Listen!

Paris misses me* right now. Because of that, I will take the reader to the Metro "Les Halles", past the Tabac into the mall, past the many clothing shops offering les soldes, past the many food vendors, and up the stairs to the St. Eustache exit.**

In the St. Eustache courtyard known as the Place René Cassin is a humongous piece of sandstone art, "l'Ecoute"*** by Henri de Miller. The piece is simple, yet captivating. I like to buy a sandwhich in Les Halles, and eat it in front of the statue. The statue can be photographed from many different angles, and there is a way to take someone slightly behind the hand where it looks like the person is standing in the Listener's hand.

On a sunny day, I can pass an hour in the Place René Cassin in front of the statue that I find serene. It is one of my preferred places.

*Oui, elle me manque.
** Or just take the more direct Châtelet-Les Halles metro.
*** The Listener

Maria Callas

Maria Callas. She was a beautiful woman with an amazing, haunting voice that gave me an aesthetical experience many times when I listened to her recordings.

Although I recognize haut couture as a high form of art, and appreciate its beauty, I am not the kind of man to spend a lot of time looking at or thinking about clothing. However, When I attended a Maria Callas exposition in Paris, I found one of her dresses on display to be quite striking. I found it so striking that I purchased a post card of the dress. It is my only post card on the subject of clothing. Maybe it was because I had heard so many excerpts of her recordings, and saw many photographs of her throughout the morning. Staring at the dress in real life, I was imagining her alive: wearing the dress, moving, and singing. It was intoxicating experience.

I thought about the idea of scanning the post card from time to time, and somehow incorporating it into my blog, but the idea was intermittent and fleeting. Then, yesterday morning my friend MonkeyPosh told me of the death of Luciano Pavarotti. I think I was the last person on earth to know. I was surprised how many of my friends that normally listen to pop, rock, country and other non-art music made comments throughout the day about how they had been touched by Pavarotti's music. Inevitably, I read about Pavarotti's life and accomplishments, and my thoughts naturally came back to Callas, one of my favorite opera heroines, and the beautiful, striking dress I saw in Paris. Here it is:

(Click to Enlarge)