Misc. Bits & Pieces (Last Blog from Paris)

This is my last post from Paris. Today is our last full day...gots to pack. Tomorrow at 6am it's off to the airport. This next item was written a few days ago.



It's always nice to run into a fellow Yank, especially if he's up on a pedestal.

Don't recognize him cuz the photo is too small?


















Here's what's on the pedestal.

A bit more info on it:

http://www.coolstuffinparis.com/george_washington_in_paris.php






We did this visit very differently than previously. This time we pretty much just hung out. It is really a vacation. We've often said that being retired, it's all vacation but it turns out that's not entirely true. Back home, it's yoga three time a week, the airport every Wednesday afternoon, the Obama campaign & Susanne has a regular weekly hospice patient. Other than a small bit of my court appointed advocate work by email, we've been free to do nothing or everything or something in between. We've done much more walking.

We like it this way. It's not for everyone.

It looks as if Susanne won't be doing a blog post. She prefers to upload the pics to her Facebook page.

Yesterday I went to the Army museum, didn't take the camera. It's about 90% in French, you can get an audio guide but with literally thousands of individual items, I don't have the patience. So I'll write about it. The Army Museum really comes in two parts. One is LGF's Tomb. Very impressive, saw it a few years ago. Not compelling to return to, he doesn't move around much.

The military side of the Army museum has been redone, the Middle Ages exhibit is not interesting to me. Dozens & dozens of full suits of armor...they all seem to blend. Same with the very early, very ornate flintlock muskets.

Years ago, there was an exhibit of the evolution of firearms with a very long row of display cases showing muskets/rifles in chronological order was interesting to me. As I walked down the line I could see the various innovations (flintlock to ball & cap, ball to rifled projectile, bolt action to automatic) & when they occurred. This exhibit is now gone, darn it.

Two portraits of LGF were interesting to me, missed having my camera. The first was in 1804, at the height of his power. There he was in all his grandeur, ermine robe, scepter, the lot.

Later on, another done in 1812. By then he had been through a lot. There he sat, somewhat wistful, a bit hunched over...the wind taken out of his sails.

Two displays interested me.

The first was a description of the Battle of Agincourt, in October, 1415. Shakespeare's "Henry V, Part 2" is about this battle. It's where the term "band of brothers" comes from.

Hank5 wanted to take his troops back to an English held part of France to sit out the winter. The French decided to intercept him & finish him off once & for all. They assembled a much larger force than Hank5 & lined up. Three rows of French against two rows of English. They had many armored, mounted knights, Hank5 had only a few.

The English countered by having pointed, slanted stakes driven into the ground at horse height to slow the mounted units.

More importantly, the French did not allow for a recent weapon development that was considered the most effective & devastating weapon of the time...the English long bow.

Hank5 had his archers send waves & waves of arrows into the French with ruinous effect. The French were helpless because there were no weapons they could use to counter. Hank5 won the day.

When examining the French war strategy of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, WW1 & WW2, it has been said that the French fight wars with technology & strategy one war behind. I didn't realize it went all the way back to 1415.

Fast forward to the World War II exhibit. This is fascinating because the French role in WW2 was minimal. The French Army folded so rapidly, even Hitler was surprised. Here's an indicator. Hitler marched into Poland on Sept. 1, 1939. After rapidly defeating Poland, he turned his attention to France. He moved so quickly that by April 18, 1940 (just over 8 months later), he posed for a photo at the Trocadero with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

The United States did not enter WW2 until Dec. 7, 1941. So for four months of 1939, all of 1940 & all of 1941, the British were absolutely alone against the greatest war machine of the time. I don't think we really appreciate that.

Remember in a previous post I mentioned the French fleet being scuttled in Toulon in 1942? More history here. The French admiral in charge of the fleet had orders to sail for Algeria, to take the fleet out of danger. He refused to obey. As a result 90 French warships of all kinds & sizes were scuttled. Ninety friggin' ships!! Can you imagine what those ships could've done in 1942 to clear the North Atlantic of U-boats? Ike must've been furious.

Enough history.

