The Pantheon is a building with an interesting background. It was originally commissioned by King Louis XV in 1755. He had a serious illness, and apparently made a deal with God that he would build a church if he recovered, and sure enough when he did, he commissioned what was originally called Abbey Sainte-Geneviève.

An imposing front entrance. Doesn't feel like a church at all, but then it was altered from its original drawings a number of times, so who knows what the original plan was.

A dome borrowed from Rome, atop a massive building that looks like a medieval fortress.

Unfortunately, it took 34 years to complete, and when it was finished in 1791, the French revolution was in full swing, and churches were distinctly unpopular (BTW, during this time the Notre Dame was used to store hay and supplies, and came close to being torn down). So it was decided it would be converted into a temple to house the remains of “the great men of France”, and indeed today a crypt holds the ashes of Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Jean Monnet, Marie and Pierre Curie and Emile Zola (Marie Curie is a great man?).

Here it is from the back coming up the hill. Recognize the steps on the left? Woody Allen's now famous steps from Midnight in Paris. Wait for the bells at midnight and the party car chugs up this curving street. Paris is so magical, you can easily believe this would happen.

Stand in front of the Pantheon and turn around and you'll be looking down Rue Soufflot, named after the Pantheon's architect. It takes you down to the Luxembourg Gardens. And like so many Parisian views, you can see the Eiffel Tower in the background.

But that wasn’t the end of it. In 1806 it became a church again, but in 1885 it reverted back to the Pantheon. Wait a few years, and it may become a church again.

The Pantheon is neighbours with the Sorbonne and what used to be inexpensive student cafés and restaurants. Prices may have gone up as the neighbourhood gentrified, but the cafés are still very popular.

If everything is getting just too French for you, and you're missing a taste of "over 'ome", well this might be the place. Right across from the church...

From our apartment, it was just a 10-minute walk up the hill. I think for many visitors, it’s in a neighbourhood that isn’t as clearly defined as many others in Paris. It’s still in the 5th arrondisement, and indeed the square houses the magnificent City Hall of the 5th (did you know that each arrondisement has its own City Hall, and assumedly, the bureaucracy that comes with it), but I think when most people picture the 5th, they’re thinking about the part closer to the Seine.

So, twenty arrondisements, and each has it's own city hall. That is SO Parisian. Imagine the duplication of effort! But so what....

The Great Men of Paris Hotel on the right (what a name!), with classic Parisian apartments on the edge of the square.

We walked through this square a few times, but never did make it inside the Pantheon despite being on my To Do list. Next time….

They take philosophy seriously here. There are a number of "philo-cafés" in the city where points of view are debated with Gallic passion. Bone up on your Montaigne before you go.

Our little corner of Paris around Place Maubert was a study in contrasts. At one end of our street was the Notre Dame, the Seine and the luxe apartments on Ille St Louis – the very heart of Paris.

If you live here on Ille St Louis you either inherited it or you came into a lot of money. A wonderful place to live.

Walk away from the Seine and you came to Blvd St Germain and Place Maubert. On the south side of St Germain, were numerous little streets and dead end alleyways that seemed to have escaped Haussmann’s attention.

On a side street just off Place Maubert, the horse butcher.

The French ladies go grocery shopping at Place Maubert.

There's style for you.

This great little orchestra was playing Pink Floyd. "We don't need no education..."

I loved watching these guys. Seemed so French. They were working so hard to get it right.

Up the hill was the Pantheon whose dome you could see at the ends of numerous little dead ends.

Because the Pantheon is up on a hill, we got a version of this view looking up a few streets.

Only after watching Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris a couple of times did I notice how much of it was shot right in this corner of Paris. The stairs where Owen Wilson waits at midnight for the car to transport him to another era are at the side of the Saint-Étienne-du-Mont church on Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Genevieve, just behind the Pantheon.

Looking for a little "fixer upper" a 10-minute walk to the Seine? Here you go...

