Monday, July 23

Things keep happening, and I keep moving. I am now in bed #9. This house belongs to an aerobics friend. There are no pets, but a bunch of plants. Lucy, the little dog, was overjoyed to see her family.

Things keep happening at the house. The wall board is up and waiting for the inspector.



Both Branwen and Calder went off the high dive.


I have teeny tiny watermelons



And the cute heat/air conditioning guys are starting work. Raphael and his son. The son helps carry stuff and keeps out of trouble by helping his dad.



Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

July 4th and later, home again

Ford and I flew back to Connecticut on July 3rd and then I continued to L. A. on the fourth.  Southwest really gets in the spirit of things.


When I left the garden looked like this:



When I returned it looked like this:

I left a little cream colored house with green trim - now it is becoming a little tan colored house with brown trim.  I now have skylights

Electrical that looks like this

Instead of this

 The kids are going to camp and also taking swimming lessons
  

 And I have moved again.  This is bed number 8  (5 & 6 were in CT and 7 was in France)

I traded  house # 4 with the 2 cats, fish and gecko, for this cute little dog.  Lucy likes to keep me company when I sit and read or watch TV.

 Branwen has been asking for a dog.  She came over to take Lucy for a walk and decided that it is really boring.  (So maybe she will change her mind.)

Tuesday, July 2 our last day

Just a day of packing and finishing up. I had to go back to Rue Rivoli for some stuff, so Ford came with me to help find the correct shop. We think it was closed today - but I found what I needed anyway.

Marie and I took a walk around the neighborhood. The fifth floor of her building is a convent of the Sacred Heart. Recently the mummified body of the founder was returned to France after a stay in Belgium during an anti religious period in France. Our walk took us to the church were she now rests. I GIVE YOU - THE NUN MUMMY:



She really looks very waxen. The coffin is very beautiful.



The golden dome of The Invalides caught our eye



as well as a really pretty building



Last but not least a Segway herd.



This is a popular area for them. They ride around the Champs de Mars and the streets have wide pavements and not much foot traffic.

We are staying close tonight, going to a brasserie right around the corner, so that we don't have to walk too far. There might be a P. S. if it is interesting.

Sunday, July 1 Catacombs

Sunday, a lovely day to visit old bones. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones with this idea. We had to stand in a very long line. One of the problems is that only 200 people can be inside at one time, so the line moves slowly.

On the bright side, it was a lovely day and Ford and I chatted amiably while we waited. When he got hungry, we asked the very tattooed couple in front of us where they had bought sandwiches. Ford went to buy a sandwich and drinks and rejoined me in line.

I think the catacombs were a hit. Boys tend to like things like immense stacks of bones with the empty eyeballs looking at you. The whole underground passage is about 2 kilometers. I always forget how far you walk before the first bones, but then they are there in satisfying amounts.



This is really out of focus, but the guard yelled at me for using the flash, so I didn't dare try for another.


Ford is standing next to a column of bones - notice how low the ceiling is.




Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Saturday June 30, The Opera

Thanks to Charlie's friend Luz, we had 3 free tickets to,see the famous opera where Phantom of the Opera is set.
Coke was having a give away right in front of the building. They had cute little cans and Ford had one. Marie and I passed.

The building is lovely and beyond ornate.

To make it even better there was an exhibit throughout of costumes.

I am sure that Marie and I liked it better than Ford, so after seeing the theatre and what the boxes looked like, he and I headed off to Sacre Coeur. We wended our way through the scrum, took the funicular up and looked around. The street performers can be interesting. One young man was doing tricks with a soccer ball, while standing on the balustrade at the top of the stairs. Here is a "statue person" taking a break.

I had made reservations at L'Attendu, a nice restaurant near the city hall of the 15th. Marie and I enjoyed it immensely, but Ford said that he was disappointed that his steak wasn't larger. (Finally lots of pictures of food.)
The charger:

The amuse-bouche was an egg dish:

Deep fried shrimp - there were 4, but I forgot to photograph it before Marie and I shared.

The 3 of us. We chatted up the young lady in the back. She was Russian and was at a clothes exhibition selling her sister's line.

Marie's main course - ris de veal

My main - duck on a bed of celery root. The fan like thing is potatoes fried together.

Ford's main - steak on a bed of sweet potatoes.

For dessert Marie and I shared a molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. Ford had some tastes.

He had sorbet on fruit.

On our way home we came across a clown wedding.

This was close to 10 at night. Ford probably won't see the Eiffel Tower sparkle, because he is too tired. I am walking him into,the ground.