If you look closely, you’ll find our lock on this bridge near Notre Dame. This is a wonderfully odd real-world meme. The story I heard from a guy in our cooking glass (who has lived here in Paris for the past nine years) was that the guy who started this was despondant over unrequited love. […]
France
Day 18 in Paris: Refuge des Fondus
One of the meals we wanted to enjoy was fondue. A quick search on Yelp turned up what sounded like a fun place in Montmartre called Refuge des Fondus. It’s small with a fixed menu. You get an apertif, an entree, your choice of cheese or beef fondue, wine (served in baby bottles to avoid […]
Day 17 in Paris: Old Bones in the Catacombs
On our 17th day in Paris, we visited the Catacombs. There’s a formal name for this which eludes me, because this is actually a cemetery of sorts. It was created in the late 1700’s when overcrowding at the graveyards which traditionally surrounded each church became a serious health problem. The catacombs were a network of […]
Day 16 in Paris: Opera Garnier
On our 16th day in Paris, we visited the amazing Opera Garnier. This Grand Foyer was designed with the thought that during intermission, the “performance” of life goes on… so why not provide a suitable stage to showcase the performance? Joan and I liked the Opera Garnier better than Chateau Versailles — which was great, […]
Day 15 in Paris: Cooking Class
On our 15th day in Paris, we took a cooking class at La Cuisine Paris. They have classes in both French and English (we chose English) and in a variety of formats. We cooked a simple, traditional French meal: Agneau a l’ail, romarin et moutarde Ecrase de pomme de terre au piment d’Espelette Crepe aux […]
Day 12 in France: A Visit to the D-Day Landing Site
Since we were in France on the Fourth of July, we honored the day with a visit to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Omaha beach. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t expect to be moved to tears, but I was. The visitor center has a series of multimedia displays, exhibits […]
France, Day 11: A Trip to Mont Saint-Michel
This shot was taken at about 9:50 pm and the sun was still up. Mont St-Michel was an island, but is now connected to mainland France by the narrow causeway you see in the foreground. We spent the evening wandering the medieval streets and steps of St-Michel. One word describes it: magical. I chose this […]