Tucked away on the tiniest of side streets is Le Coupe Chou restaurant. I went looking for it because we'd eaten there 25 years ago. Should have booked - it's still getting good reviews.

Just a little further up the street from Le Coupe Chou, a corner of Paris that time forgot.

Let’s get a few very obvious observations about Paris out of the way. Paris is a wonderful city for walking, for being a flaneur or a boulevardier, if you prefer. Geographically, downtown’s twenty arrondisements are quite compact, and if you’re feeling energetic, you could walk right across the city.

Gents, if you generally spend between $750 and $2,000 on a pair of shoes, this is your store. On Blvd St. Germain in the 6th.

Secondly, the city is a window shopper’s delight. Parisian storekeepers take their windows seriously and it shows. So here, with little rhyme or reason are some of the windows that caught my eye. No patisseries in this collection – those are an encyclopedia unto themselves.

Roses, my love? The Costes Brothers have you covered. Just one branch of their fine living empire of swell hotels, restaurants, cafés and shops.

Something in yellow?

Speaking of yellow.... one perfect dress.

We should have bought those striped loungers. So nice!

Where else could you walk past a storefront that offers the letters of Lannes, Proust, Stravinsky and Napoleon I? That's what they put in the windows to attract passersby. Imagine what they have in the vault.

Or a few words from Louis XVIII and Claude Monet? I wonder if any of Van Gogh's letters are for sale?

The only cool runners in Paris were Chuck Taylors (now owned by Nike, BTW). Here's the Allstar version of the Stars and Stripes on the Champs Elysée.

If you were fortunate enough to live in the 6th near the Rue de Seine, then this might be your corner fruit and veg store. Notice that it's also a Specialiste de Vins. That's Paris!

You'll need furniture for your swell Parisian pied a terre. Here you go...

The French fondness for American kitsch didn't end with Jerry Lewis. Here's a serious gallery showing "art" based on the Simpsons. That's when you know you have too much money.

On a little side street, a bookbinder and his customer enjoy a chat along with an appreciation for beautiful books bound in leather.

A headline that deftly combines Steppenwolf and the Web.

Gals Rock? I guess so. I would have gone with Girls Rock, or better yet, Gurrrls Rock. But hey..... nice type.

Years ago I was enchanted by a girl in a Naf Naf jumper. Made me smile to see the Naf Naf store on Blvd St Michel.

The fascination with Vincent Van Gogh carries on through 2012. Near the top of my pile of books to read is a new Vincent biography, Van Gogh: The Life by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith. You might ask yourself why we need a new bio, especially one that weighs in at 976 pages.

Looking forward to starting in on Van Gogh: A Life.

Well, the authors claim to have done a great deal of in-depth research in cooperation with the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam bringing significant new facts to light. The one that gets all the attention is their assertion that his “suicide” was not as it’s long been portrayed. Was it suicide at all? Who were those two youths with a gun?

Reading the reviews, the book receives consistent praise for the detail, but more so, the quality of the writing. Several online reviewers remarked how engaging the book felt which is good to know when you’re about to start in on nearly 1,000 pages.

This is an experienced team. In 1991, Naifeh and White Smith won the Pulitzer Prize for their biography of Jackson Pollock.

If you have an iPad, look for the recently released app Van Gogh’s Dream. This focuses on his last days in Auvers, and features a gallery of all the paintings he completed there. All in all, it’s a nicely put together app, easy to navigate and a satisfying amount of content. You can spend many hours with this app.

You'll enjoy Van Gogh's Dream. Very nicely done!

The dream in the title refers to a line in one of Van Gogh’s letters where he said it was a dream of his to hold a show in a café. Part of the impetus for this app is to help raise money for a show in the Auberge Ravoux where Vincent lived and eventually died in Auvers.  The owner of the Auberge has Vincent’s room 5 all set up to display one painting, but it’s hard to imagine that anyone would lend a significant piece, given the security challenges, the limitations of hanging such a painting in a room that could accommodate a maximum of 10 people at once, etc. Regardless, one can only hope the dream comes true. It would indeed be spectacular to see one of Vincent’s paintings hanging in a room that at one time had so many of his most famous paintings either nailed to the walls or rolled up in a cupboard. Read about the Auberge and his room here.

