Paris Part Deux!

WHAT BENNIE'S BEEN DOING: Weeks 5-6 (Scotland/England, Ireland, France!)

Part 7: "Paris Part Deux"

Bonjour a tous!  

So, first, my apologies for being so long in getting back online to pick up where I left off in Paris. Once again, I thought it would be no problem to blog while I was in New Mexico... but, due to the remote locations, our internet connections were either barely there, or just plain nonexistent!  We made it home about 1:30 in the morning last Tuesday, and once again I battled a bad sore throat for about 3 days limiting my activity to laundry and picture cataloging. Today, I finally found myself ready to resume the blog, sooo.....

Ahhh...Paree!  Where to begin telling you about the rest of our time in Paris - because it was such a strange smorgasbord of seemingly unrelated things! 

First of all, I think David must have some drumming guardian angel that follows him everywhere he goes, because after finding the largest drum shop in Scotland and getting to play on stage at the Irish Rock-n-Roll Museum, our first walk down the sidewalk in Paris treated us to this super-cool street drummer just jamming away!

So, we stopped and enjoyed his funky groove for a while, just marveling at the ingenuity producing such a creative vibe and sound with just plain old stuff!  David also loved the way he used his foot with the cymbal on the ground to create a hi-hat sound. And, I loved how he saved so much money on drum equipment ;) David was not amused!

As I mentioned in the first Paris post, we spent the first day and a half touring Sainte-Chappelle and Notre Dame.  Because we were close enough to walk, our route took us right across the Seine delivering our first view of the Eiffel tower... even it if was in the far background and you could barely see it... but, as David puts it, we were 100% closer to the Eiffel tower on that bridge than we would be in Kentucky ;)

The next day, we finally had the chance to visit the Museum of Natural History where Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin also worked as a paleontologist before the Church authorities exiled him for his rather radical theology!  I have so much to tell you about Teilhard when I return, but for now just know that it is both his father's love for God through the natural world and his mother's love for God through the church that deeply formed him...in addition to his experience as a stretcher bearer during WWI.  Neat doctrinal answers failed to help Teilhard make sense of the carnage he saw at Champaigne or Verdun!  As he put in a letter to his cousin during a break in battle:

I don't know what sort of monument the country will later put up on Froideterre hill to commemorate the great battle. There's only one that would be appropriate: a great figure of Christ. Only the image of the crucified can sum up, express and relieve all the horror, and beauty, all the hope and deep mystery in such an avalanche of conflict and sorrows. As I looked at this scene of bitter toil, I felt completely overcome by the thought that I had the honour of standing at one of the two or three spots on which, at this very moment, the whole life of the universe surges and ebbs places of pain but it is there that a great future (this I believe more and more) is taking shape." (The Making of a Mind, New York, 1965, pp. 119/20.) 

http://teilharddechardin.org/index.php/biography

For Teilhard, neither science nor religion adequately explain the complexities of life. As one website puts it, "he challenged theologians to view their ideas in the perspective of evolution and challenged scientists to examine the ethical and spiritual implications of their knowledge. He fully affirmed cosmic and biological evolution and saw them as part of an even more encompassing spiritual evolution," with the goal being a complete divine unity.
(https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/early-humans/other-materials6/a/pierre-teilhard-de-chardin)

So, my goal in visiting Paris included seeing both the cathedrals of the Church and discoveries of science that inspired Teilhard's vision. Highlights of our visit to the Museum of Natural History included a walk through the Garden of Plants to get to the Gallery of Paleontology and Comparative Anatomy where Teilhard worked and explored his love of God through science.

Sarcosuchus Imperator, Ancient Crocodile

Megaloceros Giganteus, Ancient Deer

Diplodocus Carnegii, Ancient Sauropod

Finally, we didn't leave Paris without just a taste of its famous luxury and romance.  David found a wonderful dinner cruise on the River Seine for our evening entertainment!  So, we enjoyed a classical French meal, live music and Parisian river ambiance in style :)

Eiffel Tower at Night

Going under one of Paris' famous bridges

We also enjoyed the pleasure of a professional photographer on board who took great pictures of us, and of course, shared them with us for a price - worth every penny to remember such a delightful experience :) ... Oh, and this was my first night out in public without a hat!

So, it may seem a rather odd mixture of activities for Paris, France:  the cathedrals, the museum of paleontology, the gardens, the evening dinner cruise on the Seine, and a street drummer... but, from the perspective of Celtic Christian Spirituality, it makes total sense to me!  Each experience a revelation of the sacred life of God that beats at the heart of all things. Each experience filled with beauty and light in its own unique way. The threshold of the sacred is indeed everywhere if you listen and look deeply enough...

Stay tuned for the final installment of weeks 5-6 when we visit Clermont-Ferrand where Teilhard's father took him on frequent hikes to collect rock and flora samples in the volcanic mountains of Auvergne! 

Bonne nuit mes amis :)