Last night we invited friends to dinner at A La Biche au Bois ("A doe in the woods"; features game, duck/venison as part of their menu), our all time favorite restaurant in Paris. For 29.80 euros (about US$39.00 including tax/tip), you have a four course meal...appetizer, main course, cheese & dessert. Lots of choices. Drinks are extra, we had two bottles of wine.



Among the main dishes chosen were lamb chops, coq au vin (chicken in wine), steak. Note the mound of fries.

These folks are our French family.















Here's the cheese tray. You point to the cheeses you want, indicate how much & they're yours. But by this time you've had two courses with dessert yet to come, so going all out isn't realistic.











OK, dear blog reader, that's it from Paris. We've had a super time. Old friends, new friends, old places, new places. There are other shots to post & things to write about but our life goes into high gear immediately upon our return so I'm not sure I'll get to them.

Thanks for hanging around!!!

All About Food

OK, here's the blog exclusively about food. Apologies in advance for the spacing and how some of the captions aren't quite lined up with the photo. This blog platform continues to drive me crazy.



Raclette at the apartment of Robert (French, a retired dentist) & Sandy (American) who divide their time between Paris & Scottsdale. Raclette is a cheese that's heated in small containers below, then eaten with potatoes kept warm above. Along with cornichons (pickles) mushrooms & other goodies. The wine, Fendant (a Swiss white) is on a table out of the photo.









One of the great French words to learn & practice is the noun "partager" (pronounced pahr-tuh-zhay') meaning "to share". Here, on the run we bought a tuna & veggie sandwich & a Fanta citron. Cost: 5 euros, about $6.50














Then a couple of blocks away we bought another pavot, the poppy-seed filled pastry, for dessert. 3 euros, about $3.80. Not bad for a light lunch for two.


















One of our must-eat meals in Paris is moules et frites, mussels & fries at Leon des Bruxelles just down the block from our apt. Add some beer & that's livin', man.







About halfway thru the moules, the broth becomes accessible. Garlic, tomatoes, black olives, cream & white wine. A made-for-dunking combination if there ever was one.














All vegetables & fruits sold in France must be labelled with country of origin. One of the pluses of coming late in the summer is that the harvest is in, so everything is locally France








Another must-do meal is lunch at our favorite lunch-place on the Left Bank at Le Petit St. Benoit, one of the older restaurants in Paris, opened in 1901. The weather was lovely, so we ate outside for the first time. That's Susanne behind the woman in the sun.








We started by partager-ing a slice of pate along with a half liter of a sauvignon blanc. A half liter is 2/3 of a standard bottle of wine, just right for us.





















Susanne had beef bourguignon, I had a fish casolette. Both very good & quite rich.






















If you recall from last year, this is the restaurant where your order is written on the paper table cloth. At the end of the meal, the server tallies it up.

We had pate (4 euros), my cassolette, Susanne's beef bourg., & a half liter of white wine. Came to 40.50 euros all inclusive. A heavy lunch, so we had a light dinner.

















One evening we strolled up to Place de la Republic for some steak tartare.

We dug into the meal before I remembered to take a photo.

We had tartare, frites, & a larger than expected salade nicoise.

The salad had darn near everything...tomatoes, haricot verts (green beans), carrots, hearts of palm, artichokes & corn.

Topped of with a half liter of a red.

We had a wonderful waiter. He asked if we wanted to mix the tartare ourselves or have him do it. We chose him. When he served it, he said he put his heart into it. When we finished we told him it tasted as if he put his heart into it. Because of the kindness of the waiter, this was one of our more joyful meals.




One of our must-do activities is having a pizza dinner at Tony's with Salomon. He's the night desk clerk at our former hotel, have known him 13 years. He's Ethiopian & has wonderful stories to tell. A bit of an amateur philosopher.

Salomon had a three-meat pizza, Susanne, three-cheese with garlic & I had capers, anchovies & garlic with an egg in the middle (one of the pluses of a Paris pizza)




Egg on a pizza is very, very good.


Remember in an earlier post, Susanne & I had dinner at Tony's & reunited with Jimmy. Well, last week Wednesday, disaster struck Tony's. They had a major kitchen fire that closed the place until extensive repairs are done. So this dinner is at another place, not as good as Tony's, of course.

Salomon now has a girlfriend also Ethiopian, so next year we'll invite both for dinner.






