The Musee d'Archeologie Nationale 12-30-15

Today was our return trip out to St. Germaine-en-Laye, our first trip was to the atelier of Maurice Dennis.  When we went the first time we really enjoyed the town and we used the national archeological museum as an excuse to return.


It is housed in a chateau reconstructed by Francois I in 1539 repairing an earlier reconstruction by Charles V after the Black Prince burned it in 1347.  So it is pure Renaissance except for the chapel which was built as a prototype for Saint Chapel in Paris.  It was also the first resting place for the "Crown of Thorns" relic before that was moved to Saint Chapel.
The museum is not terribly large but it has marvelous exhibits of  relics from prehistory up through the middle ages.  It covers the cave art, paleolithic, bronze, and iron age eras with objects of art and domestic usage as well as weaponry.

One outstanding piece is considered to be the earliest portrait of a woman in existence, from 22000 bc, The "woman from Brassempouy".   Less than 2" tall it is exquisite.



 Each epoch grouped together so that a person can "walk" through history by moving from room to room.  It ends with a series of videos that highlight various digs that have been undertaken by the museum throughout France.

Two Days of Bridges 12-28,12-29-15

The last two days have been spent pursuing one of Deb's pet projects, that of walking across all the bridges in Paris.  There are reputed to be 37 bridges in Paris proper, but I'm sure it includes some metro/railway bridges.  Those can't be walked across without incurring some wrath on the part of the local authorities.  Up to two days ago we'd walked across almost all the bridges in the central area, although there are two yet to be conquered.   But we also had a passel of them out on the edges waiting for us to wander across, so yesterday and the day before we made it a priority.   There were a couple of other attractions for us that were conveniently close to the areas, so we decided to visit them and make a tour of the bridges close by.

On Monday we went to an area in the southeast corner called Bercy, to a series of reclaimed wine warehouse buildings that have been converted into shops and restaurants, it's quite charming if somewhat devoid of the feel of the wine warehouses.  
And somewhat like Larimer Square in Denver it's surrounded by modern buildings.  It does have some relief in the form of a park directly to the north which gives some green space on one edge.  So we wandered through the village and into the park. About mid-park a street leading to one of the unconquered bridges crosses the park and the Seine so we exited and walked across the bridge.  
The Pont de Tolbiac is a modern bridge without much character but that's not the point. From there we walked in a little green space next to the river up to the Pont Simone de Beauvoir.  This green space borders the Bibliotheque Nationale de France which consists of four large towers surrounding a sunken courtyard.  It is quite controversial due to it's architecture and is either loved or hated by the Parisians, no middle ground.  
At the northern end of the bibliotheque is the pont Simone de Beauvoir and it is a beautiful pedestrian bridge, much like a braided strand it has an interwoven span that allows one to walk to either from quay to quay or from the raised edge of the plaza of the bibliotheque to an embankment above the roadway next to the Seine. Or you can walk from the lower to higher or vice versa, it is one of the most beautiful bridges in Paris in my opinion. So we walked across it twice, lower to upper and then upper to lower.

Again we walked along the quay down the Seine to the Pont de Bercy.  It is a combination bridge allowing cars and pedestrians as well as an elevated train bridge across the river, done in a partial Romanesque style it is also a lovely bridge.   
It was getting later in the day when we crossed so we didn't pause too much but pushed on down the river along the opposite quay to the Pont Charles De Gaulle another modern bridge modern but without much visual charm.  That put an end to our day and we caught our Metro back to the apartment.

Yesterday, Tuesday, I had a dentist appointment that took us up into the northwest of town to the 17th arr. After the appointment we decided that we would notch up some of the bridges in the south west of the city which were as yet un-defiled.  But first we took time to go for lunch at a restaurant we had found a few months back near the dentist office.  Coincidentally it is near an apartment which we used during one of our exchanges several years ago.  It is called la p'tite Cuisine, on rue Poncelet and it is definitely a keeper.  Both Deb and I had salads for a first course, very fresh and palate cleansing, followed by a blanquette de veau for Deb, while I had a risotto with crevettes and cepes. After our first visit we agreed we should come back and this second visit only reaffirmed our decision, it was delicious.  We shared a pichet of white wine from Quincey which matched delightfully with our dishes.

