The tulips are in bloom. After three overcast, chilly days, the skies over Paris turned refreshingly blue, but the cold lingers; when we took the metro this morning to our favorite breakfast spot, the Saint Regis on the island of St. Louis, one of two islands on the Seine River, the temperature was 39 degrees Fahrenheit.
Happily, in all our journeys across the city, we saw nary a towering pile of garbage. But the bitter strikes over President Macron’s pension reform continue. A general strike has been called for Thursday, which will disrupt subway and train travel and keep us close to our apartment in the 7th District, not far from the Rodin Museum.
Yesterday we visited the House of Hugo.
Hugo’s romantic novels endure: “Les Miserables,” which became a huge Broadway musical and movie and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”
He was a passionate reviser, the sign of all great writers.
His bedroom evoked sadness, even though he lived to 83, dying on May 22, 1885.
There’s a painting of Hugo lying on his deathbed.
And the bed in which he died.
To be in a museum decorated with his ornate furniture and a few manuscript pages felt like entering a church, a sacred place for those who pick up the pen … or laptop.
Thanks so much, Tina. Passionate readers (and revisers) become great writers. I bet your teacher was blown away.
Love this! I read (chose) Les Miserables for a year 12 project. A huge read and I could not contain my presentation into 10 minutes, instead it took up the whole lesson (an accident). “He was a passionate reviser...” This gives me hope! Thank you for sharing and inspiring!