Blog fatigue is setting in and we're nearing the end of our trip. It's processing the photos that take much of the time. So there will be fewer blogs with fewer pics.

Marine Museum

Paris has a museum devoted to the sea & its Navy. The glory days of the French Navy were over centuries ago & never matched the British with any consistency. But such details never stop the French from memorializing it.

And what's any historically based museum worth its salt without LGF?

















LGF made his own personal contribution by commissioning a personal barge. What with all his military campaigns & barges not being built overnight & his eventually being overthrown (twice), he never got to use it.

However, his nephew Naploeon III did. This history LGF to N3 is pretty convoluted. You'll have to seach it out for yourself.








Good King Henry IV is here. He built Place des Vosges, remember? He's one of my favorites.


























The museum is filled with scale models of these 17th & 18th century frigates, loaded really loaded with cannons. This one has three rows on both sides.















Here's close-up, a bit blurry (no tripod, sorry). Think of it...all these cannons, each manned by at least a 3-man crew. Piles of cannon balls & powder nearby. All this weighs tons & tons. And...the ship is completely dependent on the wind. This activity does not sound like fun.










Virtually all the models are shown with no sails. Here's one with full sail, gives you a better picture of what a complicated affair these old frigates are.

Those small sheets are ceremonial, not laundry.














Here is Poseidon's wife, a sea-goddess. Somehow she plays a role here. I posted this photo to son Jeff's Facebook page. We'll see how FB reacts.




















Here is a portrait of Le Compte de Toulouse, legitimate son (the description took pains to point that out) of Louis XIV at age 12.

He was portrayed at the precise moment that he was saying: "Daddy, could I have one of these for my Bar Mitzvah?"












There was a display of lighthouses & light house technology, the transition from bon fires to rotating lamps with fresnel lenses.






















Queen Victoria visited France in 1858.
Apparently it was a big deal. Again CNN was occupied elsewhere so we're dependent on an artist's rendering.

The huge frigate in the left is French. Has to be big, this is a French paining. The smaller frigate on the right is British, but as a visitor it is also flying the French tri-color. The cannons are firing a salute.


There's a tiny boat about a quarter up just to the right of center that carries the Queen. Detail in the next photo.

The Queen (in white) in her barge. That's Prince Albert beside her. Didn't he invent pipe tobacco?













Here's a shot of the museum's workshop, where they make or refurbish all these models.














Here are models of some of France's proud World War II fleet. Proud until November 27, 1942 when most of these extinguished ladies were scuttled in Toulon harbor to avoid them falling into the hands of the Nazis. (Sort of a self inflicted Pearl Harbor) They spent the rest of their days sitting on the harbor bottom until the end of the war, then sold for scrap.

The French military of the last 125 years or so does not have an illustrious history, starting with the Dreyfus Affair.





And here's a gander at models of their current modern fleet. Now why don't a couple of these bad boys mosey across the Mediterranean to Syria to sort out Al-Assad without anyone coming crying to the Americans?











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The Marine Museum is located in the Trocadero buildings, that wonderful vantage point across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower, completed in 1889. We had only seen it at night this trip until I took a few shots.




Here it is with all the fountains flowing.
















That total view gives you no appreciation how big this tower really is. Here's a telephoto shot of the base with the cars giving you some scale.

BIG!













Still feeling ambitious, I decided to walk along the Metro line towards the apartment. Metro lines often follow streets even though they're underground.

One of the plusses of walking the neighborhood of a major monument is that it pokes out to greet you in unexpected places. Here are a few shots.

















Another peek.





















It's getting late in the day, the sun went behind a cloud. So most of the day's color is gone. What the heck, let's get rid of it all.



















That's all for this post, folks!

Guerrilla Tango & a Sunday Afternoon Milonga

Guerrilla tango in the United States in an impromptu gathering of people dancing tango, usually in a public place with portable music. I guess you could also call it a tango flash mob.

They don't use this term in Paris. Dancing on public property requires a permit that takes weeks to obtain. Instead, the tangueros spread the word among themselves to gather at a certain public place where they dance until the end of the set time or until they are kicked out by the authorities, whichever occurs first. So they use the elegant term "milonga illégale".

