A Day of Firsts

Little Juliet had quite a day today; her Mom and grandparents decided she was ready for some culture, so off we four went to the Grand Palais for an installation by French artist Christian Boltanski. The Grand Palais is a beautiful Art Nouveau building with an immense glass roof. Boltanski's installation, entitled "Personnes", which means both "people" and "nobodies", consisted of a grouping of 69 rectangles of coats spread on the ground, from which arose 69 heartbeats. Walking among the rectangles one could hear different heartbeats and it was very emotional. There was also a huge pile of clothing with a crane that would pick up some of the clothes and then drop them. It was dramatically different from walking by a piece of art in a museum. You were actually walking through the art experience. The artist described it as an "exploration of life, memory and the irreducible individuality of each and every human existence, together with the presence of death and the dehumanization of the body". The adults were impressed, but Juliet slept through the whole thing.

It was so cold outside that we decided to go to Angelina for afternoon tea. Everyone else outside in that area decided the same thing, but it didn't take too long to get a table and order our tea and cakes. Juliet was hungry, too, and Jeanne was able to feed her right at our table. The French people have a healthy attitude toward breast feeding: it's normal, it's healthy, so go ahead and do it. We won't be shocked and we won't stare at you.

The tea warmed us up and we set off to do some shopping at Galeries Lafayette, one of Paris' best department stores. Tom set off on his own while Jeanne, Juliet and I went immediately to the 5th floor to check out the baby department. There must have been 20 baby couture areas, from Baby Dior to Bon Point to Petit Bateau to Baby Kenzo, and on and on and on. I picked up a darling cashmere sweater, size 3 months, at Bon Point. A bargain at 110 Euros, or about $165. It wasn't really Juliet's color, so I didn't buy it.

After all the shopping and tea-drinking and walking and installation-going, we were exhausted and took a cab back to Levallois, where Jeanne, Juliet and Tom all took naps before dinner. What a day of firsts for our little Parisian baby: her first ride on the Metro, her first artistic installation, her first tea at Angelina, her first shopping trip to Galeries Lafayette and her first cab ride! Quite enough for today; we will have more adventures tomorrow. Sweet dreams, Queen Juliet!