Saturday, September 29th, 2018

Had a nice relaxed morning catching up on blog posts etc. Installed myself at Deux Magots, next to a couple of old French geysers who were reading the newspaper and muttering to each other about the various indignities in the world. After catching up on the blog and restaurant entries, headed out to meet one of my Camino friends, ER, at the Marche St. Honore. Had a nice walk through the Tuileries on the way there. After a simple lunch, she suggested we go try some wine at the Cave of Joel Robuchon. On the way, she wanted to stop in at Hermès and look at a belt. The prices in Hermès were shocking to say the least, with some items well above a down payment on a house, probably as much as a house in a lot of the USA. Anyway of to the Joel Robuchon wine cave, a little store near Vavin that does a free tasting every Saturday. Couple of whites a couple of reds, the last being a fairly pricey Hermitage, nothing I was crazy about. After a regroup, met up with LC, a fashion blogger for dinner. She’s here working away as it is fashion week. She’s reached the point where they are giving her items with hope that she’ll feature them on her blog. One of the entertaining parts of the evening was explaining some of the history has I walked her to a metro stop. We crossed the Pont Neuf, the model for modern road. First bridge to have elevated sidewalks and parapet view points so pedestrians could enjoy crossing the bridge and not mix up with carriages. The biggest crime on the Pont Neuf was cloak theft, and French term for thief reflects this to this day “Filou.” Next innovation was mass transit, someone got the idea of selling individual places in a carriage, got the King’s permission and launched a set route, still a bus route to this day! Another innovation, the park bench, those wandering the Tuileries to show off their outfits needed a place to sit and watch each other.

Inside St. Germain des Pres church after restoration.Didn’t quite have enough in my wallet to get this…

Friday, September 28, 2018

Today’s project was to go to the interactive Atelier des Lumieres exposition. This took some doing as the website didn’t like my credit card and various phone calls had to be made to get it working. Eventually success. In this exhibit they project moving art on all surfaces except the ceiling and play various classical music pieces, hard to describe, but really cool. See link below for some video. After that, went to a favorite neighborhood restaurant, L’Estaminet in Oberkampf for some lunch and then headed to Opera Garner to see the building. Unfortunately it has been off limits for a few days and the crowd was really big, so that will have to be saved for another time. Headed over to Montparnasse tower to go to the top. This is the one somewhat hideous hi rise built in the ’70s in the middle of Paris. View from the terrace on the 56th floor is pretty good, but hazy, see photos. After a stop at Le Select for a glass, it was a walk through the Luxembourg gardens and then past Pl. St. Sulpice. Lots of interesting memories from my daily commute as a 10 year old. Basically, walk from Pl. St. Sulpice to the Luxembourg RER station, through the park and take the train about 25 minutes to Parc de Sceaux, where Ecole Nouvelle D’Antony had agreed to take us. Then the reverse in the evenings. Pretty solid day considering French schools go until 4:30pm every day. For dinner I met up with JR and AY and we headed to a favorite restaurant of their, Les Enfants Rouge, French with Japanese chef, waiters etc. and the best meal I have had on this trip so far. Just wow! Pictures in the Restaurants section.

This was the Atelier des Lumieres Klimt exhibit, classical music in the background pretty remarkable, to see it in action: https://www.atelier-lumieres.com

That is the Jardin du Luxembourg as seen from the top of Montparnasse tower.This is the St. Sulpice church, with the building that I lived in next door.

6 Place St. Sulpice, where I lived as a 10-12 year old.

The carousel at Luxembourg gardens, it has shrunk since I used to ride it. You are given a baton to try and snag rings as you spin around.

Thursday September 27, 2018

Had a lovely dinner with CC last night at Bistro D’Henri. A small neighborhood bistro on Rue Princesse that’s managed to stay fairly off the radar. A lovely Chateaubriand with some green pepper corn sauce and some gazpacho as an appetizer. Then some walking around with a nightcap at Deux Magots. Fun staying in the 6th right near everything. This morning, I went to Malongo for some excellent coffee and then headed to the Pantheon, since I’d never been inside it. After waiting around for the 10:00am opening, walked around inside. Unfortunately one of the most interesting features was out of commission, Focault’s Pendulum. Focaults’ Pendulum Wiki. The pendulum was designed show the earth’s rotation. From there I wanted to explore some of the non touristy neighborhoods, so I headed to Butte aux Cailles, famous for having a village feel. Lovely little cobbled streets, not too crowded some excellent cafes. Had a good lunch at Tandem, (called that because it’s a partnership between the owner and his brother). Lady and husband next to me communicated, her in English him in French. She was from Kansas and they own the tea room next door. After lunch I walked through Pl. D’Italie and the Chinatown area of Paris and then headed to see the Atelier des Lumieres exhibit. Too much of line for me, and trying to buy online tickets involved having to create an account etc. so I skipped that and headed back to the apartment for some down time.

