Dining outside in the dark suits us, even if the cafe happens to be on the side of a hill, and our salade vegetarienne tends to slide toward the river.
We have returned from another day exploring the city, this one in Montmartre, the hill on the Right Bank, famed residence of Picasso, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, and the Moulin Rouge. Most of the artists there now bang out small acrylic cityscapes for sale at every other shop for 30 euros, or they dash off charicatures in charcoal and chalk for posers fresh off the bus.
History is history, nevertheless, and an impromptu turn around the next corner frees us from the gauchery of trinkets. On narrow side streets we can imagine for a few moments what it might be like to live a life dedicated to creation and beauty on this hill.
Somewhere the young and the talented are just as passionately pursuing their art. Maybe even one of these glowing souls seated around us will contribute as much.
