Up and out of the house early Friday morning, I headed to the Louvre for a visit.  The Metro delivered me and I wound through the underground labyrinth of really fancy shops and followed signage for this way and that in the Carousel du Louvre for eateries, boutiques, WC’s (toilettes) and finally, the Louvre.  Up stairs and escalator I recognized I.M. Pei’s above-ground Pyramid and knew I was close.  I walked to an entrance, flagged my artiste card to the attendant, and was immediately signaled to the front door to enter.  Once in, I plugged in my handy-dandy Louvre audio tour which I downloaded free from Rick Steves’ travel website (a real gem of a find, for anyone who travels) and was on my way.

I strolled through the galleries to hit the main attractions including the Venus de Milo, Winged Victory, the Mona Lisa and other da Vinci works, as well as the Grecian and Roman statuary and art from the Romantic period.  Just as impressive to me was the grand royal palace which was home to France’s kings before all these works of art took up residence.  After 3 hours in the Louvre, I decided that was enough, I saw all that I wanted to see, and since it was 3 p.m., I was hungry.  So, for fun,

I had to do it…

Wow, what a view!

Cheesy me.

Venus de Milo, awesome.

Just one of the ceilings of the royal palace.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace. Can you imagine what the original might have looked like?

From the inside out of the Octagonal Room.

Three generations by da Vinci: Saint Anne, Virgin Mary, and baby Jesus. Sweet.

Massively impressive, Delacroix’s La Liberte le 28 Juillet (1830). She’s rallying the people!

Admiring the Pyramid below the plaza. A moment I thought on the “Da Vinci Code.”

Cheesy lunch! It was better tasting because it was French fast food. I crack me up!

My trip is half completed.  I’ve seen many of the sights except for the Louvre, Tuileries Garden, L’Orangerie Museum, Sainte Chappelle, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees, the evening tour of the Opera Garnier, and the Eiffel Tower.  Even Pere LaChaise Cemetery, which I planned to see on Day 1, hasn’t been checked-off. Ooh, la, la. And I have the Diana Krall concert at L’Olympia on Wednesday evening.

But today, I needed to do laundry.  Adine is a terrific hostess and since she doesn’t have a common 9 to 5, she’s available to answer questions and help me get my essentials done. I had seen that “The Intern” was coming out so I thought that would be a great way to spend a down-time day.  Denis helped me with the right theatre to go to, just out of the Nation Metro, in “V.O.”  That’s French for, Version Originale, i.e. en Anglaise avec French subtitles!  And, yes, the French eat popcorn at the theatre.  Tres bien!  So, I set myself up for the 13h3o movie, i.e. 1:30 p.m. It was a great movie to relax with.  I needed a break from the vacation.

Add to that, Denis and Adine had informed me that their local bookstore, or librairie, of which there seems to be one every other block in Paris, was celebrating its 10th anniversaire with the newest owner.  Afterward, people would be invited to their home for a bite of dinner.  A real fete francaise! Did you know that my host Denis, besides teaching, is a published writer, author, poet, all-round Renaissance kind of guy?  No wonder he’s so cool.  And, hello? Adine just Monday spent time setting up an outdoor exhibition of her photo-graphic art in park publicly accessible for free by passersby.  She also has pieces hanging in an apartment/condo for sale in a swanky part of the Cite.  An exclusive interior designer, well-known and sought after, included her creative graphic wall hangings in a 1-price sale of the condo, furnishings, and its contents, i.e. the art work.  These people are extremely warm, smart, fun, and CREATIVE.

As for the book reading, Denis moderated the evening with a well-known Canadian-French writer and friend Nancy Huston and a couple other bookstore folks.  Focus: to discuss your favorite or personally most-inspirational books.  After introducing the works and explaining the basis of selection, another friend of Denis’ read excerpts from the works. And, of course, the event was totally en Francais.  But what a good time.  I had to work really hard to tune in to listen and watch everyone’s speech, and I picked up about 40-50% of the 1+ hours of discourse.  Featured pieces included To Kill a Mockingbird, Life of Pi, Pride and Prejudice, 3 other novels, and poetry which Denis presented. As a published poet himself, Denis spoke about how these poems changed and inspired him.  The evening was a wonderful success.  Once completed, many of the bookstore friends trekked 3 blocks back to the country house in the city.

