Red, Red Wine

             
Sure, the wine rack is full now, but what about tomorrow?

The stained glass items were made by Robb's father.  He was just starting to learn, but arthitis forced him to give it up.  I thought he was rather talented for a beginner.

I couldn't stop laughing: Doritos creator dies, to be buried with chips

Can Neutrinos Move Faster Than Light?

Dumb Law of the Week: In Illinois,it is illegal to speak English as the State Language is American!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:


À la prochaine, mes amis.

Super-Earth

Every day for the past year, or more, I've been reading how the European Union is in serious danger of falling apart because several countries are close to bankruptcy. And yet, the euro is still worth forty cents more than the dollar. I don't get it. Either money investors are stupid, or the dollar is even worse off than anyone is telling us.

If you've ever wondered how stupid one must be to live in Texas, remember, they elected both George Bush and Rick Perry to the Texas Governor's office....more than once!

Have we found Luke Skywalker's Tatooine? A planet orbiting 2 stars spotted by Kepler.

La vue du Trocadéro de ce soir au coucher du soleil.

'Super-Earth', Could Potentially Support Life.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Globe, Arizona, it is illegal to play cards in the street with a Native American.

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:


À la prochaine, mes amis

WooHoo WiFi

I finally bought a WiFi router. It is a Netgear WNDR3700-N (the one on the left is the router, the modem's on the right). I love it. It's super fast. It works both wired and wireless. I noticed a huge difference in my connection speed once it was installed, which was super easy. My desktop PC is stilll connected by wire (though it's capable of WiFi) but I read in one of the tech magazines that wired is faster, and since I'm only about five feet from the router, it's not a major problem. If the mood should strike me, I can always disconnect the wire and run wireless. The biggest change (beside the great speed), is that now I don't have to steal my neighbor's WiFi when I want to use my laptop. I'm not even sure he's ever noticed my connectionn to him, I don't do it that often or for that long; just whenever I really need it. Now that I have my own WiFi, I can watch football and tweet at the same time in the living room.  I also bought a new modem, a Motorola SB6120 DOCSIS 3.0.  Actually, I bought it some time ago but could never get it to work until now.

His opponents couldn't ask for a better opportunity to comment: Campaigning outside Pittsburgh today, GOP frontrunner Rick Perry attended a picnic at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Oil City where he enjoyed a foot long corndog while touring the fabulous reproduction of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.


New Fossils May Redraw Human Ancestry.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Florida, throwing dishes is illegal!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:


À la prochaine, mes amis.

Slowly

 I am very slowly recovering, but I can see it's going to be quite a while, if ever, before I'm back to where I was before this all started.

On those rare occasions when I actually look up from my computer screen, this is what I usually see:

The other night, I noticed this shadow and thought it was interesting:



Daimler Smart Forvision: a solar-powered roof with plastic wheels.

Dumb Law of the Week: In Columbus, Georgia, you cannot sit in an 'Indecent' position!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week: MegaFlicks


À la prochaine, mes amis.

Relax

Just when I doubted the wisdom of our Washington leaders, along comes FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate who warned that damages could come as a result of Irene. I can sleep peacefully now knowing we're under the protection of such brilliant and capable people.

Presidents Cause Increased Homicides (And Suicides) 

Dumb Law of the Week: In Colorado, it is illegal to kiss a sleeping woman!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:


À la prochaine, mes amis.

Cramps

I've mentioned having cramps several times over the years. Thanks to one of my readers, Nadege, and my nephew Bob, I have a couple of remedies. Nadege, in a comment, wrote that her mother gave her Juvamine - magnésium + B6. Bob told me that when he was snorkeling, he got bad leg cramps and the guy at the snorkeling shop told him to drink Tonic Water. Something about the quinine in it that relieves cramps almost instantaneously. So far, I haven't had a reason to try either of them.


Small volcanoes add up to cooler climate. Airborne particles help explain why temperatures rose less last decade.

Test your Internet connection for signs of trouble. The ICSI Netalyzr. 


Dumb Law of the Week: In Clawson, Michigan, it is illegal for a man to sleep with his animals!


Bad Choice Logo of the Week:



À la prochaine, mes amis.

So.....

15 August - I didn't mention this in my previous post(s), but when we were under the impression that I would need oxygen to fly back to the US, I tried to call my doctor to have him arrange for someone to meet me at the plane with an oxygen unit. He was absolutely no help what-so-ever. "It can't be done. You can't just go to the plane with a cannister of oxygen. Security will never let you in." To which I replied, "It is not possible that I will be the first person in the history of flying, that needed oxygen when he got off the plane. There must be a procedure in place for that." "Oh no, it can't be done. We will be happy to make an appointment for you to come to the office when you get back, but that's all we can do." So I did what he should have done, I called the Miami Airport. I was transferred several times and finally ended up talking to someone in Immigration (because I was coming from another country). They told me there was no problem at all, I simply had to get the captain of the plane to call ahead and someone would meet me at the plane with oxygen and a wheelchair. My doctor could have just as easily made that call and resolved the matter, but apparently he wasn't interested in actually helping, and that is why he is now my EX-doctor.

And you'd better believe I did call him and tell him that.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Humana is picking the tab for the French hospital.

As he usually does, Geoff wants to be friends again. At least this time, he admits that "we" have our "ups and downs". I truly believe he has no idea that he's lacking people skills. I'm amazed he was an airline steward for so many years. Of course, when confronted, he is a complete wuss. I suppose we'll get along for a while again and then he'll blow up over something really insignificant and meaningless, he won't talk to us for months and then come back and pretend nothing ever happened. It's very wearing.

Every Space Nerd Must Get This Thing For Their Bathtub

Dumb Law of the Week: In Chicago, it is illegal to go fishing in your PJs!

Bad Choice Logo of the Week:


À la prochaine, mes amis

Paris 2011 - Final

4 Aout - (Jeudi) - It has been four days since I entered this tiny room (maybe 10 by 10). The only time I've been out is when I go to the lobby while the maid is doing her thing. We even take our meals in here, and though the food is a definite improvement over the hospital, it's still not bistro quality.

Jeudi (Thursday), I got brave enough to try to go downstairs because I really, really would like to eat at a regular restaurant. We took the elevator to the ground floor, but once we walked the half mile to the exit, were confronted with steps. I'm not confident I can do steps yet, so that means we're screwed.....again. Only in Paris would they build a hospital that's NOT handicapped-friendly!

