Yesterday I posted a photo I took in the Luxembourg Garden (Paris) and wrote that I wish I could selectively remove certain parts of the image. Lo and behold! Blogger buddy Mike in Australia knew exactly what to do and he sent me his result. Thanks Mike!
I got the mower out again yesterday and cut the north forty and the strips outside the hedges. All that's left is the small south forty. I'm hopeful that today's weather will cooperate.
Paris in the fall. Or is it winter? The Luxembourg Garden is one of the more popular of Parisian parks, at least in my opinion. I lived and went to school nearby and had occasion to walk through and/or sit and relax often. I don't know who the people are in the photo nor do I remember when I snapped it. It's likely from one of our trips back in the late 1980s.
I got the mower out yesterday and cut the west forty (the largest section of our property). It feels good to have that done. Today I hope to get the north forty done. I can't cut before noon because of the heavy dew we're having. It's mostly dried up by lunch time.
The forecast is for a few days of hot highs in the low 30sC, the low 90sF. This is exactly what we were longing for back in the cold and damp of spring. What were we thinking? LOL
According to one weather site, we will lose our first two full minutes of daylight today. We're also heading into a big holiday weekend. School's out for the summer and Monday is la Fête Nationale (Bastille Day). I have a doctor's appointment this morning. Just the regular six month checkup to renew prescriptions.
So... we have a battery charger that seems to have worked. We have a leaf blower to help clean up autumn's mess. We have an air compressor to pump up tired tires. And we have cold and soggy weather keeping us from getting much done outdoors.
So... what's next? I suppose I should put the battery back in the lawnmower and see if it starts. Something is making me hesitate. Maybe it's just inertia. I have to finish cleaning the barbecue grill so I can cover it for the winter. Again, inertia. I definitely have to make a trip to the recycle center. Our bins runneth over. Maybe I'll do that today.
I had just arrived back in France. It was a Sunday, just after mid-day. I had gone through passport control and baggage claim (I checked my bag through for the return trip and am glad I did) and was killing time before my train home. The check-in hall at Terminal 2E (Charles de Gaulle Airport) was relatively quiet and I snapped this photo.
We just had a couple of very mild days, weather wise. A week or two of that would be great. I could get a few more outdoor chores done before the weather gets in the way.
I'm still recycling older photos for lack of anything new. Ken suggests that I go back to scanning slides for some new material; a good winter project, indeed. My first thought is to scan photos of our last vacation in Paris before we moved. That would be spring of 2002. But first, I have to crawl into the closet in the loft and find the box of slides. Then scan and prepare the images for posting with photo software. This may take a few days.
This is the large public space in front of Paris' City Hall and that's City Hall itself on the right. The building with the dome is a department store called le Bazar de l'Hôtel de Ville, a fun place to wander around in.
This is the view west from the Cour Napoléon toward the Tuileries, Concorde, and the Champs-Elysées beyond. I took this photo back in 2018 when friends of mine were in Paris for a couple of days before embarking on a tour through Normandy.
Most obvious is the Pyramide, the museum's "new" main entrance, opened in 1989. Prior to the pyramid's construction, this space was a parking lot for employees of the Ministry of Finance. President François Mitterrand relocated the ministry, expanded the museum space, and called for a new and modern entrance to the "Grand Louvre."
Here's a re-worked photo of the Louvre Museum in Paris taken from the Tuileries garden in 2009. The part of the building that you see on the left is the Pavillon Marsan. These days, the view is very different; a giant Ferris wheel sits on this spot.
This morning we're down to -2.8ºC outside, so far. It's probably the lowest temperature we've had in the current cold spell. We got our heating fuel delivery on Wednesday, but it was not without stress. Our delivery window (07h00 to 13h00) came and went. I called after that and the customer service rep told me they were experiencing many delays (beaucoup de retards) but that they'd be here soon. Just as I gave up hope at 17h00, the truck rolled up. The driver seemed frazzled, but was otherwise in good spirits. I'm sure the cold spell has people scrambling to get more fuel oil and the company is scrambling to accommodate them. All's well that ends warm.
This is the La Défense business district just outside Paris and the Grande Arche, arguably the centerpiece of the complex. I was standing on the observation platform atop the Arc de Triomphe, just under five kilometers* (about three miles) away. Ah, the wonders of a zoom lens.