Wednesday September 26th, 2018

Ended up having a most excellent tapas type dinner at L’Avant Comptoir du Mer last night. All locals around me who were friendly. Small dishes, Oysters, squid, clams etc. great fun and a cool place, go early because it gets crowded.

Nice to wake up and find it cool outside. 47 degrees overnight. Found an excellent coffee shop just down the street, Malongo, that actually knew the difference between an Allonge (horrible) and an Americano. From there it was off to Notre Dame for the obligatory selfie, then walked towards the Marais. I walked through the holocaust memorial, 200,000 French Jews were killed during the holocaust. I’ve been doing some reading about that time period, and it sounds as though many people have still not come to grips with the various types of collaboration and resistance offered by their neighbors. From there, a short walk to the Picasso museum. The nice thing about this time of year is that there are no lines…. In I went, a nice follow up to what I saw in Arles and Nice. After a brisk tour of the Picasso museum it was deeper into the Marais with a stop for a haircut. This one of those things that is entirely too aggravating in France to be believed. I tried a few days ago in Marseille, was told a 10 minute wait. The lady cutting hair couldn’t seem to cut and talk at the same time and talking was clearly her priority. After about 20 minutes and seeming no closer, I stormed out suggesting less talking and more cutting. Today they told me 10 minutes again, and dicked around for awhile but eventually got the job done. It only takes about 5 minutes to actually cut my hair, so screwing around half an hour to get it done is super annoying. After solving that, the Marche Des Enfants Rouge had a good Moroccan Tagine for lunch. Substitute Veggies for the Couscous and it becomes GF. From there it was off the outer neighborhood of St. Denis to see the Basilica there. This is where every French king and member of royalty was buried for years. St. Denis has a bad reputation as a neighborhood, but the area around the basilica seemed ok. After that, I hoped off the metro near the Champs Eylsee and walked the famous Ave. Montaigne. It is fashion week in Paris, so did spot a few overly stylish people, but otherwise the street is fairly understated. The shops all have names of things that no one can afford, Chanel, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Versace, and a few dozen others.

That’s the menu at L’Avant Comptoir hanging from the ceiling.The Picasso museum building.

Tuesday, September 25th, 2018

Took the train from Marseille to Paris today, very civilized over all. 772km, just under 500 miles in about 3.5 hours. We were on time to the minute. I arrived at Gare de Lyon, recharged my Navigo Decouverte pass for the week (23euros, all the metro and bus you can use), and headed to the Odeon metro stop. A quick walk and found the apartment. Small studio perfectly fine, but showing a lack of owner attention in the details. Nothing of great importance, but the main blind doesn’t work, luckily there is an exterior shade, TV cable box doesn’t turn on, suspect dead batteries in the remote, no laundry detergent and other similar minor issues. Fabulous location just off St. Germain and 2 blocks from Odeon metro. I immediately headed over to Cafe Breizh for a GF crepe. Feeling fortified, did the usual shopping, which by now has been almost the same in every city, paper towels, Kleenex, laundry detergent etc. This time I just brought my Jam and butter with me from Marseille. I’m not sure that I’m entitled to feel this way, but coming to Paris feels like coming home for me. I guess my 2 years as a kid here imprinted more than I thought. It’s also nice to be somewhere where the store clerks and waiters inherently understand that time is valuable. The rest of France, nobody is in any hurry to do anything regardless of the number of people in line or any kind of perceived urgency. The other thing is that it is actually cool here, about 60 degrees, so not really cold but very pleasant. I’m looking forward to checking out some less touristy places this week, and will likely not do much on the museum front. As a frequent visitor, I can now skip most of the obligatory tourist stops.

