Some highlights from my latest trip to Paris

Arrival date: Sunday, April 17. Had to fight the masses headed to the London marathon to get on the tube. Luckily made it to Heathrow in plenty of time however. 

After arriving at the Garden Hotel, I dropped off my bags and took a stroll down the Champs-Elysées with friends Noah and Wath (pictured below).

 Here I am on our "balcony" at the hotel, pictured with a blue panda.

 Sacré Cœur (or Sacré Coeur) means "Sacred Heart." 

 He can balance a ball on his head. You can see a lot of Paris in the background. 

 Me again! Lookin' cool with my new buddy. 

 A trip to Les Invalides revealed Napoleon's awesome tomb. This picture truly does not do it justice.

 Les Invalides

 Rodin spotted in the metro. This is why we skipped the Rodin Museum. 

Poet Tristan Tzara of Dada fame is buried here in Cimetière du Montparnasse. His tombstone simply reads "POÈTE." How poetic, non?

 A fun tombstone in Montparnasse, this place was really cool. 

 A flat tombstone with a completely reflective, mirror-like top. It was the size of a small dining room table. I couldn't resist. 

Jean Paul Sartre and Simone De Beauvoir are buried here. Some people left messages for them scribbled on train passes (not pictured). 

 Park near L'orangerie. 

Monet's waterlilly paintings at L'orangerie Museum.

This picture prompted my Aunt Sarah to mention that these must have heavily influenced my Aunt Rachel's painting. I wish I had a picture of her work to show you. 

 Adorable kids in front of a Monet. The space where these paintings are shown is marvelous, almost spiritual (as Noah's Aunt Nancy remarked). But what makes it even more interesting is watching the people looking at the paintings. The visual interaction that occurs as the colors of their clothing and contours of their body strike a contrast with the mesmerizing flow of brushstrokes and colors is surreal. 

Reminds me of what I think British sculptor Tony Cragg was after with his "Figure Out/Figure In" series at the Louvre.

Departure date: Wednesday, April 20. Got to the airport before check-in and had to wait 3 hours. The flight was delayed another hour. Otherwise, a pleasant and uneventful flight. The gentleman sitting next to me was an older Asian man who was so giddy about going to London that I also couldn't help feeling a spark of excitement about returning to this glorious "home" of mine.