Paris: Pix and Blogs Are Great, But Take Time to See

I'm back in America after two flight days and three hard-charging days of touring Paris. Merveilleuse. Magnifique. Passionante. J'aime Paris.

Blogging or Tweeting or Facebooking a trip is fun, but it can take you out of the moment. If you try to post live updates on the road, you lose time looking for wi-fi connections and staring at your screen instead of the amazing building or painting in front of you.

During the trip, I saved all of my blogging for late night at the hotel. I managed to put up my one post here about Notre Dame and three posts on my other blog about the trip, the Eiffel Tower, and bikes in Paris. I wanted to post much more, but just those four blog posts took time that I could have spent sleep to be better rested for each next day's adventures. Just taking photos (my count: 755) means reducing your experience of the moment to a tiny flat screen. 

You can and should make time to capture the wonders of Paris in pictures and words. But you also need to leave yourself time after each snap or tweet to put down the camera or phone and soak in the moment with your own eyes and ears.

Take your time. Walk in that park... at Versailles! There's no Wi-fi... but who needs it here?

Heidelberger in Paris, Enjoying Art, Architecture, and Puns

[Originally posted from Paris on the Madville Times, Thursday night, July 19, 2012.]

Did I mention I’m in Paris?

Here I am at the Louvre, with our guy Pei’s great glass pyramid out front. The drastic contrast the the architecture of the old fortress still doesn’t well with some observers. But it creates a spectacularly light and airy entryway to the museum.

Eugène Delacroix, “Liberty Leading the People”

Maybe this painting is why some American conservatives get ants in their pants about France: they don’t like women taking leadership roles in the fight for liberty.

Jacques-Louis David, “Le Sacre de Napoléon

Just after the French got all excited about liberté, fraternité, and égalité, they let this bully declare himself emperor. You’ve got to watch out for those little guys who say they are fighting tyranny, only to become tyrants themselves.

Here’s where Napoleon held that coronation, in Notre Dame de Paris.

Remarkable building, even to non-Catholics.

By the way, what does every hungry classical music aficionado need before heading to the supermarché for groceries?

Notre Dame de Paris: Photos!

Notre Dame de Paris turns 850 years old next year. Paris begins a yearlong celebration of the cathedral this December. Here's how the building looked on my July 19 visit: