Did someone say d'Orsay?

After a light breakfast of coffee and croissants we are off to see the Musee d'Orsay.  Of course it was raining, so inside activities are the order of the day.  The museum is crowded, but not too bad and lines are  not too long.  The d'Orsay was an old train station remodeled into an outstanding modern museum housing French art from the 1800's and early 1900's, picking up where the Louvre's art collection leaves off.  The d'Orsay houses the best general collections anywhere of Manet, Monet, Renoir, Dagas, Van Gogh, Cezanne, and Gauguin.  We saw some very familiar pieces, which is always exciting to see the real thing after seeing it in books or some restaurant wall for years.  We had the audio guide that really gave us insight into the painting and to the artist.  After wandering for a couple of hours, we took a break for lunch at one of the small cafes in the museum.  Refreshed, we headed for the fifth floor where the "Galerie des Impressionnistes" is located.  We saw some favorites here, Degas ballerinas, Monet water lilies, lots of beautiful Renoir faces.  We stopped at a souvenir shop on the way to the Metro and Brian bought a couple of take home surprises for his little girls.  We headed back home for a little wine and cheese treat before dinner.

Back to Montmartre

I still have to tell you about our fabulous dinner Tuesday night.   When our friends the Weinsteins were here, we had dinner at a restaurant called Au Bourguignon du Marais.  We thought it was so delicious, we wanted to take Brian & Jen there for dinner.  We were celebrating Brian's birthday, just a bit late.  We met them at the restaurant for our 8pm reservation.  We even had the same table as before.  Brian said it was a power table.  Tom, Jen and I had the beef Bourguignon and it was so delicious.  Brian had the lamb and he was very pleased with his choice.  We each had a yummy dessert, and called it an evening.  Jen had to catch a plane home wednesday morning.

Wednesday

Brian sent Jen off to the airport and then took the Metro to our apartment.  We gave him the two minute tour. It's so small, that's all it takes to see the whole thing.  We wanted to see Montmartre today, so we're off to hop on the bus.  When we got to Montmartre we were right by the cemetery, so we decided to look back through there again.  The cemetery is very fasincating.  Brian put us on a mission to find the gravesite of Edgar De Gas (Edgar Degas 1834-1917).   He was a French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings.  He is especially identified with the subject of dance; more than half of his works depict dancers.  Every time we thought we found the right area and looked and looked, Brian would tell us we were in the wrong area, oops.  It took us a while, but we were determined to find it, and we did!  Compared to some of the other monuments, it was really quite modest--that's why it was hard to find.  Inside, admirers had left notes and momentos, including  cigarettes, a paintbrush, even a Metro ticket.
Along the way, we discovered the tomb of  Emile Zola (1840-1902).  He was a French writer and a major figure in the political liberalization of France and in the exoneration do the falsely accused and convicted army officer Alfred Dreyfus.

We finally made our way up to  Sacre  Couer.  It's a beautiful day, so there are huge crowds.  We stopped for a quick bit of lunch,  some cupcakes and headed back to the Metro and home.

Brian & Jen are here!

We spent yesterday getting ready for our company.  We cleaned the apartment, went grocery shopping and waited for time to go to the hotel to meet Brian & Jen.  They were due to arrive around 7pm, so we caught the 95 bus to their hotel in the central part of Paris, the Westin.  It's a beautiful hotel. And they even have a great view of the Eiffel Tower from their room.  We were waiting for them in the lobby when they arrived.  It was so good to see their beautiful, familiar faces!  They were tired, but still ready to go.  We headed out to find something to eat.  We found a really nice bistro mentioned in the hotel guide book.  The food was good and we had a wonderful evening visiting, catching up and hearing about the spectacular wedding they attended in the Lake Como region of northern Italy.  Weather wise, it was the best evening yet in Paris.  There was no rain, the wind was calm,  and the temperature was just right for an evening  stroll.  Something we've wanted to do since we got here.  We said good night to Brian & Jen and headed back to our apartment.

