Michele Roohani

as long as we are in the Marais, i should mention la maison de Victor Hugo. his name always brings out phantasmagoric memories of Quasimodo and the Th�nardiers! Hugo has been as great as Tolstoy to make great “movies” of human lives in the absence of film and now thanks to Disney, every kid in the world knows about the hunchback of Notre Dame; “War and Peace” and “les Mis�rables” should wait a little longer to get “animated” i guess…

“An intelligent hell would be better than a stupid paradise.” Victor Hugo

i like walking in the quartier du Marais even with tourists around! this little bookstore has a funny name.

i love la place des Vosges and this restaurant, Ma Bourgogne, where you can eat the best steak tartar in paris; Th�r�se, the hostess prepares the steak herself if she remembers you.

so i woke up this morning at 5 and headed towards trocadero. the idea of seeing the Eiffel Tower by itself was enough of a reason - the last time i was up this early for a photo shoot was in prague, last may.

the pigeons and me weren’t completely alone… a couple of Parisian lovers were watching the sun rise.

i started walking towards saint germain; Paris’ saturday morning streets were empty but for trash collectors, some late party goers walking back home and the omnipresent american joggers; even my least favorite bridge, pont Alexandre III, looked majestic in the golden morning hue.

i ended my promenade with a café crême at Deux Magots.

people are crazy about soccer here - me, the good persian that i am, i couldn’t miss watching the final of the League of Champions between AC Milan and Liverpool - i was rooting for the Beatles but Armani won…

bill maher calls this music corny but you’ll love it in paris especially if somebody like this guy plays it.

french are in love with their bread; the bakeries in france smell different from anywhere else in the world - i always thought that the butter is the reason but i am learning that it is actually the flour - heaven must smell like french “p�tisseries“.

there was a big “messe/mass ” in Notre Dame cathedral last sunday; i was lucky to see it - beautiful music and a great show for the faithful and the tourists…

this medieval giant of a building remains spellbinding after 800 years; the other churches seem like little dwarves compared to it.

caf� Panis across the river from Notre Dame, can’t help serving great coffees with a splendid view.

they say pigeons are winged rats but when i saw them eating from the hands of the beautiful Kristina, they looked great; the sparrows weren’t fighting with them - it was enough food for everybird.

this was an interesting museum because you could see where the artist lived - his work has never seemed very interesting to me but i thought a lot about my dear professor Ungvari when i was looking at Moreau’s study: there were many beautiful books and various collections of small drawings; the whole room was bathing in a quiet amber light.

nothing beats a nightcap at café de flore…