Sundays in Paris: November 2009

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Not Your Ordinary Back Alley

One of my favorite tucked-away streets in Paris is the Cour du Commerce St.-André, which opened in 1735. Today it connects the rue Saint-André des Arts and the boulevard St.-Germain. There's a cute little toy shop there as well as the back doors to Le Procope (one of the oldest restaurants in Paris, opened in 1686) and the Relais Odeon.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Still Thinkin' About Books

It's hopeless. I am way behind in NaNoWriMo. I will likely not make it to 50,000 words this month. But I write every day anyway, because I'm learning a great deal.

I'm learning that quality time spent with my family is still more important to me than lonely silence spent trying to spin my thoughts into words.

I'm learning that writing every day can be really hard and quite preoccupying, but it can also contain unexpected surprises.

I'm learning that living with a story - really, a family of characters and the world they inhabit - can color the way I see the real world.

And I'm learning that although I probably don't have the talent to be a "real" novelist, the act of trying to write something - to put ideas down on paper - is a worthwhile process nevertheless.

Photo: book shop in the Galerie Vivienne

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Eiffel Tower in the Mirror

View from an apartment as reflected in one of its mirrors.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

November 8, 1793

On this day 216 years ago the French Revolutionary government opened the doors of the Louvre to the general public.

The Louvre can be overwhelming, but in small doses it's a pretty amazing place to visit. My favorite Da Vinci painting, The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, is there, as is one of my favorite Vermeers, the Lacemaker.

I am, I must admit, more of a Musée d'Orsay and Musée Cluny type of person...