Following lunch we walked through the 16th arr. down to Place du Trocadero opposite the Tour Eiffel.  It was a madhouse!  It was almost as crowded as if it were summer, I kind of forgot that it's the Christmas break and people from everywhere must have descended on Paris for the holidays. Hard to reconcile the two distinctly different scenes I've recently observed, right after the attacks here in November, there were less than 100 people below the tower and today there must have been close to 1000, like summer.   Luckily our goal was to walk across the Pont d'Iena which is what we did and then took a hard right away from the crush of people and along the quay.  We saw a minimum of ten 3-cup shell games going and people were being fleeced like lambs while the shills watched for the flics.  
We in the meantime walked down to the Pont Bir-Hakeim, it is another of the older bridges that were created to accommodate cars, pedestrians, and trains on an elevated track again a visually lovely bridge.  
We walked across and then turned around and walked halfway back on the opposite side of the bridge to a stairway leading down to an island in the middle of  the river.  
It is called the Allee des Cygnes, and it is basically a build up barrier separating the left from the right bank of the Seine, likely to facilitate barge traffic.  But down the middle of it is a paved walkway that goes from the Pont Bir-Hakeim to the Pont de Grenelle.  Probably about a quarter mile long it with at it's lower end one of the scale models of the statue of Liberty, which in full scale also graces New York harbor.  We walked along the allee then sat and watched the barges and Bateaux Mouches plying their way along the river.  
We spent a few minutes admiring the statue of Liberty then caught the bus back for the apartment.

So we managed 6 new bridges in the last two days and it leaves us with less than 5 to reach Deb's goal of walking them all.

An Evening with Good Friends 12-27-15

Today was another lovely December day and we didn't waste it.  We have friends coming over in the evening, Woody and Georgia Garnsey.  They are over in Paris with their family; children and grand-children, seeing the best that Paris has to offer at the Christmas season.  But tonight we get them all to ourselves.
We'd been shopping a couple days ago in preparation so Deb's menu didn't require her to go all out in the kitchen preparing something exotic.  Instead we decided that many small offerings would be more suited to the occasion.  A kind of Paris tapas buffet, with many of the treasures of the 19th that are not apparent to citizens of the other arrondissements.   Although, we were in a bicycle shop a few days ago and talking with a young floor person and he mentioned that he lives up here, quite close actually.  So he knew about our cheese shop and some of the other attractions of the area.
But I digress, earlier in the day we left the apartment and walked over to the Parc des Buttes Chaumont to get a little sunshine, fresh air, and exercise.  We took books and read for a while then finished up with a walk around the perimeter of the park.  We know our north end of the park pretty well and even the middle, but we'd never really walked all the way to the southern borders of the park.
  It was very interesting in that there are two buttes (amazing) in the southeastern corner that may actually be the highest points in the park.  They are hidden somewhat by the trees and the curvature of the eastern border.  From the tops there are some very nice views of the city between some of the high buildings, for example Sacre Coeur and the top of the Eiffel Tower.
On the way around we came across some wild parrots roosting in our trees, until today we've only seen them in the forest and down at the south edge of the city.

Getting back to the apartment around 3:00 we (read Deb) finished preparations for our guests, who were due at 5:00.   I walked over to the Metro entrance to meet them and within probably 3 minutes of my arrival they came popping out of the entrance, perfect timing.
We walked back to the apartment to a beautifully presented table thanks to Deb.  After a champagne aperitif and we set to work on the goodies.  Cheeses, escargot, sausages, foie gras, did I mentions champagne?, olives, pates, and cornichons it went on that way for a couple hours with great conversation and many laughs.  Great conversation about previous trials and triumphs in our various travels and towards the end some of the unassuming french dessert treats, macarons, and a frozen buche de noel.  We finished with just a drop of the Armagnac, Calvados, and Angelique (like green Chartreuse).  About 10:30 we all hit the wall, so I walked them back to the Metro and we made plans to meet again in Denver when we return.   Such a satisfying day for us, thanks Woody and Georgia you helped make our holiday season complete.

Boxing Day 12-26-15

Quite a lovely day today, we got out for a walk along our canal.  We walked down to the Rotonde at Stalingrad and then back to the apartment.  We did find a new organic grocery which looks very promising for our shopping so now we have two within easy walking distance.

As we were crossing the canal I noticed that someone had taken the time to chalk a design on the concrete parapet of the stairway and it was very pretty, also a fair amount of work.

Also in my reading I found that Pierre and Marie Curie had conducted much of their research on Radium and radioactivity at a facility in Aubervilliers, which is a suburb probably 2 kilometers from here. That might help explain why we found that she had lived about 10 minutes away from us on Avenue Jean Jaures.  I've been pondering why she would have lived up here virtually since we arrived and now at least I have an idea.

Merry Christmas 12-25-15

Merry Christmas to all!!

Today figuring that everything would be closed today we stayed in and just took it easy.  Which was easy to do since I seemed to be having a bit of a stomach bug and staying close was highly indicated.