5 Aout (Vendredi) - I went back to the hospital for what I hoped would be my last time. The portable oxygen unit did not work and I have no idea why, so we went all the way with no oxygen. I rode in a wheelchair, so it didn't require much energy. They waited until I had been off the oxygen for about an hour and took a blood sample. The test came back very positive. My blood oxygen level was well within the normal range with no oxygen. The doctors decided I could fly with no oxygen on the plane. I'm not so sure that's a good idea, but I'm not a doctor.

Since, according to the French doctors, I don't need oxygen, we are going to fly on Open Skies (it used to be named L'Avion) a business-class-only airline on Sunday, if there are seats available. We will fly to Washington and from there to Fort Lauderdale.

Good news....we are booked on OpenSkies for Dimanche (Sunday) at Midi (noon)!!!

We went out for my first meal outside in the real world in three weeks. Of course, we went to the very first place we encountered, because I was walking very slowly, it was a relatively long walk, and I didn't want to overdue it on the first attempt. Aux Tours de Notre Dame is very touristy (of course) but the food is decent and I was so glad to be in a real café again, I could not care less about the bazillion tourists. While we were eating, it started pouring. I've never seen it rain so hard in Paris. We just let it run its course, and headed back to the room when it had stopped.

Here are some more pictures: CaféView, CafeView2, le Jardin de l'Hôtel Dieu (Lower Level), le Jardin de l'Hôtel Dieu (Upper Level), Place Parvis (in front of Notre Dame), and a view toward Montparnasse, le Jardin de Hôtel Dieu (Best View), Dieu detail, Dieu Entrance, Gregorian Chant, a corner detail, Hospitel sign, and Aval'Tar, who represents all who have ever been in l'Hôpital Dieu (he was a real person). If you're in Paris and you want to see the jardin de l'Hôtel Dieu, it is open to the public and free. L'Hôtel Dieu is directly in front of Notre Dame.

And a short video from Hôtel Dieu showing the Panthéon and Notre Dame.
The last of the Paris 2011 pictures: A table ready for you, fleurs (flowers) outside the gardienne's office, the only window in our tiny room at l'Hospitel and the last Paris Rouge picture.

8 Aout (Lundi) - We are home after an exhausting 25-hour day. We got up at 08h00 (2 AM US) on Sunday morning. The Hospitel had promised us a van but reneged while we were out to dinner. Our last dinner was again at Aux Tours de Notre Dame. While we were eating, it started to pour. We waited till it had almost stopped and left. Robb demonstrated super strength by somehow managing to get all the bags down to the main hall, where the taxi driver picked them up and carried them to the taxi. Then we were off to Orly Sud, which is a lot closer to center Paris than CDG. It turned out we had even more time than we expected because our Open Skies flight was delayed. We spent the extra time in the VIP Lounge eating a petit dejeuner. We had the last two (of four) seats on the plane. If you've flown Open Skies, you know they serve champagne. Our steward, Kevin, was very responsive when asked to pose with the bottle.  If you haven't flown on Open Skies, Robb and I recommend it. It's easily worth the extra couple of shekels.

For some stupid reason, I decided we should fly to Washington instead of New York (you do hear the buzzer going crazy, don't you?). That was one of a couple of mistakes we will never make again. The only direct flight to Fort Lauderdale was by JetBlue (the other mistake we will never make again.) at 07h30 Monday morning. We settled for a connecting flight which required us to fly to New York and then home. Everything at every airport on the east coast was being delayed because of bad weather. We weren't even sure we would make the New York connection. Luckily for us, we did, but it was much later than we had hoped and we didn't get home until around 02h00. In addition to the many delays and other setbacks, the people at JetBlue seemed to be working in a daze and really did not seem to be in control at any time. Thankfully, the flight to Fort Lauderdale was smooth and I managed to sleep most of the way.

We got to bed around 03h00 and were up by 08h30, still exhausted.

You can see ALL the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-8

15 Juillet (Vendredi) - The day it all went to hell!

I was awakened around 03h00 with the most terrible cramp in my foot. Nothing I did could stop the excruciating pain. After an hour or so, the pain was making me sick, so I got up with the idea of going down to the toilet, just in case. Apparently, I made it to the bottom of the steps, where I passed out. I awoke some time later, gasping for air. No matter how I tried, I couldn't get my breath and breathe normally. I was laying against the bottom step and finding it difficult to move into a position in which I could breathe more easily. I finally was able to get to my hands and knees, and by leaning over could breathe a bit better but still not correctly. I tried laying flat on my stomache which caused me to throw up.

Needless to say, Robb was becoming more and more concerned.

I somehow managed to get to the sofa and sat there with my head on my arms on the coffee table. Robb decided to call for help. He consulted the guardiennne, who recommended calling les pompiers. They arrived and decided I needed to go to the hospital. Oh, and during all this, the only thing I was wearing was a night shirt and a towel. I got Robb to get me a pair of underwear so I wouldn't be totally naked and off we went.

I was taken to l'Hôtel Dieu, the oldest hospital in Paris, where it was determined that I must be moved to the ICU unit. ICU is interesting because they do everything for you. I was kind of embarrassed to be washed by two nurses.

I was in ICU for a week because they were supposed to move me to a regular room but had none available. All the medecins (doctors) and infirmières (nurses) in ICU were really, really nice and as friendly as they could be. There was kind of running joke about the food, which was the worst I have EVER eaten ANYWHERE. When they brought my first real meal, they asked how I liked it. I told them, "Comme la Tour d'Argent" (just like the Tour d'Argent, a very expensive restaurant in Paris).

After a few days the doctor came and told me I was moving to the other ward that day. A couple hours later, a guy showed up and said it would be the next day. That night, the night crew had a long meeting. When I told my night nurse (Alvee) I was moving tomorrow, he replied mysteriously, "Maybe". And sure enough, it was another day before I was moved.

When I got to the new room, I was the only one in a two-bed room. That didn't last long because they wheeled in another guy a couple hours later. I was somewhat disappointed because the ICU room had been private. The new guy, whom I dubbed 'Serge' because I think he was from Georgia (the Russian Georgia), spoke no English and his French was worse than mine, but somehow everyone seemed to be able to communicate with him.

