Some Last Maintenance... I hope 2-17-16

Today I finished cleaning the baseboards, not a big deal and it went quickly.  The next task was to remount the ceiling light in the hall.  For some reason the light started hanging down from the ceiling and it turned out that there was a plastic backing plate above the light which deformed from the heat of the light.  So I went to the hardware store and found some pieces that I could use to remount the light.   However one of the supports for the glass light diffuser also broke and so I'm trying to fix that so see if we can get it put together properly again.  So that's a bit of a bummer at the end.
To take a bit of the frustration out of the process we decided to take a bit of a trip to see the artisanal shop of monasterial products.  It's run by some very nice ladies who volunteer to run the shop.  It's very interesting because there seems to be a little of everything: food, wine, jams, fancy dyed papers, clothing, lace, and even a little room of collectibles.  The last time we were here I found a copper
 pan cover and this time I walked in and found a beautiful little copper sauce pan.  Not the same size as the first one but who cares.  It turned out to be a brand from a business that was very popular about 100 years ago, so this pan is quite old, but it's in great shape.  The best part is that it's pretty small so that Deb could use it pretty easily.
We also picked up a pair of antique monogrammed linen sheets which Deb will use as new drapes in our bedroom at home.  Several years ago we got another pair which Deb made into drapes for our family room and she loves them, so now we will have new drapes in our bedroom.

Tuesdays in the Park 2-16-16

We continued with our moving out tasks this morning, Deb doing more deep cleaning while I took another load of clothing over to the community center.
Afterward we took ourselves down to Bouillon Racine, it's another restaurant on our goodbye tour. It has a beautiful Art Nouveau interior and is one of the 4 or 5 surviving bouillons still active in Paris. They we originally created as working class restaurants where one could get a lunch consisting of a large bowl of soup (bouillon) studded with chunks of meat and bread at inexpensive prices.  Of course it's not that way today anymore but the restaurant still serves really good food at reasonable prices in a period correct setting.  For the starter I had a veloute (soup) of Jerusalem artichokes and mushrooms while Deb had a veloute of Chestnuts and smoked lardons.  Then for the entree Deb had suckling pig with a pureed turnip mash while I had a French pot roast with a pureed carrot mash both very good.  We shared a creme brulee which was light as a feather.
After lunch we spent the balance of the afternoon sitting in the sun at the Luxembourg Gardens. I was amazed at how many people were out in the park today as well.  Evidently we're not the only ones that want to soak up a little sunshine.  Lots of tourists, but also lots of retired people.  Many out with what must have been their grandchildren, who were intent on running off all that
young energy and then feasting on goodies provided by grandmama and grandpapa.   None of the little boats out on the pond but that didn't seem to bother anybody whatsoever.   It was nice to sit in the sunshine and watch all the people enjoying themselves.  I couldn't help but think, "Ah to be in Paris again when I was young", and I wonder if there were others thinking similar thoughts, but there was a pretty cool wind that finally won out.  So we walked down St. Michel to the Seine where we could catch our bus back to the apartment.   Another beautiful day, more like a vacation than before.

Monday Monday 2-15-16

We're engaged in the process of getting ready to come back, so each day there are a few tasks that we try to undertake so that we're not going crazy in the last few days.  Today I took several bags of clothing to the community center nearby that is collecting clothing for the local residents.  I told them I would be bringing more next Monday and they said be sure to do it in the morning because the cutoff was noon.   Deb is doing tasks that I'd probably mess up, like cleaning the oven.  So we spent the morning making a bit of progress.  We didn't expect sunny weather but we got it, although it was pretty cold today with the wind coming from the north.  It's supposed to be close to freezing for the next few nights so the cold will persist.
After lunch we caught the bus down to Hotel Drouot to see if there was any little treasure that might be calling to us.  Additionally, going through the sale rooms tunes a person's eye to all the things that are being offered in the Paris marketplace. Some days you'll see something sold in the auction and then come across it again a few days later at a brocantes shop.  It is almost always the case that you an outbid a dealer at auction for something you really want because they have to mark it up to make a profit.  The only problem is knowing what you're buying and being sure you want it.  So we spent a couple hours looking at the rooms.  Today we inspected Rodin sculptures that will be sold tomorrow. The estimated prices ran from about 60,000 up to 2 million. At these prices they only had about 8 items in the auction, but if they all sold there would be a very nice payday.  It was fun to see the sculptures so closely.
After we did our inspection Deb wanted to go to the fabric stores at the foot of Montmartre, so we went over there next.  The weather was sunny so I balked at spending time in the stores and agreed to meet Deb afterwards for the bus ride home.  I took the little cable car up to the base of the cathedral and took pictures of the city and the people in the area.  Afterward I walked down the stairway and met Deb at the bottom.   We headed back to the apartment and when we got in at 6:00pm it was still light!

