Decorative Objects and a LOT of them

 Bon jour, mes amies,

I actually wanted to go to the Louvre today, but there's a new system, which I will explain in case you mean to visit.  France, like other European Countries operates on line, and you can buy your tickets and even the museum pass on line.  I prefer the old fashioned way.  But the deal with the Carte Monument et Musees is that one gets just one visit to each site. Seriously?  I am incapable of doing the Louvre in one go.  Now there are folks that just want to see Venus de Milo and Mona, and they can get in and out.  But there's so much more!  The other thing is that while at most museums you can just show up, one must reserve a slot at the Louvre.  So my visit will be Friday at 1:30.  I'll probably be getting a second museum pass, so I can go again, and next time I'll know to reserve sooner.  I went downstairs, and the nice young woman at reception printed out my reservation form for me.

So here I am footsore and drinking some green tea (brought from home) to revive myself.  I slept more last night, and I do fine, but the truth is I'm not getting any younger, so I do get tired.  After a bit I'll have some apero and then dinner and the bike race.

I walked down to the Rue di Rivoli but instead of turning left, I went right towards the Louvre.  The Rue di Rivoli is one of the most famous streets in Europe, and the last stage of the Tour de France zooms down it to the Champs Elyses. Unfortunately some of the blocks are looking pretty sad.  My target museum does not open until 11, but I thought that would give me a shopping opportunity.  There's a mall called the Carousel du Louvre that I frequented on previous trips.  Well.  Some of the shops I expected were no longer there, and the replacements were of no use to me, but I went up stairs and strolled in the Tuilleries.

Then it was museum time, so I got in line at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs.  I had no reservation, so I had to wait a bit to get in but it wasn't bad.  The museum occupies part of the Louvre Palace and is chockful of beautiful and interesting items.  I liked the period rooms best, but there are displays of exquisite glassware and ceramic.  The Art Nouveau collection is not to be missed.  My taste for Late Medieval Art was also satisfied.  The diamond on the luxury cake is the jewelry gallery.  Oh la la!  The glitter and the gold.  Most of the pieces are so big and ornate that I would drown in them, but they are fun to look at.

Then I headed for home, but I took a different route back and happened to pass an ATM of my bank's foreign partner.  You will have no trouble finding an ATM in Paris.  They are abundant, but I only use my bank's foreign partner's because I'm already getting soaked by the exchange rate, and I don't need to pay another fee, which is generally five euros.

I'm having peanuts and almonds with my kir royale. Very nice.

A demain

A LOT of Walking, but To Good Effect

 Bon jour, mes amies,

I walked well over 12K steps today, and I am tired, but I covered a lot of ground and came back with . . . well, I think I'll save that.

It was a chilly morning when I ventured out to the grocery store. I'm improving on the check out machines.  A nice employee came to help me scan items and show me what to scan, and I know how to select cash payments, insert my bills and coins, collect any change I'm owed, and to take my receipt. I sincerely feel that my progress in this regard is an accomplishment.

 After having put away my groceries, I set out once again for La Marais.  Now my dwelling is in a great tactical position.  I can walk a lot of places, and this is important because I want to avoid the metro where folks are packed in like unusually cramped sardines.  My normal practice was to walk out, do my touristy stuff and any shopping and then metro back.  Now I walk back, too.

My first stop was the Museum of the History of Paris also known as the Musee Carnavalet, beautiful hotel particulier or private mansion, once owned by Mme de Sevigne., who.se letters are an important cultural artifact.  Entrance to the museums is free, and it's worth a visit for the lovely building itself.  What I enjoyed most are the beautiful period rooms including Marcel Prost's bedroom where he did most of his work and Gertrude Stein's study.  There's also some interesting archeological.  One disappointment:  I couldn't get in to the French Revolution section because a tour group was taking it up, but I had seen it before.

Not far away is the Musee National de Picasso, and I used my museum pass.  I very much like Picasso's paintings--the sculptures and ceramics not so much.  When I taught Art History, I would show the students some of his very early representative work because I wanted them to understand he was classically trained and was highly skilled and conscious of the effects he wanted.  The museum is newly renovated, and there's a fascinating exhibit of his numerous portraits of his daughter Maya.  Once again the museum is in an historic hotel particulier, and even if you don't care for Picasso, you might like the building and the neighborhood.