That brings up another MAJOR problem; none of the doctors or nurses ever seemed to communicate with each other. Every time a new person came on the scene (which was almost daily), I had to explain my situation and hope they understood. Most of the time they did, but there were times when they didn't, and it was all because they did not talk to each other. One nurse actually told Robb she thought I was there because I had a drinking problem. I mean, we're talking very basic knowledge here people and she didn't know!

There were times in the new ward when I became so frustrated at the way they did, or did not, do things, I literally could have punched someone. An example....one night I had a coughing fit. I called for the nurse. She came and I said, "Avez vous an medicament pour arret le toux?" (Do you have a medicine to stop this coughing?). She ran out of the room, screaming, "The English, the English." So she sends in the most arrogant, obnoxious asshole in the history of nursing. The moron comes into the room, comes to my bedside, stares out the window (never looking at me) and asks what I want. I asked him the same thing I had asked the bitch. He replied, "Monsieur, it is night time. If you want to make changes, you have to wait for the day time." I swear, if I had had the strength, I would have punched him in the face. Thankfully, they were the only two who were less than professional and way less than friendly. After that night, I never saw the asshole again.

My medecin, Docteur Chevalier, was a whirlwind or activity. She arranged for us to leave by Air France. She arranged for an ambulance to take me to the airport and get me on the plane. She arranged for l'oxygene (oxygen) on the plane. The only thing we had to do was pay for the tickets. Unfortunately, it all fell through when Air France went on strike the day before we were scheduled to leave. But that was the last time I ever saw her. Everything else was done through her assistants, most of whom spoke only limited English. I don't mind speaking and trying to understand French under normal conditions, but this is major stuff here and I would really like to be sure I understand and they understand.

An example of that is when Dr. Chevalier arranged for the Cardif company to give me an oxygen unit to use at home. I simply could not make them understand that I didn't want the unit, and I didn't need the unit, so it sits next to me at this moment.

Here's a short video from my room.

1 Aout (Lundi) - Because we couldn't leave on Sunday as planned, I was dismissed from the hospital on Monday. Fortunately, just like in St. Johns, there is a hostel (Hospitel) on the sixth floor of the hospital, and Robb got a room with two beds to which we moved with a lot of mis-communication, complaining and swearing (mostly by me).

Okay, speaking of Robb. He was not having such a great time either. Because I got sick in the last week we were to be in Paris, he had to move from the apartment, because it was already rented for the time after we left. Luckily, the guys (Olivier and Romaine) from Ah, Paris were super nice. They got him another apartment (a tiny studio) and helped him pack and move. But our bad luck continued, he could only have the apartment for a week and after a couple days, the elevator broke down. There was no way he could get all our luggage downstairs by himself. Again, Romaine to the rescue....sort of. They got the stuff loaded into a taxi, but they dumped Robb at the entrance to Hôtel Dieu and left him to fend for himself. According to Robb, when He told Romaine about the change of plans, he simply went to pieces and couldn't cope with it. But Robb is pretty resourceful and got all the luggage upstairs to our room.

They wheeled me over to the hostel, but the day manager (a woman) would not let us in. She kept yelling, "This is a hotel, this is not a hospital." Over and over. We finally left and went back to the hospital. About a half hour later, the hostel called and told them all was well, we could occupy the room. So they brought me back. And that's where we are ensconced at the moment. My first night of freedom was not so pleasant, but I'm fine now.

We had a very nice dinner in the room...with wine, bien sur!

Speaking of 'in the room'; that brings us to the next really nice thing that happened to me. The Cardif company representative brought a battery-operated oxygen unit to replace the plug-in unit. He also brought a portable unit so I could (if I felt up to it) leave the room and go to a restaurant. The portable unit lasts up to twelve hours, depending on what setting I put it on. Again, he did all this for free. I'm telling you folks, when these people are nice, they are REALLY nice!

The current plan is to stay here for a week in the hope that I will improve to the point where I won't need oxygen on the plane. Wish me luck with that!

You can see ALL the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-7

11 Juillet (Lundi) - We had to go back to the banque because Robb wanted to transfer more money to his French account and it required filling out a lot of forms.  It took quite a while.

After, we caught the bus to l'Opéra stop, after which, we walked past the Opéra to Celio.  Robb bought a nice shirt.  I was going to buy a pair of jeans but decided not.

We left Celio and walked to Galeries Lafayette.  What used to be Lafayette Homme (behind Bouchara), is now an H&M and it's for women only.  We crossed over the main Galeries Lafayette but decided fighting the crowds was too much and left.  We started back to catch the bus, but we stopped for a breather.  Then we noticed a lot of empty taxis held up by the traffic, so we jumped into one, gave him our address and....sat there.

It took forever in the rush hour traffic.  But we passed some nice churches on the route.  Saint Laurent, which I photographed way back in 1999 on one of our frequent trips to Gare de l'Est(when I could actually walk for miles and miles).  Église Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, which I've seen a few times, but was moving too quickly to get a shot.

We kind of decided, during the ride, to get off at the Franprix, instead of going to the apartment and walking back, but the driver turned down rue de Turenne since rue Saint-Claude is one way from there.  It was just as well, we dropped off our packages, made a pit-stop and went to the magasin (store).

Watched a TV show on France3 called "Copains" (Friends).  It was/is all about music from the late fifties and early sixties.  I think it's a weekly show.  The thing that really got to me was the way everyone looked so young.  I was young then also.  WOW!

12 Juillet (Mardi) - It rained most of the morning, but by the time I got out of bed, it had stopped.  We didn't make ay plans for the day because we believed the weather forecasters when they predicted rain for the day, off and on.

We did want to walk to Carrefour to get some stuff.  The Carrfour is a lot larger than the Franprix, which of course, means you can get things there that Franprix won't have.  It kept raining off and on for most of the afternoon, but finally seemed to be clearing up around 19h00 (7:00PM), so we took off and hoped for the best.

Just before we entered the Carrefour, we felt some intermittent drops and thought we had just beaten the rain.  But it never did get worse. We spent some time wandering around the store, trying to be cautious about what we bought because I can't carry too much weight.  Still we bought some nice wine and some stuff for dinner,  It's just amazing what you can get in Paris for only three or four euros.

13 Juillet (Mercredi) - The weather has turned chilly again.  Robb wanted to walk to Fontaine Sully because he thinks it's close.  A few years ago, I would have agreed.  I wore my leather jacket and my hat.  I considered wearing my scarf, but didn't.  Robb eventually shed his coat, but I was quite comfortable.

