Got a cold

painting by Joan Becker

I've got a cold. The kind that makes your throat scratchy and your eyes tear up constantly. I spent last weekend doing nothing except watch TV and try to read. Before that, though...
Last week, on Saturday, Paul and I went to the Salon de la Photo. We had invitations and just as we were leaving the house, we called Louis and Gwen and discovered that they were also on their way there, so we met them at the entrance and visited it together. There were too many people to do any real shopping around. I did manage to stop in at the Darqroom stand and see the different paper quality they use. (If you watch the  Salon de la Photo  report, it shows Darqroom at the end.) Nico V. wasn't there on Saturday and I was sorry to miss seeing him. After about an hour, we left, had lunch, and then headed over to Louis and Gwen's for a while. It was a nice way to get out on a gray and drizzly day.
Monday,first I went to see Candace. We were supposed to have met at the dubbing studio on Saturday, but that got cancelled because she had other meetings and on Monday she was recovering from a bout of something and not yet in condition to go to the studio, so we met up at her hotel. She worked a bit -- caught up on phone calls and e-mails, but mostly we were able to chat. I introduced her to Joan Becker's site. (Erica's sister-in-law). I hope she doesn't mind my plugging it here on the blog with a picture reference. Candace and I zoomed in on several of her paintings (especially the one above), trying to identify the details. I think I would love to have one of her paintings.
I went to see the movie, Sarah's Key (Elle s'appelait Sarah). I had read the book last month. I must say, for once, I think the movie is better than the book. I felt the characters were too cut and dried in the book, too predictable. They seem to have more depth in the movie. The acting is excellent.
On Friday, Paul and I headed into Paris to see the Monet exhibit. When we got out of the metro, the line was already there, at the corner. The entrance to this exhibit is about half a block away. Our Sésame card allows us to cut the line, but the entrance for that was also full and we figured that it would be mayhem inside, so we decided to go to FNAC voyages to set up the reservations for the big birthday weekend at Disneyland Paris in April. I have now cancelled the option I had with our local travel agency -- they were so useless thinking outside the box!
Then came the cold. After the weekend indoors, on Monday, Paul set off for Toulon to help Pierre take the small pieces and knickknacks from their mother's apartment, so it'll be more presentable to prospective buyers. I went to painting, but spent most of the morning coughing and not very up to painting. In the afternoon, since I was all alone in the house, I decided to put some papers away.
Tuesday I did some more organizing on the computer and then went to the library, but the book dust setting off coughing spasms was such that Ed sent me home early. I went to bed early.
Wednesday, the cat had me sequestered in my room a good part of the day. We can't let him in the house unless it's under complete supervision, now. There have been too many accidents, so unless he's in our arms or laps, he's to stay outside. And ouside, he meows constantly. He does seem to know if we're home, or not. It's unnerving. My only solution is to hole up in my room with the door shut, so the meowing only comes in faintly. I did manage to read, though. I'm almost finished with A Life of Picasso, Vol. I.
Thursday -- Paul was supposedly coming home this evening, but apparently he's staying down south another day or two. Not that he called me to let me know. I called to ask if he had indeed left and at what time in order to know when to expect him, but Gillette told me he was staying. To think, I cleaned up the house for nothing! Well this gave me time to catch up on the blog.