Santa Fe

These last weeks before school call for a series of getaways.  This weekend, we are in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
I have always loved this town.  It's so old, but so hip, in an odd juxtaposition that seems to be recurring in so many places these days.

A Fruit Tart from a back alley Cafe Paris

We've spent most of our time in the Old Plaza square, which is flanked by churches, restaurants, and a whole neighborhood dedicated to art galleries, sculptures, and other oddities that seem appropriate.  Anything goes here.  There's everything from modern art to native Indian goods, and most of it is easily accessible to anyone willing to walk.  There is so much culture here, and the food doesn't fall short.  Being in New Mexico, the most fitting chow would of course be mexican... yet we have failed completely at eating anything except French cuisine while we've been here.

It all started with Cafe Paris several years ago.  Its a beautiful little place shoved into a back alley slightly off of the main square.  It's a Sistine Chapel with a Parisian-American twist, complete with a replica of the Eiffel Tower painted on the ceiling, framed by homemade yellow checked curtains and eclectic, christmas-light chandeliers.

Le Croque Monsieur a la Santa Fe

Then there was Ze French Bistro.  And no, I'm not kidding, that's the real name, and it's way too fun to say.  Snuggled in between Loretto Chapel and the San Miguel Church, the oldest church in the country, it is quite an unexpected gem.  Dinner is very pricey, but if you can catch it between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. you can order anything on the menu - which happens to include wonderful breakfast and lunch items, and a small crepe selection.  It was here, at Ze French Bistro that I had the first, and perhaps the best le croque monsieur of my life.  Il était si délicieuse!!

After wandering around lost for a bit, we decided that the only thing that could satisfy our tired, hot, exhilarated selves was fresh fruit crepes from a little place just down the main street from the cathedral.  It was perfectly refreshing, and very atmospherically European for a small New Mexican town like Santa Fe.
As wonderful as the food is, that's definitely not all there is.  If food is the blood in the veins of this place, then art is the heart.  Art makes the whole system work - it makes the city breathe, and it gives it personality.  

The churches are, and have always been, a center of art, and all things beautiful.  The churches of Santa Fe are no exception.  The Cathedral of St. Francis is the force that pumps the heart of the town.  St. Francis is the patron saint of Santa Fe, and the founders of the town built this church for him.  It is of the French Romanesque style, which is apparent due to the straight nave and side aisles.  However, later, a crooked transept was added, one side housing the Chapel of La Conquistadora, or Our Lady of Peace, which was moved to it's current site in 1625.  The other side of the transept houses pews, a silent glass room reserved strictly for prayer, and stained glass depicting the four evangelists.

A few blocks down from the square is another church, called Loretto Chapel.  I guarantee that most everyone has heard of this place, though maybe not by name.  The first time I visited, I had no idea I knew what it was.  When I was in elementary school, my teacher read the class a book about a church in the southwest that was very poor.  The church had no money, but was home to some of the most faithful people in the country.  However, not everyone in the town was as faithful as those who occupied the church.  In fact, the people of Santa Fe had lost sight almost completely of their holy roots.  The church had a problem - the first and second stories were not connected, and nobody could seem to build a staircase that could connect the two without buckling in the narrow space allotted for its construction.  One day, a man wandered into the church and said he could build the stairs.  No one had ever seen him before, and when asked where he came from or where he was going, he gave no reply.  Within three days, he built the staircase.  The remarkable part was that the stairs spiraled vertically, curling upon themselves like a snake poised to attack, with no center or outside supports.  The staircase seemed to float in midair, and logic escaped its form.  Then, the man was gone, never to be seen again, and he left not even a name with his staircase.  It still stands today at Loretto Chapel.
There's also San Miguel, the oldest church in the country, a delectable restaurant called the Ore House (try the blue corn crab cakes and  mamarita margarita), art shows, Indian markets, beautiful flowers, and lots of bikers.  Yet no visit to Santa Fe would be complete without a visit to Canyon Street.  

Canyon Street is the premier art district of Santa Fe.  Never was there a place more concentrated with galleries, paintings, sculptures, and people who enjoy it all.  Sculpture gardens are open to the public long after the galleries are closed, so the walk is enjoyable at any time of day.  Be warned though - wear shoes that you can walk in all day.  I didn't, and I paid for it.   It's a long stretch, and it takes a long time, but it's worth it.  It's completely safe, and steeped in New Mexican culture.  

Kevin Box is one of my most favorite artists from the area.  He sculpts paper, which is confusing.  He makes his sculptures from clay, but they look like paper.  He has a well known piece called Scissors, Paper, Rock, but his other sculptures are beautiful as well.