We finally made it to the restaurant and took the table at the window with the view of Hôtel de Sully, across the street.  We ordered a picher du vin rouge (St. Emilion) and a planche de fromage (plank of cheese).  There were five varieties and I only recognized two; the brie and the blue cheese.  But they were all great.  So we sat there eating cheese, drinking wine and watching the parade of people on rue Saint-Antoine.
After, we dashed into Monoprix to pick up a couple items, then walked up to the Saint-Paul bus stop for the 96.

When we got back to the apartment, I nodded off for at least an hour
.
14 Juillet (Juedi) - Le Quatorze.  The original plan was to go to the Esplanade des Invalides, meet some friends, drink a little wine and chill out until dark, when we would walk over to the Champs de Mars for the fireworks show.  But I decided that would be too much for me so we decided to just go to the Champs de Mars.  The problem was we weren't sure the bus would be running.  We checked with a friend who said the RATP had put up a special page for Le Quatorze, which we checked.  According to the RATP, all the busses were running.

We caught the 69 bus and started on what we thought was going to be our first Quatorze experience.

We were wrong.....again!

The bus ran it's normal route until it got to rue de Grenelle where it stopped and the driver told everyone to get off.  Incredible!  There's no way he didn't know he couldn't go all the way, why didn't he just tell us, instead of dumping us in the middle of nowhere?

This would have been bad enough if I was healthy, but in my less than stellar condition, it meant we would have to walk to the nearest bus stop, which turned out to be on Boulevard Saint Germain.  We made it to the bus stop and I figured we would have to take the 83 to Place d'Italie, get the 57 to Gare de Lyon, and finally get the 20 back to the apartment.  All of that turned out to be moot, because while waiting for the 83, we flagged a taxi.  We changed our mind about going to the apartment, and went to Fontaine Sully for dinner instead.

Once again, we've been screwed out of participating in Le Quatorze by the RATP and the city of Paris.

The REAL news will be in the next installment!

You can see ALL the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-6

8 Juillet (Vendredi) - Robb had aother appointment at the banque on Boulevard des Italiens today.  His regular conseiller (counselor) has taken off a couple months (we think she is getting married), so he did business with a really nice guy from the South of France, who spoke excellent English, and seemed to prefer it.

We encountered a slight drizzle on our walk to the bus stop.  Fortunately, we had both taken our parapluies (umbrellas).

As we passed the Monoprix on rue du Temple, we decided to get off at the next stop and walk back to it because Robb wanted to get another bottle of a cologne he really likes.  On the way back to the Monoprix, we stopped at a luggage place where I had bought a suitcase several years ago,  Just to have a look.  A French friend had told me it's very well known, and I can understand why.  The prices for their very good luggage are excellent.  Then we stopped quickly at Tati where I bought a European extension (the little black things are American to European adapters).  We finally made it to the Monoprix and Robb got his cologne, UdV (Ulric de Varens).  It's named in colors, I like the Blue.  When we went out to get the bus (the stop was just outside the Monoprix door), I took a picture of Église Sainte Elizabeth, just across the street. There was a guy in a wheelchair waiting for the bus and I managed to get a shot of the wheelchair extension from the bus.

At about 20h00, we walked down and caught the 96 bus to Saint Paul.  We had planned to take the métro from the Saint Paul station to the Étoile station, because both have escalators to the side walk.  But there is a taxi stand there also, so...  The taxi let us out in front of Pizza Trionfo, a place at which we had dinner several times a week last October.  It's basically a pizza place as one can tell from the name, but we almost always had the pâtes (pasta).  I liked all the pasta dishes, but I loved the pâtes bolognaise.  The only time I had a pizza there, I thought I was ordering tartiflette.  And it was a tartiflette pizza which was very good, but when you're expecting one thing and you get another, it's not the same.

Nino recognized us as soon as we walked through the door.  He thanked us for the carte postale we had sent from Fort Lauderdale and we chatted for a few minutes.  There was a sizable crowd in the restaurant.  I think we were the only non-French in the place.  An interesting point: even though it's an Italian restaurant and the proprietor's name is Nino, he's not Italian; he's Egyptian.  For desert, I had a créme caramel and Robb had the Parfait Café.  As usual, Nino gave us a digestif on the house.
    

9 Juillet (Samedi) - Laundry (jeans) and La Tour de France.

10 Juillet (Dimanche) - Aujourd'hui (today) we went to le Musée des Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Crafts) which involved taking the same bus twice.  We had a choice; we could take the 20 to the end of the line and come back, or we could do what we did.  First, we rode to the next stop after the bank, and then we walked down to rue du Quatre-September, where we got the bus going in the opposite direction.  We got off at the Réaumur-Arts et Metier stop, which is just across the street from the musée.

The first thing you notice is L'Église Saint-Martin des Champs, which you can enter from the musée, but isn't part of it.  Regretfully, we did not go in for a look.  The second thing you see is the Statue of Liberty.  That now makes three of which I'm certain in Paris, but there could be more.

The musée has exhibits on three floors.  The first floor exhibit was a temporary show about the Paris métro system.  We didn't see that either.  But there was more than enough to see on the other two floors, including one of the first, if not the first, airplanes.  I'm not sure I'd want to take a flight in that.  The ceiling above the hanging plane is almost as spectacular as the plane.

The musée is large and filled with fascinating stuff.  We were there for about three hours and we didn't even see everything.  As well as the stuff in the musée, there were interesting things to see outside as well.

Afterward, we caught the bus back to the apartment, and decided to walk down to Comptoir Turenne for a drink and (for me) a rest.  I had a coupe de champagne, Robb had a Kir Royal, and we shared a dish of pommes frites (French fries).  While sitting there, I saw one of the famous Space Invader mosaics on the building next to the church on rue de Turenne.

Walking back to the apartment on rue Saint-Claude, I noticed a couple other graffiti-like things; the spaceman, the social comment and the very cool barber's sign.

You can see ALL the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-5

4 Juillet (Lundi) - I took an alprazolam (generic Xanax) last night, and for the first night since we've been here, slept straight through.  I'm somewhat susrprised I don't feel that much better, but I suspect my medicine has more to do with how I feel than my lack of sleep.  I have doubled my dosage to what it was before this doctor, to see if that's the problem, but it will take at least a week to see a result.

