the Marais

I've spent the last few days exploring the Marais - it is a neighborhood in the 3d and 4th arrondissements in Paris and my home for the next several weeks. Yesterday, I moved from the studio apartment I was in for the first few days to my current apartment a block from Centre Pompidou. My first pad was about 300 sq feet - but didn't seem to squishy. The French are very efficient with space - with cupboards and drawers everywhere. That part of the Marais was the heart of the Jewish quarter and I saw traditional Jewish bakeries and ate some great falafel and other middle eastern cuisine. Weird, but I never really though to Jewish food and Middle eastern cuisine in the same breath, but it makes sense. The neighborhood is full of shops and eateries but I have to admit I love my new neighborhood even more.

As I said, I moved yesterday and it was a bit of an adventure. I had called early on to reserve a taxi but unfortunately, no taxi arrived. I called the taxi service again and they said they couldn't find a taxi to come because of Jai. So I went back to the apartment to see if I could leave him and get the keys for the new place and return for him, but by that time the maid service had arrived and they needed to get permission for me to leave him. Ludovic - the guy who was meeting me at the new apartment - finally came to my old place and then he, Jai and I, dragging two very heavy bags walked across the Marais to the new apartment - and up four flights of stairs. (sidenote - I think I have discovered why Parisians are slim - there are no elevators in any apartment building - sigh.) After we arrived and I unpacked, I had to return to the old apartment to get Jai's crate. All I could think was, "man, I must really love him to be doing this - I should just chuck the crate..." Thinking I could find a taxi for just me and the crate, I arrived back at my old post. and waited. and waited. Finally, being unable to stand the wait, I ended up dragging the crate across the Marais to the new apartment - and again up four flights of stairs. It was a sight to see and in Baltimore I'm sure I would have been stopped several times, but in Paris, no one batted an eye.

I suppose he's worth it. most of the time anyway.

all in all, I am loving my new pad - it is 430 square feet but feels luxiously huge - and a one bedroom. Maybe it's because the kitchen is a mere cut out in the wall? Ah well, we all know how much cooking I do... The apartment is about a block from Centre Pompidou which is a modern art museum that has been a bit controversial because it looks like it doesn't belong in Paris but looks rather space age.

Today, I was going to do a bike tour around the city, but I woke to thunderstorms so I went to the Centre Pompidou to check out the exhibits. As luck would have it, the museum is free on the first Sunday of each month for the standard exhibit. For those of you who have never traveled with me, an hour or two of a museum is all I can handle at one time so this was perfect. The 4th and 5th floors hold the general exhibit. The fourth floor has an exhibit of women's art from 1960 on and I have to say, I wish I had started with the fifth floor instead of the 4th. Now, I'm all for women's lib and women's rights but the stuff in the exhibition seemed to me to be inflammatory, just to be inflammatory or to attack a male point of view rather than express any singular female point of view. Much to my chagrin, I don't like it and maybe I just am not smart enough to get it.

The fifth floor was far more interesting - artists from 1905 to 1960 - including cubists such as Picasso and Kandinsky, and photographers like Jackson Pollack. If I remember, I'm going back there the first Sunday in July. (I still can't believe I will still be here then!)

I hope everyone had a great weekend.