Letter from Paris 30 April

The last day of the month began with a raw, cold rain abetted by a fierce wind and remained unpleasant all day.

After a short stop to our nearby Monoprix store to stock up on a few more groceries to finish out our week, we headed back out onto the street and to the Campo Formio metro stop. We took the 5 to Austerlitz where we changed to line 10, getting off at Mabillon, near Saint Sulpice and Saint-German-des-Pres.

We made our way to 6 Rue de Furstenberg, 75006, home of the Musée National Eugène Delacroix and our primary objective that day. Located in the house he occupied at the end of his life and while he worked on the murals for nearby Saint Sulpice, the subject of which is the metier of the museum, it was a pleasant exploration into the world of early 19th century French art.

It should be noted, however, that much of the artwork in the museum is in fact NOT by Delacroix but by those whom he has influenced and who attempted variations of his themes or outright copies of his work. Still, it was fascinating and worth a visit for anyone interested in French Romanticism.

Since so much of the focus of the museum was on Delacroix's years spent working on the murals for Saint Sulpice that had to be our next stop. But once back into the wind and rain we walked the few short blocks to Saint-German-des-Prés, which was on the way.

Inside the church, reportedly the oldest in Paris, we found ourselves confronted by a massive series of draperies and scaffoldings in much of the older part. We made our way to the "back" of the church we we found the final resting place of René Descartes (cogito ergo sum), interred between Mabillon and Montfaucon.

Leaving the church and back into the elements we walked, or rather fought, our way down Rue Bonaparte to Saint-Sulpice (Marquis de Sade and Charles Baudelaire were both baptized here).

Once inside on the right of the entrance we found Delacroix's murals (1855-61): Jacob Wrestling with the Angel and Heliodorus Driven from the Temple:

After we left Saint Sulpice we struggled against the weather to find our way back to the Mabillon Metro. Across from a shopping block that included the Apple Store (!) we decided discretion was the better part of valor and popped into a small café, La Grille, for a bowl of gratinée de l'oignon to warm up. Along with two glasses of Brouilly, of course.

Eventually we had to leave the cozy warmth of the café and plunged back into the wind and rain. Before long we were back home and opted to remain in for the rest of the day. That evening I fixed a rough potato mash with broccoli accompanied by a red Sancerre. Not a bad day at all and frankly a grand way to end my birthday month.

Tomorrow: May Day in Paris and I'll be in Père-Lachaise.