Monday, September 24, 2018

Yesterday I made a few calls to try and arrange a food tour, none of which panned out. But, one person texted me back and suggested a free walking tour with a friend of hers. Cool concept, meet at 10am, every Mon, Wed. Fri. Under the mirrored canopy near the metro stop, about 2 block from my apt. And pay what you want at the end of the tour. Good crowd showed up, the guide, Ezekiel, was an anthropologist who spoke good English and knew what he was doing. He moved it along well and covered a lot of ground. Today was a marked difference weather wise, as the Mistral was blowing. Very, very windy, and much cooler. I wore a jacket for the first time since Chamonix. The tour showed how a lot of downtown Marseille had been destroyed in WWII and the Germans had destroyed a whole neighborhood because the Corsican Mafia had defied them. They did preserve select buildings, oddly enough. Turns out that Marseille was designated the European Capitol city for a year in 2013, this mean that the EU poured money in to showcase it. Apparently a turning point. All the things you’ve heard about Marseille being rough, dirty and dangerous, at least in the Vieux port area, just aren’t true anymore. Sure, it’s France’s second largest city with a population of 850,000 in the city and 1.6million in the metropolitan area. It’s largely not on the tourist map, so don’t tell anyone that it’s a really cool place to visit, and do watch Anthony Bourdain’s episode on it. Paris is much more dangerous, dirty and smelly. But I digress, after the walking tour, I tackled a Bouillabaisse. Lots of little bony stuff, but tasty. I’m reminded of my father who used to order these Fruits de Mer platters full of shells and crabs, spend an hour picking out little bits of meat, and then pronounce himself still hungry at the end of the exercise. I felt a little the same after the bouillabaisse. Sotto Mare has nothing to worry about. After lunch, I tried to find the African Market area. Found a few things, but it really wasn’t up to the hype about it being like going to Africa. Just a few Africans stores, some produce etc. nothing to write home about. Took one of the Trams for a ride, had a coffee and rode back. Now back at the Caravelle bar trying a different Pastis.

This is the mirror Canopy at the Vieux Port Metro stop.These are from the Panier neighborhood, the oldest part of Marseille.

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Sunday in France, pretty much the bain of every travelers’s existence. (BTW, if you are traveling into or out of France, avoid doing it on a Sunday. I once forgot this rule and was lucky to make my flight, even though I was over 2 hours early to CDG, as they had only one person stamping passports for people to leave the country. Many others on that flight didn’t make it and after a half hour of waiting for them, the captain gave up and left, now I don’t travel on Sunday). I started out at the fish market on the pier, which amounted to maybe 3 different tables selling a few fish, then decided to try and find some good coffee. All the better sounding shops and roasters are closed on Sunday (what a winning concept for a coffee shop). So after a walk and finding a nice plaza to sit, had coffee. Then the goal was to go to the African spice market, that is also closed on Sunday. So, quick pivot and hop the metro to the SNCF station for a train to Cassis (20min). Yet another not very good idea. Turns out everyone and their dog and their grandmother goes to Cassis on Sunday. There was also some kind of bike race going on creating enormous traffic jams. By a whisker, I made it into the Tourist information office before they closed for lunch. After securing the town map and the bus schedule to get up the hill back to the train station, it was a walk around the harbor where I found a great daily special on a seafood mixed grill. After that it was time to hike to the nearest calanque. For those not up on it, a calanque is a rocky beach or inlet, and Cassis borders one end of the Calanque National Park with Marseille at the other end. I followed the advice in the Rick Steves book and of the visitor center and walked what was supposed to be about 40 minutes to Port-Miou. While on the map this appeared to be a hike through nature, on the ground, it was mostly a hike along the side of the road through neighborhoods of Cassis. Eventually it turned into gravel with little shade. After about an hour of walking, remember it’s 90 deg. And no shade to speak of, I saw some nice rocky cliffs and a boat harbor, but no promised beach in evidence. I didn’t have a suit with me since I had planned to do this tomorrow anyway. Turn around, back through the gravel and burbs to Cassis. The best beach seemed to be the first one you came to before you left town. All in all, mostly a waste of an afternoon, probably should have done the tour boat or the Petit Train tour. I’m sure Cassis is quite nice when it is not 90 degrees and completely overwhelmed with tourists, but I’m grateful that I decided to stay in the center of Marseille. This has been an interesting trip because most of the places people told me that I would love, (Eze, Cassis) I’ve found to be just OK, and the places people told me I wouldn’t like at all, I’ve actually liked quite a lot (Avignon, Nice, Marseille). The biggest surprise being that Nice was very enjoyable. Marseille so far has not been nearly as dirty or rough as it is reputed to be, but please don’t tell anyone, it would be best if it stays off the radar. I’m sitting in an upstairs bar called the Caravelle as I write this, place has tons of character and looks out on the port. Pastis!