Half the guests spoke English, thankfully!  A couple just returned to France after living in San Francisco for 20 years, on 24th and Castro.  He’s French, she’s American, empty-nesters who decided Paris is where they want to be now. Then there was Michael, a known South African guitarist-singer of the 60’s and 70’s who came to Paris 40 years ago like Denis.  A groovy French-South African hippie with a wonderfully smart wife, Vera.  Two young college graduates, best friends of Denis & Adine’s daughter, came and talked about how they are adjusting to taking up residence in Paris to continue their studies in Greek and the craft of costume repair.  We ate quiche and salad and cheese, drank delicious red wine, and finished the evening with Adine’s delicious almond cake and hot tea.  Lovely company and lively conversation en francais et anglaise.  All wonderful friends enjoying each other after many years of knowing each other.

A good day to be “at home.”  Tomorrow’s another day.

The local librairie, or booksellers, in Saint-Mande.

Authors Denis Hirson and Nancy Huston (seated), with friend who reads excerpts.

Adine’s postcard flyer

Check out Adine’s website at:  www.adinesagalyn.com.

The cultural season’s info of her exposition.

Yes, I know I’m behind with the blog, but it’s been busy and I cannot combine the last 2 days (plus today) in one.  Giverney has to have its own posting.

Ooh, la, la, what a day!  Planning to go was a bit off the cuff, discussed over tea with Denis on Tuesday night.  “It’ll be fine, the SNCF is the train system that’ll take you straight there and back.  Easily a half day.”

Thankfully, it worked.  The only thing I worried about was the timing, every 2 hours a direct train departs and honestly, I haven’t been getting up all that early.  Hey, I’m on vacation.

I missed the 10:20 train by about 15 minutes.  Bummer, but with just me, myself and I, I thought, No biggie.  The next direct train was at 12:20 and I was in the famous Gare Saint Lazare with plenty of seating, an enclosed mall with a variety of shops, and plenty of food vendors.  So I bought lunch to eat on the train – a chicken wrap, cookie, bottle of water – and a compact French word search book to keep me busy while I watched the people around me and waited.  The French really have their act together with transportation, oh, my gosh.  It’s so awesome, simple, fast, clean, and modern. Lovely travelers coming and going to places en France in sublime order and gentility.

The noon train rolled me out of Paris towards Normandy and the villages of Vernon and Giverny.  Once I arrived at Vernon and disembarked, I bought a ticket for a little trolley which took us on a leisurely cruise through historic Vernon which was once a walled fortress from the 14th century.  So sweet, the main village has eateries, lodging, modern boutiques, patisseries and boulangeries, and the first postal office in France which continues operations in its original location.  I nearly expect a hobbit to walk by, that’s how out-of-time this village is.

On to Giverny, barely going 30 m.p.h.  The Seine flows through the area and I saw beautiful verdant hills and pastures, French cows, and a small farm with ostriches, emus, and alpacas.  When the passengers offloaded in the public lot outside the village walls of Giverny, I started my walk into the center of the 1-lane village.  Lush with blooms and trees and cobbled streets, I arrived at the back of Claude Monet’s home, bought my ticket and entered the garden.  It was totally awesome, even in October.  I strolled the outer path of the main garden which the house overlooks and headed towards the  “nympheas” or the water lily pond that sits farther from the garden. Once there, I snapped as many photos as I could.  The green Japanese bridges, 1 or 2 water lily blooms, lots of flowers along the paths, and a few (or more) pilgrims like myself enjoying being in Monet’s beloved gardens.

Going back to the main garden, I visited the different planted sections bursting with dahlias, roses, bleeding hearts, poppies and miniature fuschias.  I enjoyed nature’s show before entering Monet’s farmhouse, the spiritual home of impressionism.  Since the 1980’s I’ve loved impressionism and here at Giverny, Monet created some of his best and most famous works featuring his lovely gardens.  I was so lucky finally to say that I saw it for myself.

