Visiting my Neighborhood with a Local 3 May 2024

Noticing what I love about the smorgasbord of delights of Paris -- definitely the extravagance of florist displays on the street, like these salmon-colored tree peonies. 

Another example of extravagance, the over-the-top art decorating the interior of churches. 

This towering statue of French-born Vincent de Paul, in the St. Paul-St. Louis church that is steps away from my lodging, has a link to one of the foremost charitable organizations of my home town.

In the same church, contemplating this pièta of Mary without the body of Jesus caused me to tear up...in a chapel dedicated to mothers who have lost children.   She is holding neither a baby nor the body of the crucified Jesus, the drapery suggesting both absences.

On a lighter note, a boutique in the Marais that I passed had this neon sign inside, and on a tee in the window, a satiric statement on a ritual of politeness of French culture:

St. Paul-St. Louis church in the Marais (rue St.-Antoine, Métro ligne 1, St.-Paul.)

Among the many gems I learned from my Paris Greeter Abdelaziz DeChavanne, many churches in Paris have the names of two saints, often the first one being Saint Paul, because he is the patron saint of the Diocese, and the second saint having a political connection. St. Louis (1214-1270) was the most pious of French kings, while the most powerful king of France, l’État-c’est-Moi one, was Louis XIV.  In any case, catholic priests and cardinals held high positions of power close to the reigning monarch.

In this church are very simple leaded-glass windows that are indicative of the Jesuit priests who are associated with its history.

Visits with Abdelaziz also included Victor Hugo's house, Place des Vosges, the Musée Carnavalet and a vintage bar, Le Petit Fer à Cheval, in the Rue Vieille du Temple.  Here are Khaled and Abdelazis in the back room of the bar, where musicians once came to jam: