Little House on the (French) Prairie

Monday, September 30, 2013

Again last night, something strange.  The sky never got dark, only turned an orange hazy color.  It was really weird.  We had breakfast at the hotel with Margaret & Colin then hailed a taxi for our trip to Gare de Lyon.  So sad to say goodbye to such good friends.  We had such a great time and having them with us made Edinburgh & Paris so very special.  Thank you, guys, for making such a special effort to join us AND to surprise me completely.

The taxi ride was fun with a taxi driver that spoke only a bit of English and loved to hang his head out the window and read the signs in the store windows, it seemed, but he was VERY nice and we did communicate that we were going to Aix and he said that we would love it.  The Gare de Lyon station was nice but here again we have police and gendarme with the big guns again, which should make you feel safe but they scare me.  But they do deter the pickpockets. 

For the first time this trip I got a scare.  I haul around 2 pieces of luggage and poor Ray drags around 4, so when I saw the platform number for our train we gathered our things and I walked ahead as I always do, keeping an eye on Ray every few seconds.  SOMEHOW this time, he got ahead of me and when I turned around, he was no where to be seen behind or in front of me.  Flashing through my head is that he has all the tickets and passports and money and most of the luggage and I am standing at Platform C with no idea where he has gone.  I waited and waited, thinking he may have gone to the wrong train and is sitting there now headed to who knows where without me, then decided I should go down to the Coach we are booked on and what do you know, there he is, showing our tickets to the conductor and he has no idea where I am.  But it all worked out, thankfully, and I am not stuck in Paris with no where to stay.

The TGV trains are so very fast!  They regularly run at 200mph!!!  It made cars on the highway look as though they are standing still and everything nearer than that a blur.  The whole world just whizzes by.  The world of Southern France is certainly different as we have seen on past trips.  The houses are pinkish colored stone with tile roofs—very pretty Mediterranean style.  Vineyards abound.  Rocky outcroppings with fort-like structures sit atop & crazily on the edges of some of the lower ones.  Tall mountains on the horizons, which I assume to the east are the foothills of the Alps.  In one spot, I saw three castles/forts all in one area, each on its hilltop.  The train stopped in Avignon then went on to Aix-en-Provence (pronounced ex-awn-provahns, no matter how much Ray wants to pronounce it OX-in-province) where we easily took care of getting our rental car and sort of easily found the hotel.  We are here for 6 nights, so it’s time to do laundry again and get ourselves oriented to the area.  Need to find Laundromat, store for supplies and groceries, and restaurants to eat at.

Then we’ll think about what we’ll do tomorrow after we check the weather.  I know one thing for sure though—the way Ray’s eyes lit up when he saw that this hotel has a pool tells me a relaxing swim is in his near future.  It is so much warmer here than anywhere else we’ve been on this trip.  I am so glad I opted for lighter shirts AND for bringing along a pair of sandals.  AND we are seeing something very rare up above, at least for this trip—blue skies.

We found our way to the Carrefour store, which is in effect a Super Super WalMart.  It’s huge.  We bought ourselves a coffeemaker for 9 Euros so that Ray can have soup and I can have café au lait or chocolat chaud (hot chocolate) in the room.  Also a little bag of mini abricot beignets (mini apricot filled doughnuts)!  I think I’m set for the evening.  Ray has gone to walk around to find one of the two Laundromats reception told him about.  Hopefully he finds his way back. 

I’m blogging and watching Friends in French—you wouldn’t believe the voices they have for Phoebe and  Monica and Ross--ridiculous.   They are totally different characters with these voices!  Especially Phoebe who sounds Japanese! And in the clip below, so does Rachel.  I don't understand what they are saying, but it is still funny because of the voices.

Here are some clips for your entertainment--

 

Little House on the Prairie--with a French "Pa" laugh:

 

Will try to get a better Phoebe clip (I did this one with the sound too low, but turn up the volume and you can see what I mean:

 

It just doesn't translate well:

 

Classic Rachel & Ross scene, but it's lost something in my opinion:

 

 

Café Luna:

View from OUR hotel window--Sacre Coeur & Moulin (windmill):

The night watch cat making morning rounds in the cemetery:

View from near our hotel:

Lost in Montmartre

Sunday, September 29^th, 2013

First of all, I have to say WOW.  Georgia beat LSU in the game yesterday but evidently it was a slugfest with a final score of 44 to 41.  Would have probably had a heart attack if I’d watched.  Go dogs!!!

The oddest thing happened last night.  While I was sitting here in Paris at the window doing my blog, I look across the cemetery and past the trees and over to the tall buildings on a hill just to the other side of the trees.  There are lots and lots of flats there that are white colored with gray roofs, but there is one building that looks as though it may be red or brick-colored and only wide enough for 1 or two flats.  On the roof of that building last night at midnight, there were strange things going on up on the roof.  It was as if the entire roof turned into a TV screen or billboard and it was flashing what could’ve been words or pictures or something up into the air.  The words would light up then part of them would flash then stay on for a second then go off and come back on again.  All yellowish-white lights but it seems as if someone were flashing messages into space!  It was fascinating.  This roof is SO high up and at an angle that NO ONE on the ground could see this.  Possibly only me and the aliens were getting the message.  I will try to get a video of it tonight.

Oh, and I’m not sure what’s going on—and it can’t be for the silly reasons I’ve come up with—but the sound on the videos I’ve put on the blog is not working and the videos that worked before are not working now, so maybe it will fix itself.  If not, I will try to reload them later. 

Five minutes later—Okay, I figured out what I have done with the movies I have uploaded.  I stupidly tried to up load them AS PHOTOS not as movies.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  I will now go back and redo them.  I guess I’m tired at the end of these long days.  I stupidly was thinking for a moment last night tht maybe it was because the language was different and once we got out of France they would work again??!!?!  How ridiculous. 

UPDATE:  all the incorrectly entered videos have been corrected except for two which I will do soon. 

So, for today, we decided to help Ray fulfill one of his bucket list items—getting to the top of the Eiffel Tower.  On past visits, the top level was closed due to winds, but today conditions were perfect.  He and Colin went to the top and Margaret and I went to the second level.  Our view was much better, I am sure, because the higher you went, the foggier the view was down below. 

Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, the Eiffel Tower has become the symbol for Paris.  The tower stands 1,063 ft tall, about the same height as an 81-floor building.

After crossing that off our list, we walked towards the Bir-Hakeim Metro station and on the way Colin suggested we have a bite to eat at this café—Bistrot Eiffel Café--that turned out to be one of my very favorite experiences ever.  It had the prettiest colorful chairs.  We were greeted by a waiter that I knew instantly would be fun.  He joked around with us the entire time and did silly things and made this dining experience a quintessential Parisien one.  I don’t think I’ve had so much fun in a long time.  The café was beautiful and the food was delicious, but still, it was the waiter that made it perfect.  After my omelette, I had a crepe with Miel and Chantilly—honey and exquisite cream.  While our waiter shooed away the wasps in a hilarious way, we enjoyed our meal at the corner table in the sidewalk café near the Eiffel.  I will never forget it.

We then found the station and headed for Le Sacre-Coeur, but not before encountering the most irritating and annoying street games and supposed survey takers who talk to you while their mates pick your pockets.  The gendarme carrying the equivalent of AK47s near the tower were sending them away when they ran across them, but honestly, they were everywhere.  And on the train, we had an old lady who had a karaoke machine and sang then begged for money.  And that was BEFORE we got to Montmartre where again, the street games of “chance” and trying to take your money and the pickpockets and all kinds of craziness.  We took the funicular up the hill rather than climb the hundreds of steps.  Sacre Coeur was beautiful but no photos are allowed inside.  Maybe I can find some stock ones to upload.  It was beautiful with its tiny gold mosaic tiles making up the gorgeous ceiling and dome and side chapels.  Outside it sits high on a hill and is glaringly white and beautiful, built of Travertine stone.  Construction began in 1875 and was finished in 1914.

The Church of St. Peter of Montmartre sits right beside the Sacre Coeur.  This church is the location where vows were taken that led to the founding of the society of Jesus.  It was founded by St. Denis and was built on the site of a Roman temple and a 7th century Merovingian Church.  It was once a Benedictine nunnery and during the French Revolution, it was demolished and a tower was built upon its apse for sending arm, flag, and pole signals.  The last abbess of the nunnery was guillotined in 1794.  This church served as a resting place for pilgrims heading to Saint-Denis Basilica.  It is one of the oldest places of worship in Paris and still has pillars of Roman origin. 

We took photos outside of the Eiffel Tower then wound our way through the center of Montmartre—very crowded—and past windmills and back to the Montmartre Cemetery (Degas & Zola are buried here) and our hotel.  We passed by the Moulin de la Galette, which is a windmill and businesses situated near the top of the district of Montmartre in Paris.  It was built in 1622.  Since the 17th century the windmill has been known for more than just its milling capabilities. Nineteenth century owners and millers, the Debray family, made a brown bread, galette, which became popular and thus the name of the windmill and its businesses, which have included a famous guinguette and restaurant. In the 19th century, Le Moulin de la Galette, represented diversion for Parisians seeking entertainment, a glass of wine and bread made from flour ground by the windmill. Artists, such as Renoir, van Gogh, and Pissarro have immortalized Le Moulin de la Galette including Renoir's festive painting, Bal du moulin de la Galette.

Dinner was across the street and on the corner at Café Luna where we had a sweet little waitress.  And I tried some of Margaret’s Duck!  It was very tasty.  I had salmon and it was very good, especially the sauce.    What a great time we’ve had being in Paris with good friends.  Gonna miss them when we leave tomorrow. 

House in middle is the one with the alien message roof last night:

 

Pretty Paris street scenes and gorgeous buildings: 

 

First glimpse of the Eiffel Tower: 

 

 

 

It was almost like they were waiting for us!:

(actually a sign at the entrance warning that it was foggy at the top of the tower) 

Margaret on the 2nd level: 

 

Looking down: 

Le Sacre Coeur in the distance and fog:

 

 

Folly tower hidden in trees: 

 

 

These signs are everywhere, and rightly so:

 

Favorite Café: 

Crepes:

 

Favorite waiter:

 

 

 

Our wonderful waiter trying to save me from the wasps:

 

 

When I asked for the dessert menu, this is what he brought me:

 

Our table: 

Crowded streets of Montmartre:

 

Sacre Coeur: 

 

 

Church of St. Peter of Montmartre:

 

Eiffel Tower from Sacre Coeur area:

 

Interesting sign posted on side of old building--is that you, Cookie Monster?:

VERY crowded streets of central Montmartre:

 

Wandering around aimlessly while trying to capture the sounds of the music of Montmartre:

 

 

Macaroons: 

 

 

Moulin de la Galette:
(It looks like it is perched on top of a point, but that is so that it can turn in the wind)

 

 

 

 

Store that sells only lamps:

 

 

Montmartre Cemetery:

 

 

 

Eiffel Tower from in front of our hotel:

 

Windmill from Margaret & Colin's room: