here?

Passionate Paris - Dining With a Parisian Family

Likely the best way to get to know a place is to connect with locals - and the best way to connect is to share a meal - in their home. You get a sense of the character of the city from the character of the people - the way they prepare their dinner and interact with each other - they way they share their home and neighborhood and city.
The important thing to remember is to connect before you go. An online search will reveal dozens of ways to do this.
Through a friend, I became the honored guest of two Parisian families - both city and suburban. Those were the two most enriching evenings of the journey.
This is grace.

Passionate Paris - A passing cyclist at the Louve. Possibly in route from her classes at the Sorbonne to her apartment in a nearby arrondissement?

Passionate Paris - Les Tuileries, the balance of classic form with modern technology (man is holding a video camera)

Passionate Paris - Musée du Louvre

and me facing the Louvre.

Passionate Paris - A Bateau Mouche (sightseeing boat) on the River Seine (Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris is at 8 o'clock position)

Passionate Paris - Buci News

In her biography, "My Life in France", Julia Child said, "if a Frenchman senses that a visitor is delighted to be in his store, and takes a genuine interest in what is for sale, then he'll just open up like a flower."

I encountered only graciously elegant and welcoming Parisians during my much too brief first visit.

Passionate Paris - Picasso as Public Art -statue of Guillaume Apollinaire in the courtyard of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Passionate Paris - Croque Monsieur and iced coffee at Le Bonaparte, Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés

Strolling a fashionable city like Paris while feeling hungry can be as intimidating as having a blind date on a bad hair day. "Where do I go? What if I can't read the menu? Those waiters aren't smiling. Is it rude to say 'Garçon?"
I soon learn the secret to fitting in most any place: observe the locals, follow suit, relax. Noticing a café that appeared popular but not too crowded, I took a seat. I ordered one item I know well (iced coffee) and one that has become a new favorite (croque monsieur or grilled ham and cheese sandwich).
As in all cafés, my simple order entitled me to savor my meal and sit for as long as I wished to read, sketch, or simply daydream. And oui, it is indeed rude to address a waiter as "garçon" (boy). But "pardon", "merci", and "s'il vous plaît" work anywhere - even on a blind date.

Passionate Paris - Jardin du Luxembourg

What do we look for in public places? And what do we take away?
A senatorial palace may be the focal point of Luxembourg Gardens - commissioned by Marie de Medicis to remind her of her native Italy - but I'm finding that the true pleasures of life here are smaller and more intimate. On this morning, I zoom in and leave the grand structures behind. It would be easy to photograph a majestic building, centered perfectly in the shot. Or, ask a stranger to take another of the dozens of photos that we've all seen - stand beside a statue and say "cheesy".
But no one seems to mind or even notice, when I step in close to capture for my journal, fellow artists with their easels, chess players and children, students with their laptops, a pair of passing backpackers.
It is these intimate moments, along with a stranger's smile or nod, that will later remind me of the pleasures of Paris.

Passionate Paris - First view of La Ville Lumiere, Sunday, May 17, 2009

First view of La Ville Lumiere, Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Three Words of Paris
In her best-selling memoir, "Eat, Pray, Love", Elizabeth Gilbert discovered single-word descriptions that characterize each of the cities on her 9-month sojourn. During a week in Paris, I found 3 words that best describe my single-city experience.

Light - Whether emanating from within a café at dusk, from within the hearts, homes, and shops of gracious Parisians, or illuminating monuments at night, this place earns its moniker, "la ville Lumiere".

Theater - In Paris, the street is stage, the cafés are front-row seats, and the show is always going on.

Grace - is defined as "seemingly effortless beauty of movement, form, or proportion". This allure is everywhere. And, yes, Mr. Hemingway, it does indeed stay with you.