de Paris à AMS

I’m en route to Schiphol, the Amsterdam airport; from there I fly home this afternoon. I’m ready to get back – too much living out of a suitcase. My time in Paris was great. Much of it was spent walking and visiting with my friend Alexandre. He doesn’t quite know what to make of this move – but felt that it was worthy of a momentous dinner on Saturday to mark the occasion (Some restaurateurs might count their chickens before they hatch, but few number their ducks!) I spent the earlier part of the day in the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay. (I’ve learned, incidentally, to let everyone race to La Jaconde – there’s a lot more to the museum.) Something occurred to me during my visits to these museums: What happened to beauty?

Yesterday I followed a custom of mine and went to Mass at St. Gervais, a church located just behind l’Hôtel de Ville. Here the Jerusalem Community, an urban monastic community founded in the last century, is located. They are a very welcoming community. We Americans – and I’m sure others elsewhere as well – could stand to learn from them about full, conscious, active participation in the Mass, especially regards the music. Here's a video of the end of communion and post-communion hymns. (The sound isn’t so hot, so you’ll miss just how powerful the singing is – also, the beginning scene of communion goes a little longer than it need to; skip to about 1:20 for the singing.) I spent the afternoon strolling around La Place des Vosges and made a stop at St. Louis-St. Paul, an important Church in the history of the Jesuits.