make paris...

My wife and I are in Paris, one half block from Tuileries and have been doing all the things tourists do in Paris.We've eaten at small curbside restaurants. We've stood in line for museums. Even the passes that promise "no standing in lines" left us standing in line, as there is a great deal of enthusiasm for people from all over the world to visit the great paintings here. Going to museums is a lot like shopping except that you are not allowed to touch anything, and can't buy anything except in designated areas... the gift shops where at last you get to pick things up and buy them if you like. This morning we discovered a huge shopping mall underneath the Louvre that I had known nothing about.

This wood worker from the US was blown away by the craftsmanship invested in furniture on display from various eras and it can be safely noted that things made of wood are of much less interest than paintings from the Impressionist era. Yesterday we took the Batobus along the Seine and enjoyed it so much we took the trip twice. The day before we visited the Island upon which sits Notre Dame Cathedral, and we are getting to know the small area in which we are ensconced.

If you are in Paris, or can be on the weekend of June 21-22, please consider the MakerFaire to be held here. While most folks wander through museums buying little or shopping malls and discount stores, buying lots, the inclination to make is what's happening now among the young. And a good museum to visit in Paris if you are interested in making things is the Musée des arts et métiers, celebrating the inventive spirit of man. It is not as heavily attended as the Louvre, or the other museums dedicated to the arts. So you can wander through at your leisure, and see how many things were made before the dawning of the digital black age in which the hands have been perceived as an avoidable nuisance. I brought some whittling supplies and plan to head for the park.

Make, fix and create...