Showers of blessing

I literally got showered this morning after I left my hotel, which I had just taken a nice warm shower. As soon as I stepped out the front door the rain came down, now this wouldn’t be so bad except that I had thought my umbrella was lost. So all I had was my red hat that I brought and my windbreaker to shield me from the storm. But I trudged my way through the down pour to get to my Metro station so I could go visit the Cemetery. My goal was to get Kate’s picture of Jim Morrison’s grave and also to see Edith Piaf’s grave. The night before I had asked the man at the front desk how to get to the Pere Lachaise cemetery with the least amount of station changes and he pointed out that the Ecole Militare station was the best one to start from. Well the thing is I had been using the Champs-de-Mars station and when I tried to find the Ecole Militare station a few days beforehand I couldn’t, even though that was closer than the Champs-de-Mars. But the Champs-de-Mars station was what I was familiar with and so I trekked over there, by the time I got inside the metro my pants were soaked and so was my jacket. I felt like a drowned rat and probably looked like one too. What everyone says about how the Metro is so convenient to use and readily accessible is true, once you know how to use it you just go. And I used the Metro quite a bit today and will probably for the rest of my stay, though I am keeping my promise to “Bob” about the taxi thing. =) Once I got to the Pere Lachaise stop my pants had dried up enough, but when I got out of the Metro it was still raining so they got re-soaked again! I found this nice little café around the corner from the entrance to the cemetery and so I had my breakfast there. Now mind you I’m having a French style breakfast which is just croissant and café au lait, nothing big like bacon and eggs.

By the time I left the café the rain had let up and I sauntered over to the Cemetery. I had cut out a map of it from one of the guidebooks I was reading that had posted where the famous people were buried so I didn’t need to buy a map from the vendors near the cemetery. The cemetery is divided up into divisions and there are some marked signs with street names on them, but it can get confusing because the older the section the more higgledy-piggledy they are. As I wandered around the general vicinity where my map showed Jim Morrison’s grave to be the downpour started again. I had seen some other visitors taking shelter in the doorway of the mausoleums and decided do that praying that the rain would pass by quickly. Now I couldn’t find a guard or cemetery employee to ask them where Jim Morrison’s grave was but I did find Fredric Chopin’s rather easily. It was right by the street and so you didn’t have to climb over graves to get to it, which when I did finally find Jim Morrison’s grave I had to do that. Now when I had researched for my trips one of the traveler’s who’s review I read had mentioned that there was a guard near Jim Morrison’s grave, well I was looking for someone dressed like all the cop’s I’ve been seeing around town. Apparently the guard to this tomb was more like a private security type so his uniform was different. After Jim Morrison’s grave I went in search of Edith Pilaf, who is that famous French vocalist whose songs I’ve been listening to while walking around the streets of Paris. That just helps with the whole “atmosphere” of being in Paris J. Fortunately her grave was in a newer division and so it wasn’t too hard to find. Then I wandered around and found Gertrude Stein and Oscar Wilde’s tomb. I was rather surprised to find graffiti on Oscar Wilde’s tomb and his had a more Egyptian feel. Gertrude Stein’s was one of those “blink and you’ll miss it type” tomb. The whole place was so quiet, I tried to find Maria Calla’s box in the crematorium but couldn’t. However there were some pretty ornate boxes in the crematorium. I still wouldn’t want to be cremated though; I am trying to live life outside the box while I am alive so that they can put me in one when I’m dead. Hahahaha

The cemetery is located on top of a hill and from there I could see the Paris Icon-Eiffel Tower. So many different types of graves, some ornate, some simple, some new and bold, others just plain old. It reminded me of that quote Dr. Bob III used to have us all say in BJU “the only reality in the world today is that people are dying and going to hell today” (I’m not sure on the exact quote but I hope you understand the message.). Now what a way to start my day huh? You’d think I’d be depressed after that. I got back on the metro and went to the center of Paris to forage for my lunch.