I haven't mentioned food in a couple days.  We have been eating 'at home', because I realized that at €100 or more per night, it would cost us almost $20,000 to eat out every night for three months.  We simply cannot afford that.  For whatever the reason, prices in this area are rather high.  We will eat out occasionally, but it probably won't be often.  That's one of the advantages of renting an apartment.

Robb was hot to buy another shirt.  He went back to the store where he had previously bought three shirts.  The shirt they sold him was a medium and he wears a small, so I accompanied him back to make the exchange.  Surprisingly, the clerk gave him no hassle at all and the exchange was made.

We decided to go back to Comptoir Turenne to get something to eat.  We had the same waiter and, apparently, I was right about the other day, because he greeted us warmly and provided excellent service.  We decided on the Chevre Chaud Salade.  It was huge!  Robb, of course, finished his, but I could only eat about three-quarters of mine.  As I am wont to do, I had a good look around and noticed that the ceiling had been painted as a map of the Marais.

On the way back to the apartment, I noticed an old door.  It's somewhat atypical of doors here.  Most are in better condition.

Our friend, Steve, came down with some kind of stomache problem, so we re-scheduled for Wednesday evening.

5 Juillet (Mardi) - The Musée d'Orsay has lent some of it's impressionist paintings to Hôtel de Ville which is showing them for free until the end of Juillet (July).  We hopped aboard the 96 bus and rode to the Hôtel de Ville stop, right across the street from city hall.  We walked to the main entrance, but had to go to the back entrance.  As we thought, there was a line waiting to be ushered into the show, luckily, it wasn't very long.  An interesting thing happened while we were waiting; there was a small group of kids with their teachers in front of us.  The guards looked over, saw them and then motioned them to go inside, ahead of the people waiting in line in front of them.

We finally were let in and it was well worth the wait.  There were actually two exhibits in the same place; the Impressionistes and La Construction du Nouvelle Paris (the costruction of New Paris).

The Nouvelle Paris exhibit was up a couple flights of stairs, but I was determined to see it.  It was worth the climb.  There were a lot of pictures of now famous buildings when they were new, or as they were being built, including some really great pictures of the new opera building, which we know today as Opéra Garnier, the old opéra.  There was a cast of the Théâtre de la Porte St. Martin, which I thought was the Théâtre de la Renaissance.  It's a great exhibit and if you're going to be here before the end of July, I really recommend it.'

Then, we went downstairs to view the Impressioniste paintings.  Again, easily worth the wait to get in, which because it has been here a couple weeks and will last until the end of July wasn't that long.  There were several artists in the show with whom I was unfamiliar, but I enjoyed seeing their works.  Of course, if you've been to the Orsay, you know they never show the complete collection at one time, there's just too many.

After our visit to l'Hôtel de Ville, we walked up to BHV Homme in the hope of getting some more bargain T-shirts.  I bought a couple and Robb bought one.

We left and walked to the 75 bus stop on rue des Archives.  We took the 75 to Place de la République, but got off at the wrong stop, so our walk back to the apartment was several blocks longer than necessary.  Fortunately, the weather in Paris right now is beautiful (low to mid 20'sC, 70's F).  Since we had to walk right past it, we stopped at Franprix and Robb bought some stuff, including another bottle of wine.

We heard from our friend Peter and, I think, we have a date for drinks tomorrow afternoon.

6 Juillet (Mercredi) - Last year, I complained because every place at which we stayed was undergoing some kind of construction.  Since we got to Paris this year, it had been nicely quite.  It now appears the peace is to be broken.  Just across the courtyard, workers are renovating what I think is an office.  Will someone please explain to me, why are the workers only noisy in the morning when I'm trying to sleep?

Peter stopped by around 14h30.  We drank some nice wine and, as usual, had a great conversation.  We started outside in our little jardin terrasse (garden terrace) but it started to sprinkle, so we moved inside.  During the course of the conversation, Peter asked if we had been to the church down the street (Église Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement).  We told him we had, but then, he mentioned the "Pietà" by Delacroix, which we had totally missed.  He did say it was in a dark corner, and the church was quite dark when we were there.  Now that we know it's there, we'll definitely make a point of going back to see it.

Around 18h30, we walked down to the Turenne/Saint-Claude bus stop.  Caught the bus and rode to the Hôtel de Ville stop.  We walked to rue des Archives and then, up to Les Marrionners, passing an empty Chez Tsou.  All the other places around Chez Tsou were busy, as usual.  We have eaten at Chez Tsou and liked it very much, so I don't understand why it's always nearly empty.

We ordered a picher du vin rouge and settled down to wait for Steve, who arrived straight from work.  We drank some wine and chatted for several hours, and made a tentative date to meet in Madrid, since he and "cheri" will there for a few days while we are there.  Then, Steve left while Robb and I decided to have dinner there.  We both had what Les Marrionners calls the "Croquita".  It's basically a croque monsieur, but the croquita is an open-faced sandwich with mozzarella, ham, tomatoes and Herbes de Provence.  It's very good and very filling.  It comes with a small salad.

We finished our dinner and walked down to rue François Miron to get the bus back to the apartment.

7 Juillet (Juedi) - Laundry and La Tour de France.  Robb made his daily trip to Franprix and a side trip to the pharmacie for acetone, because I had used Super Glue on my house booties and got a lot of it on my fingers.   I tried to watch la Tour at 13h00, but it wasn't on.  I thought maybe they had taken a day off.  I was starting to watch a tape of yesterday's action around 15h00 and figured I would try France2 once more, and there it was.  I don't know if you can watch this French website in the US, but thought I would include it just in case.  Laundry takes forever.  Washing is quick enough, but in order to have dry clothes, you need to run them through the drier at least three times. 

  

You can see all the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-4

1 Juillet (Vendredi) - I don't get it.  I have absolutely no trouble falling asleep, but I only sleep for two or three hours and then, I toss and turn until about seven in the morning, at which time I fall asleep for another three or four hours. 

Today, we went out, caught the 20 bus to Gare de Lyon, where we got the 57 bus to Place d'Italie and Italie2.  Robb bought a nice sweater/shirt at Jules.  We headed for the pharmacie, stopping at Armand Thierry for a quick look but bought nothing.  The pharmacie was only about half as big as it used to be.  The actual pharmacie part was like a little room in the back of the store.  There was one pharmacist working and a long line waiting.  I guess if we want something from a pharmacie, we'll have to go to a local place.  I was kind of hoping the pharmacist could suggest a good, over-the-counter sleeping aid.  

