Paris Snow 03-04 Janvier 2010

03 Janvier (Dimanche) - Today was another "meet-up" day. We met Rhino75 at Les Marrioners. We rode the bus over to the Hôtel de Ville stop and walked up to the bar/restaurant. I checked my watch and noticed it was already past the time we had agreed to meet. I called Rhino to let him know we were on our way and just a couple blocks from the place. He evidently was waiting for us to call and tell him we were there before he left his apartment. The place was packed. We barely found two seats. There was an empty table next to us, but when I tried to pull it over, the people sitting on the other side told us they were expecting another to join them, and since they had been there first, we conceded it to them. Rhino showed up a few minutes later, and a few minutes after that, a table opened in the corner by the door, so we sat there. Rhino was good enough to let us have the "inside" seats. They weren't too bad and we were fairly comfortable. We chatted for a couple of hours and he was on his way to wherever. Since it was dark, we headed down to l'Hôtel de Ville so I could get the videos I wanted. Sadly, they didn't turn out any better than the ones I had already taken. Luckily, I had thought to bring my camcorder and I used that, so they should be okay, but I can't download them until I get home. If you want to see the sucky videos, you can look at these: Hôtel de Ville, Skaters, BHV.

Tonight, instead of walking all the way over to Pont Neuf, we grabbed the 76 bus at the Hôtel de Ville stop and rode it to the end of the line. When the driver told us the line was "terminé", we told him we wanted to go to the Birague stop and he very graciously let us stay on. I love the bus drivers in Paris.

Dinner was, of course, at Fontaine Sully. They make a dish they call "Tartiflette Maison", which is, in my humble opinion, cassoulet made with potatoes. It is super delicious.

04 Janvier (Lundi) - I decided I wanted to buy the leather jacket after all, so we bundled up and went out to catch the bus over to rue des Archives. Lordy, it was cold...below freezing. We got off at the Hôtel de Ville stop (everything seems to be right there, doesn't it?) and walked up to the jacket store. It was closed, but the sign on their door stated that they open at 14h00 on Lundi. We walked back to the Open Café and nursed a cup of coffee for forty-five minutes. There was an interesting looking guy seated next to us who kept texting someone, or, at least, constantly checking his phone for messages. A few minutes later, a very cute guy joined him. We learned through listening to their conversation that the cute guy was Italian and was in Paris to complete his studies in pursuit of a PhD. The other guy was an American. The witching hour (14h00) finally arrived and we walked back to Roganel, the jacket store. It was still closed. I remarked to Robb that it was so typically French for them to be closed at the time they were supposed to be open. In better weather I would have waited for them to open, but it was just too cold to do that today, so we took off to get the bus back to the apartment.

Once inside, I swore I was never going out again until the weather warmed up. Of course, that was when we discovered we needed milk.

À la prochaine, mes amis

Paris Snow 24-25 Decembre

24 Decembre (Jeudi) - So far, the most adventurous we'd gotten was to walk up to BHV (a huge department store) and, though it doesn't seem like much, that's a pretty good walk. And we still have to walk back. It took us quite a while, because Robb wanted to check out every shoe store we passed, and there were quite a few along the way. After walking through the regular store to get warm, we crossed the street to BHV Homme (the men's store). We each bought a stocking cap (is that what they're called?) and Robb bought a couple of shirts. Then we walked up rue des Archives to Les Marrioners. I thought we were just going to have a glass of wine, but Robb, as usual, was hungry. He ordered something called a "Croquita", which turned out to be a kind of Croque Monsieur with herbs. I had a couple bites. It was delicious.

We had dinner again at Fontaine Sully and discovered that they're open 24/7, somewhat surprising for a French restaurant.

We're still having trouble with our French SIM cards. Mine sort of works, but Robb's is for "Urgences Seulement" (Emergencies Only). The Canadian company from which I purchased them is trying to get Orange to bring them online, but is not having much luck. Quel surprise.

