Day 5 - Au Revoir...

To this point, my final day, Paris and I had worked so well togehter. Most plans played out smoothly and the few glitches were met with a seamless transition to a new, equally enticing endeavor. So at 9 am when I approached the ticket booth in the Metro station and read the sign taped to the glass, it appeared as though our synchronicity continued. "Verailles: Roundtrip Ticket and Entry Fee - 19 Euros" was emplazoned, in English, on the full-color flyer. Since I had scheduled the entire day to be spent at the Palace, I eagerly pulled a 20 Euro bill from my pocket. As I stood in line to pay, the picture of one of the Trumpesque interior rooms made the trip even more appealling. The decoration was all at once beautiful yet overdone; opulent and pompous.

I gladly dropped my 20 into the tray and announced to the teller that I would like the package for Versailles. "But you know the Palace is closed on Monday," he stated. His English had a heavy French accent but I needed no clarification.

Versailles was the attraction I was most looking forward to visiting. I had no contingency plan. I had abundant energy from a couple of espressos and a whole day in front of me - but no place to go. I decided to take adavantage of my hotel's location and visit the numerous places that were within walking distance. I reached out to my nemesis - the Thanksgiving Day Float map. The closest sight it depicted was the Musee de Cluny. I had no idea what I would find, but my with my limited French I knew it was at the least a museum. What it housed, I hadn't a clue. Lost American tourists maybe. But with no other options I walked up Saint Michel a couple of blocks to find out.

Musee de Cluny turned out to be a true find. First, it was a large 15th century private home. This was impressive enough. But inside there was a vast collection of medieval pieces - tapestries, chalices, dozens of statues, wood and marble carvings, including life-size versions of Christ on the cross, swords, armor, stained glass... The statues were taken from the exterior of churches and the wood and marble carvings were parts of eloborate altar scenes. It was great to see them up close and appreciate the detail that's lost when they're 30 feet in the air.

While I was there I crossed paths with a group of about 25 school kids on a field trip. I happened to be standing in a narrow hall looking at about 25 marble carvings of religous figures. A nerdy, little French kid, seperated from the class, stopped about 5 feet from me. He looked up at the carvings and said "Magnifique!" then kept on walking. It was funny. Cluny also has as it's foundation a Roman bath house, built around the year 200 AD. You can walk through the structure, observe the architecture and see some of the baths themselves.

That afternoon I also took in the Panteon and saw the famed Sorbonne up close. I closed my tour of Paris with a stop at the Gardens of Luxemborg. Basically, the gardens of a former palace that now serve as a city park.

In that Garden, as the sun set on my trip and the city, I crystallized my thoughts on Paris. Being a kid from New Jersey, New York City feels like an old friend. We've known each other for some time and share a lot of good memories. And every once in a while, the City calls and I visit. We've both changed a lot, but we need no introduction. Paris feels like a new friend. A new friend I like a lot. She will call and I will visit.

So approprioately this is not goodbye but "Au Revoir" which translates to: "until we meet again."