But I was not done.  I had a mission, and it involves cheese and butter--two of my best loved comestibles.  Oh yeah!  I went in search of my favorite French cheese shop.  I came away with some raw milk demi sel beurre--which is divine, but you are going to have to wait for it and some goat milk cheese called Valencay.  Now being me, I feel that any fromage goes down better with an historic association.  In this case Valencay was the estate of M. de Tallyrand, the gifted diplomat and survivor who managed to serve the ancien regime, spent the Reign of Terror camping out in the forests of the United States, and then returned to serve both Napoleon and the restored Louis XVIII.  Obviously, he was a very flexible person of tremendous ability.

Having obtained these treasures I faced a long walk home, but here I am.  And, yes, there's a bike race, but the spring classics are over, so we have stage races with shorter distances per stage, so I need not hurry back.  On the other and I do not want to tear myself away from the race to watch or stir a pot, so we are having apero dinatoire otherwise known as an apero substantial enough to serve as dinner.

Having rehydrated myself and taken off the contact lenses and shoes I had a kir royale.  It's my favorite aperitif, but since I'm here, I think I ought to branch out a bit.

I am using the tuna mixture I got yesterday for its intended use as a sandwich spread, and very nice it is, too, providing me with flavor and Omega 3s.  I also have some peanuts and dried fruit with some tree nuts courtesy of my gracious hosts at Citadines.

Valencay is a raw milk cheese.  You are unlikely to find it in the United States.  It has a rind created by mold and rubbed with charcoal.  The texture is firm, and I really like the strong, complex flavors.  It does not come cheap, by the way, but I think it's worth it.

A demain

Breaking In My Museum Pass--The Pompidou Centre

 Bon jour, mes amies,

No bike race today, so some serious touristing occurred.  I ventured out early on a chilly morning.  The plan was to go to the Tourist Information Center at the Hotel de Ville to obtain a Carte Musee et Monuments or museum pass.  One can obtain these valuable objects at the museums themselves, but I realized it would be far more efficient to stand in short line at the tourist office rather than waiting for the museum to open and then wait in a vast, slow moving line to buy the card.  Mine is for six days or rather as Madame explained to me 144 hours.  You can also get one for two and four days with the set number of hours.  I say this every time, but I'm going to reiterate it.  In major cities these cards are worth it.  Now I generally make them pay, but that's not the point.  The point is saving your precious vacation time.  With the Carte you enter right away bypassing the annoying lines of clueless tourists in front of the ticket counter.  And you can gaze pityingly on the long, snaking lines of the poor saps who don't have a ticket or pass and who are waiting and waiting even to get through the door.

On my way I went in to an open pharmacy because I'd forgotten to pack my nail clipper.  I obtained my first "souvenir" and my ragged nails will thank me.  I also strolled through the lovely garden at the Tour St. Jacques, and after I got my museum pass, I crossed the street to snoot around the Bazaar de Hotel de Ville fondly known as BHV.  It's a department store dedicated to home goods and do it yourself.  But they have a luxe makeup and perfume section, so I helped myself to something by Yves St. Laurent called Cartan or something like that, which was pleasant but nothing special.

I proceeded up to Beaubourg to the Pompidou Centre.  The neighborhood is interesting so I strolled around a bit before getting in the line dedicated to us savvy Carte holders.  Yep.  Once the museum opened we zipped right in.  You'll need to go through security in most museums and even some stores, but it's done efficiently.  Unless there's a chronological direction to the museum visit, I generally go to the top floor and work my way down.  A visit to the top floor of the Pompidou is a must in my opinion.  The views across Paris are spectacular!  Then one can proceed to the Modern Art.  I enjoyed the exhibits on offer.  Notable was a collection of artists who inspired the fashion of Yves St. Laurent, and included some of the actual dresses he designed.  I was also impressed with an exhibition of the works of the American Artist Shirley Jaffe--someone I had never heard of, but who did a lot of work in Europe in the Twentieth Century.  She worked with Abstraction or at least non representational.  I did not like everything because she experimented with many different styles, but a lot of it was beautiful.

The museum is very close to where I'm living, but I did not go straight home.  I walked over to Rue Montorgueil to investigate . . . the . . . food.  The scene was quite lively except the wine and cheese shops were not open.  They don't open until the late afternoon, but there is plenty of other things on offer plus a myriad of cafes and restaurants.  I think I'm going to be going there frequently.  I popped into a lovely shop that was dedicated to fishy sorts of apero and sandwich filling.  I was offered a sample of some sardine sort of something, which was good, but I came away with some tins of tuna, tomatoes, green olives and herbes de Provence.  It's supposed to be sandwich filling but I'm going to use it to dress some linguine.  I also obtained a bottle of rose which is fancier than the stuff I normally eat.  Tastings to follow.

