SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2008

Today we left for Toulouse to visit an old friend, Anna Marie Schwartz. We met her more than twenty years ago when Erwin had done several student exchanges with her and we have managed to see each other both in Toulouse and at out home in Union and at the shore.

We took the shuttle flight that Air France operates to Toulouse once an hour. It was a good flight, took less than the scheduled 1:10 flight time. Anna met us at the airport in Blagnac and we drove to her apartment. We had visited her several times so we knew her apartment and the neighborhood. She had prepared a light lunch for us which we enjoyed. After lunch, Alexandria and I went for a walk down to the place Wilson, which is in the center of town.



This a plaque on the place Wilson. It commemerates our President Wilson. Notice what they call him! I thought that they had made a mistake, but on checking I discovered that his name is Thomas Woodrow Wilson. Did you know that? I didn't. Notice also the second plaque. This is in the language of this area of France called Occitan. All of the street signs are in both languages. More about the place Wilson later.

We had our usual afternoon tea at a cafe near the place. Back at the apartment, we had a light evening meal and retired early because of the long day of travel.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2008

We found out on Wednesday from our gardener that on Saturday and Sunday there would be a Festival of Gardens in Paris. So we decided to go to the Bibliothèque Nationale François Mitterand to start our afternoon. The library is located along the Seine River. It was opened in 1996.

On the river bank there is a wide esplanade. Today there was a large cultural exhibition that was to last two days. There were many tents, as you can see, that housed all sorts of cultural organizations such as the French National Opera, French radio, museums, book publishers, etc. There was even a tent for the night clubs. See below.

There were loads of people there all afternoon.

We then crossed over the Seine on the passerelle Simone de Beauvoir. It is a wonderful pedestrians only bridge that has only recently been opened, inaugurated in 2006. As you can see, many people use it to cross the Seine.





On the other side of the Seine, the bridge leads directly into the Parc de Bercy. Today was the first day of the flower festivals in Paris. The Parc de Bercy had lots of people. It is a park of a little over 12 acres, which is quite large. We went first into the Yitzhak Rabin garden which has many different roses. While we were there, there was a guided tour of the garden.



As we strolled through the garden, we encountered actors who were giving little performances to either groups of kids or adults. This actor was a green apple for his presentation.


We wandered around a bit more and then went into the Orangerie where there were demonstrations of flower arranging. We watch several men making different kinds of arrangements.









They had made some beautiful flower arrangements as you can see. We then went back home via Charenton because we took the bus in the wrong direction so we had a rather circuitous route.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2008

Today we spent the afternoon at the Luxemburg Gardens. This is a large park in central Paris where the French Senate is located. We stopped first at the Closerie des Lilas for our afternoon tea/hot chocolate. This is a very fancy restaurant/cafe where many famous personages used to hang out. It is famous for its seafood.

We walked down the Esplanade Gaston Monnorville to get to the Jardin. It was full of students on a break from classes and many others out for a walk on a lovely day. We have had fine weather for almost a week now. Note the little boy having a good time.

At the end of the Esplanade, we went into the Jardin. It, also, was full of people taking in the sun. The flowers were beautiful and many at peak bloom. You can see the French Senate in the background.

We left the Jardin and went outside to see the photo exhibition on the fence that surrounds it. Several times a year, there is a very interesting photo exhibition here. There were about 50 enlarged photos that depicted life in the Artic and in the Antarctic. The title of the exhibition was "Terre des Poles", the land at the poles. The Artic section dealt with the Russians who are stationed there for weather observation, and..... There were even a few families with children.







The photos of the Antarctic were of the French-Italian expedition and are more recent that those of the Russians. The depicted much of the wild life of the area.

