Goings and Comings

Okay, last time I wrote, I had just picked up J & E at the airport, dropped them off at their apartment and was watching the Tour de France on TV. What I enjoy about the Tour de France is the helicopter view of the sights to see along the route. The Tour ended yesterday and went very close by, in Fontenay sous Bois. I could have walked over to see it go by as we did several years ago when it went by just down the street. But, on the last day, they don't really race until they get to Paris, so it's more like a friendly parade of bicycles, not very exciting. After lunch, I just sat down and started knitting. The clouds started to build up again, so that by the time the Tour got under way in Créteil, I didn't feel like hiking up the hill to the nearest viewpoint. I watched on TV as they wound their way along a very zig-zagging route, crossing the Seine and the Marne several times, so that you would think we live in a zone with five or six rivers. They finally crossed into Le Perreux, went through the center  of town, down to the big intersection that leads to Nogent, but took the avenue into Fontenay, up the hill and then along the crest until they headed back down into Vincennes, around the Chateau de Vincennes, the zoo, and along the edge of the Bois in Charenton into Paris. They crossed over to the left bank and then back to the right bank at the Louvre, where they finally started racing for their 8 loops on the Champs-Elysées. It's nice recognizing all the landmarks of home along the way, via the helicopter.
Last week, on Sunday, I met up with other Girls High classmates and their husbands. First, I met with A² (That's for A and A) at the Museum of Jewish Art and History. A's family is related to the Dreyfus family, so she was particularly interested in Dreyfus affair exhibit and in the family photo album they had on display. I got her the email address of the person in charge of the that exhibit for her to contact. Then, J and E joined us for a nice walk back to their place via the rue des Rosiers (jam-packed with tourists), a bit of the Ile Saint-Louis, Ile de la Cité, Rue de Seine with the art galleries, and then rue Jacob. J and A were tempted by the Ladurée macarons, but came quickly out of the shop, struck with ticker shock. (Here's a recipe, in French!).
J & E are in a fifth floor attic walk-up. It's delightful -- lots of light and intelligent use of space. We rested and chatted for about an hour and then headed, on foot to Firmin le Barbier. I had been there with the Ps in June and can confirm that it is a very good place to eat. However, I will now give it a rest.

in the Yitzhak Rabin Park, across from the BNF,
before the movie

Starting Monday, I went out to Verrières to spend some time in English with Eléonore and Maxime. We played Monopoly, conversing in English, Go Fish, and other games. P-F was just in from Shanghai and took us all out to eat for lunch. I got to talk to Nadine a bit. Tuesday, I took the kids into Paris. The idea was to go to the Musée d'Orsay, but, in spite of the downpour and cold, the line serpentined in front of the museum (that's already an hour's wait) and continued around the block all the way back to the Seine on the rue Solferino! Crazy! So, we went to the Musée du Quai Branly, where we saw the Maya exhibit and the "Americas" section of the permanent exhibit. On Wednesday, we played scabble and did a little grammar review on verbs. We also watched To Kill a Mockingbird. I missed an appointment in Paris and was late for the second appointment! I guess I was just tired, so Thursday, I took the day off and on Friday, I took them back into Paris to see the new Harry Potter movie, V.O. and 3D! I drove them back home and once back in Nogent it was almost time to turn around to go to Louis and Gwen's for dinner with her parents and niece, Lya.
A lazy weekend and Emma arrived for an undetermined length of stay on Sunday evening. As usual, it's great to see her.

It's summer

The other rose bush from England -- Hot chocolate

 Last Sunday I was a tourist in Paris. The Ps were here with grand-daughter and a friend of hers, 15 years old, so they wanted to pack in the Eiffel Tower, the Orsay museum, and maybe a few other sites. Sunday morning I arrived at the Eiffel Tower at just past 10 and found them in the North tower line after a couple of intercontinental text messages. It was starting to get hot, but we were in the shade. We talked; the girls went off to the souvenir stands to check out prices. After about an hour an a half we were waiting for the elevator to go up to the second level where we got in another line to reach the top. At least while you are in line you are also looking at Paris below and getting your bearings. A walk around the top, I did not climb up the stairs for the outdoor peek, and in line again for the elevator down. By the time we got down, we were all pretty hungry and the heat was already weighing on everyone. I'm not complaining. It's just that you forget so fast how long it takes to "do" the Eiffel Tower. Grin and bear it and be sure to be in good conversation with such pleasant company.

One of the rose bushes we picked up in England

 We continued our gabbing through lunch. We walked over to the Boulevard de la Bourdonnais, near the American Library and stopped at a corner café. We waited for menus. We waited to order, and when we finally started our order, the waiter shouted at us that we couldn't order sandwiches from him; you could only do that at the bar. That, in spite of the fact that others of us were ordering other dishes. He just walked off to let the sandwich eaters choose something else and then kept ignoring us. We finally got up and went to the opposite corner and had an excellent lunch that was even cheaper than if we'd stayed at the first café. I think we were seated and served in less time than the first guy had shown up to take the order, too.

Herbs: parsley, (no sage), rosemary, thyme,  and mint

Rhubarb -- in fact I harvested 2 lbs. this morning
 and made rhubarb pie!

After all that standing in lines and then sitting at lunch, we walked to the Musée d'Orsay. The girls felt this was a really long walk, but I just mapped it on mapmywalk.com and it's not quite 1.6 mi. or just over 2.5 km. We walked in the shade and stopped at some souvenir shops, and to get water. Then, R stood in line at the museum while we girls stood in the shade by the side. There's some renovation work going on, some of the post-impressionists are grouped together in a side room, making it very convenient to see the major pieces together. We were all pretty tired before a full hour had gone by, so we finally left to catch a cab back to the hotel.

Zuccini

Well, on Sunday afternoons there are no taxis to be found at taxi stands. We had cool drinks at the corner café and still no cabs came by, so we took the metro, which is, of course, always the best solution. It's just that you can't always convince the others that it's going to be faster. After a short rest at the hotel and showing  off our respective photo albums and R showing me some cool apps on his Ipad, we headed back to the metro to go to the restaurant. There was no way I could get them to walk (less than the earlier walk, but still a little over a mile), so we got back on the metro. Anne met us on our way from the metro station to the restaurant for dinner. Louis and Gwen were already there when we arrived.

Tomatoes

Cucumbers

Firmin le Barbier on the rue de Montessuy, again, near the Eiffel Tower, is excellent for a small group. It's been written up in several guides and deserves its excellent reputation. It's not too expensive. It's small, so you really do have to reserve.

My throat, which had been scratchy since our return from England, was fairly sore. I thought I was just talking too much. But on Monday morning, I had no voice at all and even today, Saturday, it's still not normal. Seems other people are dealing with laryngitis, too, so I guess it's a virus going around.

Hope you've enjoyed the pictures of our vegetable patch.