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Humanity, Candy and a Cafe...or two.

Originally written: Friday, September 20, 2013

If there is anything that summarizes an experience in a major city like Paris...or New York City or London I would have to say that it would be Humanity and Candy....and a Cafe or two.

The morning brought Humanity. First, in the little dining/lobby area of the Hotel Britannique, behind me and to the right, was a couple from (wait for it), Raleigh, NC! Not only was this lovely couple from Raleigh, NC, but they literally live around the corner from me in (wait for it) Raleigh, NC! There was also a lovely couple from Marietta, Georgia...but the best of the new folks in our little hotel were from Wales, UK. There are people from all over the world in our little hotel, and it makes the world seem a bit smaller and more friendly.

To confirm my observation that the world has become a tiny little blue mable in the cosmos...we spent the morning climbing, climbing, climbing up to the sky to visit the Basilica of Sacre Coer (The Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic cathedral on the highest point in Paris). This cathedral was remarkable in that the Nazi's dropped 13 bombs on it in 1944 and all of them fell around the cathedral, harming very few people...there was a plaque to commemorate the date of this miracle, complete with holes poked into the marble to represent where the bombs dropped. I love an old church with its ghosts, it's history and it's hope for the future. Like others of it's ilk, this cathedral is worth seeing; while we were there, it looked like an enormous stone hive around which buzzed a swarming mass of human-bees, I mean, human beings. I heard people speaking Spanish, Italian, French, British-English, American-English, Australian-English, German, and many, many other languages that I couldn't discern. There were even beggars on the door-step of the cathedral that were straight from Central Casting, complete with scarves and canes...Humanity, Humanity, Humanity. There was a sermon in session when we crossed the thresh-hold from the bright sunny day into the darkness of the cathedral. I slipped off my sun-glasses and adjusted my blazer, making sure I was properly dressed to respect the worshipping space of people receiving their sermon. I was overwhelmed by the stained-glass windows which were stunning in their bright reds and blues and greens; we were there at just the right time of day when the arc of the sun rose perfectly on the stained-glass windows - casting an indescribable pattern of God's Light onto the grey stone columns. There's a metaphore there. It was a reminder to me that even in the middle of a hive of humanity, one can stand still and look for the light.

We passed the Paris Test of Finding and Hailing a Taxi: Rules - points off for slamming your purse in the door, but bonus points added for getting arms and legs inside the vehicle before it tears off into traffic. We needed to pass the Paris Test of Finding and Hailing aTaxi in order to come down off the Sacre Coer mountain, and head over to La Rue Cler. La Rue Cler which is billed as being a 'secret' (sshh..don't tell anyone) location where all the local Parisiens of the district come to shop and eat. La Rue Cler was nice, as there was not the constant buzz and whine of scooters and the putt-putt of box trucks. However, it was indistinguishable from the thousand other corners, alleys and 'Rue's of Paris, as it was bristling with Cafe's. The Paris Cafe is frankly, an animal that is overpopulated and destined to collapse from overpopulation. The Paris Cafe is a culture within a culture, and every tourist should sit in a sidewalk cafe while they're in Paris. But, after you've seen one tall, blue-haired teenager with platform shoes and giant safety-pins holding her top together, well, the excitement is really over. Now, having said that, I had the best Pizza Margarita of my life in a La Rue Clere cafe today, and that includes all the Pizza Margaritas I had while in Italy in 2007...and I had about 2007 Margarita Pizzas in 2007. The Rue Cler did have the most delightful little candy store where I bought a box of what looks like little river rocks but is actually chocolate and sugar; and a box of 30 special candies for "that-special-someone-at-home" and while I was leafing out the bills, I prayed that the chocolates wouldn't melt into a giant box shaped chocolate brick with a cardboard center and an elegant orange ribbon. I will have to take the risk of carrying them home in my suitcase, since the store "Will provide the service of shipping your 4 oz. box of chocolates for 150 Euros, if you like." It's nice to know just exactly what 150 Euros will get you these days...

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