Travels with Erwin and AlexandriaJoin us on our travels here and abroad.(Untitled)- September 17, 2008 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2008 Today we did some shopping, not at the open-air market, but in the covered market where "our" cheese man's shop is located. We purchased small selections of three cheeses, Muenster (which is a sharp, pungent cheese, not like those bland muenster slices we have at home), a rather aged round of goat cheese, and some St. Albray. Pictured below is our favorite Roquefort, a selection of cheeses, and our cheese person, a very nice person who answered all our questions...http://travelswitherwinandalexandria.blogspot.com/2008/09/wednesday-september-17-2008-toda... (Untitled)- September 17, 2008 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2008We had our first visit with friends today. Gabrielle Forrest and her daughter, Claire Cairnes, are in Paris for a week and we arranged to meet them for lunch. Gabrielle, for those of you who know Millburn, is a retired secretary for the public schools and a member of the Millburn Retired Educators. She has been to Paris many times and enjoys coming back. We met them at their hotel and Claire suggested the restaurant at the Muse des Arts Dcoratifs which is located...http://travelswitherwinandalexandria.blogspot.com/2008/09/tuesday-september-16-2008-we-had... (Untitled)- September 17, 2008 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15. 2008We started the day out with nice weather. Lots of sun, but still a bit cool.We decided to do another concert this afternoon. This one, also, was at the Madeleine. They have three or four concerts there each week. Today's group was the Motettenchor der Technischen Universitat Chemnitz, Germany, conducted by Peter Krone. They did some orchestral pieces, Nathalia Krone, the conductor's daughter we think, sang several solos including a marvelous Missa for one voice by the..http://travelswitherwinandalexandria.blogspot.com/2008/09/monday-september-15.html (Untitled)- September 14, 2008 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2008Today marks the end of four weeks here in Paris. Time is flying by and we are still finding many things to do, excluding laundry and shopping. So many things to see. For instance today we came across a Smart car (a very compact two-seater produced by the Mercedes company and recently introduced in the US) that had parked on a wide boulevard. The space was too small to parallel park so the driver backed into the space. See the picture below. And it fit well. Only in...http://travelswitherwinandalexandria.blogspot.com/2008/09/sunday-september-14-2008-today-m... (Untitled)- September 14, 2008 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2008No laundry, no shopping. It does happen every few days. After a late breakfast, we went off to a very fine museum. It is called the Carnavalet and it is located in the Marais not far from the place des Vosges. The museum was a luxury town house of the 16th century, with a typical French center courtyard, and was once home of Madame de Sevigny,who wrote detailed letters to her daughter that tell of Parisian life in the late 17th century. It is the museum of the city...http://travelswitherwinandalexandria.blogspot.com/2008/09/saturday-september-13-2008-no-la... (Untitled)- September 12, 2008 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2008A nothing special day. The usual routines. We even dined in this evening.FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2008This morning was a bit more laundry and a bit more shopping. It can take three loads of washing here to equal one at home and it is much slower here.This afternoon, we went up to the area near the Gare Montparnasse, more specifically the avenue du Maine. This is the station that services the western part of the country, notably Brittany. We took the bus there because...http://travelswitherwinandalexandria.blogspot.com/2008/09/thursday-september-11-2008-nothi... (Untitled)- September 11, 2008 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2008A special day today. It's Erwin's birthday. We had timed our stay here so that we would be here for both birthdays. In spite of the day, we still had some laundry to do and a bit of shopping. Afterwards, we went over to the L'Europeen across from the Gare de Lyon. It is one of our favorite places to sit because there are so many interesting people going by. Even the waiter was a bit bizarre, a bit busy and not too well-organized. If you look carefully, you can see...http://travelswitherwinandalexandria.blogspot.com/2008/09/wednesday-september-10-2008-spec... (Untitled)- September 11, 2008 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2008Today, we went into the Marais area of Paris. It is on the right bank to the west and north of the place de la Bastille. We have been there on numerous occasions, but we wanted to walk a bit and then at 3 pm, we went to a cafe across from the town hall of the 3rd arrondissement. The first Tuesday of the month, a group of ex-pats, renters like us, and other anglophiles gets together for an afternoon of conversation. It is sponsored by Parler Paris which I have mentioned.http://travelswitherwinandalexandria.blogspot.com/2008/09/tuesday-september-9-2008-today-w... (Untitled)- September 9, 2008 MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2008This afternoon after a late breakfast, we went for a walk in area that we have never done before. We took the bus to the place de la Bastille where we had our usual afternoon libation. We were in a small cafe just off of the place. Alexandria pronounced the hot chocolate as good. We took a walk down the Boulevard Bourdon which runs along the canal St Martin where the Port de Plaisance de Paris-Arsenal is. We went several blocks where we were able to see many boats...http://travelswitherwinandalexandria.blogspot.com/2008/09/monday-september-8-2008-this-aft... (Untitled)- September 9, 2008 SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2008Here it is Sunday morning, marking the beginning of our fourth week here, and we are getting going a bit earlier since today is the first Sunday of the month and the museums are free to everyone. So why not We went off to the Louvre and spent about 4 hours there seeing some old things and some new. There were large numbers of people and the first audio player desk we went to was out of listening sets. So we went to another. This is the best way to visit the Louvre (or...http://travelswitherwinandalexandria.blogspot.com/2008/09/sunday-september-7-2008-here-it-... |