Favorite Things

The trip in winding down and my thoughts turn to what I will miss the most. So here are a few pixs of some of the things that i will truly miss about Paris. Gleato (ice cream) Rose, the amazing Paris skyline, the Paris Metro, the intricate door handles, french pastries, tiny cars, and the shopping.  Some of the things that I noticed that were different from my previous trips to Paris are: there are more Japanese sushi restaurants, the eating establishments have these cool handheld credit card machines to ring up your bill, they have shuttles now that get you to Claude Monet's house in Giverney, the European Union flags fly next to the French Flag, and the Eiffel Tower is so much more Hip! 

The Louvre

The Louvre never disappoints.  I am always amazed how easy it is to find the classic pieces of art that the museum is famous for...the mona lisa, venus de milo, and winged victory...all very easy to find and spectacular to view.  The problems start when you get lost in the larger collections of art and antiquities.   David and I enjoyed the Egyptian section but got lost and we were unable to find our way out...it felt like being trapped in one of the pyramids of Giza.  Later David and I went to the exclusive section of Paris to celebrate our engagement at Paris's version of the White House, called the MasionBlanche.  We dined on a 3 course 4 star meal with a amazing view of the Paris skyline. 

Wonderful News from Paris

We are excited to announce that during our last full day in Paris David and I became engaged to be married!  David took me to the Jardin de Palais Royal a secluded French garden within the French Royal Palace just steps from the Lourve.  We walked along a colonnade of squared trees and sat on a Parisian park bench.  There David asked for my hand in marriage and I said YES! He got down on one knee and presented me with a beautiful diamond ring that he kept hidden the entire trip. The proposal was like a dream.  Then we looked up and noticed that the trees we were sitting under had thousands of leaves shaped like hearts!  It is one of the most treasured moments of our lives!  I am so excited to share it with you.   

Chocolat etc.

Near where the hotel was in Montmartre there is a Parisian vintage candy store that sells some of the best chocolate and traditional french candies in Paris.   The shop's name is La Mere de Famille, which means the family mother.  It is one of the last remaining authentic Parisian shops.  I was delighted to find out that they were ok with me taking pictures in the shop.  This store is a delight for the senses, touch, taste, smell, vision and if you eat something crunchy... the ears too.  All of the candies are made on the premises. I have included some pixs of me standing in front of the hard candy section.  As I recall the flavors are: cafe, caffe latte, orange, strawberry, cherry, lime, lemon, creme brulee, and licorice.   They had assortments of desert wines, caramels, fruit spreads, marshmallows, and gummy candies of all shapes and flavors.     

Monet's Paradise

Giverny, France is as lovely as ever.  It is the only place I have ever been where it is impossible to take a bad picture.  Every where you look is a new discovery 0f natural beauty. The house is very quaint and the color palette is very much in the tones that Monet is famous for.  I was surprised to find that he had a large collection of Japanese block prints that were some of the origins of what influenced his work.  The house has Japanese prints hanging in almost every room.  The pond and Japanese bridge was an amazing place.  All of the summer flowers are in bloom and the bamboo forest was huge.  There were many tourists exploring the grounds and some small French pre-schoolers. It made for an exciting time dodging other people trying to get yet another picture of the gardens.   David and I had lunch at a old hotel just a few meters from Monet's home where he use to go and eat once in a while.  Another welcome surprise was locating where Monet was buried.  His family plot was just beyond the hotel on the grounds of the local church. 

Bizarre Food Adventures ~Part Deux

David and I ate like French Royalty.  We went to Le Ballon Des Ternes a classic French restaurant.  We ordered the house specialty this massive tray of sea food and ice. We ate the whole thing...2 baby crabs, 20 baby snails, 15 mommy snails, 2 large prawns, 12 raw oysters, 12 raw clams, 8 raw mussels...and one large snow crab!  It was served with bread, fresh lemons, french mayonnaise, vinaigrette and soft butter.  Bon Appetite!   

Waiting for the Sparkles to come...

Here is the pix of the Eiffel Tower all decked out in blue.  On the top of the hour after sunset the Tower sparkles with thousands of strobe lights for about 10-20 minutes.  This pix was taken on the Batou Parisian tour, a one hour boat ride on the Seine.  It is a great way to see the sights in Paris and at 11 Euro a pretty good deal for 1 hour of sightseeing. 

The Footsteps of Amelie...

Before  left for my trip.  I looked on the internet for a walking tour to find the different locations in Paris where the Film "Amelie" was shot on location.  I was excited to find one and copied the route into my mapbook.  David and I ventured to Montmarte to see what we could find.   The tour directions from the internet were right on.  We were able to locate the Cafe des 2 Moulins where Amelie worked in the film was set.  We stopped for a coffee and had a waitress that looked very much like Amelie.  The set was that same except for the tobacco stand inside the cafe.  The next place we found was the Colingnon Grocery market.  It was the same just a few more post card stands and the Amelie stars headshots in the window.   The other location was the Metro Station Lamarak-Caulaincourt where Amelie leads the blind man when she starts to do good deeds.  If you have not seen the film I highly recommend it.  The French really treasure it as a great expression of French culture.  This was a fun outing in Paris, it took me to a location in the city I have never seen.   The area was busy with locals and tourist.  The area is very close to the Moulin Rouge. 

