Sunday, September 30, 2018

My Paris Pilgrimage #13

Six Days' Notes from Paris

Holy Moley!  A whole week has gone by since my last post--almost!  It's Sunday, the 30th. Last day of September 2018--the month that will historically go down as my full month in the lovely city of Paris!  Still, I'm excited that I go home on Thursday, the 4th!

A few things to report on from the week past. Although I stayed close to the apartment on Monday, the 24th, I did manage to get out and about in the neighborhood on Tuesday to do a little shopping, walk around, have lunch at a lovely Greek place, journal, and do laundry. Had the post office track the package I sent to myself. It's about a week later than it should be to have been delivered--the post here says it's in the US, at my home station. Hope they keep it there 'til I get home!  Here are a couple of pics of the day:

Eglise Saint Medard across the street from where I sat

Cover of menu: Don't you love the name?

View down the little street to boulevard

Salad, hummus, pita, and OLIVES! (I'm learning to like some of them)

Overhead heaters were on, but it really wasn't cold enough for them!
And that was Tuesday.

Wednesday, the 26th, was the first big event of the week. I took my first bus ride to Gare Montparnasse where I got on a Metro that took me to the stop near the Musee Rodin. I met Sylviane there and we had a magnificent day. Oh my! I do SO love Rodin's sculptures, but I also realized I like his paintings. Didn't even know he painted, but the museum had several of his works there. The biggest thing I appreciated about the museum was seeing so many of the works' early phases--first models that he worked with to get to his final renderings. I was educated and totally interested! The hotel/home that is now the museum is right next to Les Invalides, so some of my photos show the gold tower of that edifice. I'm probably boring you with too many shots of the day, but I have to give you a sample of what delightful works were there:

The Thinker (La Penseur) was outside with Les Invalides behind. Beautiful!

I took many shots of "The Kiss," found the 360-degree views so wonderful to see!

Can't remember the title of this one, but Rodin was passionate about the human body and its movements
I was entranced by this female Centaur--as shown in the two photos above.




Famous "Gates of Hell" from Dante's Inferno

A closeup of part of  "The Burghers of Calais" showing the key to the city held by one of them.
Click on link for story, it's amazing.

Aphrodite

Sylviane and I in front of the pond behind the museum out in the sculpture garden

A young artist friend of Rodin's 




After spending quite some time at the museum, Sylviane and I walked around the 7th Arrondissement and found a lovely spot for lunch.  I insisted that I buy since she had been doing so much for me and had even brought me a lovely makeup bag and decorative plate that day as gifts!
Eggplant, mushroom, and tomato pizza!
After lunch, we stopped in at Bon Marche (another amazing high-end department store in Paris), and found a Metro station where we said our good-byes. (We hope to dine together once more before I return home.)

Insides of Bon Marche
I took the Metro towards home and stopped at Jussieu station where I emerged into the light to stop at a favorite cafe for a Coke Zero, some journaling, and some reflection on the day before walking home.

Me, with pen and Coke!

Spent a quiet 27th and prepped for my big night out on Friday the 28th, for that was the day I had ticket to see "Decadance," a ballet at the Palais Garnier Opera House. I was to be accompanied by JoAnn Blodgett, a colleague of mine from the ancient days of NOSC before I went to Texas.  We realized we were both going to be in Paris at the same time and made these plans months in advance.

We met at 1700 (5 pm) with only a little anxiety--I had asked JoAnn to walk to Gare Montparnasse bus area (her hotel was near) and it was new for her--so it took us a little while to actually find one another!  But we did. And we rode the Metro together to Opera station. The Metro is directly in front of the Opera House, but I wasn't sure where the restaurant was where we had made reservations. We only walked in the wrong direction for a block or two before figuring out it was located just 1/2 block away from Metro where we had emerged. Oh well. We made our reservation at Grand Cafe Capucines just fine and both decided to have their formula dinner where you pick from a select group of items, but get a full dinner for one price. Each of us ordered the formula composed of an aperitif (Kir), 1/2 bottle of wine (I had white; J had red), an appetizer (we both had a marvelous spinach ravioli), a main course (I had bass; she had steak), dessert (I had tiramisu; can't remember what she had), and coffee (neither of us did this--we were running late)!  The price? About $60 each.  It was amazing!
Reservation confirmed

Lovely JoAnn

Restaurant was covered with gold material and red/gold lights
Lucky for us, the Palais Garnier was close by.  We entered, we were amazed, we got to our seats, we enjoyed the production of Decadance, and we left. Seriously, the interior of the building is amazing, but it was filled with people everywhere. I had trouble even using the handrail to climb the steps because so many people were posing for photos. I took what I could, but they are far from adequate to show the beauty.  

Our seats were in a little box that held about 10 people. Once we were in, we were in. The door allowed exit, but no re-entrance unless you had an usher there, and they were scarce. I read that the theater was build so that people could be seen, not so that the people could see the stage!

