Rainy Days in Paris
It is said that no one comes to Paris for the weather. Happily, it changes frequently enough that there is weather for every taste, often in the same day. My personal vision of Paris these days resembles Caillebotte’s La Place de l’Europe, seen at left.
It turned cooler and windy yesterday afternoon, just in time for the Nocturne Rive Droite, an annual affair where the galleries along avenue Montaigne and rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré open their doors and le tout Paris comes, drawn by the art and the champagne. Some things are universal.
Absent something I’m obliged to do, and with so many possibilities here, I often base my choice on the weather. The five-day forecast promises rain through Monday, so I will work around it. Temperatures in the teens Celsius (or mid-60′s Fahrenheit) make doing almost anything pretty agreeable despite the downpour.
One never runs out of rainy-day things to do here — museums, salons de thé, the cinema (or, as in my case today, stay at home and work). My apartment looks out on a cobblestone courtyard surrounded by former artists’ studios. There are days I wish I could channel the creativity of the late occupants.
For anyone who is in Paris this summer, a new exhibition, “Les Années Grace Kelly” (The Grace Kelly Years), opened this week at l’Hôtel de Ville de Paris (Métro Hôtel de Ville).
After shedding considerable blood to free themselves of a monarchy, neither the French nor the Americans seem to have lost their fascination with royalty. Nearly 26 years after her untimely death, the memory of our American princess remains firmly imprinted in the collective memory. The exhibition is curated by Frédéric Mitterand, nephew of the former president, and opened in 2007 in Monaco to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the princess’s death. 
It runs until 16 August.
After visiting a museum (or in lieu of doing so), the salons de thé beckon. A rainy week might be a fine time to judge the relative merits of Parisian macarons (in the interest of science, of course, should you be tempted). I have it on very good authority (ladyjicky, who recently visited Paris) that the macarons cassis at Ladurée are well worth the visit. The exotic creation shown at left is the Ispahan, a marriage of rose, raspberry and litchi, perhaps Pierre Hermé’s best-known.
I could go on and on about macarons, and all sorts of other French pastries, but that sounds like another post.
Jan del Monte, blogging from the rue du Cherche-Midi, Paris, France
© 2008 Jan del Monte
Its a grey day here in Melbourne , Australia too . I would have loved to have seen the Kelly Exhibition as I was visiting with my Mum and she is her era and loves to look at the fashion etc. Oh well – thats the “luck”. I missed Valentino coming to the Decorative Musee of the Lourve too! Grrrr- any person who loves pug dogs that much is fine by me! LOL
He too , designs like her loves women (YSL did) .
I have to tell you Jan – the Macaroon has landed in Oz! Not grand and tasty like the French ones but they have popped up in certain $$ shops of late – maybe we might get someone to take it by the hand and create it like the French do??? Yumm. Oh those Cassis ones at Laduree – Oh so addictive! LOL
That’s the trouble with Paris. Even living here, you can’t do everything. I have missed a number of things I thought I would see.
That is why I would love to live in Paris. You have so much going on and you really do not have to travel all that far to get to it! I wish we had a metro network like you have. It would be good for all big cities around the world but to do one these days would cost HUGE amounts!