The chill was growing and I was a little worried about missing the trolley to get back to a decently timed train that would return me to Gare Saint Lazare.  It all worked out.  I bought a delicious caffe latte at the station (that’s what the vendor called it!) and cozied up for the 10 minute wait.  The train came in and within 40 minutes, I was in Paris and on to the Metro 1 to Saint-Mande.  A most special day spent, a highlight of my trip.

Gare St. Lazare, a famously photographed rail station.

I’m on my train!

Voici, mon billet.

A poulet wrap lunch fit for a train ride.

Very cool signage as we rolled out of the railway with local tag art.

Following the signs to my destination.

Entering Monet’s garden

The front of the maison from the garden.

This way to the nympheas or water lily garden.

There it is, a pink lily bloom in the center, one of the last ones left from the summer.

A wider view of the water lily pond

A visitor’s map of the layout of the property

Deux bateaux.  Claude left them there for us.

Nasturtium glory on the graveled path

Centre ville Vernon

A narrow street of the village of Vernon

Trolley drive-by of Vernon’s last battlement and the wall that have survived 6 centuries.

Vernon Rail Station

Quaint village housing across from the Vernon station.

My train from Vernon to Gare Saint Lazare.

It’s Tuesday and another wet day, but not like yesterday.  The best sight to see is a museum. First choice: the Musee d’Orsay. The Orsay has Paris’ best collection of Impressionist art beginning from the Belle Epoque to the start of WWI.  As well, it is home to marble and bronze sculpture.  I focused on these, my favorites.  The museum itself is a renovated train station, grand and light-filled, a real beauty with a gigantic “gare” clock that hangs on the northwest wall.  Using Adine’s city artiste pass, I was in the museum within 10 minutes of hopping off the #69 bus.

I spent three hours listening to Rick Steves’ audio guide and wandering the museum but primarily the main, 2nd, and 5th floors.  Manet, Renoir, Monet, Cassatt, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Rodin, I saw them all. Highlights include the use of vibrant color and light, thick brush stroke applications of oil on canvas, techniques developed as these artists shared and practiced the new style which critics of the time rejected as mere “impressions” of their subjects.  It was a thrill to see one after the other, gallery after gallery, of recognizable pieces as well as one in particular which I saw at the deYoung’s 1986 Impressionist exhibit, a copy I still have at home. After 29 years, we were reacquainted.

My outing wrapped up with a bit of window shopping in the 7th arrondissement, I caught the Metro to avoid a shower and headed back to safe and dry Saint-Mande.  Tonight I had my first sit-down meal at a bistro near the house and the server was delightful and sweet.  There I had a two hours of bliss and deliciousness starting at 6 p.m. with a Cosmo and ending with a cappuccino, no rushing since the regular dinner crowd wouldn’t arrive until 8 or 9 p.m.

Me and the main floor of the gare, or train station, which is now the Musee d’Orsay.

Rodin’s famous danseur

A Renoir favorite, everyday people enjoying the weekend on the hills of Montmartre.

I’ve seen this one before and have it framed at home, by Monet.

Vincent Van Gogh’s self portrait, very awesome to see.

My starter, a cosmopolitan

Drip, drip, drop, it’s wet outside. What will I see today if it’s wet?  Nothing that’s outside of a building or some other shelter.  Did I bring the right footwear? Nope. I barely brought enough to layer and keep warm.  Not terrible, especially since the Monoprix store is just around the corner and one alley over.  A bit of a Target but much smaller, I dropped in to pick up two ankle socks (for double-socking which is so comfy), a long-sleeved tee, an aubergine (not the vegetable) wooley V-neck “pull,” and a cool grey cross-over sling bag. I’m ready to tackle my next outing.

