Day 6 Le Louvre

Salut!

Today, it was all about the Louvre, and the surrounding environs. I know Rick Steves says it's two hours, mais vraiment! c'est Le Louvre!

I followed Rick's audio tour (free at his website)} --well for the most part--veering off when he moved too fast and I wanted to see EVERYTHING! Not possible, still I did a great 6 hours there, taking time to sit here and there and just be with the masterpieces. It allowed me to pace myself and enjoy it all, without stress and too much fatigue--wiped when I left, but tres content!

The crowds were expectedly horrendous--I went first thing in the morning; perhaps the evening would be better... next time? :}

I learned to jockey for position and push aggressively--politeness got me shoved to the back and groped, I think. So, you can push and shove and say Pardon the whole while and that way you get your turn. In places where only a few people stood, civility returned: people stood aside when others were taking photos and waited for space--this was true in all the museums i visted.
Monna Lisa (spelling correct!) was amazing--and the crowd second to none! I wish I couldv'e sat and enjoyed a while--but this had by far the most people around any exhibit anywhere. Venus striking also... take a look as some videos, pictures... I particularly loved the sculptures, ceilings, and 3-D pieces--particularly taken by how stone can look like fabric and hair... i love the fluidity and the contradiction of the warmth of the cold marble. I confess the les beaux arts me faite sentimentale!

(note to self: other possible titles--Lost in France! in the Louvre, environs, tout!)

More videos later--taking too long to upload and although my cafe is si gentile, i have places to go!

au revoir, amis.

xxxooo

Day 5 Bastille neighbourhood and a peu malade

Salut... I stayed close to home Tuesday... nasty sinuses! but cruised the neighborhood and had a fabulous paella for lunch... visted Sainte Ambrose church (video) and walked the district. I'm finding that yes, many local shops close in the summer... sigh, but that just means i have to search far and wide!
Lots of vitamin C and echanacea (sp?) and i was back on my feet for Wednesday and Le Lourve!
xxxooo

Day 4: Reconnaissance- and Hotel Aux Trois Portes

Hallo
yesterday was a slower pace--did the bus 69 tour recommended by Rick Steves' guidebook--very nice, and again, how amazing that you can travel from one end of the city to the other so very quickly! maybe I'll post more on that another day... it was valuable to get a lay of the land, and people talk to you on the bus--not so on the metro (that's probably a good thing!).

walking, and more walking a les Invalides (oh! the flowers quite take my breath away!), and un cafe avec un crepe abricot in a teeny bistro in a teeny street... can't quite figure out just how cars get through there! Lots of rain, so didn't do the Tour Effiel as I wanted to save that for a clear day--gotta have the view, n'est-ce pas?

I think another slow day today... it's catching up with me a bit, a tout a l'heure!

xxxooo

Sandrina

and, to satify many requests, here are some photos of my accomodations, and my neighborhood... and a request please... Please give me your input: can you view the AVI format (first video
on day 3a) or the WMV format (vids on day 3b?) any preferences for ease of viewing?

Day 3c--Let's wrap it up! Notre Dame, La Seine, & a bit of disallusion

Mes Amis!

so, as you can tell, day 3 was a full day! let me quickly complete the day so that we can move on...

The short version: my afternoon/evening
1. Metro to Notre Dame--LOVE the metro, that'll have to be a whole separate love dissertation

2. Disallusion on the Metro... oi...

3. Le Tour De France

4. Notre Dame

5. Cruise on the Seine

6. Lost (oh, yes, again)
The Details (un petit peu!)

1. Love the Metro, makes sense, logical, maps, can go anywhere from anywhere and cheap! Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme… it’s all sooo different and the same… not mere people watching, but splashing about in the petrie dish with all the specimens!

2. Sigh... got my pocket picked... not sure if on the Metro on in the crowd approaching Notre Dame... what a rube (back superego, back!) they got 15euro, and 5 metro tickets (bastards! Not the metro tickets!). Lesson learned--gotta be more security minded... enter the resurgence of the bra pocket--don't laugh--I'll know if someone reaches for the girls!! And, I'm one of the lucky ones that can accommodate all I need to accommodate! hahahaha
I was significantly upset when I discovered the loss—just prior to entering Notre Dame—but am grateful it was not too expensive a lesson... some introspection followed...hmmmm...

