the city of light

"I must study politics and war that my sons may have the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study paintings, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain."   --John Adams (as quoted in The Greater Journey. Have you not gone out and read it yet?? Even after all my droning on and on about it's virtues? Trust me. It will become part of your essential home cannon.) 

Paris was beautiful. A delight. An inspirational reprieve. 

 Some serious chocolat at a cafe called "The Editors"

 Morning walk through the Garden of the Tuelleries

Not to rub it in, but I also visited Paris when I was 19 with a school group from Ricks. One of my favorite professors then told me about San Chapelle (above)--a hidden cathedral across from Notre Dame. Significantly smaller, but much more beautiful, she claimed. She was right. Suz and I caught a concert of violinists performing Vivaldi's Four Seasons there. The venue was small and the violinists were captivating. It was the highlight of the trip. 

Luxembourg Palace & Gardens: 

life really does not get better than this

Eiffel Tower from our dinner cruise

Suzy in front of the Louvre

Notre Dame Cathedral

 The REAL reason I went to Paris...

Shakespeare & Company Bookstore is full of books in English. Upstairs is a library of books not for sale. You can pick one out and then lounge around on the couches up there, reading and listening to the live pianist playing in the corner.

Outside L'Hotel

                   Place Vendome                                          The Beaux-Arts district. My favorite area by far.

Sad to leave...

The thing that makes Paris so remarkably beautiful, I think, is that its people--every class of its people--have been caring about art and literature for centuries. And you just can't go wrong with a legacy like that.