baba p’s spheres of influence

Should clarify, new service is http://ping.fm. posting there lets you post to multiple sites at one time

I'm trying out this new service to see if it simplifies posting

since I last posted.  OMG, missed so much to comment on (at least in this forum - I'm doing much more on Twitter these days.  sign up and follow psalinger).  Election, economy tanking, bailouts, Blagoveich (possibly the most moronic politician of all time?), trip to Montana, Music at Menlo, etc., etc.  What have I been doing?  Well, maybe too much twittering (see above).

Ok, at the airport now, so will try to get in this last post of the Paris 2008 trip.

Most memorable, of course, spending two weeks with Gracia, and showing her my favorite city.

After getting Gracia off to the airport Sunday morning, doing a little laundry and returning the keys to the apartment she was staying at, I decided to spend my own last afternoon in Paris seeking out a restaurant I had read about in Bon Appetit magazine and written about by a woman who blogs on Paris food (I'll have to look up her name later and thank her).

When I had spoken to Lynn the day before they had considered going over to the 10th and walking up the Canal St. Martin, a working canal, with locks, that you can walk along, or take barge trips from La Villette down to the Seine.  They had opted not to go on Saturday, so I thought I would wander over there on Sunday afternoon for lunch.

After finding the restaurant - La Cantine de Quentin - I proceeded to have one of, if not the best, lunches I have ever had in Paris.  The cafe is really charming, with lots of jars of products and wines from all over France lining the walls, not too many tables and friendly waitstaff.  There were no tables available outside (always the preference), but I lucked out inside with a table right near the air conditioner, as it was again quite warm).  The table was right by the window and I could look out and see one of the bridges crossing the canal, and even saw one of the barges come by while I was there. I could also look right into the very tiny kitchen and sort of watch them preparing the food.

Lunch was really superb.  I started with the Autour de Legumes, an assortment of fresh vegetables and gem lettuces with a balsamic dressing and a little demitasse of cold melon soup that was oh so refreshing on a hot day.  For the main I had one of the lightest, but richest and tastiest risottos I've ever had.  It was a risotto with petit-pois that had been pureed and mixed in and then the whole thing sat in a base of frothy squash cream that just melted in your mouth. Already that was a lot of food, but it had been so good that I had to try a dessert, which was a Cappuccino Fraises avec Vanille, kind of a soupy fresh strawberry liquid with vanilla cream on top.  It was fantastic.

I usually don't like to eat alone, but I really enjoyed this meal, spaced out to almost 2 hours, and just sitting in the cafe reading and having a nice glass of rose wine, listening to first the French family at the large table next to me, and then to the Italian family that followed them - watching people out the window, and dreaming (as always) of life in Paris.

Took a little walk around the neighborhood, which is still very much a diverse, ethnically mixed working class area, but also lots of young people and it supposedly is changing somewhat.  I tried to find another restaurant I had also read about, but could not find the street on any map until I was leaving on the metro.  So, next time, another place to discover. 

There were actually many places I had wished I had more time to find, and was quite unhappy that I couldn't walk more because my ankle was hurting.  But, that just leaves that much more to discover on the next trip.

Went back to the apartment and wrote the previous post, took a little nap and then went out for one final dinner.  It being Sunday, and not having made a reservation, all the places I wanted to go were full of tourists and families and had to settle for a cafe on the Rue Cler, which is a great place to hang out, but the dinner was forgettable, so made it a quick one and went back to the apartment to watch the end of the Euro 2008 football match.

As I was leaving this morning, it was another warm day, and the sun was glistening on the Seine.

Can't wait to come back.

Ok, going to try and get this last post in before the car comes to take me to airport this morning.

Saturday was a pretty quiet day.  We were now officially really tired and my ankle was (and still is) being cranky, which makes it hard to do too much walking.  Woke up early after a fitful sleep and was not feeling well at all.  If I had been by myself, I might have bagged the day and stayed in bed reading.

But, the tour guide must shoulder on, so met Gracia and Rita at a little bar tabac down the street where they were having a coffee, and recounting their trip to the chocolate shop across the street - Michel Chaudin, which is apparently somehow affililated with the American catering company, Bon Appetit.

