Dimanche: Sunday in Paris
Bonjour,
Our days are becoming fewer and colder but no indication of any snow in the forecast. It will be in the mid 30’s today which is pretty cold to walk around in especially at night.
Yesterday was a slow easy day as Sundays should be. We decided upon lunch in La Place de la Madeleine at the Fouchon cafe. It is pricey but we chose the daily special which was delicious and most reasonable. It was veal dressed up in a flaky pastry cup (“Veal vol-au-vent”) with fresh vegetables, bread with olive oil (almost never a choice in Paris) and then coffee afterward. We received complimentary macarons as a bite of something sweet. I could not detect the flavors so I asked the waitress. It was ginger and white chocolate!
After a leisurely lunch, we mentioned that it had been a very long time since we had stepped inside the church. Its history is interesting. (Copied from their web site:)”The church of La Madeleine occupies an exceptional site: it dominates the Faubourg Saint-Honoré and the Grands Boulevards and gave its name to this district of Paris. A royal foundation, it was one of the elements of the project to extend the capital towards the west in the middle of the 18th century and was designed to wedge the perspective between the two palaces of Gabriel on the Place de la Concorde. Its construction posed many problems for the State and stretched over more than eighty years. Before becoming the parish of the Élysée and the very international sanctuary of the business district, frequented by artists and tourists, Sainte Marie-Madeleine was proposed for various uses. Parish, then commemorative temple of the heroes and victims of the Revolution, the Empire and the Restoration, the sanctuary suffered from the hesitations of its builders. The aesthetics of La Madeleine are equivocal: because of its colonnades, it resembles the National Assembly or the Stock Exchange; it is built in the same neoclassical style as the Pantheon of great men; with so many statues, it is similar to a sculpture museum.
“On its monumental base, La Madeleine can discourage the boulevard walker who hesitates to climb the steps of a temple that resembles so many other public buildings. The semi-darkness of the nave and the absence of chapels make it an atypical sanctuary.
“With so much marble and so few paintings, the connoisseur may at first be disconcerted not to find the diversity of works of art in other Parisian churches; nevertheless, the sumptuousness of the place gradually imposes itself on him.
“Uniform and grandiose, La Madeleine deserves a detailed visit. The momentum of the classical orders, the beauty of the marble and the subtle distribution of the polychromy underline the architect’s choice: a majestic setting suitable for large gatherings; for us, those of the World Youth Days in 1997, the Jubilee and the third millennium.
“Although completed less than two centuries ago, the Madeleine church today requires a lot of restoration work:
- To remedy the structural problems affecting it, weakened by the underground developments of the square (parking, line 14, etc.) and the surrounding pollution.
- To allow it to regain the original shine of its sculpted decorations, its gold and its marble, clogged over the years by dust and soot from candles.”
Next stop was the small Christmas market in La Place de la Concorde.
Our last stop was La Samaritaine, the classic department store along the river, beloved by many. The Christmas decorations were minimal so I focused on fashion.
We are delighted to be invited to Hannah’s apartment for a New Year’s Eve soirée tomorrow evening. We will be home in time to see the festivities from the Champs Elysées on television and also to miss the subway crazies.
We heard about the death of Jimmy Carter as we got up this morning and remember him with much respect and gratitude. May he rest in peace.
A bientôt
L & B
December 30, 2024 @ 4:49 pm
Have you noticed in the past that clothing styles arrive in Paris before Alabama or U.S.? Do you think what you see in Paris is a good predictor of what we’ll see later in U.S.
December 30, 2024 @ 4:52 pm
I honestly have no idea! I know that blue jeans and tennis shoes came to Paris from the USA much to my dismay. Years ago fashion was so exquisite. Now it’s pretty homogenized with what’s happening around the world. Realize that 20 years ago, we didn’t have social media like we do now.
December 30, 2024 @ 6:13 pm
The churchs inspire me so much. Thank you for sharing your photos!!!
December 30, 2024 @ 6:19 pm
Interesting. Thank you
December 30, 2024 @ 6:42 pm
A lovely leisurely Sunday hitting all the high spots around the Madeleine. Happy new year!
December 30, 2024 @ 8:40 pm
Looks as if boys will be dressing like college students of their grandfathers’ era and girls will be wearing bags. But I sure like the pearls on the blouse collar.
December 31, 2024 @ 1:16 am
Are there any Hannukah celebrations or decorations?
December 31, 2024 @ 6:18 am
I haven’t seen any but will check out the Jewish area today. Thanks for the suggestion.
December 31, 2024 @ 1:47 am
What a lovely day you had! The restaurant and your meal was lovely. I enjoyed the other photos from your visit to the church as well as the the fashion side of Paris. The cold temperatures do make it difficult to be out too long. But alas it is December!
Cindi