The production had no intermission and lasted about an hour and a half, so there was no need to leave. Vision of the stage was terrible, but I could see most of it if I stood up near the rear of the box, so that's what I did. I have included a couple of links above for you to get more info about the production and the Opera House; but here's what I took and can share. It was a magical performance! Intense, completely confusing as to what the symbolism was, but still wonderful. After the production, we took more photos and exited to the street. I enjoyed a safe cab ride home with a lovely cabbie with whom I chatted as best I could. Got a phenomenal view of Notre Dame at night during the ride.



Marc Chagall ceiling

Canvas curtain painted to look like velvet!

One of dozens of beautiful columns

JoAnn and I in our seats

The beginning...

One of the curtain calls showing the full cast! There were about 30 dancers!

Photos of interior taken after performance

Marble floors and columns

More incredible ceilings

Fireplace of old

Plaque noting those who died for France from 1914-1919

The shot of Notre Dame that I love! (from the cab!)

A befitting end to this blog post.


























Monday, September 24, 2018

My Paris Pilgrimage #8

Number 8 was missing; please go to #12--it's the right one for today.

It appears that I started this blog, but then started another!  I"m going to post this just so that the numbering is correct.  But, the list has it out of order.  C'est dommage!

Here are a few things for you to ponder so your visit isn't wasted:








My Paris Pilgrimage #12

La Famille Cercley (& a little techno)

It's currently Monday, 24 September, and my rendezvous with my dear friends, the Cercleys, is in the past.

As I mentioned in Friday's post, I took the train that afternoon from Gare de Lyon here in Paris (only a couple kilometers from my house) to Boussy-Saint-Antoine, the train station near the little village of Tivery, where many of the Cercleys now live. In fact, Guy and his wife, Noelle, live only around the corner from Alain and his wife, Patricia.  Guy's children, Franck and Carole (with her three daughters) live just a few blocks away--Franck in one direction; Carole in another.

Claude and Jean-Marie (JM) don't live close at all.  Claude and his wife, Danielle, live in the south of France, perhaps a day''s drive from Guy, and JM lives with his wife, Vicky, in Sacramento, CA (a day's drive from me!).

So, my train trip to Tivery was a little challenging...Gare de Lyon is HUGE, and although signage is there, somehow I didn't quite figure it all out. The RER trains are lettered, A through M or N, and each uses a separate track on different levels. I needed to take the D2 train toward Melun, but the train I found going in that direction didn't show Boussy-Saint-Antoine on the route!  Naturally, no one was around for me to ask and the people getting on and off the trains were all in a hurry (it was 3:30-4 pm on a Friday--rush hour!) and not exactly worried about the confused American walking in circles going from platform to platform and up and down stairs and escalators trying to find her way.

After about 20 minutes of trying to figure it out myself, I finally left the track area and returned to where the ticket booths are and managed to find someone who spoke enough English to help me. Seems there are short trains (locals) and long trains (express). Both are D trains that go toward Melun. But only the short train stops at Boussy-Saint-Antoine. Of course, by leaving the track area, the electronic turnstiles thought my ticket had been used and wouldn't let me back in, so I had to buy a second ticket. Luckily, the ticket was only about $2.50!

On the train for only about 30 minutes, I disembarked onto the platform in a tranquil, sleepy area of the country that was extremely rural, despite being only a 30-minute train ride from the center of Paris!  Here's a pic of the Gare de Lyon (from the day I went to Disneyland) and a pic of the station in the country where Guy picked me up.

Sleepy village station
Gare de Lyon (first level only--it has 4!)
Guy took my small wheeled cart and we drove the 10-15 minutes from the station to his home in Tivery.

Turns out I was quite near the same area that Sylviane took me last Thursday! Tivery is too small to show on the map, but I've put a purple dot in the basic location of their village.  Guy says they have 3000 now; in 1983 when they moved there, it only had 300!
General area of Tivery
The next 24 hours were filled with wine, food, conversation, hugs, bissoux (kisses), laughter, and reminiscences of the past 65 years! I am overwhelmed by the love I felt from each one of these wonderful people. Truly felt like one of the family.

NOTE: I don't know if you all know the basic history of our families--from 1953 until 1956, the small Garland family (mine) lived next door to the Cercley family (who eventually had 5 sons!) in the town of Pt. Lyautey (now Kenitra), Morocco.  My father was stationed there at a French/American air base and we lived in the village rather than on base. The relationship that started between my parents and Maurice and Hughette (Guy's parents) continues through their children to this day--across miles, time, and language!

So, my visit began with a glass of port and olives, fresh cherry tomatoes, hummus, and tapenade appetizers. Soon thereafter, Franck Cercley arrived.  Franck is a flight attendant for Air France, and is Guy & Noelle's son. His older sister, Carole, has three daughters, Elina (17), Loane (15), and Ambre (13). Carole and the girls arrived in a flurry of activity--teenage girls the world over are alike! They were giggly, beautiful, chatty, and on their phones most of the time!  Two of the three spoke English, but they were too shy to speak it with me at first--later, they tentatively asked questions in English of me, and I told them I wouldn't judge their English if they didn't laugh at my French!