Gracia still had some shopping to do, so we walked along the Rue St. Dominique, where she had previously found some things and found a few more items for Kelsey (her daughter) and Mary (her sister).  Then took the metro to the Marais for the annual pilgrimmage to the great paper store Calligrane,  and the other paper and graphics stores on the rue Pont Louis Phillipe.  Laura Parker had asked me to find some small items, which was the main excuse for going this time as I did not need to buy any more paper right now.  Karen and I have bought some beautiful Japanese papers from this store many times, but they've gotten quite expensive, so I was determined to not buy any this time.  I did find the items for Laura, promptly put them in Gracia's bag and completely forgot to get them back from her, so she has to mail them to me now.

Then on to lunch at Chez Julien, one of the two old time establishments at the corner that serve only ok food at inflated prices, but I was hungry and needed to sit.  It had been warm and muggy that morning, but wouldn't you know it, as soon as we sat down at one of the outdoor tables (what other way is there to eat in the summer in Paris?), a little wind squall came up and a little rain and we had to move indoors.  That was not terrible as the interior of the restaurant is quite beautiful, with painted glass walls and ceiling and lots of mirrors and white tablecloths.  But, we made it a quick lunch so we could head back to the streets, where it was now quite warm again.

Headed up to the Rue de Rivoli to complete the shopping and then walked a bit more through the Marais.  We didn't have time to do anything else major, unfortunately, as Rita was leaving that evening to visit her aunt in Munich and Gracia and I were meeting Lynn and Tony, our good friends from Oakland (Karen has known Lynn since 1st grade), for dinner.

On a call that morning, Lynn had mentioned the flowers at the George V, where they were staying, so I decided to show the girls the luxury side of Paris for once and we hopped on the metro and headed for Ave. George V and the high end shops and hotels.

We had to make the obligatory stop in the Louis Vuitton shop so that Gracia could see it once.  She claims to not care for their stuff, but I did catch her eyeing a few things.

At the George V, there was a huge crowd out in front, waiting for some celebrity to appear and I was feeling a little intimidated to wade through and walk in, especially since we weren't really dressed very well.  But, the thing is that the world has gotten pretty darn casual in dress, even in Paris, and we saw many people inside the hotel in jeans, t-shirt and even casual shorts.  This all would have been very frowned on in the past, but the staff seems to have just accepted it and there was no problem.

The flowers were indeed quite spectacular, though Karen may not have cared for them, since purple was the dominant theme of the day and she doesn't much care for purple (anything).  Gave Lynn a quick call and they were just out buying chocolate from Denis D'Acabo over near Pigalle and were on their way back, so we went into the bar to have a drink and wait for them.

Once they got there, we had a quick drink, then headed back to the apartment(s) for a little rest and to get ready for dinner.  Rita packed and headed off to Munich.

Dinner was at a little place in the 15th called L'Os A Moelle.  A recommended place I had seen in Bon Appetit magazine.  It was a cute little place with an affordable tasting menu.  Thierry Faucher, the chef, does a different six course dinner every evening, so you don't have a lot of choice, but his use of fresh ingredients and inventiveness of dishes make you just trust what he has to offer.

There was a nice little amuse bouche to start of a foamy cream infused with bacon, followed by a cold cream asparagus soup with little mussels that was very refreshing.  Gracia and I then had a cold monkfish salad entree, while Lynn and Tony went for the foie gras salad.  The main course, we all had the Daurade, which was delicious, except for Gracia who went for lamb.

We skipped cheese course (too much food), and ordered all four of the desserts on the menu, which ranged from a fruit gratinee to a rhubarb compote with strawberry sorbet to a chocolate mousse and finally an apricot dish - all were scrumptious.  I would definitely go back to this place.  It's always nice when a place you've never been before and are taking friends to works out.

Another nice surprise was that they also have a Cave des Vins across the street where you can also order food from a different, more casual menu, and they have a big communal table in the back that can seat 15 people, which is great if you want to have a big party, and hard to find sometimes in Paris.

