A Gloomy Day

Wednesday, October 17. Weather is gloomy, rainy and cold. Continue working on French grammar until Camille arrives at 10 for tutoring session.

Later an outing. First to BNP Parisbas on r. de l'Hotel de Ville to the ATM, then over to Ile St Louis. Stop in bookstore on the corner because I see an interesting children's book in the window, Victor Hugo S'est Egare. I read the entire thing standing in the aisle. It's a sweet story, well-illustrated, and incorporates one of Hugo's poems, Le Crapaud (The Toad), a long allegorical poem. What could be better than this, a book that incorporates two of my favorite things: children's books and poetry. So, of course, I buy it. :)

Memorial a la Deportation. I cross over to Ile de la Cite and pass near, once again, the Memorial a la Deportation. Fortunately, this time, I happen to be here when it's open so I go in. The men at the entrace check my back pack and ask if I have a cell phone. When I say yes, they ask me to turn it off. No jangling of cell phones to interrupt the stillness and silence of this sacred space. It is a very stark, emotionally effective memorial to the two hundred thousand French men, women and children who were deported during WWII. There's a tomb of an unknown deportee, and it is surrounded by what appear to be two hundred thousand tiny points of light, one for each deported individual. Very tight spaces meant to evoke the death camps. Quotations engraved in the walls. I feel a real heaviness when I leave.

La Conciergerie. As long as I'm in a somber frame of mind and the weather is fitting, I decide to visit the most famous prison in Paris, La Conciergerie. It's where Marie Antoinnette was held prior to her beheading. Other famous people incarcerated before going to the gallows here include Charlotte Corday (who stabbed Marat), Madame DuBarry, and Robespierre. Upon entering, you are in a magnificent, four-aisled Gothic hall, about 20,000 sq ft. Unfortunately, the kitchens are closed today so I don't get to see them. My favorite part is the Cour des Femmes, a lovely courtyard with a small patch of lawn and a fountain where the women could wash their clothes. One stone table remains, the lone witness to the meals that would have been taken there.

Palais de Justice. Along with Sainte-Chappelle (a Gothic marvel which I have visited many times), the Conciergerie is part of the Palais de Justice "complex" so I decide to take a look in the public part of the law courts. It turns out that the entrance is the same as for Sainte Chappelle (with all those priceless stained glass windows) so there's a fairly rigorous security clearance before entering. I have to hand over a small fork that I have in my backpack (and then remember to retrieve it later) !!


Gilbert Jeune. Over to the Left Bank to the most extensive bookstore in Paris (it's in something like 5 or 6 separate buildings!) to get a French grammar exercise book. Spend some time looking around in two of the separate stores and find a cute book entitled, L'Art D'Ennuyer En Racontant Ses Voyages" or something like "How to Bore Your Listeners With Your Travel Stories." Here's a great quote from the humorist Edward Dahlberg (I'm paraphrasing): When you realize your life is worth nothing, there are two things you can do: kill yourself or travel.

I stop in at Paul's to have a cup of hot chocolate. I'm engrossed in this little book (and laughing out loud). After a while, the waitress wants me to pay up (only because I think they are changing shifts, normally you have to ask for the check), and she has to speak to me twice to get my attention. (My mother used to complain about this too: "She doesn't hear a thing I say when she has her nose in a book!") I apologize and say I was lost in the book so she asks me what it is and wind up having a conversation with her and the nice couple at the table next to me!

Later I have dinner at the Cafe Beaubourg (penne with shrimp and a side order of their terrific green beans), then stop by the G20 market before heading home.