This morning we planned to meet at the Musee Rodin.  A light rain was falling, but we got in line to wait for tickets.  We got the tickets and headed out to the gardens.  The grounds are beautiful, so very well manicured and cared for and it is the perfect setting for the massive sculptures.  When Rodin debuted his sculpture of the life-sized male nude titled "The Age of Bronze" in Brussels in 1877, it was so realistic that critics speculated that he must have cast it from a live model; they simply didn't believe that he could possibly have sculpted it himself.  He knew early on in his life that sculpting was his life calling, but it took a very long time before he was accepted by the Parisian art world.  We saw some of his most famous works including The Thinker, The Kiss, and The Gates of Hell, which was commissioned by the state for an arts museum (which never opened).  Many of his works caused a scandal, but today all are prominently displayed at the Musse Rodin, the Louve, throughout Paris, and in other cities.

Starving, we went in search of some lunch.  We found a corner bistro and ate upstairs.  Tom & I each had a hamburger & fries, our first since arriving in Paris four weeks ago, and it was delicious!  Jen had tomatoes and mozzarella and Brian had medallions of chicken with rice.   Out and about, Jen wanted to shop  a bit, so where else but the Champs Elyesse.  We couldn't resist a crepe on the street, one Nutella, one citron, both yummy.  We stopped in several shops along the rue, Jen bought perfume.  But as if on cue, the rain started falling.  Our cover was the Metro station, so we made our exit, back to the hotel and apartment to rest before dinner.

In search of Ernest Hemingway--Part II

What to do, it's Sunday and the weather is absolutely beautiful.  Sit in the apartment and watch CNN or get out and enjoy the day.  Well, we choose the later of course.
Since we had to cut our Ernest Hemingway journey short, we decided to pick up where we left off.  It's Sunday and the buses run on a limited schedule, fewer buses and fewer running times.  We found a bus to take us back to rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs.  Hemingway lived in a courtyard facing apartment at number 113 rue Notre-Dame-des-champs.  There is no marker but the apartment remains.
Next we headed to rue de Fleurus to find the apartment of Gertrude Stein, a good friend and confidant of Hemingway.  Stein's apartment, number 27, was a hangout for writers and artists such as Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse just to name a few.
Now we're off to find Shakespeare & Company which was a lending library and source of inspiration, as well as a networking hub for many writers.  This was the location, 12 rue de l'Odeon since 1922.  The Germans closed the book store in 1940, and it never opened again.  There is another Shakespeare and Company now but it is not the original.
Polidor at 41 rue Monsieur le Prince, where  he dined in his poorer days, is the last stop on our Hemingway tour.
By now our feet and legs have about had it, so we're ready for the  "take me home bus".

Back on the trail of the world's largest flea market

I am so determined to find the world's largest flea market.  Les Puces de Saint-Ouen, known to everyone as Les Puces (The Fleas).  It's Saturday morning and we're on our way to the Metro, having checked out the proper location this time.  The Internet said not to be fooled by the swap meet you come to first.  Apparently lots of people think that's the flea market and are very disappointed.  At the swap meet there are tons of tennis shoes,  purses, sunglasses, "Rolex" watches, jeans and anything else you can think of.
We finally found the real Paris flea market.  There were lots and lots of little antique shops, lots of furniture, lots of art of every kind.  It was more upscale than the first flea market we went to, but also more expensive.  You could bargain though.  It's fun to look, you just wonder where all that stuff comes from!  It was huge!  It seemed to go on forever.  We didn't see even half of it.  As far as purchases, I bought 3 little silver utensils and a birthday present.
Through all of this, I think our favorite thing today was lunch.  There was a guy making crepes on the street at the flea market.  We walked up and watched him prepare one and we were hooked.  We had him make an egg, ham and cheese one for us, plenty for two to share.  Next, we had him make a Nutella one for our dessert.  What a fun, yum lunch, and not many euros.
Back to the Metro to out run the rain.  Of course, we had to stop by the bakery for croissants and a baguette.  Then home for a glass of wine and think about dinner.