A quick little walk after dinner.  Tried to go to Parc Andre Citroen, which is in the neighborhood, but it was closed, so will have to save showing that to everyone for another time.  It's a cool little park with themed gardens by both color and air conditions (like wind and shade).  I highly recommend it for anyone visiting Paris if you have a little extra time.

Ok, now I'll still have to do a final summary post when I get home as I've run out of time and have to get ready to go.  Au revoir Paris, for this year anyway.

I'm actually a day behind, so this will either be the last post for this trip, or I may split it up into two.  I have to still pack tonight and was somewhat distracted by watching the final of Euro 2008 football match.  Congratulations to Spain, a 1-0 winner over Germany, who they totally outplayed.

Ok, this is from Friday.  Started with a nice breakfast on the Rue Cler.  Then walked because today was the other major museum, the Musee D'Orsay, and it's within walking distance of the 7th.  The D'Orsay is, of course, a beautiful building and worth a visit just for that.  But, it obviously, has great art as well, and I know Gracia and Rita were looking forward to seeing some of the great impressionist and post impressionist art housed there.

It's an interesting experience for me.  I feel like I've seen so much impressionism over the years that I seldom visit this museum anymore unless there is a major exhibit worth seeing (which there wasn't this time). And yet, I had a really nice visit this time.  It's kind of like visiting old friends you haven't seen in a long time and immediately starting up where you left off, or just running into people you know randomly on the street.

You come around the corner and there is Manet's great Le Dejuener sur l'herbe. Over on another wall, Starry Night, and oh - there are the studies of Rouen Cathedral by Monet.  Rooms full of Renoir's, Degas, Van Gogh, Monet, Manet-friends all, just waiting for a visit.  And, one of my favorites - The Floor Scrapers by Caillebotte.  A truly great painting that I never tire of seeing.

But, I have to say that this trip confirmed, again, for me how much I love the impressionists that don't get as much attention - Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley are just two of my favorite painters.  And, of course, there are the two women that were allowed in the boys club - Berthe Morrisot and Mary Cassat, and I love them as well.

There was one little tryptich of a Pissarro, a Sisley and a Monet side by side, all painted in 1872.  As you can guess from the last paragraph, I much preferred the Pissarro and the Sisley.

There are also plenty of Cezanne's, Gaugin's, Signac, one of Seurat's major works - The Circus, an Ingres - La Source and some Odilon Redon, Lautrec and many others.  But, this time I did discover one painter that I did not know, or had never paid attention to, whose work I quite liked - Armand Guillaumin.  I found his work quite interesting and colorful in a different way than other impressionists.  He had a unique style that was intriguing and felt new - a good find.

We, of course, spent a little time with the sculpture as well - mostly the Rodin, Claudel and my favorite, Maillol.

All in all, we spent about 3 hours there and saw the majority of the museum.  There are always parts you end up skimming over or hurrying through.  I might have spent a little more time with the Moreau's, since he really was almost a precursor to Surrealism, but I got that in a little bit, so all was good.  One of these days I really will need to get to the Musee Gustave Moreau, which has eluded me now for all the time I've been coming to Paris, so it's time to check it out.

After the museum I took the ladies for lunch on the Rue du Bac, after which we walked up to Deyrolle, which is open again after having a fire back in February, but in a smaller space and with less of their incredible collection of animals and exotic insects on display.

If you have not been to Deyrolle, I highly recommend you check it out.  It's one of the strangest shops in Paris, if not the world.  It's a taxidermy shop (with a fairly active clientele from what I can tell), but it's almost more of a museum masquerading as a store.  They have other retail items for the garden, but it's the display of all sorts of animals, butterflies, and bizarre insects from around the world, combined with the old, creaky wooden floors that is really of interest and fascination here.  It was a shame to see it in such a diminshed space though.  It kind of took some of the fun (and creepiness) out of it.

