25 Things I Love About Paris: #20

#20 Signage.

I'm a sucker for signs under any circumstances but those here in Paris have a special place in my heart. What better to see when you think you're hopelessly lost than that iconic Guimard designed sign indicating an entrance to the subway? Or when you hop off the train and look left and right searching for the way out? And it's similarly reassuring to find the street name, reliably posted on the side of the building when you want to be sure you're in the right place.

Go to the Musee Carnavelet if you're looking for hand painted signs made by folk artists from the past indicating a shoemaker, an oculist, or a tobacconist. On the streets of Paris in 2009, they're likely to be rendered in neon but the meaning is no less clear.

Obama Lovefest Continues

Now for sale at your local neighborhood news stand: refrigerator magnets featuring Parisian icons: Sacre Coeur, the Eiffel Tower, Le Chat Noir and Barack Obama.

25 Things I Love About Paris: #19

19. The light.

I've done my fair share of complaining about the gray skies in Paris and I now realize that those scientists who study seasonal depression are really onto something. And yet, when the sun does break through the gray, the light is truly a wonder to behold. Often the sky is dark in one direction and bright blue in the opposite. The stone buildings can be at once in the shadows and creating a gleam so brilliant that you have to shield your eyes. One minute, the Seine is steel gray, the next a clear blue.

In the summer, the gray gives way. The midday sun can be intense. In the evenings the sun lingers in the sky until ten, bathing the town in a soft golden light. No wonder artists flock here.


Winter sky


Summer sun caught through the windows of the Grand Palais

25 Things I Love About Paris: #18

18. Gardens and parks

There's nothing green on my block...just a wall of stone on each side of the street, trimmed in black wrought iron. There's not even a tree box between the sidewalk and the curb.

Luckily, Paris is far from an asphalt jungle because there are parks and gardens aplenty, ranging in size from the huge (the bookends east and west of the Bois de Vincennes and the Bois de Boulogne) to simply large (like the Tuileries, Buttes aux Chaumont, and the lovely Luxembourg Gardens) to the hundreds of pocket parks that dot the neighborhoods.

Right now, the crocuses are pushing up through the lawns and the forsythia is about to pop, and on a sunny weekend afternoon, all the world is out picnicking, playing ball, taking a stroll, or simply sunning themselves. But even when it's gray, that doesn't seem to deter the park enthusiasts. There are formal gardens, statuary, Victorian follys built into craggy hillsides, lush lawns, playgrounds, spots for a game of boule, cafes where you can sip an espresso, and lawn chairs for those wishing to read, chat, or contemplate.

Girls with Brass

I admit it. I was a band girl in high school. A freak in white nurse shoes, a red blazer with black braid, and black trousers with a red stripe down the side like some kind of demented steak house waiter. Definitely a third class citizen compared with the girls on the drill team who wore sparkly outfits and white boots with pom poms.

But those high steppers had nothing on this group of band girls, spotted last weekend entertaining the crowds waiting in line at the Eiffel Tower, and giving it everything they got. What they lacked in musical ability, they well than made up for with attitude. You go girls.

25 Things I Love About Paris: #17

17. Figaroscope

If you want to know what's going on in Paris, make sure you buy the Wednesday edition of Le Figaro and double check to be certain that you have the magazine insert, Figaroscope. Sure, Pariscope comes out on Wednesday too and it costs only 40 centimes. But Figaroscope has all the same listings for art, theater, music, and the movies plus a whole lot more. Who else is going to tell you where to find the best baguette or the best crepes in Paris, rating them by price, taste, sense of welcome, and size? Best old school bistro? Best bobo hangout? Figaroscope can tell you. And where else can you find restaurant reviews that are both genuinely enthusiastic and bitingly snarky? (Woe to those who get the dreaded black broken heart. One such restaurant that I know of went out of business within a few months of being panned by Le Figaro.) Two big red hearts to this always enjoyable guide to what's new, what's happening, and what's worth doing in Paris.

Ski Break

After weeks of mostly gray skies, it was an incredible treat to head south last week to the French Pyrenees for the kids' ski break. I made the plans with some trepidation; my last experience downhill skiing was a dreary day almost 30 years ago when I went with some college friends to Hunter Mountain, New York. Experienced skiiers all except me, they left me on the bunny slope where I spent a lonely day, falling down, getting cold and wet, and generally having no fun. My kids wanted to give it a go though, and just the thought of them ending up like me, a pathetic nonskiier in a world full of skiiers, was enough to get me into planning mode.

As it turned out, we really couldn't have done better. We booked 5 nights at Chez Passet, a bed and breakfast outside Lourdes, where our hosts, transplanted Brits Vicky and Andrew, carted us to and from the slopes, recommending the best spots for beginners, plying us with delicious food and drink, and sharing with us the beautiful valley where they live.


The tiny village of Lezignan, west of Lourdes, where we stayed.

The weather was spectacular, sunny skies and warm temperatures even at high altitude. My husband was a patient teacher and the kids enjoyed the triumph of making it down the mountain without a tumble. We never got off the green runs (except for the time when we made a serious wrong turn and there was no way down but on the blue trail) but it was still great fun.

On the last day, our train back to Paris left midafternoon so we took some time to visit the sights of Lourdes, the second most visited spot in France after Paris. This town of 15,000 is host to some 6 million visitors annually, mostly pilgrims seeking solace at the site where a young French girl, Bernadette Soubirous, saw the Virgin Mary 18 times in 1858. Although quite a bit of the town was shuttered with the main onslaught of visitors not expected until Easter, we still managed to take in the cathedral, the grotto, and the vast number of souvenir shops. If you're in the area, it's worth a stop even if you're not a believer.



If you forget to bring your own bottle to draw the healing waters, not to worry. Bottles of varying sizes and forms are available for purchase.


Nothing more need be said.