We stopped into Printemps, but again, bought nothing.  Then we went to Tati (sort of a down-trodden K-Mart) hoping to buy hangers, but found none.  Robb bought a cannister set to use at the apartment, it's so nice, we may take it with us.

Then, we left Italie2, caught a very crowded 57 bus back to Gare de Lyon, where we got the not-so-crowded 20 bus home.

We dropped the stuff off at the apartment and walked up to Franprix to see what we could find for dinner tonight.  We bought a frozen dinner; lasagna bolognaise.  It wasn't bad.  Our best buy was a box of Magnum White ice cream bars. 

    

2 Juillet (Samedi) - I slept somewhat better and even got up by 10h00.  Now, if only my breathing would improve.  

In what is becoming a daily routine, we went to the Franprix today and bought more wine, some turkey (for sandwiches) and napkins.  We found a re-usable sac (bag) so we don't have to keep using plastic bags.

We dropped our purchases at the apartment and walked down to rue de Turenne.  I wanted to find the closest 96 bus stop.  We turned right on rue de Turenne.  Lots more men's shops and everyone was selling beautiful clothes at special prices because of the soldes, which ends about the time we leave for Madrid.  We walked up to rue Froissart, which was only one of the six streets intersecting that corner.  Still didn't see the bus stop, but there was a branch of BNP Paribas, so Robb stopped and got some money.Then we started back.  We were about a block from rue Saint-Claude when I saw a 96 bus go past.  It stopped at rue Saint-Claude.  We walked down, had a look and, sure enough, there was a bus stop right there.  That's very good news, but I don't know how I missed seeing it when I looked before.

While we were admiring our good luck, we noticed that a wedding party was emerging from the church on the corner, Église Saint-Denys-du-Saint-Sacrement  The bride was beautiful and the groom was handsome.  I thought about taking a picture but it somehow didn't feel like the right thing to do.  We were surprised when the bride (still in her beautiful gown) and groom (still in his expensive-looking tuxedo) didn't get into the traditional car to make their getaway, but after most of the rest of the wedding party had left, walked away.  Most unusual!

We were sitting on a bench across the street and decided to go to Comptoir Turenne for a café.  At first we sat at a table on the terrasse, but the sun was too bright and hot, so we moved to a table inside.  While we sat there, we saw another wedding party arrive and go inside.  Comptoir Turenne (formerly Le Diplomate) is the very first place in France that practically asked us to leave.  Not in so many words, but the waiter brought our chèque and waited for payment well before we actually thought about leaving.  Of course, it could be our fault for moving after we ordered our café.  Maybe he wasn't sure we were going to stick around and pay.  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. 

We did eventually leave.  On the way back to the apartment, I stopped to take a picture of the church bell tower.  The tower is at the back end of the church and that puts it very close to our apartment.  I have heard them in the morning (in fact, just a few minutes ago), but they're not too loud at all.  Back at the apartment, I tweeted our friend Steve to set up a meeting for Lundi soir (Monday evening). 

3 Juillet (Dimanche) - La premier Dimanche (the first Sunday) of every month is FREE MUSEUM DAY in Paris, so we got ourselves ready, walked down and got the 96 bus across the street from the Comptoir Turenne.  We rode to the Hôtel de Ville bus stop, where we got the 69 bus to the Louvre-Rivoli stop.  We should have waited until the Palais Royal stop, but it wasn't a total waste. As we passed Rives, Robb saw saw a wallet he wanted to buy.  While he was doing that, I took a picture of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois just across the street. Then we walked down to the Carrousel du Louvre entrance to the musée, passing an interesting exhibit in front of Le Conseil d'Etat.  I really didn't think it would be that crowded, but everyone in the city must have known about free museum day.  We checked out a couple stores in the Carrousel and headed for the Place du Carrousel bus stop.

We caught the 69 bus to the Champ de Mars, the final stop in that direction.  We had hoped to stay on the bus, but the driver insisted that we leave, walk across the street to the real bus stop, and wait till he finished his cigarette.  While waiting, I took a strange picture of la Tour Eiffel (you have to look really closely, but I swear it's there).  We did that and rode all the way to the other end of the ligne 69, where we, again, left the bus, walked across the street, waited for the driver to smoke and got back on.  It gave me the opportunity to photograph the fontaine in front of the 20e Mairie (City Hall).

Around 23h00 (11:00PM) we went to a place on Boulevard Beaumarchais named Grazie.  When I looked it up on Google Street View, it showed a place named Le Balto.  It's supposed to be a pizza place, and some reviews had good things to say about the pizza.  But the drinks were way over-priced.  

  

You can see all the Paris pictures at Paris 2011 

  

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-3

27 Juin (Lundi) - I took a pill last night and slept a little better, but still not great. 

Robb wanted to go to the banque today. We got ourselves dressed and walked down Boulevard Beaumarchais  towards Place de la République  in the hope of finding a taxi. As we walked, we tried to flag one down but, except late at night when they're begging for riders, it's almost impossible to do that, and today was no different. In case you don't remember, I really HATE French taxi drivers, and that opinion was stoutly renewed today. We found the taxi stand and there were three taxis there, but no drivers and they never did appear in the entire twenty to thirty minutes we stood there trying to get a passing driver to stop. None did.

We walked down to Place de la République (if you can see the little blue 'TAXI' sign, that's where I was standing when I got one guy to stop) to see if we could get one there. We found the taxi stand and I could see several taxis parked about half-block away. But, again, no drivers. Finally, after standing there waving at passing taxis for ten or fifteen minutes, one actually stopped and picked us up.

I suppose I should mention that it was extremely warm in Paris today. The World Weather site online showed the temp to be in the high 90's. I've never been here when it was that hot. In fact, I didn't really believe it ever got that hot in Paris after being here in July one year when I had to buy a leather jacket because it was so cold!

We got to the banque only to find, once again, it was a wasted trip. The Carte Bleu that was supposed to be waiting for Robb, was not there. You know that list of things I HATE about Paris? Add banques. Supposedly, he has an appointment to pick it up on Wednesday, but I will be greatly surprised if it's actually there.