We spent over an hour looking at these pictures. We realized it was later than we thought. Our original plan was to go back home for supper and go to a concert (Yes, another one). Instead, we went to the rue St. André des Arts where we found a small crêperie where we had crêpes for dinner. We then went to St. Eustache, the large church located in the "Les Halles" area. There we stood on line for the concert of the Chorus of Radio France. It was a professional group and they gave an excellent rendition of the All Night Vigil (commonly called Vespers) of Rachmaninoff. The did a superb job and received many curtain calls. The church was jam packed and we got two the last remaining seats. The acoustics were very good and we were able to see and hear very well. We returned home after a wonderful day.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 24 - THURSDAY SEPT 25, 2008

We are combining two days into one entry because the days are very similar. On Wednesday, Alexandria spent most of the afternoon at the hair dresser, and on Thursday, Erwin had his hair cut. They were two totally different experiences. Erwin went with Alexandria because the hair dresser who was recommended did not speak English, so he ended up trying to explain how she wanted her hair done. We think he had a little independent nature because it didn't exactly come out as she would have liked, but Erwin thought that it looked very good. You can judge for yourself.

The old Alexandria.

The new Alexandria.

On the way to the hairdressers, we went passed a shop on our block that, we think, deals with modern art. Notice the display on the window. What do you think?

On the way back, we passed a store that sells furniture. In the window they have the store name, " Do Ra Me So Fa". Do you see the play on words with the solfegge?

Thursday evening we went to yet another concert. There are dozens any given day and at least one choral concert, which is what we usually do. This was sung by the Les Petits Chanteurs de Lyon. It was a group of all males, the young boys were sopranos and altos, and the older (8 in number) were the tenors and the basses. They gave an excellent program of 14 motets, including two of my favorites by Bruckner. They also sang about a half a dozen more modern works, including "Les trois cloches" which some of you may recall being called The Jimmy Brown Song. The concert was given at the Foundation Eugene Napoleon chapel. If you are interested in an interesting story about the school, the web site can be obtained by clicking the link above. If you don't understand the French, at least look at the beautiful photos.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2008

Today, we went back to the Carnavalet Museum where we had been over a week ago on September 13th. This time we visited the exhibits that dealt with the 18th and 19th centuries. This encompassed the time of the French Revolution. The exhibits were many and very interesting. The museum offers the fullest record of this period in French civilization. There were many exhibits about the imprisonment of the royal family including several models of the Bastille prison. Notice Alexandria admiring the exhibits.






There also actual items that the family used in the prison. Napoleon was also featured in the exhibits. One whole display case was devoted to his "gear" that he took to the battle field with him including mess gear, writing supplies, and personal toiletries.






Finally, on display were many items dealing with the July Revolution, the Commune, and the changing physical appearance of the city, much of which was as a result of Baron Haussmann's
urban renovation program.


While walking around the museum, we came across a relative of ours. Here is his photo.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

Today we went to a museum that we had never seen before. It is the Musée d'art et d'histoire du Judaïsme. They have a very good permanent collection, but we went to see the temporary exhibition entitled "À qui appartenaient ces tableaux?" or "Looking for Owners." It deals with paintings that were taken by the Nazis from France during the war. Of the approximately 100,000 works taken, about 65,000 were returned to France and about 45,000 were returned to the rightful owners or heirs. Of the remaining 15,000, all were sold at public auction except 2,000 which were entrusted to national museums. The exhibition we saw contained quite of few of these pieces including works by Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Delacroix, Ingrès, etc.

The museum is located in the former Hôtel de Saint-Aignan. In the inner courtyard, there is a statue of Alfred Dreyfus, a captain in the French Army who was wrongly convicted of treason mainly because he was a Jew. He was later exonerated largely due to the efforts of Émile Zola, the French writer.



We returned home for supper. After supper, we walked up to the Café Européen. We each had what the French call "une noisette" which is an expresso with a few drops of milk. Here they served the expresso with a small pitcher of warm milk and you make your own noisette. Very good. And as usual there was lots to see.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2008

Sunday, a day of a relaxing morning doing not much of anything.

Yesterday. we talked about a "manifestation". It turns out the Bastille was the end of an eight hour parade called the "Techno" Parade. An announcement in "Le Parisien", a newspaper, reported that the parade had limited the decibel level to 105, and organizers had distributed 100,000 ear plugs because there would be a lot of "music". Not my kind, probably. Most of the participants and observers were of a younger age.

We learned something very interesting. As you aware, the building we are in had a new elevator installed during the summer and was finished just before we arrived. As with all co-ops, improvements or repairs are paid for by assessments to the owners. What is so interesting is that when it is a new elevator, the higher your apartment is, the more the assessment. Those on the ground floor pay nothing, or next to nothing, while those on the top floor pay the most. Interesting concept. I wonder if that applies to a new roof.