Trip to a gallery

The woman who lives in the apartment above us is a ceramicist.  Her name is Fanny Acquart-Gensollen, but we call her Madam.  Her specialty is ceramic jewelry.  She left a brochure in our mailbox announcing an upcoming show she was having this weekend.
The rain showed  no sign of letting up and we had no intention of staying in again.  We took off to find the gallery.  It wasn't pouring, just steady.  After a bus ride and a walk, we found the small gallery on a side street.  We visited with the gallery manager.  When asked if she spoke English she said, "just a little bit", and then proceeded to speak very well.  We were the only ones there so we had her full attention and she was very nice.
I bought a small piece of Madam's work, a pin.  She does not speak any English, but rattles on in French as if we understand every word when we run in to her in the laundry room.
 

Happy birthday to Robin!!

Addendum to May 23rd
Happy Birthday to our daughter-in-law Robin
Hope you had a great day.  We're thinking about you!!

Le Mur pour la Paix

We took an interesting picture of the Eiffel Tower looking through the glass at the "Le Mur pour la Paix" (The Wall for Peace).  Peace is engraved in 49 different languages and uses 18 alphabets.

The Pantheon in Paris

The Pantheon was originally built as a church dedicated to Saint Genevieve, patron Saint of Paris.  It was modeled on the Pantheon in Rome.  After many changes, it now functions as a secular mausoleum  containing the remains of distinguished French citizens.  Victor Hugo, Marie Curie, Emile Zola, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Voltaire are entombed here.

Two Americans in Paris

In search of Ernest Hemingway 1899-1961

We started out this morning to retrace the steps of Ernest Hemingway.  The sky was bright blue, but the forecast said rain.  If the sky's so blue, why would you pay any attention to the forecast.  We have a little guide book that traces the steps of 25 famous people who were in Paris.  (We already did Picasso.)   We started out where Hemingway started out in 1922.  He and his wife Hadley lived at #74 rue de Cardinal Lemoine.  It was so cold this morning and the wind was blowing, but we pressed on.  We crossed over to rue Mouffetard, which Hemingway described as " a wonderful narrow crowded market street".  We trooped back to the Luxembourg Gardens where he strolled almost daily.  When you're as poor as Hemingway was in those days, the gardens are not a bad place to hang out.  I think these gardens must be beautiful year round.  Of course the flowers are replaced  seasonly to keep it that way.  ( We made use of the street toilette since there was no line.  They are self cleaning  so it can take a while to get through the whole process.).  Through the gardens and on to Closerie des Lilas, his favorite cafe in the Montparnasse area.  It's rumored to to be the place where he wrote "The Sun Also Rises".
Remember that forecast I mentioned, well someone was right.  We dashed  for the bus stop since we were unprepared for rain.  That's twice we've ignored the warning, thinking we know better.  We were only about half way through our Hemingway trek when we headed for home.  We will finish him another time.
 When we got back to our neighborhood, the sun was shining and the Thursday street market was going on.  We checked out some stuff, stopped by the grocery store, the bakery and the rotisserie for a chicken for dinner and headed for the apartment as the rain started again.

Blue Skys

Tom says it's a good day because he's wearing his sun glasses.  That means the sun is shining and it feels so good.  Today we went in search of the Rodin Museum.  We were hoping to get tickets and avoid the lines when our son Brian and his wife Jen get here.  They are stopping in Paris on their way back to San Francisco from a wedding in Northern Italy.  We were going to buy a duo ticket for the d'Orsay as well. Best laid plans, you can only use the tickets the day of purchase and you have to use both tickets on the same day.  Oh well,  at least we found the museum so we'll know where we're going next time.

Well, this close to the Eiffel Tower and we've been here three weeks and haven't seen it up close yet.  So today is the day.  It is such a grand structure!  I can see why the French are so proud of it.  Of course there are lots of tourists taking pictures and we were right there with them.  Some German girls asked Tom if he would take their picture--he looks very trustworthy.  Then another couple asked the same.  We visited with them for a few minutes and found that they were newlyweds from Los Angeles.  They were a really cute couple and very friendly.

We decided to try to find the hotel where we stayed when we were in Paris before.  After several missteps and lots of retracing steps, we found it!  The Hotel de Londres Eiffel.  We also found the
Cafe Constant, next door to the hotel, where we had eaten a couple of meals before.  We had lunch there and it was still very good, but very slow.  They don't know how to turn over a table quickly.

Since the clouds were beginning to gather, and we had no rain gear with us, we headed for the bus and home.