I'm having something recognizable as an actual dinner rather than improvised apero.  I'm calling it linguine Provencal.  I have a plate of linguine brought from home and dressed with some of that canned tuna mixture.  It's pretty good, and easy to make and has some healthful elements to it.  The rose is very nice as well.  Just chilled.

A demain

Le Marais

 Bon Jour, mes amies,

I got asked for directions twice today--in languages I do not understand or speak, so I couldn't help.  Also today is Le Jour de Election for President of the Republic.  I did not see any signs of political activity.  I did observe many posters of both candidates all of which had been defaced--in the spirit of bipartisanship, I suppose.  On the other hand, voter turn out seems to be low--very low.  This is not a good trend in my opinion.

I went out earlier than normal because I wanted to explore but not commit myself to a museum because of the bike race.  See the Spring Classics are on, and I have a chance to watch more races than I usually get to, and it's my trip, so we do what I want.

It was cool, and I was glad to wear a mask to keep my face warm, but few other people wore them.  I walked down Rue de Pont Neuf to Rue de Rivoli, turned left and began to stroll towards the Marais.  The name apparently means swampland, but it's nice and dry now and chock full of historic buildings, museums, and interesting shops all of which were closed because it was Sunday morning.  Now all shops used to be closed on Sundays, but now they open in the late morning or afternoon.  Boulangeries and cafes were doing a roaring business though.

I passed by the ornate Gothic Tour St. Jacques with gargoyles reminiscent of  Notre Dame, and speaking of which--I caught a glimpse of the restoration work going on across the river.  I'll have to have a closer look later on.  I crossed the street to have a good look at the Hotel d' Ville, which is Paris's town hall. It's a striking building.  I have not been inside, but maybe I'll go back and have a look.  I did go into the Tourist Information Office to have a look around.  I also was able to walk through the courtyard and formal garden of the Hotel de Sully.  There's a bookstore but not much else inside.

I turned away from the main street now called Rue St. Antoine and prowled around the smaller streets and places licking windows as I went along.  I came upon and strolled through the charming and historic Place des Vosges. People live in the Late Seventeenth Century buildings, but they have to be quite wealthy.  By this time the church bells had begun to ring.  And also I was tired.  I came back another way, which turned out to be a bit of a short cut.  I fetched up at Les Halles because I wanted to try a perfume, but Sephora, etc. was not open yet.  Next time.

My fitness program had largely consisted of trips to Europe where I would walk for hours.  Well, I haven't been doing that, and, moreover, I am older.  I'm very stiff when I get out of bed, but that soon passes.  I mean to walk myself into better shape, and I actually have been doing pretty well even with the not sleeping much.  I feel all right, and I'm not getting the brain buzz.  Nevertheless, it was nice to get home and have some water and take off my shoes and contact lenses.  The bike race will start soon, and then I'll have a refreshing apero.  I hard cooked some eggs for a bit of extra protein.  For the rest I'll have olives and left over cheese with some IGP rose, which is good.

Update:  Congratulations to Annemiek van Vleuten (of Team Movistar, and the women are doing much better than the men on that team.) on her victory in Liege Bastogne Liege.  Women's Cycling is finally being made more accessible to us fans.

Further update:  Congratuations to Remco Evenepoel on his victory in Liege Bastogne Liege giving his Quick Step Team a much needed win.

 A demain

La Samarataine Restored But Revised

 Bon Jour, mes amies,

Oof.  I'm still jet lagged and also worn out by my not-very-strenuous exertions today.  I did not want to commit to a museum because I wanted to be back early before the rain started and also to watch a bike race.  There's an even bigger bike race tomorrow.   Anyway the plan is to give myself an easy weekend, and then on Monday get a museum pass and start being serious.

The first order of the day was to go to reception because I had pushed every possible button on my microwave and could not get the thing to work.  I took a photo of the microwave with my phone and showed it to the kindly young woman who quickly straightened me out.  Many places provide a notebook full of instructions and information, so I don't want any potential travelers to be intimidated.  And one can, as I did, always ask for help.

Les Halles says it's open on Sundays, but I don't quite trust it, so I made sure to replenish my groceries this morning.  I went early hoping for a less crowded store and to find someone to help me with the check out machines.  They have no regular checkers. Nevertheless, I love foreign grocery stores!  This was a better visit than my last hurried one when I was fresh off the plane.  I was able to take my time and explore the offerings.  I actually did not get much.  Notably, the store offered various "cheese samplers."  Well.  There's no resisting that is there.  I got a small one, and we shall have a tasting later on. 

