Paris Was a Woman

Before I left for Paris I watched a really cool documentary on Netflix called Paris Was a Woman, about important women artists, writers, and bookstore owners who lived in Paris between the world wars.  It contains a bunch of archival footage and interviews, giving the street addresses of many of the women.  I decided to take a walking tour of the neighborhood where most of the activity took place, St. Germain.  Along the way I passed by the homes of Gertrude Stein, Janet Flanner, Silvia Beach, and Natalie Barney.  They were your average apartment buildings, with just one small plaque on Stein's.

I started my walk at the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.  I've been to a lot of churches over the past few weeks, but this one stood out because of its strange mix of contemporary and historic art.

To see the chapels with Christian statues of saints flanked by modern sculptures that resembled female nudes was so unusual.

I also found the men in reclining postures a little weird, like this one of St. Joseph.

St. Germain is famous as being the main hangout of many famous people including Picasso, Sartre and Beauvoir, Hemmingway, and Voltaire, who is the centerpiece of this pretty little garden.

I made my way to this narrow pedestrian walkway, the Cour du Commerce-St-André, once a hive of Revolutionary activity.  The plaque above the restaurant says that Joseph-Ignace Guillotin lived there.

I ended my tour with another church, St-Sulpice, known for housing France's largest pipe organ.  Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky enough to catch a performance.  I did, however, attempt to catch how big it is in the next picture.  It's just slightly smaller than Notre-Dame, making it the second biggest in the city.

Just as I was leaving I stumbled upon another statue of St. Peter.  Peace out!