25 Decembre (Vendredi) - The day got off to a great start; blue skies and sunshine and tempertures a little better than freezing. Today, we accomplished a couple of things. Well, tonight, really. We walked up to the taxi station because you can't just flag one down, even if you could figure out their lights. I was going to ask him to drive by way of la Place de la Concorde, but then I thought, well, it's the most logical way to go. Yeah, I know, expecting logic from a Frenchman, what nerve! But sure enough, that's the way he went, so we finally got to see the Champs-Elysées with its beautiful lights, as well as the Grand Roue de Paris. Les Champs-Elysées is even more beautiful in person than in all the pictures and videos. Here's a video featuring the Marché de Noël. There were a lot more lights and decorations on rue de Rivoli than I was expecting, also. L'Hôtel de Ville is spectacular and if I can force myself to go out into the cold to do it, I will take some video and a picture or two. Paris seems to be getting more and more commercial.

The main reason we had taken the taxi was to get to la Tour Eiffel for Christmas dinner. We could not believe the number of people who were there milling about with apparently no idea where they were going or why. Also, they've setup barriers all over the place making it the most frustrating experience I've ever had there. We asked a guy who seemed to be in charge of one of the barrier stations how to get up to Restaurant 58. The last time we were here, it was named Altitude 95 That alone was very confusing. I knew it had been renovated but I didn't know they had also changed the name. I'm not even sure it's owned by the same company. He sent us to the information booth, which he described as "a little hut". There we discovered that we would have to pay to take the elevator up to the restaurant. Talk about a scam! Not only that, but the elevator doesn't stop on the first floor, on which the restaurant is located. Noooo, they make you go to the second floor where you have the option of catching the elevator down to the first floor, or walking down the stairs. The reason for that, as explained by our waiter (from Texas no less), is because the company that operates la Tour Eiffel wants you to wander around the second floor in the hope that you'll happen into one of their souvenir shops and buy stuff. We decided to use the stairs (can you hear the buzzer?). It seemed like an interminable climb down, but we did eventualy get there and found the Restaurant 58.

We asked about sitting by the window and were told that people had called three months ago for that privilege and there was no way it was going to happen for us. We were seated at a table that was rather isolated from the rest, and the only view we had was of the waiters running (literally running) up and down the stairs with their orders. We were no sooner seated than we were presented with a glass of champagne (Alain DuCasse if you're interested) which was okay, but not great. There was already on the table a bottle of Evian water and a bottle of Bordeaux vin rouge.

The first course, choice of three, was foie gras. The presentation was fantastic, the foie gras, not so much. Our choice for the entrée was Noix de Coquilles Saint-Jacques. It came with some kind of vegetable, but we're still not certain what it was. There was also a small serving of polenta with chestnuts. We ordered a bottle of chardonnay to replace the red. It was a nice wine, but not memorable. The entrée was very good. The third course, was desert. I had a pear with chestnut icing. It was more like pear ice cream than a fruit. It was delicious. Robb had a rum cake. Although none of the courses could have been considered large, they were very filling, and neither of us could finish our desert. We finished with café.

After our meal, we walked out to the taxi stand. We barely had gotten there when a taxi pulled up beside us. Some jerk tried to push in front of us and take it, but the driver shooed him away and motioned for us to get in. Then we had a very scenic drive along the Seine back to the apartment. I'm glad we had dinner on la Tour Eiffel because it was a special event, but, for a number of reasons, I don't think I would ever do it again.

You may have noticed I haven't taken as many pictures as usual. Freezing weather is the reson for that. Have I mentioned how much I hate the cold?

À la prochaine, mes amis

Paris 2008 - 9-10 Juillet

9 Juillet (Mercredi) - We rode to Place de la République where we caught the 75 bus downtown. According to the plan de l'autobus, it should have gone down rue de Turbigo to rue des Archives. It didn't, and I knew it wouldn't because rue des Archives is one-way in the opposite direction. We got off at the Centre Georges Pompidou, at which we checked out an exhibit through the window. I'm not sure what we saw, but it appeared to be proposed buildings for the city. I suppose we'll have to go back to check.

