Bonjour, Paree!
Well, almost anyway!
A surprise of the best kind came today - I found out PK, myself and Maeve are all going to Paris.
It was very much a last minute thing.
In fact, I was thinking that we would do a short stop over on our way to the auction in Cairo but then we were all invited to our friend Geneva’s wedding - and a last minute wedding it is!
Or rather I should say it was decided at the last minute. Geneva and her fiancé, Jean-Paul have been together for some time.
Geneva is a curator of medieval art at the Cluny Museum and as it happens the museum had a last minute cancellation due to a wedding being called off and the courtyard of the Hôtel de Cluny was available. Geneva and Jean-Paul thought, why not?
p.s. The Hôtel de Cluny is the building the museum is in.
If you’ve never been to the Cluny before, it’s a must for anyone interested in the art of the Middle Ages. It’s official name is the Musée de Cluny-Musée National du Moyen Âge…but the Cluny is so much easier to say.
Hôtel de Cluny is a 15th-century gothic mansion located on Paris’s left bank in the 5th arrondissement, near the Sorbonne. Very convenient to the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area in the 6th if you’re staying in that part of town.
It’s most known for it’s set of tapestries, The Lady and the Unicorn.
Each tapestry represents a different sense - touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight. But aside from these famous pieces are other fantastic and historical works that you must see.
I, myself, am a lover of stone sculpture, and there’s quite a bit of it there (as there was all over the medieval era).
There’s no doubt PK and I will be touring the museum again, we’ve been there before but usually with people. And I have to say this about going to a museum ‘with people’ - I prefer not to.
The reason being is that most people do not all like the same things and it usually ends up being time spent rushing around to see the highlights.
I like to spend a lot of time in a museum, go at my own pace and wander where I want.
Of course, there are exceptions, some friends are perfect museum companions - and sometimes it depends on the museum too.
For example, Maeve loves ancient Egypt but has zero interest in medieval art, so PK and I will most likely spend an afternoon on our own there.
That said, where shopping is concerned, Maeve and I are on the same page - we love the flea markets and specialty shops that dot Paris.
And of course, we have to drop in to Shakespeare & Company, the English-language bookstore, also in the 5th, on the banks of the Seine and very close to Notre Dame.
I go there every time I’m in Paris.
I always pick up a book and have them stamp it for me as a special remembrance of my trips there.
Can’t wait!
So, we are off to that magical city to enjoy four days of shopping, flea marketing, dining, wining and wedding-ing!
Next time I post, it will be from the City of Light:)