Pastis, the traditional drink of Southern France.Calanque in Cassis.

All Electric bus in Marseille.

Marseille from the middle of the harbor.

Dinner, St. Pierre in a butter sauce. Yum!

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Took the train from Nice to Marseille this morning, about a 3 hour trip. Pretty full train, but on time to the minute. Then a quick 2 stop metro ride in Marseille to the old port and a few block walk to the AirBnb. After installing myself, down to the alley for a very late lunch. Everything looks better after a good lunch, in this case a little Gigot D’Angeau and some red wine. Then did the little tourist train tour, for orientation and it went up to the Notre Dame de La Garde, Cathederal which seems to be the highest point in Marseille. This city has a good energy to it. Lots of plazas with outdoor restaurant seating, a big harbor and many nice buildings. According to Rick Steves, it’s one of the biggest port city in Europe, but, I suspect that the commercial part of the port is elsewhere as there isn’t much evidence of it in the downtown basis.

Friday, September 21, 2018

Today I took the long bus ride to Vence. One of the better known hill towns above the riviera. Many artists used to stay here and it is an attractive old town with no cars in the center. After orbiting around, found what turned out to be a mediocre lunch, and then took the bus down the hill to St. Paul. This town is mobbed with tourists, but has a lovely aspect and still existent town walls. I walked around the walls and explored a little in the center. Very much reminiscent of some of the smaller Italian hill towns in Tuscany. Then it was a long ride home, by the time I actually got back to the apartment close to 2 hours. About mid afternoon, I generally feel like downtime as the temperature is usually a round 90 degrees. A little time in the air conditioning and a shower and it’s time to go out for an Apero and dinner. Tomorrow it’s pack up and off to Marseille for 3 nights. Found a promising looking AirBnB in the old port, see the Hotels page if you want to check it out.

Thursday September 20, 2018

Today’s project was to take the bus to Cap Ferrat and explore. Rick Steves recommended getting off at the historic Rothschild mansion and gardens and then walking down to the town of St Jean Cap Ferrat. The mansion was quite well situated, but the gardens were really the star of the show. Different areas including a Spanish and Japanese gardens, then a central fountain with choreography to music. After that a walk down to the town. As the temperature rose, I headed towards the Plage Lapaloma. Had an expensive salad for lunch, in a lovely setting. Took the bus back and got off in the port part of Nice. Lots of boats and yachts etc.

I was thinking a bit about travel as someone posted in the Join us in France closed group about how they had a miserable visit to Paris. This in-spite of claiming to be a French major and having extensive travel experience. When people offered commentary, she got very defensive and eventually decided to exit the group. I will say that I thought many of her criticisms of Paris were valid, AND, I think she chose to focus on things that made her miserable. One of the problems she had, and don’t do this when you travel, was she hadn’t enabled her phone, so finding places to eat, she was unable to check reviews etc. You spend about $1,200 per year at least to keep your smartphone going, don’t try to save $60 by not enabling roaming when you travel. When you are traveling, knowledge and information is gold! Second, her itinerary was pretty much all tourist sites, and I suspect that her poor dinning experiences had to do with eating in the vicinity of these places. I’m spoiled, but I’ve been to Paris often enough that I no longer have to go to all the tourist places, and can just engage in my joint passion for being a flanneur and being a Boulevardier. If you’re going to Paris for a short period of time, try not to spend it all going to major tourist sites, it won’t be fun. Third, her complaint was finding meals that didn’t take hours, and finding bathrooms. So, in Paris, pick any cafe with an outdoor terrace, buy a coffee or just walk in and use the bathroom, no one is likely to bother you about it. For meals, there is a hierarchy of restaurants in France. If you want a quick meal, you need a cafe or possibly a brasserie or a creperie. Don’t go to a fancy French restaurant if you are in a hurry. Remember, the word “Travel” comes from the word “Travail” which in addition to meaning difficulty was a type of medieval torture device. (Probably the precursor of the coach airline seat!)

That’s Eze at the top of the hill in the distance, Eze Bord du Mere at the bottom, no wonder that was a strenuous hike!This is what $100 million buys in yachts, looked it up online, British Billionaire.Japanese Garden at Rothschild Villa.