3. Yes, I got to see Le Tour de France--from a distance--too many crowds, and really, there are lots of bicycles here.... by any other name, it is yet a bicycle… lots of cheering people

4. Notre Dame is STILL so amazing! I was in time for the organ concert... wow! but sooo many people! it was good to sit and regroup/reassemble myself before going back into the world, and you could still feel presence there--but sooo many people. I'm gonna try to go back in the early am (some photos, though my small wonder didn’t handle the low interior light)

5. cruise on the Seine was so nice--nice people, surrealistic environs... sigh... i wonder if they need teachers/autism consultants in Paris???

6. home again, home again, jiggety-jig... walking in the Marais District, got lost (again... barely worth mentioning as I get lost at least once a day) but you can't stay lost for long--I only started to worry when I needed a bathroom at 10pm---but not to worry, got map, and eventually all roads lead to somewhere you know!

Bonne nuit!

Day 3b More Market videos

some short clips of the lovely market!

Day 3a--Le Market

Bonjour...

a short post today, cause I'm late getting started--

discovered the local market--oh that alone would move me to France! what an amazing experience! enjoy the photos!

in the course of an hour (roughly 7:30-8:30) the vendors set up and in short there were 6-7 7 vendors of varying sizes of each type: butcheries, fromageries, flowers, fruits, veggies, clothes, wine, delis, patisseries/boulangeries (breads and pastries), seafood, sundries....

had tastes of everything, enjoyed the hawkers prattle, ate sun-kissed apricots....oh, the flowers! (i can't wait to see the actual Paris flower market!) I got nectarines (4 the size of softballs) for about $1.75--the most amazing flavor and so juicy!

I've more videos to share--but they take so long to upload that I'll share them later...

Day 2 Summer Jam!

Salut!

After a long, much needed sleep (the sun is bright until after 9:30 pm during the summer!) I was off to begin my day at 6:30 in the morning. A quick walk to Place de La Bastille, and today I had my first excursion on the Metro—got lost only once and caught it quickly—on the way to my class at the Cordon Bleu! I was so excited! And although it seems that the Cordon Bleu is not so well known in France, and in fact the school is small and unassuming, the experience lived up to my expectations and I feel, the 100E. We had a petit dejeuner together first—not bad having my first croissant at the Cordon Bleu—and I am quickly becoming addicted to French coffee—not even using cream now.

I made 3 confittures at the “Summer Jam”: 1) apricots and almonds, 2) pineapple and vanilla, and 3) berries mélange (wild strawberries, raspberries, blackberries)! Instruction was in French which I could follow well enough along with the demonstration, and of the other participants, all were Japanese young women studying at the Cordon Bleu for their certificates, and a young woman from Mexico. Their English was better than my French I have to say—and my Japanese is non-existant!

A-mazing, and I’m taking home 10 petit pots de confittures (so much more than a common jam!). We’ll have to have a “Summer Jam” when I come home—or at least a tasting!

Lunch was cassis de confit carnard avec pommes frites (duck (thigh) confit with French fries), un café and a slow leisurely lunch on a quiet Saturday in the Montparnasse District.

More cruising in the 17 district and more metro, then an artists expose in the neighbourhood... Discovered Lenotre (fine chocolot!) and fabu bookstore... and now a red from the Rhone at the Bastille (seems the only place i can get wireless so far!

Enjoy the pictures and vids --if i can get them up tonight! I'm for another vin, then off to discover dinner! (maybe I should have called this blog--eating my way through Paris! mais les gastronomics fantastics!)

xxxooo

Sandrina

Day 1

Bonjour!

I arrived today at 9:30 am... yep, took me about 25 hours what with flights and layovers and changing planes... such a long trip, and soo worth it! I ditched the recommended taxi (75e) and opted for the bus to Le Guard Lyon, and then short taxi to my hotel --Hotel Aux Trois Portes-- all for a grand 22.5e instead! it was a grand ride through the city and though I was early, my room was ready.

The hotel is exactly as I'd imagined--a bed and bath, and also with a great view of the gardens located across the street... children and families playing, gardens with flowers and fountains, various groups engaged en boule... it was sunny early on, but then the rain came and went, just another flavor on the life of this place.

So I dumped my things off and hit the Paris streets... and have walked and walked and walked! but I'm now sooo very tired, I had a crepe frommage for dinner with a pot d'chocolat... can't wait til the dinner hour (7pm), I'm off to bed!

you won't believe what i'm doing tomorrow! and i've some photos and video clips to post--but that'll have to wait.

a bien tot!
xxxooo
Sandrina