Leslie Jonath - The Little Pleasures of Paris

T he French poet Jacques Prvert once wrote, Paris is crazy with joy when the spring arrives. The parks come alive with bright green buds and blousy flowers; the fountains sparkle more brilliantly. The streets are confettied with chestnut tree petals and performers, boisterous bicyclists, and women wearing beautiful shoes. Restaurants serve platters of white asparagus and bowls of moulesfrites (mussels and fries) with glasses of chilled ros. Parisians gather at cafs to bask in springs first shimmering light.

I n the early mornings, Parisians drink coffee in cafs as the city wakes. The waiters shout out the orders one by one: Caf crme! Un espress! Tartine! Beurre! Confiture! Un croissant!

Caf Les Deux Magots is always full of people-young and old, alone, together, writing, talking, and laughing-or maybe even kissing! Business people in suits, ladies with cat glasses, students with backpacks, families with strollers, children and dogs, and maybe someone reading Le Monde. This is how the day begins.

P arisian dogs play in parks all over Paris, from the manicured gardens in le Champs de Mars to urban streets in Parc des ButtesChaumont to woodsy trails in the Bois de Boulogne and the Bois de Vincennes.

But you dont need to go to a dog park to see Parisian dogs. They are welcome almost everywhere: in hair salons, in department stores, in banks, on the Metro (in dog carriers), on trains, under the table at restaurants, trotting down a fashionable street, or even nestled in their owners arms. Paris has many fancy dog salons where you can watch the pooches being pampered, lined up on tables, ready for a shampoo, cut, and fabulous do.

L e Muse Rodin at the hotel Biron houses the expressive and sensual sculptures of Auguste Rodin, including The Kiss, a beautiful bronze sculpture of a couple embracing.

The museums rosefilled garden extends with meandering paths that wind though topiaries and sculpted hedges. There you will find The Thinker, Rodins pensive man. Originally named The Poet (Le Pote), The Thinker was initially commissioned for a doorway for The Gates of Hell based on The Divine Comedy of Dante.

As Rodin once said, Nature and Antiquity are the two great sources of life for an artist. In any event, Antiquity implies Nature. It is its truth and its smile.

I n the center of le de la Cit stands SainteChapelle, a beautiful Rayonnant Gothic chapel. Rayonnant means radiant-a word that perfectly describes the chapels transcendent, weightless beauty and its splayed, vaulted ceilings. SainteChapelle was originally built by Louis IV as a reliquary to house the Crown of Thorns.

Painted with scenes of saints and hung with tapestries, the dark blue walls and ceilings glimmer with stars. In the nave, stainedglass windows glow in gorgeous shades of deep red, cerulean blue, and brilliant yellow. When the sun hits the Rose Window, the chapel becomes luminous.

N ot far from SainteChapelle, on Place Louis Lpine, Le March aux Oiseaux et aux Fleurs blooms year round. The oldest flower market in the city, the glass greenhouse overflows with roses, tropical orchids, spiked cacti, and curling vines.

On Sundays, the square turns into a bird market filled with squawking, chirping, singing parrots, parakeets, canaries, chicks and chickens, roosters, and African finches that flap their vibrantly colored wings. There you will find birdcages made in classical, modern, and beaux arts styles, and teenytiny birds nests made for teenytiny birds.