The end is the beginning

We are nearly at the end of our time away and we are experiencing a kind of liminal space. Still here, but our thoughts turning to home. Seeking to be present to enjoy our days in Paris, but the sense of an ending inevitably colouring the present. We've been holding that dynamic today and seeking to honour the whole of it. 

What then to do but wander the streets, and marvel some more? We began, after breakfast, with Notre Dame - 10 minutes walk from our hotel and its majesty never exhausted.

We met Charlemagne and his fearsomely moustached aide in the forecourt.

And noticed more of the exquisite details in the stone carvings on the facade above the west door.

The judgement scene with those condemned in chains and being led off by devils. If you look closely, you'll see there's a bishop amongst them!

And on the next tier, these beautifully human angels looking on, each with a different pose.

More in chains, bound up in misery ...

This martyr lost his head, but found it again!

We did not get inside the Cathedral as the queue was too long, maybe we can get in for vespers this evening?

From Notre Dame to the Louvre, the old palace of the kings, and still thronging with tourists at this late stage in the season.

There's a real presence of the military in the streets since the terrorist attacks of the last couple of years.

There are so many amazing buildings and sights in Paris, and almost every street cries out to be photographed.

Some garden shops along the Seine offered welcome colour on a grey morning.

Quite a nice tower in the background!

And another ... we're wondering about one of these for our garden courtyard!

Or maybe this arch would offer a better vista ...

After a while, we felt a bit overwhelmed by monuments and crowds of tourists, so headed into some relatively quieter streets and enjoyed looking at facades and cafes. Sarah is a compulsive menu reader and there was plenty to check out.

Les Deux Magots in St Germain is the cafe where Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir hung out. The price of hot chocolate there is exorbitant. That's the church of St Germain in the background.

Never mind the French philosophers, the Australian theologians are taking over now!! Heather, we've saved a seat for you...

No doubt there's poetry that can and has been written about French cafes, but as we've been pondering our experience of this ending and transition, we've been reminded again of Jack Gilbert's poem, 'The Lost Hotels of Paris', particularly as we are staying in one that probably more closely resembles what he was talking about.

The poem also seems very apt on the occasion of a fiftieth birthday, when you really do have to acknowledge that your youth is behind you. Reading the poem here, in these circumstances, has given it particular meaning for us. Here it is.

The Lost Hotels of Paris 

The Lord gives everything and charges
by taking it back. What a bargain.
Like being young for a while. We are
allowed to visit the hearts of woman,
go into their bodies so we feel
no longer alone. We are permitted
romantic love with its bounty and half-life
of two years. It is right to mourn
for the small hotels of Paris that used to be
when we used to be. My mansard looking
down on Notre Dame every morning is gone,
and me listening to the bell at night.
Venice is no more. The best Greek islands
have drowned in acceleration. But it’s the having
not the keeping that is the treasure.
Ginsberg came into my house one afternoon
and said he was giving up poetry
because it told lies, that language distorts.
I agreed, but asked what we have
that gets it right even that much.
We look up at the stars and they are
not there. We see the memory
of when they were, once upon a time.
And that too is more than enough.

So, we've had our experience of this trip too, we can't keep it and it must come to an end, but it is enough, and we trust that this end is also a beginning in all kinds of different ways.

Blessings, 

Sarah and Neil

 

PS. We did manage to get to Vespers, which was wonderful. And to cap off a great day, we also managed to find duck a l'orange for dinner - the meal Neil had been hoping for since we arrived in France!