Museums? It’s Monday and most are closed but the Louvre is open.  But unless I’m the first one in the door, there’s no way I will stand in line.  So my next best idea is one from Rick Steves, the wise-one of all travel European: Get on the #69 bus. Paris has the most awesome city transport system.  The Metro is the underground and those 9 or 10 or 11 lines criss-cross beneath the city and come every 5 to 10 minutes.  The bus system weaves visitors and residents on the streets and by picking just the right line, you can have the best seat in the house for 1.70 Euros, at the back, right side, sitting up high to get a clear view of the surroundings.  I bought a week’s pass for 21 Euros and today I got my money’s worth.  From the east end where I’m staying, I travelled for 60 minutes one-way to the west end of Paris where I saw, for the first time, the famous Pyramid in the Louvre courtyard, embassy after embassy from around the world, the Orsay Museum, chic & trendy boutiques and stores, the Hotel des Invalides where Napoleon rests, the green and grassy Parc du Champs de Mars, and finally, at the route’s end, the Eiffel Tower.  I exited the bus, popped open my umbrella, and snapped a few pics of the tower.  It was tricky balancing the umbrella, operating my phone, and seeing through tears to frame my memory.  With shelter from the park trees, I stayed a while to take it all in.

My return trip was just as easy since the bus stop was nearby.  But instead of sitting through the afternoon stand-still of traffic in the downtown area, I took the #69 to the Chatelet stop, exited, then hoofed it down to the Metro for the #1 line.  I knew the Metro would save me time and sanity, the sooner to peel off my damp socks.  Tomorrow, another wet one, I think I need to be at the Orsay early to beat the crowds and enjoy an indoor day of Impressionist art and art and more art.

#69 Bus, the DIY cross-city tour bus

My tarte de pommes treat for the bus ride

Tour Eiffel – October 5, 2015

Headed towards the Chatelet Metro, a central station

Yesterday the weather changed cooler, cloudier, but still nice to go out, with my trusty umbrella.  Taking the Metro to the Anvers station, I bought a croque monsieur for the road and started the steady walk/hike up to Sacre Coeur.  With other pilgrims I marched past shops selling the ubiquitous Paris memorabilia, taking my time going gently higher and higher.  Then, there it was at the top of the staircases, Sacre Coeur.  There, with all the other people who woke earlier than I did!  After tackling the first terrace, I decided to sit at an available bench to eat my toasty sandwich and people-watch before finishing the trek.  Once done, I was surprised at how many bodies were on the stairs and terraces two levels above.  Hawkers, vendors, a few suspicious scammers, and a fellow skilled at balancing a soccer ball to Avril Lavigne tunes filled the space.  Zooming past them I found the line to the building and enjoyed a visit in this 19th century hommage to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  My favorite windows depicted the life of St. Joan of Arc.

Next on my walking tour was the northern back of the cathedral, the heart of the 18th arrondissement, Montmartre, where the artists, singers, musicians, and creative ones thrived during the belle epoque and after. Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Edith Piaf, Sidney Bechet, and Picasso are a few famous artists who called this free-spirited district their home.  After winding around and down the alley streets and admiring really lovely home facades, I ended up at the Abbesses Metro station, having missed the Moulin Rouge, my intended destination. Another day perhaps because I was tiring (“can-can,” not) and the afternoon was getting chillier.

For the evening, I helped Denis and Adine with dinner, delicious roasted eggplant, turkey, my lentil soup as a starter, and salad and cheese to end the meal.  The veggies and cheese Denis and I purchased at the morning farmers market.

All delicious, bien sur.

Sacre Coeur

Croque monsieur!

St. Joan of Arc chapel windows

Elevated street behind Sacre Coeur – my first sighting of the Eiffel Tower in the distance

Montmartre Place

That’s our fresh aubergine (eggplant) – it’s not just a color, so you know.

Frommage, sold by a father and his two sons. Denis knows them all.