We did have a visit with my immediate family and it was nice to hear all their voices and see some on facetime.

Deb's comments, just odds and ends:
*A bit of history from our recent visit to Chartres Cathedral. An American who saved Chartres (from an article in the Washington Guardian:

August, 1944. Patton’s Third Army awaits orders — that would never come — to take Paris. Elements of the Third Army, including the XX Corps, were based just outside the historic town of Chartres. On Aug. 16, Col. Welborn Barton Griffith of Texas, logistics and liaison officer in the XX Corps, learned of orders for U.S. artillery to shell Chartres Cathedral, one of the most important monuments of medieval civilization, in order to eliminate suspected German snipers and observers in the tower.
According to Eugene Schulz, author of The Ghost in General Patton's Third Army, whom American Friends of Chartres recently interviewed, Griffith — on his own initiative — and his driver approached the forward American forces and obtained information on where the Germans were located in Chartres. They were able to evade the Germans, who still occupied the city, and entered the cathedral. Griffith searched the cathedral and climbed the bell tower. He found no Germans, and was able to rescind the order to shell the monument. Thanks to Griffith’s courage, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Chartres was saved from war damage, thereby preserving it for future generations.

Griffith was killed soon after in nearby fighting in the town of Leves. He was posthumously decorated with the Silver Star, Distinguished Service Cross, and the French Croix de Guerre. He is buried at the St. James World War II Memorial Cemetery in Brittany.

In 2009, Alice Griffith Irving (Griffith's daughter) and her family attended Memorial Day at the St. James cemetery, where her father is buried along with 4,413 other American servicemen. In her words, in the AWON issue of September 2009: “More than a thousand local people attended. It was rewarding to know that the sacrifices these graves represent have not been forgotten. It was an unforgettable experience for our family."

To honor the 70th anniversary of Col. Griffith’s death, Dominique Lallement, president of American Friends of Chartres, will lay a wreath at the Houston National Cemetery in Houston, Texas, on Aug. 16, thus uniting as an expression of gratitude and friendship in the ceremony that the people of Lèves conduct annually in front of the plaque dedicated to his memory.

*It is interesting spending the holidays in a different country. I love reading (or trying to) the advertisements in the Metro and on the streets. The advertisements here do feature gift giving ideas, but concentrate much more on food and drink for the important family dinners. What's not to like about a gazillion Champagne ads?

People are crowding on public transportation carrying parcels of all sorts, but many of them are beautifully wrapped boxes and bags from bakeries, chocolate shops, wine shops, etc. The whole town pretty much shuts down for Christmas Day. Many Parisians with out-of-the-city families have headed home to the provinces, but those who live here spend the day with family and friends. Gifts tend to be small, but meals are huge and carefully thought out. And since there's lots of inexpensive bubblies to be had, the sparking wines flow, flow, flow. In the spirit of international amity, I have tried to do my part to follow this tradition...

*Christmas lights in Paris tend to be mostly municipal. Very few apartments have any external holiday lights showing, although out in the countryside, where there are more individual homes, more Christmas lights are to be seen. We've seen lots and lots of Christmas trees being carried home here in our neighborhood, all different sizes, each wrapped in a saran-wrap cocoon and each with a section of split, bark-on log to stand in. Many businesses have trees, and most of these as well as the many municipal ones are decorated in big shiny ribbon bows rather than globes.

Santa has a different method of delivering gifts. He doesn't drop down chimneys but rather rappels
down the outside of buildings, going from terrace to terrace. We've seen dozens of his representations, dangling from his ropes, with his bag of gifts, getting ready to deliver presents to the little French recipients.

*A small vignette of our neighborhood: a little girl, maybe a two year old, bundled in a fluffy white coat with fur trimmed hood and furry mittens was out with her granddad. He was trying to convince her to move on from a window display at a hairdresser near our apartment. She was mesmerized by the lighted, white Charismas trees and  a couple of big stuffed white teddy bears. She adamantly refused to be led away and he finally had to pick her up and carry her off. I was feeling sorry for her, because she was so obviously delighting in the display, but when we followed them around the corner to our crosswalk, all became well. He was taking her to see an even bigger display in the window of another nearby store. For all I know, they are still there, at least one of the two, hypnotized.

*Our lovely lunch at the river edge restaurant, La Goelette out in Conflans, left us reminiscing about the many memorable meals we've been lucky enough to enjoy over the years. We drank a toast to you, our dear friends, who have made so many of those meals memorable.