In the afternoon we took the Balabus to the American Cathedral on the ave. George V.

This is the cathedral of all of the American Episcopal churches in Europe. By the way, the Balabus is a combination bus line that goes from one end of Paris to the other on Sundays during the summer. It is a lovely ride where you see many things.

At the cathedral, we attended the Sunday afternoon Evensong. The service was preceded by an organ recital by the cathedral organist. We have attended Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral once a year for many years and I can say that I much prefer the English version. We took the Balabus back to the apartment. Fortunately, the bus stop was close to the apartment and so was the cathedral.

This evening we are to dine out and we are going to try a new place. It is called Chez Paul. It is only a 10-15 walk from the apartment so you could call it local. It was a very old style bistrot, see the photo below.

The food was basic bistrot-style food but very good. We finished it off with "les profiterolles", which if you do not know, is a type of cream puff, filled with vanilla ice cream instead of cream, and covered with hot chocolate sauce. We shared three of them. The price was right, also. We certainly will return. By the time we left, practically the entire, rather, large restaurant was full.





We had a pleasant walk back home. I am calling it "home" now. Is that an omen, or not?

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2008

Here it is Saturday and the end of week five. Yesterday we had noticed on one of the buses that it's route would be altered due to a "manifestation" at the place de la Bastille at 2 p.m. today. We decided to go up there to see what it was all about. We took a seat at the Café Français for a cappuccino and to watch the happenings. We noticed that the statue in the center was surrounded by a large tarp-like curtain that had several signs on it. They asked people, basically, to turn in their beverage cans and plastic bottles, and to bring in their rubbish in exchange for gifts.

We deduced that this was going to be a gathering to show support for recycling and for environment concerns. Notice this sign that says "Drinking water from the faucet is an ecological act".

The balloons gave some of the same messages.

There were large numbers of people gathered as you can see. Most of them seemed to be young people and it looked as if they came in groups. There seemed to be a very festive air about the whole proceedings.

We left after about an hour since we had another (yes, another) concert that we wanted to see. We took the métro up to the place de l'Étoile and started walking toward the place des Ternes. We stopped off at la Maison du Chocolat, one of the most well-known chocolate shops in Paris. We purchased enough for about a week at the rate of one per day.

As we headed off for the concert, we came across a beautiful Russian orthodox cathedral called Saint Alexander Nevsky. It is hidden on a small street called the rue Daru on the edge of the 8th arrondissement. We went inside and found a magnificent church full of art work of Russian orthodoxy. Photos of the interior were forbidden so all we can show you is the exterior.

We arrived at the Église suédoise (Swedish church), one of the many foreign churches in Paris. We heard a wonderful concert by the Stockholm Cantus. Almost every work they performed was a capella. The final piece of the concert was a work written by a member of the chorus and a contemporary composer in Sweden. It was a magnificent piece. The text is based on a portion of a work by Dag Hammarskjold, a former Secretary General of the UN. The choral work is called "The Longest Journey". The composer sang the tenor solo. His name was Kjell Perder. After the concert we had a chance to talk to him. In general, Swedes are very proficient in English. We had an interesting conversation with him about the work and he even gave us a copy of the piece.

It took us a long time to get back to the apartment for dinner since the demonstration was still going on at that time ( 7 p.m.) and the buses were again forced to detour. We needed three buses to get back. Needless to say, dinner was a bit later than usual.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2008

Just a note if you have not looked at yesterday's blog, there are some changes that might interest you.

Today, we did the Friday laundry in the a.m. In the afternoon, we went up to the Bastille to do the western shore of the Arsenal, the end of the St. Martin canal that goes into the Seine. See the blog posting for Sept 8th where we tell about the eastern side.. Along the bank of the canal is a lovely park and promenade where many Parisians relax in the sunny weather.
We saw more boats including the one pictured with the woman relaxing on the deck. The name of the ship is "Phoque" which means "seal", the mammal in the sea. Don't try and pronounce it aloud or you might embarrass yourself.

We saw another boat with the sign, "attention au chien", beware of the dog, and you can see why one should beware.