And if you’re anywhere near Canada this summer, it’s worth a trip to the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa to see Van Gogh: Up Close which runs May 25 to September. 3, 2012. It features a total of 45 pieces, with a focus on close-up views of nature. So, it will be mainly flowers, trees, etc. It’s easy to wish for some of the many portraits or double-size landscapes of his Auvers days, but this will be a very interesting and focused show. For me, the highlight will be Almond Blossoms. I can hardly wait to see it again. The last time was Amsterdam, the 1990 anniversary show. Tickets go on sale February 15.

Along with the show, they are planning symposiums, talks, concerts and more. More info will be here in February apparently.

If you’ve seen the mock-doc Exit Through the Gift Shop, then you know about the street artists Banksy, Shepard Fairey and the narrator, film maker, turned artist, Thierry Guetta, aka Mr Brainwash.

Allegedly, Thierry’s brother (at the end of this doc, you’re not sure what to believe) who is known as Invader, is the creator of the little mosaics of Space Invaders and Pac Man that have invaded cities around the world.

This one was the closest to our apartment. Nice message!

It took a day or so, and then we started to see them around Paris. One was right around the corner from our apartment. We saw a bunch in the 5th and the 6th, but even in the outer arrondisements. Spotting them became a game as we walked around, which actually isn’t as easy as it sounds, given all the other things to look at.

A little spray invader.

Pac Man in the high-rent part of town.

In general, I’m not a huge fan of graffiti, especially just tags, but this was kind of cool. Maybe, I like the contained nature of the mosaics, the colours and the playful expressions.

A subtle touch of colour at the base of a building. Here's looking at you!

A tropical touch in the 5th.

For now, Paris seems to have accepted them. I don’t know that they’re in any hurry to take them down.

Back alley invader T-mouth.

Faux mosaic stencil, good for 10 points.

Many of my friends have been to Paris, but when I ask them, did you go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, inevitably the answer is no. I’m always amazed, but really shouldn’t be. After all, this was my 4th trip to Paris, but first time up the Eiffel Tower.

The colours of the tower change with the light. Like many things, it looks best closest to dawn or dusk.

Why don’t people go up? It seems like such a cliché. The lines are always miles long. There are too many other things to do in Paris.

Well friends, here’s my advice – unless you’re deathly afraid of heights, go. It’s worth it in every way. After all, the Eiffel Tower has become THE icon of Paris. Yes, you could go up the Tour Montparnasse for great views too, but you’re just at the top of another office building.

What were all the jets doing in the air that evening?

Here’s a tip for avoiding the longest lines. You can buy your tickets online ahead of time on the official Eiffel Tower site.

Tickets are available for the two different levels of the tower. You want to go to the top, trust me on that. Don’t go in half measures, you’re in Paris after all. On our laptop we bought the tickets the day before, sent them to my Gmail account, and then went to an internet café to print them out. Easy.

The Eiffel Tower is all skeleton. You are hyper-aware of this on the way up and down.

It's very mechanical on the Eiffel Tower. Not many circuit boards in evidence.

When you get there, you’ll still find lines with ticket holders, but they are much, much shorter than the ones to buy tickets.

Like anything iconic, where the image is embedded in your mind, it’s a bit disorienting the first time you actually see the Eiffel Tower. It’s as if you want to confirm, that yup, looks just like the pictures. When you get close to it, it’s bigger than you might expect. Just as Meccano-like though. Have a good look at all those bolts, just to ensure that the whole thing will hold up, at least while you’re going up.

You have to marvel at the engineering.