After that it was back to the apartment for a little rest, and then to dinner at Au Petit Sud Ouest, a really charming restaurant on the ave. de la Bourdonnais that specializes in food from the southwest of France, where fois gras and duck are the two main specialties, along with hearty cassoulets.

It was Rita's last night in Paris, and I really wanted Gracia and her to experience a traditional French meal, where we really took our time - had an aperitif (champagne, of course), an entree, a main dish, cheese, dessert and wine.

I had to have some fois gras, of course.  I tried to get Gracia to try some, and she did have a bite, but didn't care for it.  Guess it's an acquired taste.  They both had the cassoulet and I had a really marvelous magret de canard (duck breast), with some absolutely delicious potatoes.  A very satisfying meal at a very reasonable price.

Ok, I'm going to have to save a little summary post for tomorrow as it's now close to midnight and I still need to pack and get some sleep.

Finally back in Paris after three days out at Euro Disney for work that was fine as far as the work part of it went, but completely forgettable and a bit annoying as far as being at Disneyland.  Best to leave it at that.

Actually got back Wednesday in the late afternoon and after settling into my new little (little being the very operative word), and having a rest, had a fabulous dinner with Judy (to celebrate her 40th birthday) at a restaurant I saw recommended in a Food and Wine article called L'Atelier Maitre Albert, which is in the 5th, just across from the far end of Isle de la Cite and just off the Quais de Montebello.

The specialty of the reaturant is their rotisserie dishes, which are done on a large spit that is open to the restaurant.  The chef comes from Guy Savoy, which was one of the reasons I chose it, Savoy still, after all these years having a great reputation.  Plus, they spoke English when I made the reservation, which always makes it slightly easier (though I was quite proud to do it in all French for another place for tomorrow night).  The pictures of the restaurant on the web looked kind of charming, so I went for it.  It's always fun to discover new places to eat in Paris anyway.

Turned out to be a good gamble as we had a fantastic meal, with two great bottles of wine from Languedoc.  Most of us had the beef from the rotisserie, which had been recommended by the waiter and was delicious, very tender and came with these light dauphine potatoes.  Judy had the lamb, which was also excellent, and Rita had the rotisserie chicken, which I did not try, but it was also reportedly quite tasty.  For dessert you can choose two items from their dessert trolley, which all came in little glass jars that were quite fun.  I had a tout fraises that was a nice light dessert after the beef and wine, but I think everyone else had the dessert trolley, so we were able to share the chocolate mousse, a rice pudding, marinated cherries and creme caramel - all were divine.  We all had entrees too, but mostly just salads, though I had a tasty cold tomato soup served with a salmon tartare on toast, and Ariane had the cold cucumber soup, which she reported as being quite good.  They also had some of the best bread I have ever had in a Paris restaurant, a country style baguette that was full and rich and did not even need butter it was so moist.

The restaurant was actually slightly more modern than I thought it would be, but still had a warm ambience to it.  The service was excellent and Judy, Gracia, Rita, Ariane and I had a memorable evening together.  Judy had to run off right away for the Oracle earnings call (always the work girl), but we lingered for a bit and nearly closed the restaurant, which when you do, you know you've had a good time and a good meal and are in no hurry to leave, despite the late hour.  All in all, I would definitely go back and would recommend it to anyone.  A great re-entry back into the Paris lifestyle of leisurely meals with friends.

My new apartment for this week is on the Rue Malar, again in the 7th, an area I know well and like to stay in.  It's a very good thing though that I had made arrangements for my daughter and her friend to stay at the apartment of our friends Art and Debby, as unlike the last apartment I had, before going out to Disney, this one would most definitely have not worked for three of us.  This has to be the absolute smallest apartment I think I have ever seen.  But, the French are always quite clever with space and in this case they really needed to be.  The bed is actually built onto a platform that raises on rails to the ceiling, so that during the day you can put it "away", so to speak and have a small room with a couch and a small desk, but when the bed comes down for sleeping, it pretty much takes up the entire room.  It's kind of charming in a way, but definitely a one person place, as the "kitchen" area and bathroom are also very small.  Fortunately, this rental period is shorter and this will do just fine for the rest of this trip, but I'd probably look for something with a bit more room next time.