Then I was confronted with the machines.  I had no clue, but I gamely made an attempt.  A store employee saw me struggling, and I asked for help in my wretched French.  She showed me what to do.  I think she was relieved that I found my ineptitude funny rather than frustrating.  I completed the transaction and got my receipt and change all by myself and felt I had accomplished something.  Maybe by the end of the trip I'll know how to use the automatic check out.

For many decades Paris boasted a huge department store down by the Seine called La Samarataine that catered to the public that did not aspire to the heights of Printemps and Galeries LaFayette.  I had a look around years and years ago.  It was crowded and struck me as chaotic.  Products seemed jumbled together in no discernible order, but it was a lively and authentic Parisian experience.  The store was closed in 2005 because it was deemed unsafe and the building sat empty and unloved for years.  Finally it was repaired, renovated, and reopened a couple of years ago.  I decided to have a look.  For one thing the building is a splendid example of Art Deco, and it really is lovely, with ornate staircases and murals inside.  Also inside are a series of luxury boutiques. . Think Harrods without the food hall.  Every designer you ever heard of and some luxe ones you have not are represented.  It's very high toned and elegant, and the shop assistants made sure to greet me graciously.  Fashion is not my thing, but walking around a beautiful and historic building definitely is.  What I was really after was a squirt of tremendously expensive perfume.  One of my goals is to try a different scent each day.  I went to Sephora yesterday and just forgot to tell you about Le Jardin by M. Li by Hermes.  Very nice.  Sweet and floral.  Today I helped myself to something from Guerlain called Bois de Armenie that smells sort of like vanilla--also very nice.

After that I strolled about licking windows on the Rue di Rivoli and strolled up Rue de St. Honore and passed Les Halles and walked up part of Rue Montorgueil, which is a Serious Food Zone.  My appetite and I will have to spend some time there for sure.

OK.  I have brought my cheese to room temp, and I really, really want to eat the whole thing. These are stinky! But I have cut the samples in half.  This is good cheese.  Later I hope to introduce you to great cheese.  Are you ready?  We will start with the fresh goat cheese.  I can find a better version of this at my local Trader Joe's.  This one is a little more goaty than I like, but the smooth texture is nice.  Next comes some St. Marcellin IGP  (which is Indication Geographique Protegee, i.e. AOP lite)from Central France.  This is a cow's milk cheese.  Mmmm.  I like it.  It's a bit salty, but more complex than the unnamed and unclassified goat cheese.  Here comes some actual AOP Cantal.  It's a cow's milk cheese firmer than the St Marcellin and also has a much subtler flavor and aftertaste.  I would recommend this to French Cheese novices.  And last but not least--my favorite.  It's some AOP Livarot.  Now I confess to bias on account of my ethnicity.  I love Norman Cheeses.  Camembert is the best known, but Livarot is my favorite.  Let's have a bite--note I have trimmed the rind off.  It's good.  I have had stronger and better, but I'll take it.

A demain

Starting Out Slowly

 Bon jour, mes amis

Rule One:  Always stay hydrated.  As soon as I come in, I have a glass of water--even before I take out my contacts and take my shoes off.

I'm going to be here for a while, and I have visited Paris several times, so I feel no need to rush around and see things.  I'm still jet lagged.  I got very little sleep last night.  I feel all right at the moment, but in a few hours I predict my brain will start to feel thick and sluggish.

I mostly spent my day in aimless wandering.  My fancy iphone counts my steps, and my wandering resulted in over 10K steps.  This is good.  My immediate neighborhood is largely pedestrianized.  There's a nice park (named after Nelson Mandela) around the corner, and Les Halles, of course.  I explored the streets and the mall, and that was pleasant enough.  I enjoyed good weather today.

But I thought I ought to do Something Touristy.  As it happens, a newish museum opened up very close by in the Bourse du Commerce building, which now contains the Pinault Collection--something I had never heard of, but it sounded worthwhile.  Evidently it sounded worthwhile to a lot of other people, too, because there was a big old line when I showed up.  I got in line and then realized I'd have to go to the ticket office across the street.  Having obtained my ticket, I got back in line.  Paris museums want you to book on line, but this won't work for me, so I do it the old fashioned way.