And when you go to the top, cast all of your good sense and penny-pinching instincts to the winds and buy a flute of the delicious over-priced Champagne. For the rest of your life, you’ll remember you drank Champagne on top of the Eiffel Tower. What could be better?

This must be the place...

Could it be any more touristy? No, but it was great fun.

You can see Pont Alexandre III quite clearly. Look for the gold statues.

View of the Palais de Chaillot, more heroic Parisian architecture. Built for the 1937 world exposition. Where so many have posed to get a view of the Eiffel Tower behind them.

Typical Paris apartment blocks and the rust brown Musée Branley on the left.

If you’re feeling in a really luxe mood, get a reservation at the Jules Verne restaurant in the tower. Unlike other “tourist restaurants”, this one is quite respected by Parisian food critics and under the supervision of super-chef Alain Ducasse. Save your pennies…. lunch is prix fixe at 85 E, and dinner is 200 E. And that’s before you get into their all-French wine list…. but, it’s the Eiffel Tower, non?

One last view over the Champs de Mars, a popular spot for a romantic picnic.

When Thomas Edison visited the Eiffel Tower in August 1889 during the World Exposition, he wanted to go up the world's tallest free-standing structure like everyone else. Eiffel built a small office at the top where he entertained guests. Here we see the two great men, with Edison demonstrating his new phonograph. Claire Salles Eiffel is in the background.

One of the true joys of Paris are the bridges over the Seine. Within the city, there are 37 of them, including three pedestrian-only bridges.

Of course, some are fairly utilitarian and wouldn’t rate a second glance no matter where they were, but then there are those only Paris could offer.

A view from the water taxi. Well worth it, if only just to go under all the bridges.

By far, the most elaborate over-the-top concoction is the Pont Alexandre III which connects the Grand Palais (site of Anish Kapoor’s Leviathan show) and the Petit Palais on the right bank with the Hôtel des Invalides on the left bank.

When you're up-river, say near the Notre Dame, and you look down-river, you'll see this flag flying against the sky from the top of the Grand Palais. Glorious!

The bridge was named after Tsar Alexandre III to commemorate the Franco-Russian Alliance signed in 1892 (both countries were feeling nervous about Germany in the middle – same as it ever was).

To get a sense of scale, look at the people on the bridge.

Why so grand? This bridge was built specifically for the Universal Exposition of 1900 (in contrast to the World’s Fair of 1889 for which the French built the “temporary” Eiffel Tower – France was on a roll during those few turn-of-the-century years building one icon after the next).

Endless romantic views

Choose some lighting from a catalog? Mais, non! Not when you can have artisans make them.

Walking across this bridge or taking a boat under it is a magical experience. You just have to give your head a shake and try to bring yourself back to those days when a bridge like this was commissioned. Imagine the meetings, the drawings, the plans and then finally the grand unveiling – it must have been over-the-top exciting.

If you lived in Paris, you might walk across this bridge every day on your way to work. Many Parisians do. How would that affect your life?

Look at the art nouveau lampposts and the sculptures of cherubs and nymphs. The gilded statues reach for the sky on 56-foot granite pillars, which incidentally provide the counterweight for the single span of the bridge. Now that’s architecture!

Not modest, not demure.... here is the glory of France in full flight.

Drama against a Parisian sky.

What do the statues represent? I’m not sure how well this translates from the French, but they are the “Fames”, including the Fame of the Sciences, Fame of the Arts, Fame of Commerce and the Fame of Industry. What happened to the Fames of Wine and Cheese?

A nymph atop a fish giving you the eye.

And the nymphs? The nymphs of the Seine with the arms of France on one side and the Nymphs of the Neva (river in Russia) with the arms of Imperial Russia on the other.

Only by getting on the water will you see views like this.