You just can't beat this neighborhood though.  Rue Cler is one block away.  The Musee Quai Branly (which I have not had time to go to on this trip) is a five minute walk, as is the Tour Eiffel.  Rue Grenelle one block away.  Lots of great shops and restaurants in this area (along with lots of Americans - only slight downside).

So, on to Thursday.  A perfect start to the day.  Met Judy for le petit dejuener at Patisserie Carette, still one of the best places for breakfast, and still, in my opinion the best croissants.  It's right at Trocadero, so get an outside table and you have a great view of the Palais Chaillot and all the people walking by - great people watching place.  Gracia and Rita met us there and we all had a nice breakfast and coffee to get us juiced up for the day.  It was a bright, sunny morning, just the kind of day where you'd really like to just have a book and linger at an outdoor cafe all day.

But, it was Louvre day.  Had not had a chance to get Gracia (and Rita) to the Louvre the first week, and so we chose Thursday as Louvre day, and dragged Judy along with us (she was actually quite accomodating and happy to come along).

The Louvre can be quite overwhelming.  It is one of the biggest, in terms of sheer size and numbers of works, museums in the world.  I've been coming to Paris for nearly 40 years and still have not seen everything in this museum (though I don't go there as often as I should, and most trips I skip it rather than fight the crowds).

In what was a complete surprise, there were no lines to get in!  We walked right in, bought our tickets, got a map and off we went to explore.  It was still a little crowded, but nothing like my worst fears and what I had experienced on other days.  Not sure if it was because it was a really warm, sunny day and no one wanted to be inside a stuffy museum, or if there just aren't as many people here right now with the down economy.  At any rate, I was delighted to not have to fight through the hordes to get in or move around the museum.

We all kind of agreed that since this was Gracia's first visit ever that we should do some of the major pieces right away, so we headed off to Salle Denon, which is where you quickly can get to the Venus de Milo, Winged Victory of Samothrace and the Mona Lisa.  Basically, we headed to Italian painting.

I'm sort of ashamed to admit that it's been way too long between trips to this museum for me anyway, so it was really kind of wonderful to experience it again, and to be able to introduce Gracia to one of the great museums of the world, housing some of the greatest art in the world.

We wandered down the main gallery of Denon, looking at the early Italian masters (Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Raphael, Giotto, etc.), making our way to the little side gallery that houses La Giaconde (the Mona Lisa) - perhaps the most famous painting in the world.  Of course, this is pretty much where everyone else is headed as well, so I was not necessarily in a rush to get there.  I've been there and seen the painting before, kind of, since there is usually a crowd ten deep in front of it and it's virtually impossible to get close enough to have a really good look (not to mention that they keep you about ten feet away from it anyway and it's got bullet-proof glass in front of it.

Again, a major surprise - the gallery was not that crowded and you could actually, without much of a wait, make it up to the front area where you can lean on a rail and have a look at the painting.  The painting is everything you've ever read or have expectation of, dark and mysterious, and the eyes of Mona Lisa really do follow you as you make your way across the room.

The thing that is the most fascinating to me though is how small the painting is.  It's probably the smallest painting in the gallery, yet the one that everyone wants to look at, despite the fact that directly across from it is one of the largest and grandest Paolo Veronese paintings in the world - it completely dominates the Mona Lisa.  In fact, there are multiple Veronese paintings in that particular gallery, all of them, in some ways, far more interesting than the star attraction of the Mona Lisa.

So, after the obligatory look at Mona Lisa, we headed back down the main gallery for more Italian painting - lots of Titian, Mantegna and one of the finest Caravaggio's I remember ever seeing (wish I could remember the name of it).  Caravaggio's incredible use of light and shadow is just stunning and puts most of his lesser known contemporaries to absolute shame.

