More Days of Exploring Paris and the Environs....

There were several days in the 90's last week, so I had a good excuse to just catch up on sleep and get acclimated. My greatest activity was to walk into town-which is down a decent enough hill-to visit the town and different grocery stores and then walk back up this hill that is steeper on return.

Saturday Pascale found some very interesting activities for us to explore. At 12:30 there was a lecture about Hector Guimand and Villa Berthe, La Hublotiere, built in 1896. It was all in French, so my comprehension was non-existent....His work did, however, remind me of Gaudi's in Barcelona! Many of the Metro signs were designed by Guimand.

Nonetheless, it was fun to see the other people and the tour guide,

who studies at the Louvre. The purplish-blue wisteria hanging from the front of the house was nearly past, but I was intrigued to see how her outfit "matched" with the purple tinted sunglasses and the purple plaid sundress she was wearing.

On the way home we stopped at a wonderful bakery (boulangerie)-why don't we have these?? We each chose one for lunch when we got home.

At 5:3 0 that afternoon she had arranged for her Aunt Jeanine to meet us at Villette. As described on wikipedia, "The park was designed by Bernard Tschumi, a French architect of Swiss origin, who built it from 1984 to 1987 on the site of the huge Parisian abattoirs (slaughterhouses) and the national wholesale meat market, as part of an urban redevelopment project. The slaughterhouses, built in 1867 on the instructions of Napoléon III, had been cleared away and relocated in 1974. Tschumi won a major design competition in 1982–83 for the park, and he sought the opinions of the deconstructionist philosopher Jacques Derrida in the preparation of his design proposal."

In one of the halls there was a two storied display designed to show the relation of music to films. For example, it talked about how different producers selected various composers and stayed with them thoughout their careers. It was quite interesting with various displays where people could listen to different music. All the signage was in French; it was quite crowded and incredibly hot-especially on the first level. The second level, cooler with less people, had displays where people could pick one of maybe 40 songs from movies, and they played over the whole area. Fun to hear the Beatles and "As Time Goes By" and wonderful "pieces",(as my father would have said) into the hall as opposed to headphones, which was the case for most of the displays.

It turned out that Jeanine had fallen asleep, so we met her later for dinner at a Thai restaurant just beneath her high rise. Jeanine taught piano for many years and now sometimes is teaching Pascale's niece. I was happy to have met her. She wanted us to go up to her apartment, as she wanted to tell us some more interesting stories about family, but it was too late by that time! One story she told was about her 72 year old niece in Los Angeles,who is reported to have had an affair with Cary Grant. Well, that did pique my interest!!

Sunday was going to be hot, so we went to the very impressive Puteaux,http://puteaux.fr/Loisirs/Vie-sportive/Piscine-du-Palais-des-sports ,one of the 37 public Paris swimming pools. (DO check out the link if you have a minute!) So we joined the other 1300 people there and had a fun day! They have a 50 meter outdoor pool with a 25 meter indoor pool plus smaller pools for the kids. It was amazingly organized and clean. 9euro price tag is a bit hefty for an entry fee, but well worth it! (Unfortunately my pictures have fallen into the black hole of picture downloads with Windows 8!) It is an impressive complex.

Monday was my first "typical " tourist day, as I took the train to Rouen to learn more about the place where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. (I really wanted to check out the restaurant where Julia Childs, as a bride, had her first French meal. Time prevented any lengthy meals, as I did get a later than usual start.)

I followed the travel book directions and made the TI (Tourist Information office) my first stop. I picked up a map and started to figure out where I really was. After a quick ham and cheese sandwich (jambon et fromage), I was off to see the wonderful Impressionist exhibit at the Beaux Arts Museum-many Monets, Renoirs, Sisleys. Right around the corner was the Ceramic Museum, which was great (for the wannabe potter) with some most intriguing pieces. It had been sprinkling a bit, and-wimp that I am without my umbrella-I decided to head back to the train station. On the way, I passed the Joan of Arc Tower, where she had been held before her trial. So I went in and climbed the 104 steps to stop at each floor to learn more about her. Probably the most interesting thing is that Mark Twain in twelve years wrote a book about her called Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc under a pseudonym http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Recollections_of_Joan_of_Arc  and considered it his greatest work! As I was exiting the Tower, it was pouring, but I managed not to get drenched on theway to the train.

Today I reconnected with Marie Makdessi,

whom I had met in 2005 on the train to Metz. She is now married and due to have her daughter in a month. When she first came to France from Lebanon to study, she was going to stay a year. Since then she realized how much she likes it here, has married a Parisian who teaches high school in Paris, and will probably live all her life her in Paris. She is a psychologist who speaks four languages and works with autistic children. She suggested the

Opera House,

Male costume from Swan Lake

which was a great idea, as I had only driven by. There was an English tour later in the day,so we walked around on our own. It is a spectacular building, and the foyer rivals a small Versailles Hall of Mirrors.

We had a delicious lunch in a Greek restaurant, and we went off hoping perhaps to go to Giverny, but that looks like it won't work. GREAT DAY! Merci, Marie!!