An American (and a Brit) in Paris

[klwilliams]

We walked out to find it was raining, so we abandoned our plan to walk along the river in favor of visiting the Musee Cluny, since it is only about four blocks away. On the way we found a somewhat touristy place for breakfast, though it served good French omelets and delicious hot chocolate. Next to it, though, is a boulangerie that sells marvelous croissants (our waiter ran over there to get fresh ones for our breakfast), plus a fromagery (cheese shop) and a wine shop. We're thinking of getting our breakfast from those shops tomorrow.

The Cluny Museum was filled with marvels from the Middle Ages, arranged by century. I loved so much of it. They had a special exhibit on swords, including Joyeuse (the real one. Chaz has a link on his LJ), and a sword belonging to Childeric, the father of Clovis. I have a special place in my heart for Clovis, the first of the Merovingian kings. I studied him in school, and I loved the idea of the long-haired kings, who dressed their hair with rancid butter, pushing their way into the Roman society of bath houses and shaved chins. I felt like that at Mount Holyoke, coming from Idaho as I did.

We had wine and raspberries while we avoided more rain, then came home for a bit. We just went out for a walk next to Notre Dame, because the sun is out and it's beautiful again. I took more pictures. And soon we'll meet a friend for dinner. I like Paris.

Comments

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

It sounds fantastic.

[shewhomust.livejournal.com]

That sounds quite wonderful. If you enjoyed the Cluny, and feel up to it, the Medieval Galleries of the Louvre are wonderful, and it probably won't be as busy as it was the day I was there.

[obadiah.livejournal.com]

Sounds awesome! Glad you're having a great time. :-)

[owlfish]

I enjoyed that Cluny exhibit, especially the video of the man dancing around in armor and the use of Playmobil swords to provide scale for the medieval children's play swords.

Also, have spent a fair amount of time at Mount Holyoke, as I went to Smith.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Yes, I liked those parts of the exhibit a lot, too. I've done aikido rolls in my armor, and I have some Playmobil knights of my own.

When were you at Smith? I'm MHC 85.