Valentine's Day? 2-14-16

Well today was Valentine's day but since we've been "celebrating" it since Friday the impact is somewhat less than it might be.  Maybe more like Groundhog day for us, since we started out by going to a brocante.  It may be our last since we have just over a week left.
Deb found another little Paris medallion which had interested her before but not at the prices being asked.  The market was down near Place de Nation, so it allowed us to take the tram around to Porte de Vincennes and walk about 4 blocks to see it.  The rain held off long enough for us to walk through and look in comfort.  However it started, lightly, just as we finished the last booth.
So we took a few minutes to walk over to Place de la Nation, as Deb has never been over to see it.  It was originally called Place du Trone and was the place where Louis XIV's  new queen, Maria Theresa, was crowned after his marriage, but upon the revolution the name was changed.  It still has the columns that were erected in the original place, of Phillip II and Louis IX.  It was also the place where the guillotine was most active during the revolution.
Once the rain got more serious we headed back to the apartment.  Once there I retrieved out luggage from the storage room and we started the process of seeing if we can get rid of enough clothing to offset the number of tschotskes we've accumulated, it's gonna be close.  Stay tuned.

Musee de la Batellerie 1-13-16

Well we have 10 days before we come back to the U.S. and today we continued our goodbye tour. The last time we came out to see the museum we ended up spending the whole afternoon at La Goelette.  That's the restaurant that sits on an island in the Seine and to reach it you have to ring a bell which summons them to pick you up in a speedboat for the ride over to the restaurant.  
We were determined to see the museum today, it is dedicated to all the barges and bargemen that plied the Seine from time out of mind.   It's so little and quirky that I loved it the first time I visited and I was determined that Deb should see it as well.  So although it was raining (surprise surprise) we caught the metro over to St. Lazare and the boarded the RER train out to Conflans St. Honorine.  We got there just after noon, and of course the museum is closed from noon to two for lunch.  So we caught the next train over to Andresy, where La Goelette is located.  This place is one of our all time favorite restaurants in France, bar none.  So along with the Table of Alonzo down in Provence, La Goelette makes two stellar places that I would go out of my way to enjoy a meal.


Deb started out with an entree of escargot ravioli in a light curry, while I had a house smoked salmon with caviar and clotted cream on buttered toast.  For the plat Deb had a Sole Meuniere and I had Lotte with provencal
 eggplant, tomato, and zucchini.  We then shared a house made  coffee ice cream and Pan Perdu that came from the grandmother of the owner.   But we didn't have the vintage cognacs this time and we were able to get out by 3:00.  So we went to the museum.
I can't explain it but I just love this little museum, it's only about 4 rooms but it has art, barge models, scale model reliefs of locks and bridges, bells, cut aways of barges, medals, pottery, an entire small cross section of river life.  We spent about an hour going through and enjoyed ourselves.  It's just
fascinating to me and Deb came away really entertained as well.

