Veille de la toussaint à Paris

Sunday was Halloween. I was in Paris. This is hard for me to believe. Ok.

So Sunday morning we decided to head back to Notre Dame for 8:30 mass which was beautiful. The organ and the clear voice of the song leader echoing off the stone pillars were heavenly. The reading were translated in the program and the sermon was engaging (even though I couldn't understand him, I could tell the priest was a good speaker). Kaleb later confirmed these ideas by explaining that the sermon had indeed been well delivered and presented a neat message about Zacchaeus being small (literally and figuratively) and how we should try to be big by doing what is right.

Next we caught the hour train to Versailles (enjoying naps and accordian music on the way). At the palace we encountered a predictably long line and spent a lot of time waiting. (I taught the group how to play Botecelli which made the wait seem shorter). The palace tour was worth the wait though. From an historic viewpoint, it is mind-boggling to walk on the same floors as Louis XIV, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Add to that their opulent decorative taste and the exhoribant amount of money spent on this place and you've got yourself a palace. Plus, inside we were surprised to

find an unusual meeting of artistic styles. The palace rooms were doubling as the exhibit space for sculptures by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. At first this juxtaposition was a little jarring but while walking through the palace there seemed to be a certain elegance in the incongruity. Also, as Kaleb remarked, if these palaces were still palaces today - wouldn't they display the art according to the king's fancy (as they did back then). I suppose the only question then is whether Murakami would have been fancied by the king ... but I like him so :) My favorite palace room: the famed hall of mirrors. Nothing is more opulent than installing mirrors that reflect and multiply that opulence!

Leaving the palace we went out into the extensive gardens in the

back. Shortly after we entered, the fountain all turned on at once as music started to play throughout the grounds. It was a stately experience to stroll through such royal gardens to the jaunty Baroque tunes. Also, the leaves on the trees in the surrounding grounds were stunning - with brilliant leaves of gold, crimson, copper, and rust. The statues and the sculpted trees only added to my sense of awe. It is beautiful to see nature so controlled and balanced and yet see the trees melding in random changes in color and sporadic loss of leaves. These gardens could have taken another entire day to fully explore - and they surly match the grandeur of the palace they accompany. Simply lovely!

After the palace, we decided to dine in Versailles (the suburb not the palace) because our stomachs demanded we eat (we had skipped lunch). We found a charming back street with tables rounding the elbow of the street and a guitarist serenading the crowd. We ended up at another Italian place (fine, judge me) but I do love Italian food ... and sat near the door, listening to our friend with the guitar and the awesome playlist (Hallelujah, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Poker Face, and Baby One More Time).

After dinner we returned to a fair we had passed for a little sugar consumption in honor of Halloween. While there, I was excited to see a little witch, pumpkin and superhero running around. I got a GIANT cotton candy (called "Papa's Beard" in French) and we also got candied apples for the road. No rides - because my cotton candy filled stomach objected. But Lindsay and TJ did try their hands at the claw machine (though unsuccessfully). From there, we took the train back into Paris and went over to the Pere Lachaise Cemetery for a final Halloween jaunt. The final resting place of the likes of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. Looks cool in the pictures. However, as it was after dark the cemetery was sadly closed, so we walked around the gates and ate our candied apples. We then made it back to our hostel once went to a corner bar for celebratory drinks and desserts. I was enjoying my combination of red wine and creme brule when I got the nights

biggest halloween scare ... We were chatting and I was facing the wall. Suddenly something clinks on our table and I turn to see a black robed, four-foot-tall child with a skeleton mask. I know retrospectively that this is not that scary (this picture is for your visualization purposes. However, with the lack of people in costume, a trick'o treater in a scary mask in a bar caught me off guard. I might have even let out a tiny scream ... yeah, I'll admit it. The child clinked her bag a few times and (because society has taught me to give things to trick'o treaters) I immediately reached for my purse. When I realized I had no candy, I pulled out my wallet and gave her a few coins - as did Kaleb and TJ. Only after the child left (joyfully clinking her bag) did we begin to feel that we'd been held-up by a 6-year-old in a sheet in the name of our own holiday. However, it made for a fun conclusion to the evening and was a wonderful homage to Halloween as we know it. I fell asleep that night listening to Nightmare Before Christmas to complete the spirit of the night.

The next day we bid each other goodbye and took our respective transportation away from grand ole Paris. I did manage a fresh baguette from a bakery this last morning and with that I could leave Paris. My first visit to Paris was complete