We received word from Lydie, our newest tango friend in Paris, of an IM in front of the Musee d'Orsay that evening. So we went. We arrived around 7:30pm, it is still light but dusk is quickly approaching. There weren't alot of dancers then; they seemed to come out after dark.


That's a corner of the Musee d'Orsay on the right. It is a former railway station that was converted to a museum in the '80's & houses the largest collection of impressionist works in the world. After the Louvre, this is 2nd on most visitors' "must-see" list.











More tango.





















Susanne took this shot. That's Lydie & me off to the right.

















Here we are. This photo was taken from a video by the local tanguera & videographer, Debora.














,A close up with Lydie. Her job is to promote Paris & Paris exhibitions throughout the world. So she travels alot. Last week she was in Montreal for 10 days & tangoed 10 nights.


















Finally, here's a video of the scene. The music wasn't very loud for the outdoors so it's hard to hear. As I pan, you'll see Susanne in the background.

(I could not get this video to play in the compose or preview mode. So if it doesn't play in the web version, let it go. Blogger is driving me nuts.)



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On Saturday afternoon we went to a milonga in the neighborhood at Barrio Latino a very large dance hall & night club. Except it wasn't night but 4:30 in the afternoon.

The music was a mix of traditional & nuevo music. Very little of the traditional music was familiar to us. The crowd seemed to emphasize fancy, intricate moves.

The late afternoon sun was shining on the building across the street. That soft light reflected into the dance hall.


And finally, here's a video of a the last part of a milonga.

New Friends & Other Paris Stuff

One rule of travel is never miss a chance to make a new friend. Last year, just as we were finishing our lunch at the Foyer de Madeleine, (a lunch place in the basement of the Madeleine Church) a priest, Father Mc Carthy introduced himself to us. He was part of the Church here, but a Yank from Salem, Mass. (the state, folks). We chatted briefly, he gave us his business card & we parted.

Fast forward to early this August when I emailed the good Father suggesting we have lunch upon our return to Paris. LSS, here's a pic of four of us having dessert. The other lady is Laurie, a former Navigator volunteer at Sky Harbor Airport. She has a very long connection with Paris & spends her summers here, the other seasons in Scottsdale.

The Foyer is one of those off-the-beaten-track, non-touristy Paris places. It is a charity run by the Madeleine Church (food & supplies donated by businesses), womaned by kind, gentle, delightful elderly volunteers. For 5 euros, you buy an annual membership. Then for 8 euros you get the cheapest three-course meal in Paris. Nothing fancy, mind you. But very good. Laurie is a vegetarian; they were happy to accommodate her. Most of the customers are nearby office workers.

Father Mc Carthy is an interesting, interesting man. A priest surrounded by Jews. Since we have no theological connection with him, he can just be a regular guy with an interesting job. I think he liked that. He's been in Paris 11 years & loves it. He is the vicar of the Madeleine Church, 2nd in command after the pastor. Prior to that, he was chaplain at American Univ. in Washington, DC & Gallaudet Univ. (college for the deaf) also in DC. As a result of all this, not only is he fluent in English & French, but also fluent in both English & French sign languages.

He filled us in on snippets of church history. The building was built but the French govt. didn't know what to do with it. Making it a church was late in the game. Chopin's funeral (1849 if memory serves) was held here. When Hitler came to Paris, he pitched up at the church but the pastor refused him entry. So he left. I guess he was willing to mess with the whole earthly world not with God.

What we didn't know & were surprised to learn is that all churches built before 1905 (that would be most of them) belong not to the Church, but to the French government. Therefore entry by anyone is assured. Those long steps in front of the Madeleine always intimidated us. But no more. Gots to get over there to see the church.

It was raining that day, so unfortunately I couldn't take a shot of the front of the church without getting wet. It's the one that looks like the Parthenon. Also, Father McC had to run off to another appointment so no church tour this time.

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As mentioned above, the day dawned rainy & cooler. Rain comes in a number of flavors. There's the soaking wet downpour we got caught in in Montreal. No fun, fortunately that apartment had both a clothes washer & dryer. Then there's the steady rain. Still not alot of fun. And there's today, a light steady rain...wet but survivable; it changes the character of city & in a good way, actually.



