Tango at the Troc & More

We didn't do our usual thing, go to the Trocadero first thing.  There was an illegal there Friday night so we went, 2birds/1stone.  There's a basic photographic problem at these milongas, discovered last year.  They start at 7pm, sunset is around 8:20pm.  This milonga added the problem of being overcast.  At 7pm there aren't very many dancers.  They show up between 8 & 8:30.  So, the better it gets, the darker it becomes.

With that in mind, here are some pics:

I took some pics of Susanne with  the Tower.  Immediately a man approached us & offered to take a shot of the two of us.  The light is still decent, the Tower dark.

It's later, more people & darker (Tower lights on) but doesn't seem so cuz I cheated by lightening the image.

This couple danced by but I didn't have the heart to zap them with flash, so it's available light only.  The tango folks here seem to like the fancy stuff.  They're difficult to tango with on a crowded floor.

The outdoor surface was gritty so there was a constant crackling noise from below.












Here's a video.  If you can't view it here, try THERE.

Old stairs, no longer in use.

Everything in Europe is compact, shipping carts included.  The metal ones are smaller; I'm not a fan of the huge carts at Safeway.  Here's a compact version at Carrefour.  The red basket has a handle & can be carried or locked into the cart frame.  There's a place on the bottom for a 2nd basket.

We are having dinner at a friend's apartment tonight and bringing the wine.  We did not select from the French version of two buck Chuck.  We bought a St. Emilion instead.








Place des Voges is the oldest square in Paris.  A short walk from the apartment, it was built by good King Henry IV started in 1605 & took 7 years.   Here are some shots.

This is the north side, the larger building is the Queen's Pavilion.  The King's is way over on the opposite side.  French kings preferred living apart from their queens.  Hmmmm.

 

The center of the square has several fountains.

I tried to lighten the above shot to get more building detail but then I lost the cloud detail.  So...clouds & silhouette. 

While at Place des Voges, we came upon a group of crazy Frenchmen including the self named "Chico" (Chico Marx? How does he know about the Marx Brothers?).  After joyous greetings & lining up for a photograph, he planted a lipstick laden smooch on Susanne while I was fumbling with the camera, but I got the one when she returned the favor.

   


Several hours later at Place de la Bastille as we were on our way to the apartment, we ran into them again (Oh, gawd!!) & it was old home week.  The poor lady in the middle had nothing to do with this.  She was just standing there making a phone call and good-naturedly got roped into the photo.   The crazy French!!

Lute Man's kid brother on the Bastille column.













 

You know those circus clowns in long baggy pants and on stilts that seem to move effortlessly?   Now you know their secret...the right equipment, lessons & practice.

Why we love the Bastille; you never know what you're going to stumble upon.
    









Today, Sunday we are going to Montparnasse to meet up for lunch with an old friend from the Navigator program at Sky Harbor Airport.  She joined us for lunch with Father McCarthy last year.  We have a tentative lunch with him next week, waiting for him to confirm.  As vicar of the Madeleine church, he has to work weekends.  Bummer.

I'm doing better with my French than I expected.  This year I shoved embarrassment aside & just dove right in with promising results.  I seem to know more French & the French know more English.  I'm getting a better understanding of what it means to be fluent.  Instead of constructing a sentence ahead of time, then speaking it, the words that are needed just come to me exactly when I want to speak them.  That's happening to me with my limited vocabulary.  I know more than I think I know & I'm approaching fluency with my limited words but I still lack verb power.  To achieve true fluency, all I need is the will to expend the time to learn & practice.  With my schedule that I have no desire to change, that's probably not going to happen.