Crossing the Seine

 Bon jour, mes amies,

I have a rule that when I come in the first thing I do--before taking off my shoes and contact lenses--is to have a glass of water.  It's easy to get dehydrated, especially with all the walking I do.  The water has been drunk, and I have divested myself of both shoes and contact lenses, so it's time to write my post so I can get it done before the bike race starts.

I washed my hair this morning, so I look pretty good.  Most French Women d'un certain age keep their hair very short, so I fit right in with my pixie cut, and short hair dries quickly so I was soon ready to go.

I crossed the Seine to the Rive Gauche, and crossed back rather obviously, and had a much better museum experience today.  I had a cool, sunny morning as I made my way down to the Pont Neuf.  It crosses the western end of the Ile de la Cite and the Gallent Vert, the famous statue of Henri IV who loved woman and plenty of them.  I strolled along the Seine once I got to the other side.  Nothing brings home the sheer size of the Louvre than viewing it from the other side of the river and walking as it goes on, and on, and on.  But I was headed to the d'Orsay.

Fortunately my museum of choice opens early, so I was able to do a through job of it walking there and back, and I'm home in good time.  I used my museum pass, and although I had no appointment I arrived just before opening, and I got in pretty quickly.  It's a popular place, I'm guessing only second to the Louvre, and there was a big crowd waiting, and a lot of people inside.  The d'Orsay is far smaller and less intimidating than the Louvre, and the air was far less frantic and it was a lot quieter, too.  I enjoyed my visit.  This is more like it, I said.

A special exhibition of the American Artist James Whistler was on offer.  I like his work and the paintings shown were a selection of his portraits, including his Arrangement in Gray and Black #1 otherwise known as Whistler's Mother.  Whistler regarded the work as among his finest and was fond of it and presumably of Mom as well, but he was bemused and irritated that people ignored his carefully created patterns of color and focused on the old lady.

The Impressionists and Post Impressionists is what everyone comes for, and d'Orsay has a collection of treasures.  I'm not going to make a list, but I have a lot of favorites among the Nineteenth Century artists including a couple you may not have heard of like Pierre Puvis de Chavanne and Camille Pissarro, but feel free to have a google.  Most people come looking for Monet and Manet, friends who despaired over being mistaken for each other because of the similarity of their names.  There's always a big crowd around Dejeuner sur l'herbe, but it's a big painting and easy to see.  All the big Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century names are here with with worthy examples of their works.

Now I need to decide where to go tomorrow.  I may finally have to take the metro.  But right now I'm engaged in apero.  What a lovely custom, and one I seldom get to follow back home.  I have my kir royale with some olives and almonds.  I like rose with dinner, and this time I'm going to finish off the Valencay. It's so good-- a rich and complex goat cheese.  The story is that Napoleon visited Tallyrand at his estate and was offered the cheese, but oh noes!  It was in the shape of a pyramid, and Nap had just been defeated in Egypt.  In a rage Nap decapitated the pyramid leaving the cheese with its characteristic shape.  I trim the charcoaled rind by the way.

A demain

A Visit to the Louvre et Petites Accomplishments

 Bon jour mes amies,

I'm posting later than normal because of my visit to the Louvre.  I'll have to stream the replay of the bike race once I've sorted myself out.

I went out a bit early to walk a few hundred meters to the famous bakery near my place.  They have a contest each year for the best baguette, and the proprietor won one year.  I was there for croissants.  The place does a brisk business, but the shop assistants were efficient and friendly.  I (cough) spoke French because if there is one thing I can do in French is order croissants.  I did not utter a word of English, but of course the young woman could tell, and she said, "Thank you.  Have a nice day."  I said, "Bonne journee."  The croissants went straight into the freezer.  I think I'll thaw one for Sunday, and it will still be perfect.  The same trick works for baguettes.  They don't keep, which is why you see people buying one or more each day.  When I get one I cut it in half and freeze one of the halves.

Then I went to the grocery store and I checked myself out!  Yes, I did it.  Hoo eee.  I have a genuine sense of accomplishment.  After dumping my takings off, I went back to Les Halles for some other shopping.  I had a particular store in mind that I kept running into while wandering around.  Naturally this time I had a hard time finding it, and I ended up spending a fair number of euros. I won't say what I bought because some of it was presents.