Now I found the Laduree on rue Royal (which is a smaller branch of this great pastry shop) but it was a bit crowded so I didn’t stop there. Finally ended up in this little hole in the wall café somewhere near the Madeline Metro stop, the people in the café spoke French and I couldn’t hear any English so I figured this was a good place. Boy was it! Their plate of the day was roast beef with mashed potatoes and it was so yummy. There was plenty of gravy and the beef was nice and juicy with just a hint of pink. The mashed potatoes were nice and fluffy, so the simple meal just stuffed me with no room for desert. However I must admit I’m getting quite addicted to having un café at the end of my meals. That little demitasse of espresso is just wonderful! I wandered the streets a bit trying to figure out where I wanted to go next, my museum pass had finished so I would have to pay full price to get into the museums and most of them are closed on Mondays. Somehow I ended up looking for the apartment Siri Mitchell said was Adrien’s on Avenue George V; it was right above the Hermes’s shop. Now this meant I had to make my way to the Champs Elysee and while I was headed there I found this chocolate shop called “Foquets”. For those of you who know Eloise the girl that lives in the Plaza in New York, when she went to Paris she ate at Foquets on the Champs Elysee. The restaurant really does exist but the prices were not nice for my pocketbook and I figured that it was one of those places with the brand name price but not good food. The chocolate shop was closed L but that’s okay because I found the main shop of Laduree on the Champs Elysee. Oh my word! Now those of you, who know me, know that I love watching ‘Passport to Europe with Samantha Brown’ and in one of the Paris episodes she goes into this pastry shop and has tea. Well I had just finished my very filling lunch so I just bought two religieusee and a pistachio éclair and it was all under 15 euros. When I left the shop I couldn’t help smiling, I was carrying three pretty boxes that had delicious goodies waiting for me to eat. Ahhhh the simple joys of life! I could’ve just ended my day then.

But there was more, the big Sephora store on the Champs Elysee has a “nose”. Now this isn’t just your ordinary nose, no this person has a special nose which she could smell out hundreds of wonderful smells that normal people wouldn’t recognize. No I am not crazy talking about a nose, you just have to do research on the perfume industry to understand what I’m talking about. I won’t go into details but watching this person work was like watching a potter make something. Did some shopping, I was good though and stuck to my budget! When I went into the Virgin Records store I saw this young lady carrying a Build-a-Bear box. She told me that there was a Build-a-Bear store in the Galleries Lafayette near the Opera house, so I headed there next. Forget the CD’s and DVD’s I was going to get Sebastien a Paris t-shirt. (I am still sad he didn’t get a Hollywood shirt when we went this summer so you better believe he wasn’t going to miss out on a Paris outfit).

Dinner was at the café in the 6^th floor (it would be 7^th here in the US) that had more of a cafeteria style of getting food. You would just pick up a tray and go around the different sections and choose what you wanted. Would you believe I got a nice large chunk of steak along with potatoes for less than 20 euros? Yup! The meat was cooked “well done” just as I like it and they had this nice peppercorn sauce that went over it. It was a rather delicious meal and didn’t cost me a fortune. Though it still didn’t pass that incredible steak dinner where I had to get to the restaurant early on Saturday night, that place is in a level all by itself. I did eat my éclair after that and the packaging was just the tip of a truly enjoyable dessert, even the cafeteria lady came by and talked to me when she saw that I was eating a Laduree desert. That éclair was beautifully presented and had such a nice filling; it wasn’t too thick or too light just the right medium, which didn’t lose its pistachio flavor! Oh my tongue was just in 7^th heaven then.

I figured out where to get a taxi for sure at night. Just head to the Galleries Lafayette and there is a line of taxis at the stand, the only stand at night I’ve seen that was just lined up with taxis. Took my taxi ride back to the Eiffel tower where I enjoyed another dessert, the religieusee chocolate this time. Chocolate from Laduree under the Eiffel tower, now how perfectly elegant is that to end the day? Showers to blessings for sure! :-)