Early Valentines Day 2-12-16

Since so many restaurants and other businesses are closed on Sunday, we decided to celebrate early. Deb had made reservations at Le Meurice, one of the highest end hotels in Paris, for afternoon tea. In relation to so many of it's other offerings the afternoon tea is a real bargain.  Less than twice the cost of a round of drinks at the bar, you get a selection of small sandwiches, scones, and a tray of sweets along with a pot of tea.  And for only 14 euros more you can add champagne, a steal.
But prior to our tea she also found a musical organ performance at the Oratorio de la Louvre, a 17th century church that hosted the funerals of Louis XIII and Richelieu.  It was taken over by the Revolution and then finally given to the Protestants by Napoleon I in 1811.  So it's now a Protestant church, and it's quite stark inside but it has a very lovely organ.  It was a free concert so it gave us a good excuse to see the inside of the church and hear some good organ music. It delivered on at least one count, the organ is lovely, the music was not quite up to our expectations (there is a reason why some composers are considered minor) comprised of Dutch and Swiss composers from the 16th to 20th century.  Interestingly the 20th century Swiss composer was more melodic than the 16th and 17th century composers.  Oh well, it was still interesting.
After the concert we had a couple hours before our tea reservation, so since we were directly across the street from the Louvre we knew what we needed to do.  So we went in and headed for some of the rooms full of early Mesopotamian art that we either missed or glossed towards the end of the day on earlier visits.
We went through about 5 rooms and saw some really beautiful objects from ancient Susa, Mari, and Persepolis.  There were many small sculptures, jewelry and pottery that were so carefully crafted, that they were breathtaking.  There were also glazed brick walls from Darius' royal capitol at Susa, which are very much like the glazed wall bricks of the Ishtar Gate from Babylon that we saw in Berlin.  We had an enjoyable couple hours viewing before walking over to Le Meurice.
When we walked in they greeted us very warmly, took our name and then our coats before walking us in to our waiting table.  The teas are held in the Le Dali room which is fairly large room with mirrored walls and a painted fabric ceiling, it was named in honor of the artist.  He rented a room for a month every year for around 30 years and so they named it for him.
We ordered and to begin, they brought us each a pot of tea, then followed with a glass of champagne to sip. A short time thereafter they brought out a 3 level tray covered with goodies.  The bottom level had 2 groups of 5 little sandwiches, salmon and caviar, fresh mozzarella and tomato,  grilled tuna on brioche, a rare beef, and foie gras and fig.  The next level was 4 fruit scones along with a cup each of jam, lemon curd, and clotted cream.  The final level was house made mini desserts 2 each of; a bitter chocolate eclair, thick wafer covered with a nut cream filled shell, a lemon meringue, a caramel covered soft cookie, and finally a nut covered madeleine.   I almost forgot to mention that twice during the service a chef

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 came out of the kitchen with a tray of freshly baked and buttered madeleines. Coming around to each table she passed them out, an outstanding touch.  We spent about 3 hours at tea before heading back to the apartment for the evening.

Got the right one today - Musee Curie 2-11-16

Well at least I got the right place today and we made it to the Musee Curie.  It's so easy if you're pointed in the right direction to begin with.
This was a pilgrimage visit for Deb.
As I've mentioned in a couple earlier posts Marie Curie lived out in our neighborhood for some years, and she did research at a  laboratory in nearby Aubervilliers.  But today we went to her primary laboratory immediately in the vicinity of the Sorbonne where she was finally allowed to become a professor (her husband refused to become a prof without her after their Nobel prizes - her appointment caused a furor).  The lab building, now a museum, is just a couple blocks from the
 Pantheon and Ecole Superior Normale for Physics. It is in a very old section of town, in the area that the Romans inhabited.   This building is where most of the research on Radium and the new radioactive elements took place.
The museum is very small, essentially 4 rooms.  In 2 rooms they have conserved both her office and chemical lab.  And the other rooms contain pieces of equipment that were used in their research.
It's quite interesting that Madame Curie came over to the U.S. in the late 1920's and toured the country giving lectures and demonstrations.  On this visit she was presented a gift from a women's group consisting of one gram of radium for her research,  It cost over 100,000 dollars all of which was raised by individual small donations.  Radium at that time cost more than 10 times the cost per weight of the highest priced diamonds. It was so precious that upon her death she willed the remaining radium to her daughter Irene (also a Nobel prize winner for the discovery of artificial radioactivity) so that the research could continue. Curie's laboratory continued to turn out remarkable work, continued by her daughter and son-in-law and her students, even after her death. For example, the element Francium was discovered there.  Due to the methods used during her life all of her papers are contaminated and radioactive.  They are kept under protective coverings and even today in order to review them researchers must wear protective lead.
After our visit we took a walk in the 5th arr. and down along the Seine, as we got there it started raining. As we hurried across the bridge we looked into the river and were quite surprised at how high the water was flowing, it was covering some of the lower steps along the quai.  It must have been at least 3 feet higher than normal, likely a testament to how much rain has been falling in the central part of the country.   As we walked along we went through two squalls of hail, not the heavy hail like Colorado but lighter, small, and not wind driven.  So that's the third time we've seen hail since we got here.  By the time we got back to the apartment it was sunny.