Just to be certain it wasn't a totally wasted trip, we walked down to the métro station a Place de l'Opéra to get our Navigo passes. Robb needed a new one, and I just had to rechargement mine. We each got a carnet de billets (ten tickets) to use until Vendredi (Friday) when our passes will be good. I have to say, it was much easier this time than last time. The clerk had everything ready and we simply told him what we wanted and handed him the euros. Afterward, we stopped at the 'Paul' café. I got un pain au choclat and une bouteille de l'eau (a chocolat filled brioche and a bottle of water). Robb got an apricot tarte and a can of Minute Maid Jus de l'Orange.

Then we walked over to rue de Quatre Septembre where we got the 20 bus back to the apartment.

Back at the apartment, we were happy to find that the interesting temperature thing was still true - it was at least fifteen to twenty degrees cooler in the apartment. We each had a dish of Menthe Glace (mint ice cream), then rested until dinner time.

A few minutes after 21h00, we went out ostensibly to go to an Italian restaurant I had seen down the street. But we walked a block down Boulevard Beaumarchais, when I spotted a little place on the other side of the boulevard, down a little side street (rue Amelot). I loved the name of the place:  La Vache Acrobate (the Acrobatic Cow). I suggested we try it. What a great find it turned out to be. In spite of the heat (surprise Paris is HOT!) we had to sit inside, but at least, we were next to the open window. We both had the Noix Saint Jacques (scallops). They were served with the best risotto I have EVER eaten. We ordered une bouteille du Val de Loire (an excellent white wine). We skipped dessert and finished with un café.  

After dinner, we walked a bit down the street and discovered a few more restaurants. They were all closed and I hope it was only because it's Lundi (Monday) and it's their usual day to be closed.

28 Juin (Mardi) - Did I mention that we got here the day after the start of les soldes d'été (summer sales) Période des soldes d'été : du mercredi 22 juin 2011 au mardi 26 juillet 2011 inclus (they last from 22 June to 26 July). Les soldes d'été, for those who aren't familiar, are the summer sales. In France, store 'sales' are regulated by the state. Supposedly, the stores can only have 'sales' at certain times of the year. Of course, that does not include 'specials' or 'going out of business sales'.

The other day when we were walking down rue de Turenne and were checking out all the men's stores, we also noticed that the prices were really low. Normally, clothing in Paris is quite expensive. Robb had seen several shirts he wanted, so off we went on a shopping spree. We passed several stores before he finally saw something he had to buy. He bought three shirts. Then he took them back to the apartment while I waited just outside Hôtel de Grand Veneur, where there was a photo exhibit of some sort. I took a picture of the main entrance with the "flags", and a picture of a couple of pieces of sculpture in the courtyard. I think one is King Louis 'the Sun King, but I'm not certain.'

We walked a little further, than caught the 96 bus to BHV. While we were in the store, it rained a little bit. We both bought some nice T-shirts because we hadn't brought enough (I only had one with me). After, we walked down by Hôtel de Ville, thinking we might have time to check out the free Impressionist exhibit, but it was too late. Apparently, most of the art is on loan from the Musée d'Orsay. The exhibit is on until the end of July, so we will have the chance to check it out. Since we couldn't do the HdV exhibit, we walked over to Place de Saint-Gervais and down rue François Miron to the bus stop and caught the 96 bus back to rue Saint-Claude. It was good to get back to our nice, cool apartment for a while.

A little after 21h00, we went looking for a place to eat. This time we tried rue de Turenne and found a little place on rue de Parc Royal named Café des Musées (probably because the Picasso Musée is just down the street). We were seated next to two American girls who were living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Next to them were two (I think, because they were speaking English to the girls) French guys. At any rate, everyone was very friendly and we had a very good time. The waiters were also very friendly, cheerful and helpful. We both had Canard Roti (roasted duck) with a medley of vegetables. It was excellent. Dessert was a créme tarte with cranberries. We drank a bottle of beaujolais. During the time we were there, it rained lightly, but the temperature cooled down significantly.

29 Juin (Mercredi) - The Paris heat wave is over and I'm back to wearing my leather jacket.  Today, also, is Robb's appointment at the banque. I'm curious to see how that goes. Around 13h00, we walked up and got the 20 Bus. We arrived at the BNP Paribas about a half-hour early, so we just hung around outside, then went in. We only had to wait a few minutes util Robb's conseiller. She was very pleasant (as usual) and she actually had Robb's card ready and waiting. After getting the formalities out of the way, we chatted for several minutes; mostly about politics and the "war on terror". She's very knowledgeable about world happenings, and we found that we pretty much agreed on everything.

We left, stopping for a café at Bistro Romain.  Just across the street was a Pizza Hut, so I had to take a picture. 

Then we walked over to rue de Quatre Septembre, where we just missed the 29 bus, but only waited a few minutes for the 20. There is a beautiful church between the Bourse (which used to be the Paris stock exchange) and Square du Temple.  I tried to take a picture of it, but my phone was turned off and by the time it re-booted, we were already too far past.  But since I had it ready, I took a shot of the Temple métro station and the statue named 'Republique' in the middle of Place de la République.

Dinner at Le Repaire de Cartouche. There is an entrance on Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire which is really Blvd Beaumarchais, but changes names about a block from the restaurant like so may streets in Paris. We actually entered from rue Amelot, after stopping at two other "restaurants" that have menus but don't serve food. That now makes three of those we've found in this area. I don't mind if a place wants to be only a bar, but at least they shouldn't advertise themselves as a café/brasserie.  Le Repaire de Cartouche is a split-level place, and I suspect the locals eat downstairs, while the tourists are shuffled off to the hinterland. We both had the Pavé de St. Pierre (a white fish) served over delicious wax beans (like haricots vert, except yellow). Dessert, which was ordered by Robb, was supposed to be white chocolate cake with strawberries, but there was little, if any, white chocolate in it. It was good but... The waiters, in contrast to reviews I read after getting back to the apartment, were pleasant and friendly. When reading about the restaurant, they presented the hours thusly; "Closed Sun., Mon., and Aug." I found that to be quite funny. If you know anything about Paris, you know that most Parisians leave the city in August.

30 Juin (Jeudi) - Another terrible night.  I was reading the entries from our last trip to Europe because I was looking for the name of a store (which I found) and I saw that it was a week or more before I could get into going places and doing things.  I'm hoping that's the case this time, but I don't remember it being this bad. 