Pompidou!!!

Every time I come to Paris I always enjoy visiting the Centre Pompidou Modern Art Museum.  It houses the second largest modern art collection in the world. One of the highlights is traveling up the tube escalator on the side of the building.  The top section has some of the best panoramic views of Paris out side of Montmartre.  I have posted some pixs.  The museum also has a fun and refreshing fountain.  The modern look is a welcome change from all the regal classic fountains that Paris is famous for.  

Notre Dame Cathedral

I was in Paris on July 8, 2008 and was unable to attend the memorial service for my Uncle Mike.  His sudden passing from a tragic motorcycle accident has been a sad time for my family.  I lit a candle and said a prayer for him at the St. Joseph's Chapel inside Notra Dame, Paris France.  There was an amazing hymn being sung at that very moment.  It was truly moving. Uncle Mike ~ May he rest in Peace. Later David and I went to one of my favorite places to eat in Paris, "Nos Ansetores de Galloes".  A  fun place with sing-a-long entertainment and rustic atmosphere, we ate great French open pit grilled meats and drank wine poured from a old Oak Wine Bucket.  We toasted my Uncle Mike's memory... Here is a picture of us savoring the final course a selection of French cheeses...they smell like the feet of Angels...

Funny Stuff in Paris

Here are some things I observed in Paris that struck me as funny.  This is a pix of a guy who takes going green to a new level...that is a grass covered moped!  The other pic is at the Musee arts et Metiers where David found 2 computers that he had used as a child on display in the museum! Boy did we feel old!  Then there is the pic from the subway where we have to look at Will Smith's 500 foot mug shot on every other wall in the Paris underground subway.  The movie "Hancock" is being promoted heavily in Paris.  We give it a thumbs down...early reviews have panned the movie as a Will Smith's 50 million dollar mistake...and with the Dollar weak against the Euro... it may prove even worse over here.  

It's Jubilee Time in Lourdes, France

Sorry for the media blackout.  David and I have been on travel to Lourdes, France on a 30 hour world win trip and train ride on the French TGV.  We got back into Paris and I am just now getting back to blogging.  Seeing all the pilgrims in Lourdes was very moving.  Millions of faithful come here every year to drink the healing waters from the grotto made famous by St. Bernadette who saw 18 visions of Mary.  All of the apparitions of Mary were deemed bona fide by the Vatican.  This year marks the 150 Jubilee year anniversary of the visions of Mary.  The Pope will give a Plenary Indulgence to all Pilgrims that complete the Jubilee way, do acts of kindness, confess sins, and say a list of special prayers.  David and I completed the Jubilee way by following a set path in the town of Lourdes by visiting 4 places, the place of St. Bernadette's family's home, the church where she was baptised, the hospital chapel where she had her first communion, and the grotto where she had her first apparition of Mary.   It was a hard trek believe it.  Lourdes is set in the Pennies mountains in south western France the air is thinner up there.  We noticed when we got off the train that the air smelled so fresh and clean.  David said this is what air is supposed to smell like!  The landscape is unspoiled except for the trinket traps in town. 

Le Canal of St. Martin

I happened upon a great Sunday treasure in Paris.   The canal of St. Martin become a Parisian flea market.  I was surprised that much of the stuff for sale looks like the same stuff you would find at a flea market in the US.  There were hundreds of vendors selling old clothing collectibles and Parisian junk.  There are no cars allowed on Sundays which was a welcome change from always looking both ways.  Here is a pic of me on one of the many foot bridges that dot the canal.  No cars allowed and only a few people can cross at a time, some are very steep and narrow.  The canal was cared out between 1822 and 1825, at the request of Napoleon to provide the people of Paris with drinking water.  The canal is about 3 miles in length and is considered to be one of the most romantic spots in the city. 

Bizarre Food Adventures ~Paris

Bizarre food is easy to find in Paris.  David and I went to our first French restaurant and there on the menu was some classic French bizarre food appetizers.  I got the garlic bone marrow to spread on toast.  "Tres Yummy" I grew up fighting over who gets the marrow when our family would cook steak.  My brother-in-law said it is the food of the devil...eating marrow is so wrong!  It was prepared with garlic and salt.  You just spoon it on the toast and munch away.  David got the classic Escargot. We used the snail clamp utensil and knife but still struggled to get the little guys out to eat. Then we realized that the tooth picks they gave us were for the escargot to pick them out of the shell and not to be used to pick the marrow and snails from our teeth.  The French really take bizarre foods to a whole new gourmet level! 