Here, courtesy of Wikipedia is some Pont Alexandre III trivia:

In the movie Anastasia (1997), the bridge is damaged by Rasputin in an attempt to kill Anastasia, who in real life was the granddaughter of Alexander III.
In the film Ronin, the spy team meets some arms dealers under the bridge on the Right Bank.
In the movie A Very Long Engagement, Marion Cotillard’s character kills François Levantal’s under the bridge.
In the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill, Bond comes to a halt at the bridge in a hijacked Renault 11 taxi.
In the film Midnight in Paris, the bridge is depicted in multiple scenes, including the final one.
Adele’s music video for the song “Someone Like You” was shot on the Pont Alexandre III.

Go to Paris. Walk across the Pont Alexandre III. Make your own movies and memories.

Something understated in front of the Grand Palais. Honey, I'm home!

Beautiful typography over the entrance way.

As if the Louvre wasn’t big enough on its own, within the building there’s another completely separate museum, the Musée d’Arts Decoratif. The entrance is right off Rue Rivoli, and really, it’s not to be missed. They always have at least one interesting show that’s worth seeing. It must be tough being a museum director in Paris – put on something less than spectacular and you’ll be totally ignored – there’s just too much competition.

Beautiful building, incredible cars.

Before we left for Paris, I knew that a large part of Ralph Lauren’s car collection would be at the museum for a special show. Normally, he keeps them in a discreet Connecticut “garage”. I’d seen it featured in Vanity Fair magazine.

Is that not the perfect colour red?

In general, I’m not a “car nut”, but this collection is so extraordinary, of such high calibre and refinement that I knew it would be worth my time. Many of them were extremely limited editions, one of thirty made, one of ten, and so on.

We got there at opening time. It wasn’t busy. But right away I noticed the “no photography” signs. I find museums and galleries strange in their attitudes towards photography. I can understand the “no flash” rule – flash annoys other patrons, and for some pieces of art especially those on paper, it could degrade them after a time.

That silver Porsche is the same model that took James Dean's life. Isn't that a handsome Jaguar at the top.... if you can take your eyes off the Ferraris.

So, consider this: you can take pictures anywhere in the Louvre, but not Musée D’Arts Decoratif which is technically in the Louvre. No pictures in the Musée d’Orsay, but it’s OK in the Musée Rodin. Yes in Jeu de Paume and Orangerie, yes in Musée d’Arts Moderne. (No in the Art Gallery of Ontario, by the way). I don’t get it.

Imagine pulling up anywhere in this 1930 Mercedes Benz SSK roadster. The drive-through at the burger joint....

So, it was a challenge. Looking up, I saw that you could see the cars from the upper floors.

So after looking at the Ferraris, Benzes, the Maclaren, the Bugatti and others, I found the stairs and found a few vantage points.

What would you wear if you were in that red one on the right?

They look like little dinky toys, but you can appreciate the shapes from above.

I found it especially interesting to see this show in France. An American with a collection that consists mostly of Italian and German cars in a prestigious Parisian museum. Nice!

Pure style

Go to the Ralph Lauren site for these cars. For all you car nerds, you can hear recordings of the car engines too!

See the slide show of Ralph Lauren’s cars on the Vanity Fair site.

We’d been to the Musée d’Orsay on previous trips to Paris and when it was time for lunch or a snack we always headed up to the restaurant / cafeteria on the 5th floor, not necessarily for the food, but for the stunning room behind the giant train station clocks. It’s a room like no other. I didn’t have a shot of this room – closed for renos – so I found this one from VP. You can see all of VP’s travel shots here.

Not bad for a cafeteria! Wait till you see the other restaurant.

Surely the Musée d’Orsay has another restaurant. After all, spending two hours in a beautifully curated Manet show, and then doing a quick tour of four floors of art including the renowned collection of Impressionists (thank you Dr. Gachet, Gustave Caillebotte, and many others) we were certainly ready to eat.

An elegant introduction to a spectacular room.

And sure enough, there is a more formal restaurant on the 2nd floor that is simply breathtaking. A wait of just a few minutes, and we were seated.

