Long Ago, Far Away: Part II

When Every Minute Counts

On October 4, 2016, we arrived at the Perpignan train station in southwest France after a short hop on a regional train from Port Vendres du Ville where we’d rented a studio apartment for a month. At Perpignan station, we watched for the track number to be posted for our high-speed train to Paris. The track number would appear 20 minutes before departure and not a minute sooner.

French Countryside

Climbing aboard our double-decker train, we located the topside seats listed on tickets purchased in advance from Loco2.com. With backpacks stowed for a four-day stay in the City of Lights, we settled in for the five-hour ride through enchanting French countryside.

First, the train lopes from station to station through flat lands by the Mediterranean. It gains speed out of the city of Montpellier. A distant range of mountains to the west intersects with a rising landscape of pasture and farmland. Lines of trees separate parcels of sloping land and grazing flocks. Despite reaching speeds well over 140 kilometers an hour in the 527 miles (or 848 km) journey, the train merely rocks gently.

At the train’s snack bar, I buy goodies to go with our home-made sandwiches and return to window-gazing. We see a thriving French agro-economy from our train window and in the cheese and meats set on our trays. A return to time-honored methods of working the soil is prized in the stone farmhouses we pass. Organic farming is big, with stiff rules for vendors to meet before calling their produce organic.

Paris 

At Gare de Lyon, we are greeted by Pascal, husband of Marie, owner of a studio apartment on Boulevard Haussmann we rented for our stay. He escorts us to a city bus, and, armed with engaging facts about his Paris, leads us in a walk to Building #85. Opening its massive doors, we step up and over a transom into a high-ceilinged marble entry hall - originally proportioned to serve a prior century’s carriages and horses.

We take the lift to reach our well-appointed top-floor studio. Pascal swings open tall French doors to two balconies overlooking the boulevard and rows of buildings with graceful mansard roofs. To the left above the tree-tops is the dome of Saint Augustin, a cathedral we will explore. Farther to the right are the gilded domes of a department store, Printemps Haussmann, that will draw us to a Guerlain perfume counter and a rooftop terrace with sweeping city views.

Pascal shows us around the studio’s modern kitchen, marble bath, ample closets and sleeper-couch. We flip through thick binders assembled by Marie - a former professor at Sorbonne University - about key sites and restaurants, navigating French TV and using the studio's free phone, even for the overseas calls we must now make to our U.S. bank to confirm, yes, it was us attempting to withdraw funds from a corner ATM in Paris - just as we had said we would a month ago. When Marie arrives, she is gracious discussing our ATM glitch in flawless English - trusting us with a shrug and a smile - and bids us to stay.

On a 2011 whirlwind week's visit to Paris, we toured the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Musee D’Orsy, Musee Rodin, Montmarte, Notre Dame and Versailles. On this trip, we would adopt a leisurely pace. Busy Day #1 wines down with a light dinner at Le Pain Quotidien near Gare Saint-Lazare. The restaurant welcomes with its glass-enclosed space bathed in late-day sunlight. We relax over salad, Croque Monsier, pastries and the biggest and best cups of Café Americano of our stay. Walking back to the studio, we stop at a MonoPrix market. Our mission -  to buy a tube of Crazy Glue to fix the sole of my well-traveled, 15-year old Rockport walking shoes – is a feat of translation accomplished with the aid of a pocket dictionary and pantomime, prompting a mini-celebration with a startled sales clerk.

Sunny Day #2

We boarded the #21 bus to wind through prime Right-Bank streets, passing the confection of the Opera House and Louvre and then crossing the Seine River to the Left Bank. Exiting the bus at Luxembourg Gardens, I scoop up a handful of souvenir chestnuts under the trees.

A sunny autumn day seemed to have prompted half of Paris to picnic here. Children commandeer sailboats with wooden poles and run in circles around the wide pool. Elderly couples idle in metal chairs by the flowerbeds as a stream of students from the nearby Sorbonne walk by, snapping selfies. We feel warmed by the moment, aware of the fragile peace we and Paris enjoy.

Strolling the 5^th Arrondissement, we explore market stalls on tree-lined streets, pause at a café by the river and at Notre Dame in time to hear the cathedral’s throaty new bells toll the hour. After admiring the unrivaled architecture and interior of the 853-year old icon last visited in 2011 for a 9/11 memorial service, we board the bateau bus (touring boat) that makes stops at points of interest along the Seine. A brisk wind makes it wise to stay in the boat's cabin and circle the city hot spots twice, viewing the lovely Eiffel Tower, building facades and stone bridges.  

At dusk, we exited the bateau bus and walked up from the quay to cross the enormous, death-defying traffic hub of the Place de la Concorde - at this hour rife with ways to die. As our reward for darting and dodging across the circle, we gazed back to see the Eiffel Tower ablaze with twinkling lights. It is 8 p.m. A taxi to a cozy bistro, dinner and walk back to the studio complete the day.

Sunny Day #3

We set out on a brisk walk and tour of the Musee Jacquemart-André at 158 Boulevard Haussmann. The gorgeous mansion museum, with its drawing rooms, winter-garden, curving marble staircase, sculpture and paintings absorbs our afternoon, particularly a thought-provoking exhibit of works by Rembrandt. We gird ourselves with a late lunch of quiche in the museum's high-ceiling café and return later for pastries.

The temptation in Paris is to whiz from one place to another. The real pleasure is to pace yourself and prize each moment for what it holds. This might be a fragrant aroma at trendy Thierry Marx Boulangerie, a flower shop window dressed to perfection, a cadre of elegantly suited young businessmen on the move; a chic woman on a bike, her scarf lifted by the breeze. We are ever mindful of our good fortune to be in Paris.

Dreary Day #4

In the misty morning, we set out for Printemps' complex of three stores to purchase a bottle of Shalimar perfume (first the rage in 1925) and view both the rooftop vistas of the city and the interior of the stunning stained-glass dome of the store’s restaurant. We stop at one more sidewalk cafe to people watch before returning to the studio. Pascal arrives at the appointed hour and escorts us to Gare de Lyon for our (3:15 p.m.) train to the south of France.

The train will be delayed long enough for more leisured people watching. When we board the assigned car and locate our seats, we are mystified to discover there are two trains coupled on the track - trains with the same car numbers and seat numbers - that will decouple at Montpellier. A sympathetic fellow traveler escorts us to the right car, and the trains pulls from the station.

My Paris loot: a handful of chestnuts, French perfume, a tube of Crazy Glue and these memories. "C’est magnifique!”

by Reggie Morrisey

See Long Ago, Far Away: Part I