Joyeuses Paques

All I can say is that I love Paris more every day. It's mostly the little things, the normal moments of walking off the metro and seeing the Seine, taking lunch in the Palais royal, walking on the Champs Elysée, enjoying a Latin Quarter crèpe at midnight, listening to smooth French music on my iPod while sitting by the Seine, eating simple yet delicious café food, standing in front of a Monet and taking the time to really understand it, going to photography exhibitions, seeing art everywhere, walking under cherry blossoms by Notre Dame, hearing beautiful French all the time... parfait. The gorgeous, gorgeous spring weather that we've had for the past week has certainly contributed to my ecstatic mood, but it's clear that Paris in general has worked its magic.

This weekend, I stuck around the city. I visited Versailles and the Musée d'Orsay, went out to the Latin Quarter, attended Easter mass in Notre Dame (with the rest of Paris, it seemed like), finally got up to Montmartre, and spent some quality time along the Seine and in several new gardens. The Seine and the beautiful Parisian gardens are principal contributors to my springtime happiness; I could (and frequently do) spend hours staring at the river or basking in the sunny gardens. I was originally going to visit a lot of museums this weekend - there are so many I want to see! - but instead I took it easy and tried the laidback vie française, including a wine and cheese party on the banks of Ile St. Louise! Finally, the stereotypical French afternoon activity, complete with a nice bottle of Bordeaux (even the cheap wine is good in France!) and very flavorful Camembert. On such a lovely Easter monday, the quai was full of Parisians enjoying the sun and some good food, and it was very interesting to watch the locals. One party placed their wine, wrapped in a plastic bag, directly in the Seine to cool! Others brought tarot cards and chess sets to accompany the food, while some men tanned alone in the sun. And over all the hussle and activity of the island, we could hear a jazz musician on the Left Bank playing Dave Brubeck. Can't get any better than that!

I'm going to trust the old adage that pictures are better than words, so I'll leave you with a few shots from the last week and a half.