Here's a shot of Opera Garnier, Paris' original opera house. Operas became so grand, they outgrew OG's stage so a new opera house was built at Bastille. The Parisians universally hate the architectural design of Opera Bastille, as it is called. OG now does mostly ballets.





Maybe seeing this in B&W captures the mood better.












For comparison, here's a late afternoon shot of the Bastille Opera behind the July Column. Does that look to you like a shrine to the fine art of opera?























In the same B&W vein, here's a shot in the opposite direction looking down the Avenue de l'Opera.










Graffiti as art. The figure is holding two paint cans & drawing a heart. Is he trying to cover the previous graffiti with love?





















For the life of me, I can't figure this one out. What would you title it? "Walking My Dog While My Other Dog is Walking Me"?

















As I mentioned at the beginning of our trip, blog fatigue tends to set in towards the end of the trip & I can feel it coming on. That makes them come less frequently. However, I'm several blogs ahead & will publish two of them today. Also we went to a sight that Susanne really wanted to see. She took photos & I'm encouraging her to blog about it.

Around Paris

First some housekeeping. I subscribe to this blog by email & also check it out on the web. The email version has lots of white space & the comments aren't well integrated to the relevant photo. Also, the video doesn't work in the email version. Sorry about all of this, that's not how it looks in the Preview mode which is supposed to be wysiswyg.

This trip is different because were are not rushing about trying to see sights. Instead we're truly hanging out...doing alot of walking.

About every 10 years or so we head back to the Museum of Eroticism. This is not a City of Paris enterprise but commercial venture set among the numerous sex shops of the seedy Pigalle district, home to the Moulin Rouge.

I maintain this blog as PG rated at most/worst, however you look at it. Since the museum is explicit to the extreme (You need to check your hang-ups at the door.), there's not alot I can show here.

If you want to venture into the land of OMG!!! for a bit, here's their website:


Here's the entrance to the museum. Nothing controversial here.





















The title of this whimsical piece is "Unexpected Visit"




















Back in the day when bordellos were legal (pre-1948), madams had business cards.

I'm sure at least one enterprising madam used the slogan "It's a business to do pleasure with you."

There is an entire floor of vintage
bordello scene photos.

It has been said that the marketing of software is very similar to prostitution. You have it. You sell it. But you still have it.

Fortunately, that's the extent of my bordello jokes.


Edgar Degas did some of his work depicting life in bordellos. It is not known if he did it purely as an artist or was also a participant.

Here is one of his tamer pieces.
















That's all folks. I could've shot hundreds of pics & published some here but then our returning home reception committee would be well armed with rotten tomatoes.

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If you're interested in the ultimate in economical self propelled 4-wheel transportation, you can try this small golf cart with roof & windows called "Twizy".














It's a single seat affair with a small (read "child") jump seat behind.

Great for a widow in Sun City with one grandchild, but that's about it.













Here it is in a showroom. It retails for about US$9,000.






















There is some sort of function opening this week concerning the President. It's within easy walking distance so we'll probably have a peek.

Note the French flag as the backdrop.

















Susanne on a bridge with a Bateau Mouche tour boat passing below.
















Metro musicians come in two flavors. First & most common are the musicians who play in the Metro passages. Because the walls & floors are very hard surfaces, you can hear them from along way off as their music reverberates throughout. Back in the early days, it was just the musician or musicians (mostly all male) & their instrument(s). But in the electronic age, they have pre-recorded rhythm sections adding depth to the music.

The open instrument case serves as the money repository.











Then there's the "I come to you" flavor who boards the Metro car & starts playing, along with his rhythm section, battery & money box on the small cart.

Most Parisians consider them a pain as I did for years. They seemed to disappear & I found I actually missed them. Then they started to return (maybe it's the hard times) & I was delighted.

I appreciate them not only for the familiar music they play but for two related reasons.

1. Hey, it's honest work!

2. Yes, they want a hand out but at least they're trying to earn it.

Often when I toss a few small coins in the box I feel I'm getting "Don't encourage him!" stares from the Parisians. Au contraire, mes amis!! That's exactly what I'm trying to do!