Paris avec la belle soeur et beaux frere

Our weekend in Paris for Elise's birthday was a much needed break from the work and heat of Marseille. Unlike many of our crazy museum intense vacations, this was very much a relaxing weekend that involved eating more food, than battling the crowds. I felt like the stress was melting away as soon as I stepped on the fast speed TGV train to Paris. It is so civilized that you can cover over 900km in three hours, in a serene environment with beautiful landscapes, and never have to wait in a line once to get on or off.

We stayed with a collaborator of Keith's and her family. She took us out for a lovely meal on the Friday night where Keith tried andouillette. He was advised that  "Politics is like an andouillette – it should smell a little like shit, but not too much."   We continue to try new foods as much as possible here and they usually are some kind of meat based on an organ that we would never think about eating in North America. 

We spent a full morning wandering around Pere Lachaise Cemetery. The different styles of graves and numerous celebrities who are buried there make it more like a museum than an actual graveyard. During the day it is peaceful and lovely with the sunlight filtering through the trees, but I wouldn't want to be there at night. With all of the small alley ways and twists and turns, it would be very easy to imagine something or someone lurking in the shadows.

I thought this is one of the creeper graves we saw. Why would you want to show arms coming out of a grave? Is there another meaning aside from freaking people out? Below is a picture of Jim Morrison's grave which has become more like a shrine and point of pilgrimage, even though it is tucked away behind several other head stones and family chapels.

Oscar Wilde's grave was artistically unique, but it has been restored and surrounded in glass due to too many people kissing the original and causing damage. 

We also did a walking tour highlighting the activities of the Paris Resistance during WWII, which was interesting but the group was a bit too big and the traffic too loud. Below is a monument dedicated to the high school students who took an active part in trying to end the Nazi occupation and keep Parisians informed about the what was going on in the world outside occupied France. Although there were many tales of bravery and quick thinking, the fact that young teenagers realized the importance of this moment in their own lives and in the freedom of France really stayed with me. I would like to hope that my past and future students would be so enlightened and active in a such a worthy cause.

Even though we did not hit the tourist hot spots. We really did have a great time. Mostly this was because we had a chance to hang out with Elise and Aid. It was so nice to spend a weekend with them and we really look forward to their visit this summer.