When we got down to the end of the canal, we walked across the gate in the lock and out onto the banks of the Seine.

Down the Seine for a while and then up onto the Boulevard Henri IV where we noticed this statue, entitled "Man with his soles sticking out", roughly translated. Wouldn't want it in my front yard.

Back to the apartment for dinner. After dinner,we went to the "Européen", our favorite café across from the Gare de Lyon, for a cappuccino. Always something going on there.

So much for another day of extensive walking. Good exercise.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

Sorry! What appears here for today is an approximation of what you may have seen for this date earlier. Somehow I lost the original so I am recreating it as best as possible. Please note there is one important additional comment. Please be sure to read it.

Today, we decided to explore another part of the "Marais" that we had not yet seen.

We bused to the place de la République where we started today's adventure. Almost immediately, we spotted a bakery with a "motto" on it's awning.

Obviously, Erwin doesn't own a bakery in Paris. The phrase "Pétri et cuit sur place" simply means "kneaded and cooked (or baked) on site", a loose translation. If you keep your eyes out you will see lots of interesting things in Paris, or any large city.

We walked down the rue Charlot, one of many quaint streets in the Marais. We stopped for our usual libation of hot chocolate and cappocino at the Café Charlot, almost an institution in the area.



We continued after about an hour and came to a well-known market called the Marché des Enfants Rouges. While walking around we spotted two "traiteurs", one speciallizing in Morrocan food and the other in Afro-Antilles Creole food. We decided that we would return one day for lunch.
Out on the street, we came across the following store front. It appears to be the local offices of the Socialist Party. Do you recognize the poster on the left. I am sure that the Republicans in the US could make something of this is they ever saw it.

Toward the end of the street, we came across the following plaque on a school building.

Basically, the plaque says that between 1942 and 1944, more than 11,000 children were deported from France by the Nazis with the participation of the French government of Vichy and were assinated in the death camps because being born Jewish, more than 500 of these children lived in the third arrondissement. A number of these children attended the boys and girls schools of P. I. de Beranger. Let us never forget them.

You can see these plaques on numerous school buildings throughout Paris. It helps remind us all of what happened in those times and that we should never forget.

We continued along the rue Charlot to our bus stop and returned to the apartment.

We had a lovely evening at Chez René. Erwin has been going there for over 25 years and manages at least one meal there per visit. It was owned for many years by the Cinquin family and they maintained it as a neighborhood institution until February 2007 when the owner, Jean-Paul Cinquin retired and sold it to another restaurant owner. The new owner has maintained the basic structure of the place but has freshened up the interior a bit.







They kept basically the same staff and a great deal of the menu. They still offer as daily specials some of the traditional dishes from the former ownership.Tonight, Erwin had one of these, one of his favorites, blanquette de veau which is basically a veal stew in a white sauce. Délicieux. We started the evening with a Cardinal, an apératif of beaujolais and cassis, very much like a kir with which you may be familiar. Erwin had another of his favorites, blettes au gratin, as an "entrée". This is swiss chard baked with a creamy cheese sauce. Note that in English, we incorrectly use the word "entrée" as our main course. Alexandria had sautéed girolles (wild mushrooms) followed by a tartare of salmon. This was a new taste sensation for her.We shared a gateau de riz, like a rice pudding, for dessert. We walked along the Seine to the bus stop and returned "home".
Another beautiful day in Paris.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2008

Today we did some shopping, not at the open-air market, but in the covered market where "our" cheese man's shop is located. We purchased small selections of three cheeses, Munster (which is a sharp, pungent cheese, not like those bland muenster slices we have at home), a rather aged round of goat cheese, and some St. Albray. Pictured below is our favorite Roquefort, a selection of cheeses, and our cheese person, a very nice person who answered all our questions and agreed to the photos.








After cheese, we went to what has become our wine shop. It is a small shop just across from the covered market. We talked with the woman who runs the shop and she suggested a Coteaux du Loir red. It is a small vineyard area in the Loire valley. We also got a bottle of a red Pineau des Charentes. Below is a selection of her wines.





Back to the apartment, we found that they were going to be putting the finishing touches of paint on the elevator and it would be closed down for the next three days. Asa result, we had to walk up seven flights. Merde alors!