*And the proprietor/waiter at the restaurant added to our enjoyment as well. The restaurant obviously doesn't get much tourist trade, and the happy group out at the bar was particular evidence of that. Several guys had obviously come over in their own boat, moored outside. They were standing at the bar in jeans and wellies, and saluted us good naturedly when we entered. They were swilling champers with a right good will, and progressed from that to oysters (tis the season all over France) and then to big bowls of something at the single table out in the corner of the bar area. They were visiting with the proprietor and bantering outrageously with the cooks back in the kitchen. Their obvious enjoyment added to ours.

*The inadequacies of my French language capability always leave me a little sad, especially in places like this little restaurant where there was no English menu or English spoken for that matter. With my primitive French, I miss so many meanings. But I'm grateful to catch what I do. Like our waiter, responding when I asked if they had rooms to recover in after such a wonderful lunch, that they only offered "rooms by the hour" and went off laughing merrily.

*As I've commented before, I'd probably do much better with the infamous brusque, unfriendly French waiters that we never seem to find. Our guy was just delighted to try to explain stuff to us about what the restaurant had to offer. He was so great about talking to us about his magnificent collection of Armagnacs, but I know we missed so many of the finer points. Ah, well, after sniffing and discussing a dozen proffered bottles,  we grasped enough to order a couple of delightful portions of a 1972 and a 1991 that we savored, sip by sip. As well we should have, since their cost approximately equaled that of the rest of the meal. One pays for one's sins.

*We'll be missing both our blood and extended families at this holiday season, but looking forward to next year with you. We send you our very best wishes for a lovely holiday and the best of New Years.

Last Minute Shopping 12-23-15

Today was our last day to shop before the Christmas weekend because so many businesses will be closed tomorrow and through the weekend.  We wanted to give a gift to our butcher, baker, and cheese makers and we felt today was the best timing.   So we had fun giving each shop some champagne and a christmas card, it's our feeling that because this is not a neighborhood where people have lots of money, giving gifts to your vendors is not really common but we felt good about it.  And they all seemed quite pleased by the gesture.
We're amazed by all the currently blooming flowers, these are on our big deck.





Then we came home and had an almost decadent lunch, with fresh fruit, fresh baguettes, foie gras, and champagne, once again sitting in the sun on our little kitchen deck.
Then we spent the afternoon lazily, like bears getting ready for hibernation.

West Country Girl and a Quiet Stroll 12-22-15

Weather looked good today and tomorrow is the must shop day for the Noel holidays here, if you don't get your groceries tomorrow you won't until next Monday.  So we decided to go for a walk down in the 11th arr. with a stop for lunch at a restaurant we've been wanting to try for several months now.  West Country Girl got on our radar several months ago and we've just never quite made it over to eat until today.  They specialize in crepes and galettes (savory buckwheat crepes) and have a very good reputation. But they are really hidden away on a backstreet and you have to be looking for them because you don't accidently walk by.
The building is non-descript and the interior is very basic and looks a bit thread worn, but the food is really good.  Due to the approaching holiday they were offering an abbreviated menu, no soup or salads.  But since they specialize in galettes and crepes there wasn't too much to cry about.  We picked the lighter menu which was a galette and a dessert crepe along with a bit of cider.
The heavy menu was two galettes and and a crepe.  After the galette I was extremely tempted to switch to the heavy menu but let my order stand at one.  We both had the paper-thin crispy edged galette oozing with cheese and the center covered with an egg, and Montbeliard sausage in a little line down the side, it turned out to be divine.  We had a bottle of Breton cider which was very dry and an excellent accompaniment to the lunch.
After lunch we walked a few blocks over to an area noted for its little specialty shops for a bit of window shopping.

Une Brève Histoire de l’Avenir 12-21-15

Deb wanted to see the temporary exhibition at the Louvre, titled "A Brief History of the Future" which is a presentation that works to use art to illustrate some of the theses of a philosophical book of the same title by Jacques Attali.  The basic argument is that art through the ages has attempted to help cultures and societies adapt to the realities of the world.  But it further goes on to posit that art contemporary with it's time actually can help to determine that future.

I went to see it while Deb was in Denver and it was so challenging that I vowed to get the audio guide for the next visit.  The Terra Foundation of Paris hosted a seminar in November which I attended based on this exhibit where we got to hear from the curator of the show and from an eminent American scholar who pointed out how important it was to have the Thomas Cole series of paintings illustrating the rise and fall of empires painted in the U.S. during the 1830's.  She further went on to talk about the fact that American art of the 1800's and early to mid 1900's was overlooked and experiencing a renaissance in the art world.
I have to say that if it were in my power I would include the audio guide as part of the admission charge.   While this is my second trip and Deb's first trip, we both feel that it makes all the difference in understanding the show.
After seeing this exhibit we sneaked over for a quick preview of the Egyptian collections that we have not had an opportunity to view up to now.