Friday was my day to visit La Marais (the Marsh), Arrondissement 3.  Taking the Metro, I popped up and decided to have first a poulet et mozzarella panini avec tomate.  Warm and crispy, so simple and delicious, twelve inches of heaven wrapped in a paper sheet. Merci!  Then, fed and recharged, I made my way into the Marais to wind around the narrow streets.  I found a pop-up store selling craft jewelry, leather wallets, clothes, and wooly hats, of which I bought one.  Back on the cobbled streets, I passed hotel after hotel (18th century mansions) noted with official plaques en francais which told their stories.  Jewish residents and gay community flourish in the 3rd district and I was happy to be wrapped in the culture.  Passing by the Pompidou, I continued back to Notre Dame to find the Deportation Memorial but, alas, it was closed. I rushed further to the end of the ile to try to see Sainte Chapelle but was too late to get in.  Being on Saint Michel Boulevard, I decided to may my way back to the house early.  At least I was’t too late for the Monoprix (grocery story) and bought bouillon, veggies, and green lentils to cook a pot of lentil soup.

Yesterday I picked up the the #86 bus to enjoy the west-bound tour on my way to visit Saint Sulpice.  What luck, I was able to catch (and record) the last 15 minutes of the afternoon choir concert.  Saint Sulpice is home to one of Europe’s oldest and finest organs, extraordinary, rich-sounding.  The Sulpicean order of religious was the order which Jean-Baptiste de la Salle professed.  I took a photo of the stained-glass window and chapel in his honneur — the patron of all Christian Brothers schools which Vinny and Philip attended (Saint Mary’s College High School, Berkeley).  I said a prayer of thanks.

Next, I decided on a lunch break (at 2:30 p.m.) and rather than sit down for a plat du jour I found another panini stand.  This time, I bought a Coke and then headed towards the Jardin du Luxembourg, Marie de Medici’s re-creation of her Florence home after the death of Henry IV.  I sat, ate, and enjoyed watching people reading, playing chess, resting with little ones, and watching tennis matches.  It was lovely to see the colorful flower gardens and fountains and to see and smell green grass.  I finished up and headed west out of the park then came upon a gathering at the bandstand singing (with songbooks) to a 3-piece band, which I videoed.  Then, off I went to the Cluny Museum which houses a collection of medieval art including gorgeous tapestries.  The Lady and the Unicorn series of tapestries reside in the Cluny which was once a public bath, both cool and hot waters.  Deciding to call it a day, I made my way back to Sainte-Mande.

Corner on La Marais

Saint Sulpice – St. Jean-Baptiste De la Salle Chappelle

Panini & The Real Thing

Cluny Museum courtyard

After a long night’s rest, I finally went out the door for an afternoon in the 2nd Arrondissement, the Latin Quarter, and Notre Dame Cathedral.  Taking the bus to get an above-ground introduction to Paris, the #86 dropped me off a few streets away.  I crossed my first Paris bridge to Notre Dame.  Finding Point Zero, the exact center of Paris marked in the plaza 30 metres from the door, I studied the detailed facade.  I entered the cathedral with a line of other visitors and took in the vast nave, sanctuary, stained glass all around, and the grandness of its 9 centuries old beauty.  I visited each side chapel, one by one, and then seated myself for time to reflect.  Before I knew it, Vespers began, then mass.  What a day to visit: the feast day of St. Therese of Lisieux, of the Little Flower, October 1.  When mass concluded, the congregation, the last souls in the building, exited the north doors below the famous and last original stained glass of the Rose Window.

Evening then, I roamed the streets back on the Left Bank and visited Shakespeare & Company, of course!

View from Petit Pont

Point Zero

Notre Dame at night

I have arrived in France.  My hosts, Adine & Denis, are lovely and they have so much information about how to get around.  And, even as important, how to adjust to the newness of my arrival and simply being in France.

I spent the afternoon hours wandering the cobbled streets of this quaint village-town that is about 20 minutes by Metro from Paris.  It is cool here and I enjoyed sunning myself on a park bench in the town hall square and being present in a new place.  Children are dismissed from school after 4 pm, so I spent an hour watching moms and grannies walk with youngsters and pushing buggies through the well-trimmed garden of red and white begonias and short hedges.  Nice way to ease into vacation.

S-M City Hall square