Another Saturday Night in Paris ...

... in which I willingly entered a church and emerged without anger, sadness, or snark. In fact I was inspired. I've come a long way.

L'eglise Notre-Dame-du-Travail was the church and I went to hear the Concert de Noël Franco-Allemand. The church was built back in the 18-whatevers and was dedicated to the dignity of the worker (hence the "du Travail" part of the title). That plus a little inspiration from Gustav Eiffel gets you kind of an interesting, stark look. At least it's stark for a Napoleon III era building:















The music was incredible - said to be traditional Christmas music popular in Germany (Allemagne) and France. Of the 90 minutes or so, I only knew one piece: "The Holly and the Ivy" which they performed in English.

Then one shot from the walk home. Many of the Parisian streets are decked out for Christmas. This one is a few minutes walk from Chez Burnett ...

Petersens in Paris

With all the baby action unfolding thousands of miles away back in California, it was good to have the Petersens here in Paris this weekend. It was cold and windy around the city today but we went out and did some of the sights anyway.

Paris just does this to people ...



















Justice as a mujahideen:

A quand un Obama ici?

I didn't have my camera with me at the time to capture the visual evidence, so you'll just have to trust me when I say that I saw that grafitti scrawled in Les Halles metro station this evening. Basically, it means:

When will there be an Obama here?

A number of people have asked me what it's been like to observe the U.S. presidential election from Paris. That grafitti captures the experience: America has inspired Parisians. And my feelings have been pride and relief.

I am proud of the American electorate for taking a huge step in racial equality and moving from the "don't do what I do, do what I say" position to the "do what I do" position.

I am relieved because America resumed its role as an inspirational leader in the world. The fact is, we have not played that role in several years. Seeing it again now, I realize that I expect it of us. And when it went missing, there was a vacuum in global leadership.

A Long Week

This was one of those Sunday-to-Friday travel weeks. I'm home now but too mentally fatigued to say anything cogent. So for now, here are some photos from the trip.

Dublin:















































Cork





























Birmingham:

Fall in the City: Part Trois

All Saints Day

Actually, these photos are from the day after All Saints Day. And there's nothing like a stroll through Montparnasse Cemetery for perspective. Or as that great philosopher David St. Hubbins said while standing at Elvis' grave, "Too much, there's too much [bleep]ing perspective now."

Parisiens take All Saints Day seriously - people go to the cemeteries and decorate graves, clean them up, pray, cry, grieve. It's a bit foreign to us Anglo-Saxons. A few days ago in our cultural training session, one of our instructors "insisted" [her word] that France is a Latin country. This was in response to my question that went something like, "Why do they call us Anglo-Saxons? Aren't we basically from the same genetic background?" And that led to a very interesting history lesson about Gauls and Romans and Francs and Norsemen and William the Conqueror and many others. Bottom line: no, the French are different. She insists.

Final Thoughts on the 2008 Election

Loyal pets, rich conversation, and comfortable shoes. Earl Grey tea and a nice, but affordable Médoc. Peets Coffee? Don't mind if I do. Reunions at Christmas, sleeping late, warm memories that may or may not have actually happened. A grandbaby.

Health, curry, and organic produce. Fresh bread - olive oil or butter? Tortellini with pesto.

Community, acceptance, forgiveness, and mutual respect. Relationships that survive time, distance, and disagreement. Visiting family / friends in Paris ... free lodging ... I SAID FREE LODGING IN PARIS!

Well ... acrylic or oil on canvas, sculpture, charcoal on paper. Rapidograph! Lots of Rodrigo, Rachmaninov and the odd Mozart symphony. Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, The Weepies, Augustana, Sufjan Stevens ... Andy Williams? Yes please. But in any event, art.