Sandcastles on the Seine

Happy Assumption Day! In layman's terms, today is the day we celebrate Mary the Virgin Mother's assumption into heaven. In French terms, no work today!

Instead, I headed to the Paris "beaches." The city shuts down part of a highway along the Seine and brings in sand, along with beach chairs, ice cream stands, and a spray area. I received a pamplet today informing me that I could also stop by the tent for treatment for "infections sexuellement transmissibles." It's truly an all-inclusive experience!

In honor of Julia Child's 100th birthday, I started re-reading My Life in France and drank some wine on the beach.



There was a Mary parade for the pious complete with a Mary replica and religious music. Kind of like Mount Pleasant on Good Friday! The sinners watched from the beach and sipped their wine.

There were a ton of families at the beach today. The kids build sandcastles with bottled water. There's also a spout where they can fill their buckets.

 A tour boat came by and took pictures of the beachgoers, so I thought it only fair to take pictures of them.

 It was a blustery day, so at times the "beaches" felt more like "sand storms." All in all though, a great spot to read and people watch. And don't worry, I'll be working Labor Day and Columbus Day.

Mosquee de Paris

You can't go more than a few blocks in Paris without running into a centuries old church and sometimes a long line to get in. Paris' only mosque take a little more searching, but there's no line. What's more, they have Hammam baths that are open to the public. I went Saturday morning and for 43 euros you get entrance to the baths, black salt, a massage, a body scrub, and mint tea (I hate tea, so I skipped the last part).
Visiting the baths is like stepping into the Middle East (or so I imagine, I've never actually been to the Middle East). The walls are covered with tiles and stained glass windows. You go through a series of rooms like saunas, mostly covered in marble, that get progressively warmer. The first room has marble enclaves where you adjust to the heat and relax. Then you move into the back room with warmer marble on one side and an even warmer area with a cold pool. Initially the room feels unbearably hot, especially around the pool. After a while it feels wonderful. I spent two hours between the pool and the sauna rooms with some black salt in between. My skin felt amazing afterwards, and I don't know that I've ever been so relaxed. I'm hoping one of my guests wants to go so that I can justify another visit. Photos aren't allowed inside, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Afterwards I had lunch at the cafe. I ordered chicken cous cous and they brought a feast.

The Last Day

On Sunday, Charles had to go back to the States. I implored him to quit his job and become a Gentleman Who Lunches in Paris, but he decided three months of fun wasn't worth long-term unemployment.

We spent our last full day in Paris climbing Notre Dame.

I got claustrophobic on the last climb up to the highest tower (to be fair, who wouldn't? You're climbing an increasingly narrow spiral staircase with no windows and people crowding from the front and the back). On the way down, Charles walked ten steps behind me with arms on either rail to hold back the hoards of tourists so I wouldn't feel closed in. No small feat. How will I survive without him to protect me from the crowds?

We hit up a traveling King Tut exhibit on the outskirts of Paris only to find that the expo included only replicas. We didn't take pictures of the fake rosetta stone.

We had dinner at Willi's Wine Bar on the recommendation of a colleague who travels to Paris often and took a walk home along the Seine beaches.

I took an artsy bridge photo that reminded me of Midnight in Paris.



And some impressive sand castle work...

The next day we made a sad trip to Charles de Gaulle, and I started counting down days until the next visit.

So now I'm three days into Paris on my own, working rather than vacationing. I think it's going fairly well. On Monday I walked home along the Seine. Yesterday I went to the local market to buy produce, the fromagerie for cheese, and the bakery for a baguette and made a delicious dinner. Tonight I meeting up with a new friend that Charles found for me through a friend who used to live in France.



Adventuring while Katie works

Katie started her job here on Wednesday.  On the first two days I dropped her off to work, and then went exploring.  You can tell by the look on Katie's face that she didn't think it was fair. 

A few blocks away is the Musee Marmottan Monet.  This is a museum I had never heard of, but I decided to explore.  It turns out Marmottan was a rich guy that died in the 1930's and bequeathed his town home to the French Academy of Fine Arts along with his collection of First Empire paintings and furniture as a museum. 

Fortunately, the French Academy of Fine Arts has decided to add things to the museum, and they have relegated Marmottan's collections largely to the upstairs.   I am sure it would be a little depressing for Marmottan to have his collection stuck in the attic, but without having done so I doubt anyone would see his collection.  Seriously, anyone out there a First Empire fan?  Anyone?
What now fills the museum's basement and first floor are a number of art collections.  Most notably Monet's second son Michel donated his father's collection of paintings to the museum.  They included representative works over Monet's entire career.   A couple of the smaller ones that I liked are shown below; however, there were around 60 paintings by Monet of all sizes, eras and compositions.

 Additional collections were donated by the heir of George de Bellio who was a doctor for many of the impressionist.  Also two of the grandchildren of Berthe Morisot donated her works and art collection to the museum.  Unfortunately most of these works were in a gallery that was being remodeled.  I love Berthe Morisot, and luckily they had a few of her works sprinkled throughout the museum. 

Following the museum I walked in the Bois de Boulogne for a while. 

After the Bois de Boulogne, I ended up at Rolland Garros.   Following that I made my way through the city toward the Arc de Triomphe.  Along the way I decided to stop at a restaurant for lunch.  It wasn't more than 2 minutes before I heard my name.  Katie and her coworkers had come to the same restaurant!  Following lunch, I made my way to Avenue Foch.  I walked along Avenue Foch to the Arc de Triomphe. 

The next day I dropped Katie off to work, and made my way to Sacre Coeur.  Apparently starting work was more agreeable with her on her second day. 

Tuesday morning was a much better time to visit Sacre Coeur.   While there were tourists, it wasn't overrun to the point of being oppressive.

I decided to climb up to the dome, up three hundred spiral stone steps.  One of the highlights of the top was noted by a couple of Australian tourists.  A girl in her twenties had made the ascent in 4 inch high heels.     

After Sacre Coeur,  I wandered around and found another interesting church.  L'eglise Saint Jean l'Evangeliste.  The rest I will leave for Katie to fill you in about as those adventures included her.







What's in a name?

Once again I am guest blogging.  Since we have been in Paris, one movie has been promoted more than any other.  That movie is called Sexy Dance 4.  You may be wondering how the US missed out on such a blockbuster; however, in the US that movie is called Step Up Revolution.  Not to sound snarky, but I imagine being dubbed in French will improve the plot.

With the way it is being promoted here,  I imagine it will rival Batman's opening.  It makes me wonder if the movie would have been more successful in the US if it had been called Sexy Dance 4.  Thoughts?

Lines in Paris

This is Charles filling in for Katie.  She's busy at work, so I get to blog.
Since we have been in Paris, we have come across a number of lines.  Often we just pass on by: a couple of hundred people waiting to go into Notre Dame, another couple of hundred people waiting to go up Notre Dame, several hundred people waiting to go into the Louvre.   Yesterday while walking around when Katie was at work,  I discovered a line that became its own attraction.  

These are people lined up to go into the Abercrombie and Fitch Store on the Champs-Elysees.  While I was sad to see so many people lined up like that,  I was delighted to see a number of people stopping to take pictures of the people waiting in line.

Bistrot d'Henri

We went to dinner tonight at a bistro in St. Germain to celebrate my first day of work. It was a tiny little place that Charles' friend Hannah recommended.

We had some fantasic Pinot Noir.

I had the beouf bourgogne. Delicious.

We walked home along the Seine as the sun went down.

Definitely recommend Bistro d'Henri if you find yourself in Paris.