The arch is essentially two forty-or-so story office buildings connected at their tops. Visitors can take the glass elevators (visible inside the arch) up to an outdoor observation deck and exhibit space. Ken and I did that back in the eighties. Since this photo dates from 2009, that building under construction on the right is most certainly completed by now.
Why is one called un arc and the other called une arche? I dunno.
*As measured on Google Maps.
To get an idea of how high above Paris the church of Sacré-Cœur sits, you have to put a little distance between you. One of the best places to do this is the top of the Arc de Triomphe, just under four kilometers to the west, as the crow flies. If you don't have wings, you'll have to walk. Or take the métro.
The landscape guys did come back yesterday and finished the hedge trimming. The hedges always look terrific when they're done. I'll get some photos soon. Morning low temperatures are getting lower, heading for negative territory by Monday. It's going to feel very different from the mild weather we've had up to now.
This church, built on the Butte Montmartre, is probably among the most recognized and most visited of Paris monuments. I've been inside (many moons ago) but I've never climbed up to the dome. But you don't have to for good views. The plaza and stairs out front offer pretty good, and free, views of the city below without the climb.
Our weather is cooling down again. If the forecasters are correct, we should see some negative temperatures next week. Oh! And the landscape guys showed up yesterday afternoon and started the hedge trimming. I assume (always dangerous) that they'll be back this morning to finish the job.
Here's an oldie but goodie from the archives. I took this way back in the early '90s during my one and only visit ever to the Orsay Museum in Paris. It had just opened in 1986. The impressionist art is fantastic, of course, but I was more interested in the building, originally built as a railroad station. I last posted this photo here in 2018.
The wind has been wild all night and is expected to continue blowing through the morning. I'll be glad when this storm blows on through. I'll see how far out into the vineyard I can get with Tasha before turning back.
The first thing I did when I arrived in the train hall at Montparnasse was to check the departures board. My train was listed as on time. I had about fifteen minutes before it left. There was also a bulletin that all trains in and out of the station were delayed due to some deer on the tracks. Indeed, all the trains scheduled to depart before mine were posting between five and ten minutes late. Lovely. Still, about five minutes later my train posted its track number and it was still on time. I walked, briskly, to the track and boarded the train. It pulled out of the station on time.
As I was getting settled in, I noticed that we were moving very slowly. Then, after we were well out of the station, the train stopped altogether. The conductor announced that the deer were gone, but now the trains ahead of us had to re-space themselves before getting up to speed. We expected to be under way again soon and we'd be about fifteen minutes late to our station. As promised, the train started moving again and before long we were up to high speed.
Now, fifteen minutes is not too bad for a late arrival. Except when you only have 23 minutes to make your connection. If all went well, I would have about eight minutes to off-board and get to the other platform for my train to Saint-Aignan. I stressed for a while, but there was nothing I could do, so I sat back and enjoyed the ride. There was no view because it was dark outside.
Again, as promised by the conductor (who kept us informed of what was happening at regular intervals), we arrived at St.-Pierre-des-Corps (the high-speed station just outside of Tours) exactly when he said we would and I (and many others) made the connection with a couple of minutes to spare. I called Ken to let him know that I'd be arriving at our station at 21h40 as scheduled. He and Tasha picked me up and we were home in less than ten minutes.
Having not lived in a city for the last twenty years, I kind of forget about things like "rush hour." I was reminded last week. I think it was around 18h15 when I left Andy at the Gare de l'Est and headed across town to Montparnasse. I took the Number 4 line, the most direct route and the main north-south métro line across town. I had to ride through fourteen station stops, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with my fellow passengers all the way. I was the only person I saw wearing a mask.
When I got to my stop, Gare Montparnasse, I had a long trek through tunnels from the métro to the train station. You can bet I took advantage of escalators and moving sidewalks to speed my walk. Hey, I'm a senior citizen now!
After our lunch, my friend Andy and I went up to La Villette and the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (Science and Industry Museum). We spent most of our time there wandering through an exhibit on industrialization across the globe. The museum is huge, I described it as the Pompidou Center on steroids, and it's surrounded by a large park. Once back outside, we started walking toward the Gare de l'Est (where Andy's train would depart that evening). Realizing it was a little farther than we thought, we hopped on the métro.
