9/20/14 meeting old friends

In 2009 Marie and I spent 5 hours in line to see the Élysées Palace. (It was worth it!) We met a lovely family from Brittany and have kept in touch. The Journees de Patrimoine are here again. Geraldine and her daughter Valentine are coming for the weekend and we are going to meet the at the Senate for a tour. (You can read about it in the September 2009 part of the blog.)

The plan is that Marie and I will meet them in front of the building. We got there and found that the line was not bad at all. Unfortunately the train from Brittany broke down and they were delayed 2 hours. We spent the time at the head of the line chatting up the gendarmes and security. We even pointed out that the very young gendarme had iron on letters on his shirt not embroidered like the others - was he a REAL policeman? He was in training, they need all hands because every public building is open.

Geraldine and Valentine finally arrive.


The entry garden:


We are loving the selfies:


Catherine de Medici's chapel:



There was an exhibit of the representations of Marianne, the French national symbol. Catherine Deneuve was used as one and we asked where it was. We ask A LOT of questions at these things. The security man didn't know, but found out and tracked us down to give us the answer. Here is Marie with her.


After the Senate we went to the green houses in the Luxembourg gardens.


Then Marie and I split off because they were coming for dinner and Marie had to get ready with a little help from me.

We started with Grilled veggies, mozzarella, and ham. Then had shrimp pasta and tiramisu for dessert.





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