As I lay down to sleep on my last night in Paris, I was engulfed by a familiar feeling. I remember feeling that tinge years ago. At that time, I was about to leave US after a one year stay. That was in 2003.
Six years since the feeling was same. A mixture of sadness and anxiety of leaving a place I had grown to love. Admittedly I had been in Paris only for five days but the feeling was similar. Maybe this has something to do with how my stay in Paris panned out. I was quite the Parisian during my stay here. Clothes were never a problem as I blended right in with my scarves and cardigans. :) The area near the Place Monge station turns into a farmers market in the mornings. Buying some breakfast pastries and relishing them at a cafe was one of the things I truly relished.
Yes, I did the rounds of the museums - The Louvre and the Orsay. My favorite painting at the Louvre was The Young Martyr by Paul De LaRoche. Sure the Monalisa was terrific but this one appealed to me more.
Between the two I preferred the Orsay - probably because I had OD-ed on classical/renaissance art at the Vatican Museum/Borghese Gallery. The works of Van Gogh were remarkable. The thick layering of paint with a near lacquer finish just made those vivid colors stand out even more.
But my favorite paintings were by Gustave Guillamet. There was a certain earthiness to those paintings that somehow connected better with me. The details, the story behind the characters added multiple layers over this exquisite piece of art. Impressionist art at its very best.
On my last day in Paris I went back to Notre Dame. I wanted to soak in that amazing piece of Gothic art once again. Like fine wine, it just seems to get more alluring the more I look at it. Now it reigns as the most captivating thing I have seen on this trip.As I bid farewell, little plans of returning are starting to unfurl in my mind. Let's see where the road and fate takes me...
PS: I hope to continue writing this blog even though my trip has ended. If I wish to be more dramatic, I would say the trip has ended, the journey has just begun. Yes, I owe you all a post about the Italian/French women. Soon, I promise.