Viewing the Boneyard 12-20-15

Over the week we've made a few mid-course adjustments due to any number of factors, which shall remain un-revisited.  Today we got to the boneyard, also known as the Museum of Natural History located in the Jardin de Plantes.

But first because it was a pretty day we went down to the brocante market at Porte de Vanves, for a couple hours.  It was really hopping today with loads of people selling and even more out looking for the next treasure.  I mentioned in an earlier post about the freelance sellers who set up to sell things just outside the market boundaries without paying the required fees, and how when the police show up they rapidly gather up all their stuff and try to look like just another shopper with a bag full of stuff.  Today the charade was playing out again with the police car just sitting there idling, and all the freelancers were "just hanging around" hoping that the cop car would decide to leave, but alas today they just sat there, very regrettable right before christmas.
After our visit we took the tram east to the Porte d'Italie and got off to walk up to where we get a bus or Metro stop which would take us to the Jardin des Plantes.  But the day was so nice that we ended up walking all the way up to Place d'Italie before we caught the bus and we only did that to make sure that we had time to see the museum.  So it was a 3-4 stop ride.
The sky was beginning to cloud up by the time we went into the museum so it was kind of dark inside but since we were looking at bones, which are basically white, no problem.   This hall is really overwhelming, it so crowded with skeletons that it's difficult to single out any one to look at, they seem to have specimens as varied as Noah's Ark, seriously.  It's just case after case of groups of things like skulls for a specific animal like foxes, cats, dogs, or bears.  Or humans.  They also have amphibians, fish, snakes, birds, you name it they likely have it.  We spent over an hour looking at all the bones and then went up to the second floor to look at the fossils,
They have a very good selection of dinosaur bones too.  What I was particularly taken with was the display of a cast of the skeleton of "Lucy" representing about 40% of a 3.5 million year old hominid.  At the time she was our oldest ancestor but she has since been overtaken by even older members of the family.  After seeing two floors we decided to head back to the apartment.
Our friends Georgia and Woody Garnsey have come over for a Christmas holiday with their children and grandchildren and we're planning to get together with them a couple of times while they're visiting.

Lunch in the Country 12-19-15

Deb wanted to go to the barge museum in Conflans-St. Honorine and today looked to be a perfect day for it because the museum is open on Saturdays, only Saturdays.  To get there requires a series of trains; both Metro and RER which end up leaving Paris by Gare St. Lazare in the northwest corner. Everything worked great and we got out to Conflans St. Honorine about noon, so since the museum is closed for lunch we decided to stay on the train and go down another two stops to Andresy.
There is an auberge in Andresy that I wanted to try the last time I came out to the barge museum, but they were booked with a large party that day and I couldn't get in.
So today we went right to Andresy and walked down the hill to the Seine, the auberge is situated on an island in the middle of the Seine and the only way to get there, if you don't have your own boat, is by the speedboat ferry.   They keep a speedboat specifically to pick up diners who ring the restaurant from the bell button placed at the jetty.  So we rang and very soon a man comes out, fires up the boat, and cruises across to pick us up. So within a few minutes we're on the island and going into the restaurant.  It is a little bar area and two additional rooms facing the water, today there was a little party going on of the owner and some friends in the bar area.  Deb and I were the first diners there and were seated in the first room, followed shortly thereafter by a table of two couples and another couple at another table.
They have around a 3 page menu, with a chalkboard of daily items, with lots of seafood and a few meat based entries.  Then they have a 50 page wine list, with two pages devoted just to vintage Armagnacs dating back to 1950.  They also have a dumbwaiter completely loaded with Scotch whiskey.  I think winters must get cold here on the island.
For starters Deb ordered grilled Cepes (mushrooms) and I had a cassoulet of escargot and lentils in a cream/butter sauce, so rich.
Deb followed up with St. Jacques (coquilles) grilled with mashed potatoes accompanied by a dry Sancerre while I had lamb ribs with a root vegetable coulee and a savory flan accompanied by a Gevrey-Chambertin.
Both of us had the house apple tarte for dessert and then we finished with a bit of Armagnac, Deb opted for a 1991 and I went for the 1972, the year we were married.
It was after 2:00 when we finished but the sun was still out so we walked back towards Conflans St. Honorine along the river, or should I say dawdled because when we got back the museum was closed for the week.  So we took the train back to Paris congratulating ourselves for one of the most memorable meals we've had since arriving.  The barge museum will be open next week and most other Saturdays for a visit, and if I'm not mistaken, so will the Auberge La Goelette.