Ok, might have to cut this a bit short.  Have to get ready for dinner.  Did French painting next (Gericault, Delacroix, David among others).  Judy had to leave us to go pack and head to airport for her next little trip.  We're now about 3 hours in, so took a break for lunch at Cafe Richilieu, nice little terrace cafe, where we had a table just opposite I.M. Pei's infamous pyramid entrance to the museum, then headed back for a little more painting, a walk through Napoleon III's apartments (which I don't think I had ever done before, so something new for me as well), which were pretty amazing actually, especially the main dining room with its buffet and three enormous chandeliers that are hung off two points they are so big and heavy.  Did a little sculpture and a little of the early Hittite/Assyrian/Mespotamian art and then had kind of had it after 5 hours.  My brain, and my feet were done.

Took a short walk through Palais Royal gardens, stopped for a quick refreshment, then headed home for the usual afternoon rest period before dinner.

Friday was Musee D'Orsay, and I will write about that after dinner or tomorrow, when I have more time and energy.

I will say that the weather has been outstanding this week in Paris, with today being the warmest yet (83 degrees and muggy warm), which is a far cry from last year's trip, when it was not cold, but literally rained almost every day.  Nary a drop the last few days, though we are supposed to get afternoon showers tomorrow, so our luck may be running out.

So, between playing tour guide and the warm weather, every day gets more and more draining and I find it harder and harder to get up for going out much.  But, duty calls and I have to play the good soldier and escort the women around since they need to see and experience Paris.

A quick report before the highlights of the tourist day.  Had to drag the girls to the Fondation Cartier to see the Patti Smith show since it is closing tomorrow.  Probably a mistake, since the show is hard to digest if you're not familiar with Smith and don't know or care much about tortured souls like Robert Mapplethorpe, Arthur Rimbaud, or Jean Genet.

The show was a bit of an homage to her relationship and interest in all three, but was also a statement about living your art, living in solitude and bemoaning that you are outside what might be considered the mainstream, even to the point of dwelling on decadence and a certain revulsion with modern life.

The show was mainly a lot of Polaroid Land photos, indeed the show was titled Land 250. Most of the work was done in 1969 it seemed, an odd bit of coincidence, that being the year of my first trip to Paris.  Patti and I clearly had different experiences and views that year.  Mine was more about being a teenager on his first trip abroad, partying, getting high, discovering the great museums of Europe, while at the same time seeing a good deal of Europe over a six week period.  Patti seemed to be intent on taking odd photographs of odd things as a way of communicating her feelings with what she was seeing and thinking.

There were also drawings (very child-like, but also of the school of tortured artist), films (of Patti and band, very cinema-verite in style, but also a bit banal), some writings behind glass cases (letters to friends like Mapplethorpe and Dylan - only semi interesting).  The most interesting piece was probably a film she made when Mapplethorpe died that was just shots of water and the waves of the sea that was projected both down onto a stretched piece of fabric by shooting into a mirror and then the source being beamed down, and onto a screen that was along a wall.

My guess is that the French loved this show, because of Smith's notoriety as well as their love of tortured artists that border on pretension.  For myself, I probably could have skipped it and not felt too deprived, but because of Smith's overall place in the music and art world felt I should have a look anyway.

The show was paired with some work by Andrea Branzi, an Italian architect and designer.  His pieces were entitled Open Enclosures and were an exploration of inside outside relationships using various contemporary materials (like plastics and metals) combined with materials from nature (wood, flowers, textiles) to look at how we reflect on and relate to the inside and outside world, both physical and mental.  Just 4 pieces, but it was actually somewhat more interesting than the Smith show.

From there it was back to being a tourist and thus the reason for the title of today's post, since we next went to Pere La Chaise cemetery, the largest and most famous of the Paris cemeteries and where the most famous, infamous and not known people are buried among a mass of tombs, sepulchres, mausoleums and just plain graves.  Lots of dead people being ogled by the living.  People, on a daily basis bring flowers, gifts, candles and other remembrances to the gravesites of Jim Morrison, Edith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, among others.  We did manage to find all three, though we had neglected to bring along a guide book or map (recommended if you really want to know where you're going there), and a few other well knowns like Frederic Chopin, Paul Eluard, Rossini, Colette to name a few.

