An Enchanted Evening in Paris

We were wrapping up a glorious buying trip to France that took us to nine cities in eleven days, from points south to north, with a foray into Belgium, and a few regrets that we couldn’t make it to England too.  To celebrate, we booked an early dinner at La Bourse et la Vie, the tiny restaurant opened by celebrity chef Daniel Rose several years ago, on the rue Vivienne in Paris.  Although the food was lovely, it was our adorable server, who used expressions like, “c’est le top”, or “le top du top” or “le topissime” to describe every delectable dish, who really stole the show.  So as not to disappoint, I agreed to try “l’ultime, top du top” crème caramel dessert, even though I’ve never been much of a crème caramel fan.  After confirming that it was indeed le top du top, and unabashedly licking the plate, I decided I’d better go for a long walk (because Meg had already clocked 25,000 steps and I was lagging a little behind!).

It was 10 p.m., but as anyone knows who’s visited Paris in June, the sun is just starting to set at that point.  Rain was in the forecast, but just as typical of Paris in June, dark clouds were replaced by cotton candy, and the sky turned a beautiful shade of pink, yellow and orange.  I was headed to the Seine, to grab the best view of the sunset, but cutting through the Tuileries gardens, I felt like I’d stepped into a Lorraine Christie  painting.   Chasing the sun and its shadows, I grabbed my Iphone 6  and started shooting at everything I saw, marveling once again at the beauty of Paris and how it reminds us of some or our artists’ work.

I also thought of Sarah Robertson, and made a note that if she ever painted a sky this pink, we’d probably tell her it looked fake!  But knowing her, she’d focus first on the architecture of the beautiful Louvre museum, and the play of light on its pretty sandstone façade.