A bit later, Alain arrived.  Alain is the youngest of the remaining four brothers (the 5th son, Patrick Tom [named after my father, Thomas; and my brother Robert Maurice is named after their father] died about 12 years ago--but I'm not sure how). Alain is married to Patricia, but she could not join us Friday evening since she was babysitting her grandchild.

Well, it's difficult to share all that we spoke about, and most of it was family stuff, yet it was all wonderful. My comprehension and speaking ability improved with each glass of champagne! Or so it seemed to me!  With all those people, I still managed to keep up fairly well. I'm sure spending a couple of days with Sylviane before this trip helped!

So, the hours passed and we managed to get a couple of group photos...

Noelle, Elina, Ambre, Carole, Loane, and Guy

Elina, Carole, Ambre, Noelle, Me, Guy, Loane, Alain, Franck
One by one, the family left...first Carole and the girls, then Alain, then Franck. And, yet, the evening was not over! Noelle served dinner at 2230 (10:30 pm)!  With apologies that it wasn't much, she served an incredible potato/carrot soup, salad, cheese, salami, and bread. With more wine, of course! I passed on the dessert and coffee, and managed to only eat a few bites of the food offered. I did, however, eat the whole bowl of soup. It was delicious!

I fell into bed exhausted and slept like the dead until 0900 the next morning!  That's extremely late for me--but the room had blackout drapes and I was one exhausted, but extremely happy woman!

Saturday morning Noelle had to go out for a doctor appointment and do some shopping (for our dinner it turned out). Guy and I had a light breakfast and took a walk around a lake that was practically in his backyard! Afterwards, we stopped at the house for a brief drink of water then walked into the village to buy bread. Here are some various pictures of the lake, the village, and their home.

The Tivery Lake

Wooded path into the village

A street in the village

Gates to Le Cenacle, a Chemin Neuf Community

Street sign showing Community of Tigery

Lovely cobblestone streets
Noelle's living room

Noelle's kitchen
After strolling through the town (where we ran into the mayor and I was introduced), we stopped at Alain and Patricia's house so I could chat with her since she had missed the events of the evening past:

Patricia and Guy
Upon our return to Guy's, Noelle was home and fixing our midday meal. I was ordered out of the kitchen to the living room where we once again had snacks (delicious garbanzo beans in olive oil, garlic, and cumin) and port.

We sat down to eat in the kitchen (with apologies again from Noelle that we weren't in the dining room! I was much happier that she didn't go to the trouble of setting things up in the DR.)  The meal began with a lovely beet salad, main course of barely cooked (just as I like it) beef filet mignon, fresh haricots verts (green beans), cheese, and cooked pears in chocolate sauce for dessert!  OH MY.

Eating in France has certainly been a joy! We all sat around after dinner enjoying the coma-like trances we were in, but I knew that I needed to go back to the city...so at about 1630, Noelle and Guy brought me back to the little train station near Tivery.

I had my return trip all planned out. Easy peasy.  I was tired and knew that I could disembark at Gare de Lyon and grab a cab to my doorstep and make my way upstairs.  I'd be home by 1730 or 1800 at the latest.  Or so I thought.

Train trip was uneventful. It did take me a while to find the right exit where the cab stand was, but I finally did so, only to be told by the driver that he could not take me home!  Apparently, all the streets in my neighborhood were closed for a huge TECHNO PARADE!  I had no way to get home but to walk through thousands of youthful, crazy, dancing, happy, drunk, and loud people to the beat of the clamor of TECHNO music.  

It was a bit disarming at first, but I had no choice if I wanted to get home. So, I clutched my purse close to my body and pulled my little cart behind me and wended the 1.5 miles home without mishap, but with a few visions that I didn't need to see! Seems like relieving oneself in the streets is quite acceptable in Paris--I saw men and women peeing along walls, squatting (women) over curbs, etc., to relieve themselves.  Many folks were quite inebriated, and the array of scooters, bicycles, unicycles, in-line skates, and many other forms of non-car transport were everywhere!

Here's a video I took once I got to the side street that led to my house, so it's not quite as chaotic as it was along the Boulevard L'hopital where I had walked through to get there:



Good news: It was about 1900, but I made it safely. And in retrospect, I'm kinda glad I had the experience! It was certainly nothing that I would choose to do...and it probably wasn't much different than a huge street fair in San Diego or the crazy St. Patrick Day Parades I would join when I was much younger.  But, for me, at 70, a little trepidation did creep in; yet I just kept on walking and pushing through the crowds and navigating through the throngs of people. It seemed as if everyone in Paris between the ages of 15 and 30 was on that street. And, maybe they were.

And, that, dear friends, was my weekend.  I spent Sunday "en repose" as the French would say, and now I have nine days left in my journey.  Wonder what will come next?


Linda O

Linda O
Glamorous Me