Click on this for a bigger view. What a room! Best of all, the food is quite wonderful, the kitchen seems to run well, and the waiters were the epitome of professional French service.

Wow! I wanted to be discreet with the camera, but couldn’t help getting off a few shots, not only of the room and our meal, but also our neighbouring diners.

Polka dots times two. A waiter from Paris central casting.

La Parisienne - look at that hair!

The other good news – the 3-course prix fixe was just 17 Euros. It was delicious, and lo and behold, the dessert was île flottante, Heavenly!

Two delicious courses accompanied by wonderful rosé wine, and now île flottant et un express for dessert. Happiness all around!

It was again, one of those moments when we were glad to be alive, doubly happy to be in Paris on a beautiful spring day and somehow amazed that they let “just anybody” in here.

If you’re in Paris, the Musée d’Orsay should be on your “must see” lists, and this restaurant is a singular dining experience.

A little gilt trim perhaps? The wall and the ceiling behind Marlene.

Paris has always been a magnet for expatriates. Artists, musicians, writers, bohemians… all have been drawn to Paris for its appreciation and embrace of fine arts, its beauty, food, wine, women, and liberal approach to life.

Rue Des Beaux Arts at sunset from Rue de Seine. L'Hôtel is at the far end.

It was the latter that attracted Oscar Wilde towards the end of his flamboyant life. After being incarcerated for two years of hard labour in Great Britain for having an affair with the wrong man (Lord Alfred Douglas whose father was the Marquess of Queensbury, today known as the one who created the rules for modern boxing), Wilde fled Great Britain for Italy and France, finally settling down in Paris at a flea bag hotel, Hotel d’Alsace at 13 Rue Des Beaux Arts, in what is now the very fashionable and expensive 6th arrondisement.

The discreet front of L'Hôtel. It's easy to miss.

Before dying of cerebral meningitis in utter poverty in Room 16 on November 30, 1900, he uttered two of the many bon mots for which he’s become famous. He noted he was “dying beyond his means”, not having paid his hotel bill for months, and “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One of us has got to go.”

Today, Hotel d’Alsace is known simply as L’Hôtel and is an intimate 4-star luxury hotel with an extraordinary interior. We had to go see it.

Incredible interior. Couldn't find any information about the architect, or why it was built this way.

It’s very discreet, in a tight row of buildings. We took a few pictures before being discouraged by the concierge. If money is no object, about $500 a night, this is a perfect boutique hotel in a wonderful Saint-Germain-des-Prés location.

Many stars have stayed here, but L'Hôtel will always be associated with Oscar Wilde. What was scandalous in England, was fine in Paris. Other than dying without paying the bill!

By the time Borges was staying here, he was completely blind. But still writing.

There are plaques celebrating both Oscar Wilde and Jorge Luis Borges by the front door. The Borges connection is interesting. He stayed at L’Hôtel numerous times in his travels, specifically, because when he was nine(!!!), he translated Wilde’s The Happy Prince into Spanish. Allegedly, Borges wanted to die where Wilde died. Didn’t happen, Borges died and was buried in Switzerland.

Jorge Luis Borges on the medallion in the lobby.....

Floor hasn't changed. Marlene feels the ghost of Jorge Luis behind her.

Go see the L’Hôtel site, fantasize about dinner in the Michelin one-star Le Restaurant. Check out the intimate bar with original Cocteau drawings on the wall next to letters from Wilde to his friends. Check out the virtual tour of the bar on the L’Hôtel site. Worth it! Pick one of the twenty theatrical rooms. All are build around the six-storey oval atrium.

The alcove bar is to the left and right with Le Restaurant straight through. Very boutique!

If you choose the ultra-British room 16, you’ll find framed letters from the hotel management asking Wilde to please pay up, along with a copy of the final unpaid bill, a total of 2,643 gold francs, about $25,000 today. Now, that’s going out in style!

The man who had nothing to declare but his reputation.

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