Paris with Darick

Things I've done with Darick in Paris since he arrived:

• Pique-nique with cheese and baguettes and grapes under the Eiffel Tower to watch the sunset and feel Parisian. The tower turned blue instead of white in honor of the French taking the EU presidency as of July 1, and the train stopped working so we had to walk the long way home.

• The Louvre, for a full day. It was overwhelming. The Louvre is meant to be done in many, many days, two hours and one wing/floor combination at a time. We did as much as we could in one. Saw the Mesopotamian, Iranian, and Egyptian rooms, as well as Winged Victory and the Mona Lisa (I don't find her disappointing, by the way, though most tourists do—she's beautiful).

• La Belle Ronde, my favorite little creperie in the 14^th arr. that Kate found last year, for Darick's first crepes. Parrakeets chirped while D enjoyed the “inside-out pancakes,” as he referred to them.

• The opening night of the world premiere of the Fly, the opera based on the movie, directed by David Cronenberg, musical direction by Placido Domingo, score by Howard Shore (he conducted himself!) and art direction by Dante Ferretti (who just won the Oscar for Sweeney Todd). With such an incredible background (and we're big fans of the movie), it was bound for greatness, though it disappointed. It was mostly recitative, with few moments for the singers to shine, and little emphasis on the emotional and important moments. A lot of lost chances for greatness. We did like some of the things they added, though, and it sure is a great story—one prime for adaptation to the opera form.

• The morning doing the best we could to get through the Musee D'Orsay—the impressionism museum. It's packed with a lot of major works in a small space. Darick found a new artist he likes: Henri Fantin-Latour.

• We walked our way (farther than I expected) to the Musee Quai Branly, the anthropological museum. I think this was Darick's favorite museum we visited, perhaps for the whole three weeks. He's really into Oceanic art, particularly since it is so integral in the lives of it's people, rather than a cultural luxury as art is in our society. It's a really great and packed museum, and I recommend it to everyone.

• An evening in Montmartre, trying to feel a bit like Amelie. We had fondue for dinner at La Refuge du Fondue, which is certainly an experience, despite being filled with non-Parisians. We then walked around, listening to music, people watching, visited Picasso's first studio in Paris, and climbed the stairs of the Sacre Coeur to watch the sunset over Paris. We also were able to walk around in Sacre Coeur, which is a particularly unique church in Paris, filled with beautiful mosaics. It's no St. Louis Basilica, though.

• After some administrative work for the program, we had falafel in the Marais and bought Darick some second-hand clothes at a Parisian thrift store. We then walked to the Centre Pompidou. With very limited time in Paris, we felt like we were shoving things in at the last minute. On the top floor of the Pompidou was a special exhibit on modern/contemporary sacred art, which Darick is really into right now. It was the perfect exhibition for him. He then powerwalked through the permanent exhibition of the museum, for lack of time. He said it was like gorging on art without chewing. I think we'll have to return there.

• We visited Notre Dame, which was of course packed with tourists, ruining the effect of how beautiful it is there. I wanted to take him to my favorite church, Ste. Chapelle, but we ran out of time. I had a talk to attend, and then we all went out for dinner in Montmartre at Restaurant Chartiers, which is a very classically French restaurant in a lovely space. The food was mediocre, but cheap, so it was a hit. We ended the night with jazz at Le Caveau des Oubliettes. I think Darick really loved Paris, though we'd love it a lot more if we lived there...