The Pinault Collection is . . .  ok.  The works of Charles Ray were featured, and he produced some interesting sculptures.  His work is naturalistic, but unidealized with unconventional poses.  It looks like he got his male friends to model for him. The Bourse building itself is also a work of art.  There's a rotunda with a glass ceiling and a fresco underneath it depicting various aspects of trade.  I thought seeing the building and getting to walk around it was worth the price of admission in itself.

I'd spotted my bank's French partner across the street.  I didn't actually need money, but I got some because I was there.  Then I went in search of dinner.  Because of jet lag I didn't want to fuss, but some places are machine only and bankcards, not cash, so I ended up at the Paul at Les Halles.  Paul is a national chain, but it's of high quality.   I can't help thinking that Parisians find my attempts at speaking French pretty comical.  On the hand, they appreciate the effort.  The nice young lady waiting on me unleashed her English.Dinner will be a grainy baguette filled with chicken, lettuce and tomato.  This isn't very exciting, but I'll do better later on.  I'll have some rose with it.  I have been scolded (by older men) for drinking rose.  Pah.  The pink stuff became wildly popular in France.

Right now I'm having my apero.  I make kir royale with Creme de Cassis and sparking wine.  This is Cremant by the way, which is the most common non-Champagne sparkling wine.  I like Champagne just fine, but I won't pay for it.  I have some green olives with garlic and oregano and some almonds I brought from home to go with.  When I'm at home I don't eat much bread.  This changes when I visit Europe.  I am not anti-carb.  I love whole wheat pasta. In Paris, one thing I get as soon as I can is the Pain Polaine rye bread that one can find in grocery stores.  It's so good.  I have it thickly spread with hummus for breakfast.

A demain

Travel in the Time of Covid

 Bon jour, mes amis!

Je suis ici--Paris!  I hope this is coherent.  I am jet lagged out of my mind, but I had a fairly smooth trip,  I'm having apero and listening to the end of a bike race.  I am blogging because of very kind and encouraging popular demand, but I cannot promise an exciting trip.  I want to avoid the metro as much as possible, and I am unlikely to take day trips.  I'll report what I find and do and will try to make it interesting, so you can share the journey with me.

The truth is I was Very Anxious about this trip.  France is riddled with Covid, and apart from that I had spent months during the Pandemic only venturing out once a week to get groceries.  The fact that one of my neighbors turned out to be a semi stalkery creep didn't help with the fact that each time I left home I had to work through the anxiety.  Going back to sub at school helped as I got used to going out and being around people.  But a Big International Trip?  Yes.  I felt very uneasy.

See I used to have a system, and could prepare quickly and efficiently for travel.  Now--that's all gone, and my trip prep was a mess.  For example, I forgot about my camera until the last minute but was able to charge it.  It didn't help that my cable and internet went out yesterday morning.  Fortunately I'd reserved my ride and stopped mail delivery the day before.

My ride came right on time and it was a quick trip to LAX,  I checked in quickly and hiked to the gate.  Usually when boarding one has to show one's boarding pass and passport five or six times.  Air France just took my picture, and I was good to go.  Also Air France cares nothing for what any federal judge in Florida has to say.  Masks were required on board.  The flight was fine.  We had a tail wind so it was fast.  I warned my pleasant seat mate that I'm a temperature sneezer. It's just a reflex to increased body temp--after a meal for example--and I sneeze. 

And these days I travel Premium Economy.  I am the size of a twelve year old, and I'm still cramped in economy seats.  Air France Premium Economy has comfortable seats and room--for me at least--and a nice pillow and blanket.  I received an amenity kit.  The food was just ok.

Charles de Gaulle is a real experience.  It's huge.  I had to take the monorail to get my luggage and then wait in line FOREVER to get my ticket into central Paris.  I'm staying in the First Arondissement and it was a straight shot on the RER to Chatelet Les Halles, which is a huge transportation hub cum Gigantic Shopping Mall.  The train was packed.  Most people wore masks.  They are required on public transportation. Les Halles has had a make over since I was last here, and it's a much nicer place, but very bewildering to a jet lagged foreigner.

The staff here was lovely and welcoming.  Because I am staying a long time they left a bunch of snacks in my room.   I also went to the grocery store, but since I am jet lagged I got lost going and coming, and I had to bother the store staff to help me use the automatic check out.  I am in a charming area and can walk to a lot of things, so that's good and worth the buckola I'm splashing around.

Now I need to settle in.  I sure could use a shower!

A demain