We stopped at a café called À la Ville de Provins just outside the station for a couple of drinks in the sun. When the sun dropped behind a building, it started to feel very cold, so we got up and went to have a look inside the station. It's been renovated since the last time I saw it, turned into a huge shopping mall on several levels just in front of the train hall.
We went back outside to a bar called The Place To... Strange name, but the place was nice. Andy and I sat at the bar and had another glass before going our separate ways, he to the station across the street and me to the métro. My train was leaving in just over an hour from the Montparnasse station across town.
I had a couple of ideas for restaurants and a couple of others recommended by friends. Andy wanted to go someplace typically "French," so we headed over to Bastille and a traditional style bistro called Chez Paul. Thanks go to regular reader Bettyann for the recommendation! We were a little early, so we took a stroll around the neighborhood. We were the first to be seated for lunch, but the place filled up pretty quickly after that.
We both decided to order the menu du jour. If I remember correctly, Andy's appetizer was a salade de maquereau fumé (smoked mackerel salad) with warm potatoes and other vegetables in vinaigrette. I chose gésiers confits avec sauce au Porto (preserved gizzards served in a Port wine sauce). Wine was a demi-pichet (50cl pitcher) of Côtes du Rhône red. Perfect.
We both took the same main dish, araignée de cochon (a tender cut of pork, I'm not at all certain what it's called in English) in a honey/vinegar sauce with a side of thick French-fried potatoes. The potatoes were perfectly crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside. We continued with the Côtes du Rhône. Again, perfect.
We each had a slice of apple tart for dessert and coffee after. A wonderful meal all around, made even better by the bustling atmosphere, the friendly staff and, of course, the company.
I didn't take many photos yesterday. It was more fun just being in the moment, reminiscing with my colleague and friend, Andy. And the train ride. Remember, I'm a transit nerd and Andy and I worked together in a transportation policy and planning agency back in the '90s. Early Friday morning, I took a regional train from Saint-Aignan over to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps (just outside of Tours) where I transferred to a high-speed train up to Paris. There was a lot of fog outside, but it was pretty much broken up when we arrived in Paris. The full trip took about two hours, and that with a 30-minute layover between trains.
I arrived at the Montparnasse station pretty much on time and walked over to a café called Au Chien qui Fume (At the Smoking Dog) on the Boulevard Montparnasse and the rue du Cherche-Midi where Andy and I had agreed to meet. The atmosphere was so typically Parisian and the coffee hit the spot. We spent a good hour gabbing about old times and people we knew before moving on. But first we had to decide where to have lunch.
We're in that lull between Christmas and New Year's. Not much is happening. Especially photography. So here is an old favorite. It's a café in the Paris neighborhood where I lived back in 1981. The photo is from some time in the early 1990s. November, probably, given the Beaujolais Nouveau signs in the window.
I do have some errands to run this week. Post office, recycling, etc. And I need a haircut. I think we're Ken's making turkey soup for lunch today. The broth was made on Sunday, so it's just a matter of adding diced turkey and some vegetables. Should be good. The temperature is falling again, so I'll likely build a fire in the wood stove (I skipped yesterday) a little later.
I'm behind in responding to your comments, but I do enjoy and appreciate them. I'll be back in the swing again soon!
What's a trip to Paris without a stop at the Stravinsky Fountain, next to the Pompidou Center? Often described as "whimsical," the fountain features both monochromatic and colorful representations of Igor Stravinsky's work that move and/or spray water in its shallow basin. The fountain was created in 1983. Here's another shot from the last time I was in Paris in 2018.
Our heat wave kind of ended last night, and with a bang. We had thunder and lightning for a couple of hours along with rain (I'm not certain how much, but there are puddles in the road). This morning it's cooler, but very humid. Our thermometer that measures humidity says it's at 91% at 06h00.
The Eiffel Tower is no stranger to this blog. It might be the monument that shows up most often in my posts about Paris. I have not done the research to confirm that. The photo is taken from the top of the Tour Montparnasse. This was before they had installed plexiglass barriers around the rooftop observation platform. I haven't been up there since they did that.
Our current weather is sunny, dry, and almost hot. We're planning some more work in the vegetable garden today in advance of setting out seedlings. It will need to cool off a little before we do that. Yesterday I did a little indoor paint project that I've been putting off for a while. It feels good to have it finally done.