From there. we walked over to rue des Archives and down to the area in which we had an appointment to meet Rhino75 at Les Marroniers for an apéro at 21h30. We had originally proposed a dinner meeting, but he works until 21h00. We were early because we had yet to eat dinner and I thought it might be a good idea to do that before we went out drinking, even though I didn't plan to drink very much.

Next door to Les Marroniers, there is a Thai restaurant named Chez Tsou. Robb suggested we eat there. It was really good and the waiters were all cute Asians (although I don't think any of them were actually from Thailand, they looked more Chinese than anything). Here's a poor video.

At 21h30, I went out to see if I could spot Rhino75 and he had just arrived as I got outside. We went back into the restaurant to join Robb. We drank and chatted for a couple of hours.

When we left, we planned to catch the bus just outside the restaurant, but it was not running that late. That meant we had to find a taxi stand. We didn't. But we did find a Parisian couple who stopped a taxi and asked him to take us home. I hope we have finally put to rest the crap about Parisians being cold and arrogant. We had actually just asked for directions to the nearest taxi stand. They went way beyond simple instructions.

10 Juillet (Jeudi) - I awoke around 04h30 with a splitting headache. I took some effervescent aspirin (everything over here comes in effervescent) and waited for it to work. It didn't. I took a regular aspirin. it didn't work either. So I got up, checked some email and sat on the sofa for a couple of hours. I returned to bed but couldn't sleep. Around nine or ten, I asked Robb to go to a pharmacie and get me a sinus medicine. Unfortunately, either he or the pharmacist made a mistake and he brought back a cold medicine. I didn't think it would work, but took one of the pills anyway in the hope I was wrong. I wasn't. It didn't. I went back to bed around four-ish and slept rather fitfully until about eight.

We walked down to rue Léon Frot to Les Casseroles for dinner around nine-ish. While there, Robb got into a conversation with a brother-sister couple from San Francisco. She was American and he was a Mexican professor. We chatted for a few minutes and they left.

We went for a short walk after dinner, during which I videoed a car I have been trying to get a picture of since I first saw it several weeks ago. The video isn't all that good because it was night and the light wasn't very good, so I'm not going to put it up.. It is a Ford sports car that I guarantee will never be seen in the US. I did finally get a daytime video, though it's a bit jumpy, but I'll put it up in a day or so. There are so many economical vehicles here that the US will not let into the country, and this is just another in a long list. One that I particularly like is the Mercedes A Class.

Plus à venir, mes amis.

Paris 2008 - 1 Juillet

Mardi - We started by going to the Marché for some fundamental things, which of course, includes champagne and cheese. After carting it all back to the apartment and putting it away, we went down to the bus stop and caught the 69 to Pére Lachaise because I wanted to go to the pharmacie there.

A strange thing has been happening since I reported that I could buy my medicine with no prescription. Apparently, it's not true. I've been to at least a half-dozen pharmacies in the attempt to buy it and they have all turned me away for lack of a prescription. That had me wondering how and why the one guy sold it to me so easily. So to find out what was going on, we went back to that pharmacie. The guy with whom I did business the first time was not there, and the guy who waited on me asked for a prescription. I told him that I had bought the medicine there a couple weeks ago without one and that started a general conversation between the other three people working there. It was finally decided that they would sell me another, but they put my name into their computer. I'm not certain if that was for the next time I try to buy the medicine, or if it's just something to cover their butts. It doesn't really matter becuse now I have enough to last until after I get home at the end of the month.

We walked out of the pharmacie just in time to catch the bus. Neither of us wanted to go right back to the apartment, so we stayed on the bus (during which we passed a group shooting a TV commercial as we passed Place Léon Blum) until it got to rue de Rivoli. We walked down rue de Rivoli for a while and then walked up to rue des Archives to les Marroniers We got a nice table that was technically inside, but for all intent was on the café terrasse. We ordered a couple of beers and sat back to enjoy people watching. The bar and the area were quite crowded. We sat there until after 19h00, then left to get the 75 bus right outside the door.

