Paris: Blvd. Raspail, Le Panthéon, St. Etienne du Mont, L'ile Saint-Louis

Aujourd'hui j'ai rencontré une copine who went to Mt. Holyoke last year. C'était très sympa de se ballader in the sun. Paris in May is quite perfect because the summer heat hasn't arrived and neither have the masses of tourists.

J'ai rencontré Sarah a la station de metro Rennes. I get out and lo and behold a market is happening! A typical French market with fish, meats, cheese, produce, clothes, jewelry.. all making me wish I had a camera to go around with taking pictures sens stress. There were a couple of colorful large hats that I'm contemplating treating myself to. The smell of chicken and roast potatoes, vendors yelling out their little sales pitch. There is something so nice about walking in a market. I'm going to have a great time in Bologna!

We decide to head towards Le Luxembourg, so we grab a sandwich and stop by L'Eglise St. Sulpice which I had never seen before. (I discovered a lot of places I had never really been to). It's a striking church with two towers and two stories of arches. It recently was renovated so it looked lovely, with the fountain in the square and les jeunes* lounging around eating lunch.

Luxembourg was great as usual. We sat in the shade and talked about DSK and the differences between the US and France concerning matters of rape. I know not a very jovial topic for lunch, but interesting all the same since it really shows how each country has progressed. While the French have equal pay as a law, it's still ok to harass women at work. When obviously in the States, harassment is taken a lot more seriously (Thank God! I mean can you imagine? The way people discuss the DSK affair here-they literally blame it all on the woman!). It's always fascinating to do comparisons of France and the States, or any other country for that matter, because la mentalité is so different. People walk down the street with a different point of view.

Après le Luxe :), direction Panthéon. I don't have any recollection of ever having been even close to La Sorbonne. Le quartier is really nice, with its vigorous, stone buildings (Can you tell I'm trying to come up with art history lingo? Vigorous really? I can't seem to come up with anything better that describes the clean, creme facades of this quartier...). I did not go into the Panthéon, which is colossal, that will be for another day.  All the students were lounging around, enjoying the sunshine and livening up the square.

To the side of the Panthéon there is a Jesuit Church (at least I think it is) called St. Etienne du Mont, where the remains of Blaise Pascal et Jean Racine can be found.  It's been rebuilt a couple of times so it has a conglomeration of styles. The inside has this amazing jubé, a sort of rood-screen, that one could theoretically walk around the perimeter of the church. Further back in la gallerie du cloitre, one can find detailed and gorgeous stained class windows. "Ce sont des peintures sure verre avec des émaux recuits au four, à la différence des autres vitreax de l'église où le verre est coloré dans la masses." It's definitely a church to go visit. I walked into a lot of churches today. It probably has to do with the fact that they are free, beautiful pieces of architecture and I've looked a Baroque churches all this past semester in my art history class. 

My friend and I had to part ways, shortly thereafter and I went off to Notre Dame de Paris always gives me the shivers. What I do not like is that it's always so crowded!Then I walked around L'Ile St. Louis where I got myself an ice cream cone (which I ate sur la seine) and a blister. Le sorbet à la framboise était délicieux, l'ampoule très chiant. After all that I was tired and went back home to St. Cloud. Maison et jardin is always so nice. Paris is lovely, but it is a city and cities drain so much of my energy. I always feel plein de poussière et fatiguée.