Dinner tonight at a really nice place on rue Amelot, which although it's just across the street, is in the 11e (11th arrondissement) La CuiZine.  It's apparently run by a husband and wife team.  We both had gambas (huge shellfish served whole) which came with a side of risoto.  Very messy, but very good, and our waitress Delphine brought us finger bowls.  We drank a nice Macon Village white wine.  Dessert for me was a raspberry Tiramisu.  Neither of us can remember what Robb had, but it was good and looked beautiful.  This is a great restaurant and we hope to return before we leave for Madrid in a couple of weeks. Oh, and La CuiZine is one of the restaurants we saw the other day that was closed because (I think) it was their regular day to be closed. 

You can see all the Paris pictures at Paris 2011 

  

À la prochaine, mes amis.

Paris 2011-2

24 Juin (Vendredi) - Between the jet lag, the room temperature (Robb thought it was too hot and I was freezing) and my leg cramps, it was close to 07h00 before we fell into a fitful sleep.  When I awoke, it was about 15h00 (3 PM).  Robb was already up and had made coffee.  Again, this apartment doesn't have an electric coffee pot but a French Press.  We had forgotten to get bread when we went to the Franprix yesterday, so Robb had to go out on his own.  He made it there and back with no mishaps.  Maybe the gingo biloba is actually doing something.

I just looked at the clock and it's 19h45!!  I've spent the entire day writing about the last two days.

Ce soir, we walked down to Chez Clément which is only a block from Place de la Bastille.  We had a great waiter; a young guy who spoke very good English.  When we asked how he learned, he replied that he picked it up from talking to English speaking people.  Most of the time he spoke to us in French, but we noticed that he spoke exclusively English with the Japanese couple at the next table.  My dinner was the Pavé de daurade avec pommes (white fish with potatoes).  Robb had the Pavé de lieu avec legumes de jardin (Fish with vegetables).  They were both excellent.  Pour au boire (to drink) we had une bouteille de Petit Chablis (a bottle of chablis).  I can't remember the last time I had chablis, but it only took one sip to realize it shouldn't be that long until I have it again.  For desert, we both had créme brulée.

After dinner, we walked down to Place de la Bastille and hung out for a few minutes.  It was too cold to stay longer and we started the eight block walk back to the apartment.

It's supposed to be quite warm demain (tomorrow).

25 Juin (Samedi) - Paris Gay Pride Day.

Although I managed to get out of bed around noon, after another horrible, non-sleep night,  it took several hours to do my morning stuff, drink a cup of coffee and eat a couple pieces of toast.  The gay pride parade started at 14h00 in front of la Tour Montparnass at Place du 18 Juin 1940,  which is in the 6e (6th arrondissement).  The participants will walk and drive across the city, crossing the Seine by way of the Pont de Sully, then make their way by way of Boulevard Henri IV, to the Place de la Bastille, where (hopefully) we will be waiting to see it.

The problem was that I was so tired from the last couple of busy, sleepless days, we didn't even start walking to the Place until after 15h00.  It wasn't really a problem though because I knew it would take the parade at least two to three hours to arrive at the Place.  And I was correct, the first float didn't appear until a couple minutes after five.  I tried to make a video to capture some of the feeling but it didn't turn out.

There was a huge crowd when we got there (around 16h00) and it grew by the minute.  Where once I could see across the street, by the time the first float arrived, I could barely see a few feet in front of me.  Luckily, we had a good spot and while we couldn't see everything, we could easily see the floats.

As in years past, there was a large bandstand set up by one of the local rock stations (HotMixOne - I think) and they were blasting sound.  When they cranked up the bass, the whole area bounced.  It always surprises me that some windows aren't broken.

After a couple hours, I was very tired from standing, and found a place where I could sit down.  There was a young guy nearby who, according to his female friend, had already drunk a couple pitchers of beer and was drinking from a bottle of wine.  He was very drunk, but he was a happy drunk.  I called him "the dancer" because he was dancing to all the music, both from the bandstand and the floats, not to mention the stuff he was singing.  He really was quite a good dancer.

I found a few videos on the internet.  The first one includes the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (I simply LOVE that name) doing a circle dance and singing.  The second one is rather short.  The third one is about three minutes.  The main theme of this year's parade was gay equality as can be seen in this France 24 article with video en Anglais (in English).
  

There was an ice cream truck, Snoopy Glace, near us so Robb bought us a couple of cones.  The ice cream was good, the cones not so much. The final float rolled by around 19h30 (7:30 PM) and we started the very long trek back to the apartment.  I was so tired, I didn't even want to go out for dinner, but around 21h45 we walked down to the place on the corner which indicated on its awning, that it is a cafe and a brasserie (both eating places).  However, the waiter said they were serving nothing but drinks, though we had seen people eating there when we passed a day or two ago.  So it was back to the apartment where we had toast, pâté and wine.

You can see all the Pride pictures at Paris Pride 2011.

26 Juin (Dimanche) - Another sleepless night.  I may have to resort to some kind of sleeping pill.  I think part of the problem is the teensy-weensy little pillows they have in France.  At least, today is Dimanche (Sunday) and most things are closed, so I'll have a chance to recoup some energy and catch up on yesterday's events.  Robb walked up to the Franprix to get some more stuff around noon (Midi).

To find out what happened when I tried to make a video yesterday, I made a short video of the apartment. Of course, that turned out great.  But you can get a sense of the large size the place.  There is a strange situation with this apartment.  It is at least twenty degrees cooler in here than outside.  I also took pictures out the front door and the back door.

Dinner tonight a 'le bar à huîtres' on Boulevard Beaumarchais.  The waiter brought out a huge lobster.  It must have weighed close to ten pounds.  I would have said "no way", but Robb wanted to go with it.  I don't even like lobster, but what the hey.  My dessert was three kinds of sorbet, and that was excellent.  Robb had rhum cake (and again, the waiter left the entire bottle of rum, thankfully Robb didn't drink as much as last time).  The thing that blew me away was the menu.  It was on what I think was an iPad (I've never actually seen one, but Apple is very popular over here, so it could be).  After the main course, but before dessert, I went out and took a video (with my phone) of the fish market just at the corner, because of the waterfall windows.  If you don't mind being REALLY ripped-off, you might like to eat at this place.

You can see all the Paris pictures at Paris 2011

À la prochaine, mes amis.