My daughter seems to be intrigued since she was a little girl with cemeteries, so it was by her request that we went there, though I always do find the place fascinating, though overwhelming to visit.  It's easy to get lost on all the side rows and avenues of the place and have no idea where you are, but the architecture combined with the decay is quite interesting to see, and to reflect on mortality in a kind of morbid fascination with visiting the dead.

From there, we braved the Saturday crowds in Montmartre for a visit to that neighborhood, making the obligatory walk up the steps to Sacre Couer (I think I've been there too many times now and find it completely uninteresting).  There was, however a Mass going on in Hindi and the place was full of Indian people, proving once again that you never know what you're going to come across when you travel in this world.

Did the proper tourist thing by stopping at the commercialized Place du Tertre to see the street artists and hordes of tourists sitting for their caricature portraits and wandering aimlessly.  Quickly got out of there and walked back down the hill via the vineyards and Au Lapin Agile, though the original name - Cabaret of Assasins is pretty interesting.

By now, we were quite hot and tired, so had to escape back to the 7th for a quick beer and some ice cream (daughter with the insatiable sweet tooth), and now a little rest before diving out into the streets tonight for the annual summer solstice Fete de la Musique, which is held now every year on June 21st as a way of welcoming in summer and there is all kinds of music, all over the city, pretty much into the wee hours of the morning.  I'll write more about it after we experience it.

Well, we've done pretty well this week, seeing many of the major sites, many different areas of Paris. But, it's just a taste and lots more to do.  Unfortunately, I now need to go off to work at Euro Disney for a few days, so Gracia and Rita will be on there own and in a different apartment, so we'll see how they do.  I'm sure they will be fine as they're quite resourceful.

Ok, need a little rest myself before we cook dinner and head out into the streets to see what we can find in the way of different and interesting music.

Interesting that I never seem to tire of sitting, at the end of a long day, looking out the window and watching the hourly ten minute light show that takes place on the Tour Eiffel.  I know it seems cliche and so touristy, but it has a charm to it, watching it sparkle away, and then settle back down to just being bathed in golden light, one of the icons of the world looking out over the Seine.

This tour guide/tourist thing is exhausting though.  I'm definitely feeling my age and being out of shape, and every day need a nap and then still completely worn out at the end.  Taking the Metro more, but it is still inevitable that you end up walking a lot every day, just looking at sights and moving around the neighborhoods.

I had to go to London yesterday for some business meetings, so the women were on their own, and they met up with some friends of my daughter's friend Rita.  They're Dutch and like to walk, so they really wore them out yesterday walking all through Paris.

Today was a little laid back, but we made it to La Duree for breakfast, then a quick view of Madeleine, then a little shopping excursion to Fauchon.  We then walked over to the Opera Garnier, which is still one of the most beautiful buildings anywhere.  We did a self-guided tour and the auditorium was open to the public today so we were able to see the Chagall ceiling, the big chandelier and the rest of the auditorium from one of the boxes.  The grand staircase is oh so romantic with its belle epoque/beaux arts statuettes and sconces.

After lunch, I took them for a stroll through the Marais and a little history lesson at the Hotel Sobise (National Archives), the courtyard of the bank across the street with the old pawn shop windows and the old wall of Paris embedded in the ground, the courtyard on Musee Carnavalet, the rue de Rosiers, the rue de Francs Bourgeouise, a little stop in the Place des Vosges (where we were amused watching the schoolkids play - the boys wrestling and chasing each other to impress the girls, but the girls being more grown-up at that age, ignoring them), then a stop at one of our favorite chocalatiers - Josephine Vannier, where I could not resist buying some more chocolate.  We ended this part of the day by walking down to Bastille, then up the Rue St. Antoine and finally back to St. Paul metro and back to the apartment for a rest.

Dinner was at Caruso, back in the Marais, a little neighborhood Italian place I've eaten before that is consistently good.  Stuffed ourselves, of course, and even a little walk after dinner was too tiring at that point so we came home to watch the twinkling of the tower, and so ends another beautiful day in Paris.

now posted on flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/77328510@N00/sets/72157605684723392/