Daughter Rebecca and grand-daughter Penelope arrived May 21st for a week with us--husband/dad Jeremy would arrive a few days later--and thus began a week of three-some, four-some, and even five-some tours and visits, and some serious shopping. It all began with a walking tour Rebecca had booked of Paris' most famous passages (or arcades, as some might say), a major Paris feature beginning in the 18th century, reaching its zenith in the 19th, and enjoying a rebirth of interest in the 21st. Baron Haussmann's re-design of the city no doubt got rid of many of the oldies, but quite a few remain, some quite fashionable. Our apartment in the 2nd bordered on two of the older ones, and we'd seen some of the rest, and more, but the tour was great for the extensive background information and history. And in English too. For those keeping score at home, the passages included on the tour were: Verdeau, Jouffroy, Panoramas, Colbert, Vivienne, Verot DoDat, and Palais-Royal. We also stopped by the spectacular Richelieu Library.
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| At the Vivienne |
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| Verdeau? |
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At the mother of all wax museums, in Passage Jouffroy,
near our apartment on St. Denis; I used to go there
several times a week for the Marks and Spencer's that
used to be there...before Brexit...for scones and clotted
cream... |
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| Parapluie store |
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| Ghost paintings |
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Two of the passages were very close to the Richelieu library, which we
visited in 2023; pix of the spectacular main reading room are here; above
is the special reading room for students in the National Institute for Art
History |
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| Irresistible color in the library garden |
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| Now in the Colbert Passage (?) |
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Arriving now at the Palais Royal, where Colette lived; writer, actress,
feminist, author of Gigi, the Claudine series; and much more... |
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| Colette's view |
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| Perhaps the most famous |
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| Side street |
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| Palais Royal "sculpture" garden |