Stunning Waterlilies

Seeing Monet's Waterlilies in the Musee national de Orangerie has been the most moving experience so far.  I last saw these paintings in 1989 with my mother.  I have not seen them in close to 20 years.  They have undergone an amazing transformation.  The museum underwent an extensive renovation that took over 5 years.  When I was in Paris in 2000 it was closed for restoration, if my memory serves.  The paintings before were on display under florescent light below ground.  Now they have been moved to reconstructed rooms above ground as Monet intended.  Now the paintings can be viewed in natural light.  In a word "stunning" or "breath taking"...er... two words...they just take your breath away.  I do see the difference in the new facility.  Utterly amazing.  These 4 enormous canvases cover the room in a 360 degrees of Monet's sheer talent and vision. Wait there was an additional room with 4 paintings of the willow gardens too!  The filtered light from the ceiling plays on the canvas and the colors change in subtle ways.  These paintings filled me with wonderful memories of my mother, JoEllen Wheeler, to the point I was overcome with emotion seeing these paintings once again and recalling that I had spent time admiring them so many years ago with my Mom.  David and I did a reenactment of some pictures Mom and I took having a little fun with the Monet's willow trees.  

Rodin = Lady Killer

The stroll through the Musee Rodin was very authentic.  David and I got caught in a cloud burst while taking in the sculpture garden.  Paris is known for rainy weather.   Rodin's works in bronze are 'tres beau" or "very beautiful".  We came across one large bronze female nude titled "Cybele", was a little intimidating, I called it Lady Killer but she is beautiful regardless. See pix.  If you ever get the chance to see the French film Camille Claude it is a great film to learn about Rodin's life and works.  It is the story about his affair with Camille who was one of his apprentice sculptors.  She was of the same caliber of talent as Rodin.  But she later  went insane and was institutionalized.   The Rodin Museum at his request will always  have a room with her work on display.  Camille's work is amazing but has a lonesome quality to it.  The other male apprentice sculptors called her a "witch" because her bust of Rodin conveyed him so well that it haunted them.  It was interesting to see that all of Camille's work had Rodin's signature.  Only when the apprentice becomes a master would he sign their work.   

A bit of Japan in Paris

I was excited to find an extensive collection of Japanese antiquities at Musee Guimet. There were multiple Buddha sightings. I have added a extraordinary picture of Buddha's golden hands and some other treasures. Very cool. The French really love Japan's style. I was pleased to find Traditional NHK programing broadcast in France. Much more authentic than the NHK World programing in the US. I has some sushi for lunch today. It was yummy but I was not given chopstick...a french faux pas...

4th of July Paris Style

The Tour de Eiffel is all decked out in Blue lights and Yellow Stars to Celebrate France's turn heading the EU.  Each country in the EU gets a equal turn to head the Union.  The base of the Tower has a set of Yellow stars in a circle just as they appear on the European Union Flag.  I will attempt to post some video of the Tower soon.  Blogger is having some tech issues with videos. The video is cool!  It is about as close as we could get to 4th of July fireworks.  The Tower has thousands of tiny strobe lights that flicker for 20 minutes each hour.  When I shot the video the recorder picked up the wind and it mimicked the sounds of fireworks!  Tres Cool! In the mean time, I will post a picture of a Sundog I caught near the Tower this morning. The Sundog is the small rainbow off in the right side of the photo.  BTW...This is the spectacular view from the Concorde Hotel.  I was so excited to catch the Sundog while I was up early blogging. Paris is full of surprises that make you pay attention every moment so as not to miss a thing! Enjoy! 

Welcome to Paris~No bathroom for you!

Once I touched down in Paris I caught up with my boyfriend David at the Acoustics Paris 08 Conference at the Palais des Congres Expo Center. David's 2 talks were well received. He "Rocked the Acoustical House" I am including some pixs of the Expo center.  I love the word euronoise on the sign.  The euro nose in Paris so far: beeping car horn, motorcycles, and yippie Parisian dogs.

 The Palais des Congres is a very impressive building, very modern except for one thing...all the public bathrooms are locked. I went to three separate facilities in the building and all were locked up...I hope this is not a sign of things to come!  Tonight we will celebrate David's completion of his work for the conference and the start of a great vacation... Oh and independence day for the USA!

Bon Jour!

Friends, Family and Colleagues!

I am so excited to share my Maverick Travel Blog with all of you! Highlights include: Daily posts recording my adventures in Paris, France, Lourdes, and Giverny over 10 days starting July 3rd, Eiffel Tower Clock showing Paris time (6 hours ahead), French news feeds, Notable Web Links: French word-of-the-day, French picture blog, currency tracking see how weak the $Dollar is against the €Euro, and much more. Scroll down and check out the tool bar on right side of the blog. I hope you enjoy reading! Feel free to post on the site. It will be great to hear from you! But be nice everyone can see what you write! Don’t forget to check back often!
Au revoir! For now…