Before the bus came, Robb decided he wanted to go to BHV Homme, right around the corner, to see if he could get a pink T-shirt, which apparently is all the rage right now. He first found a hat that he liked. He put it on and asked a couple of strangers what they thought of it. It turned out that the "strangers" were two gay guys who have been together for about a year. We sort of bonded after they asked how long we've been together. Their names are Ashan and Enias. One is Swedish and the other is French, but we're not sure which was which since they were speaking English. They wanted a picture of us and we of they, so we had one of the salesgirls take a picture, first with their camera, and then with mine.

We said our goodbyes and Robb continued his search for a pink T-shirt. He found one he thought he loved until he got home and tried it on. It's a V-neck and it doesn't quite fit right. We're hoping "it will ride up with wear". Is anyone familiar with that phrase? Think: Mr. Humphries.

We hopped onto the 75 and rode to Place de la Republique where we just sort of wandered about for a while. I saw a little manége and couldn't resist shooting a short video.

After, it was the 56 to Place Léon Blum, then the 69 to our stop and home, where we crashed for a couple hours.

Plus à venir, mes amis.

Paris 2008 - 20 Mai

20 Mai - The day started by going to the marché where we bought way too much stuff that we had to carry back to the apartment. By the way, that group of things in the picture foreground are the Velib stations and the place where you pay. You can see there are only a couple of bikes left in this rack.

After lunch, we caught the bus to l'Hôtel de Ville, from where we walked to rue des Archives. On rue des Archives, there is a very gay-friendly bar/restaurant called Les Marronniers at which we were to meet yet another blogger. A Brit this time who writes under the name of Rhino75. The meeting was scheduled to take place at 18h30 but because we weren't sure of the time on the bus, we got there about a half hour early. This was not a bad thing because we got to take a brief tour of the Marais.

A couple of doors from the bar/resto is what used to be a church. In the courtyard an artist, Ostoya, was having his show. Aside from being interesting in their own right, most of the pieces had moving parts so that you could rearrange them or, like me, just play with them. 1, 2, 3, 4 Number four was my favorite. There were two or three more like it, of varying sizes.

Then we went to the bar, got a couple seats inside and waited for Rhino. He arrived shortly after 18h30, having walked from his apartment not that far away. I think it was an instant mutual attraction. We got along famously, as we have with everyone we've met over here. We chatted for about three hours until Rhino needed to leave to eat the dinner he had already prepared. Robb and I decided to have dinner in Les Marronniers. We both had the l'entrecôte grillée with potatoes and salad.

Unfortunately, it became time for us to return to the apartment. I knew from the last time that we couldn't get the bus on rue de Rivoli, so we walked down to the quai. We had to walk past l'Hôtel de Ville, and I got these shots of the back side and some detail. We also happened past Saint-Gervais. We looked in both directions, but saw no bus stop. We were confronted with the possibility of walking down to Pont Neuf or walking the other way, the direction in which the bus would travel. We chose that. It's too bad the universe doesn't utilize one of those annoying buzzers that buzz when you make an incorrect choice like on the quiz shows on TV. So, we walked and walked and walked and walked. We finally found the correct bus stop and waited. And waited. And waited. We noticed that the time thingy wasn't listing the 69, but we've seen that before and it just meant the thing wasn't working correctly, so we kept waiting. There's that buzzer again. We watched several 76 busses go by and finally one stopped and I told Robb to ask the driver if it went to Voltaire, meaning Place Léon Blum, of course. The driver said the bus would go to Voltaire, but the one of which he was speaking is not the one we wanted. When I realized it was not going where we wanted to go, we got off the bus. Unfortunately, I had no idea where in Paris we were. Or even if we were still in Paris. We started walking back to who knows where, when we luckily came upon a taxi stand. We hopped into one and were off. It turned out we were only a few blocks from the apartment and the taxi ride was relatively cheap.

Plus à venir, mes amis.