The thing I was looking forward to most when I contemplated Paris was the Louvre.  I've spent so many happy hours there enjoying the great art and the building itself. My experience today was not that great. It's not a long walk from my place to the Louvre, but I figured I go early, and it was good thing I did because the line for my appointment time had already formed and while I waited the line grew ever longer and longer behind.  I chatted with a couple of young British men who had not been before.  They wanted to see the Mona Lisa.  So does the rest of the galaxy, so good luck with that. When the time came the line began to move and we actually got in pretty quickly.

But, man oh man, the place was a complete zoo!  I realized how spoiled I was before being able to show up at opening day after day waving my museum pass around and spending hours in each section of the museum, and then leaving once the afternoon crowds showed up.  Even with the system, the place was packed and noisy.  I went to see Nike of Samothrace because I always have to, and then decided I'd have more luck and fewer people in the antiquities.  But it was still crowded and noisy, and I simply could not enjoy the exhibits while dodging people and their selfie sticks.  After a while, my brain started screaming "Get me out of here," and I began to look for the exit.  I am very sorry to post anything negative, but this was my authentic experience.  I may try again this trip because I'd hate to give up on such a fabulously rich place packed with my old art friends.

I have recruited my forces with apero (consisting of olives and Kir Royale) and am now feeling more like a human being.  For dinner I am having a galette filled with ham and cheese just like the Bretons make.  A galette is a thin crepe like pancake made with buckwheat flour.  I learned to like them when I visited Brittany, and I can make them at home when I find buckwheat flour in the store, which I do sometimes--and then I fill them California fusion style. Now the best accompaniment is cidre, but I don't have any so rose will do.  I followed the directions for reheating said galette.  Let's have a bite, shall we?  It's good!  Better than I ever made.  The buckwheat has a strong earthy/nutty flavor I enjoy and which goes well with the melted cheese.  The melted cheese with ham is even better.  This is very satisfying!

But, wait, there's more.  I broke into the butter, and I'm going to have some for dessert. Beillevaire butter is the best I have ever tasted.  I can in fact get superior butter at home if I am willing to pay for--and I am, but there is no comparison.  The Beillevaire butter (I choose the demi sel with sea salt) is made from raw milk, which is not exactly legal in the United States.  I'm having a small slice of pain Polaine thickly spread.  It's divine.

A demain

The History of Technology

 Bon jour, mes amies,

It's turned warm and a bit humid, but I'm thinking some nice green tea will set me up.  I wear a mask out, and I'm not the only one, but there are few of us and even fewer that wear the mask correctly.  I don't understand leaving one's nostrils hanging out.  There's no point then is there.  Stop pretending and take the thing off.

I set out this morning with great confidence and promptly got turned around and lost.  This has happened many times before, and no doubt, will happen many times in future. My policy is not to panic and keep going knowing I'll get to where I should be . . . eventually, but what should have been a twenty minute walk became a forty-five minute walk.  Paris is well sign posted, which made it easier once I arrived in the correct neighborhood.  One thing, Paris was made for people, not cars, and yet there are a lot of vehicles, and they all seem to honk.  The drivers aren't actively trying to kill anyone, but I'm afraid of being backed into or something.

Today's target was the Musee des Arts et Metiers, which traces the history various forms of technology.  There are a lot of models, and some exhibits of the actual machines, all of which are well explained.  I did enjoy it, but it gets to be embarrassing when they get to the Twentieth Century, and I'm going, yeah, I remember using that.  And who but someone my age could get excited over Telstar?  The galleries cover textiles, engineering, communication, and transportation.  I found Blaise Pascal's calculating machine from the Seventeen Century fascinating.  Among my favorites were two exquisite mechanical dolls, which featured in a video I used to show my ninth graders to illustrate the Industrial Revolution.  One is an acrobat, and another is an aristocratic looking young woman who can play the hammered dulcimer.  I had to climb a lot of stairs though and dodge school groups.

Then it was time to come home, and of course, I got turned around again, but I figured it out and came back via Rue Montorgueil.  It presented a very lively scene, and numerous temptations met my eyes and nose.  The cheese shops were open!  It's a much shorter walk there, so I can get my cheese fixes more easily.  I am also contemplating the rotisserie chickens.  They let the chicken juice drip down where they are roasting potatoes at the bottom.  I did buy something.  I went in to the Italian deli and came out with a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, for which I payed quite a bit, but I have tasted it, and it's good and it made me cough, when tends to be a sign of freshness and the presence of healthful polyphenols.  I'll have some with pasta this afternoon.

A demain

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