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it’s here where yo…

By JR Merritt

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I made a book and it has photos in it of my trip to France. You can preview the first few pages, if you’d like…

Why I need to return to Paris (and France).

I do love a good list. Here, then, is a list of reasons why I have to return to Paris (soon!)

1. Visit Montremart.
2. Explore the entire of Ile St. Louis
3. Photograph the Eiffel Tower in the daylight
4. Get more Antesite and chocolate
5. Eat better meals, purchased from the market, not the supermarche!
6. Reclaim my heart – I think I left it outside the shop with that cute boy I saw.
7. Spend more than one day with the Family in Vigneaux
8. Visit Mylene et famille in Grenoble
9. Practice my French
10. Wander aimlessly until I know my neighbourhood

Rogue baguettes in Canal St Martin

The City of Lights – Day Eight

Canal St. Martin

Hello, last day in France.
Instead of waking up at 9h45 to get an early start on the day, we instead woke up at 11, and with a stomach ache (I did, at least). If I hadn’t had stomach issues throughout the entire trip, I would attribute this symptom to sorrow plague in anticipation of my departure from my homeland.
Our plan today was three-fold:
1. Eiffel Tower
2. Montremart
3. Canal St. Martin
And then, of course make sure all souveniers were accounted for.

Alas, my stomach inserted itself into plans and we had to make a few changes. We explored the canal first – got spanked for trying to take photos of an incredible outfit at Antoine et Lili, took some pictures of the canal, waiting in line at MacDos for the toilets, and spent some Euros at a 50% off sale in the Place de la Republique. Hello new dress, scarf and sweater. Came home, left for the Eiffel Tower. I changed our Metro route because I didn’t feel like walking back to Republique, and ended up on Ile de la Cite by mistake. It made for a nice walk along the Left Bank, but Lindsay soon started feeling tired and I wanted to stop at a toilet. We ended up a Carnivale de Louvre in a boutique WC where toilet usage cost one whole Euro but had attendants and fancy toilet paper. We had plans to get back on the Metro at Louvre-Rivoli, but for some reason not all Metro stops have ticket dispensers. IT is really strange, and inconvenient for travelers who don’t have passes. Like me. There was a man selling tickets at the stop, but I didn’t trust him so we went to the next station instead.
The ride involved a transfer, but we made it safely to Bir-Hakeim, to visit the tower. I managed to sneak in a few photos of the illuminated tower before my camera battery died, but luckily Lindsay’s camera still works, despite a broken card door. Side note – why do the cameras always peter out when I’m on holidays?

Eiffel Tower!

The Eiffel started sparkling while we were there, causing an “oooh” across the crowd of thousands gathered at her base. Of course she’s female, by the way – I put all french words into feminine tense until I’m told I’m wrong.

We meandered back to Republic on the metro and finally ate at the Thai restaurant around the corner. It was good. New we are back for our last night at “home”, packing, cleaning, sorting.

I will miss Paris – I will be back, though. I want to spend more time in my neighbourhood and see the things I still haven’t seen. And, I think I’m ready for a life lived a big city. Toronto or London? I wonder which it weill be. Thank you, Paris, for giving me what I need, right now, as you always have and always will. See you soon.

The islands. Oh, the islands! – Day Seven

The Seine at night

Notre Dame et moi

Ile St. Louis

 

Our second last day. I feel like I still have so much to do! Although we are still struggling to fall asleep (3:30am last night- again) we woke up a bit earlier this morning (11:15 am). Our goal today was to buy some souvenirs and see a few sites. The Eiffel Tower was one we did not get to, but that’s on our agenda for tomorrow. We started out at 12:30 to get lunch. I found the most delicious-looking sandwich at a nearby deli – 5,50 Euros. Salami and cheese. They warmed it for me and I trotted home to eat it. I was so upset when I opened the package and fund a pepper sandwich. I HATE peppers! To top it off, the zipper on my new riding boots broke this morning. I can still wear them, but Sears will be issuing me a refund.
We set out for the metro station and stopped at Monop on the way – j’adore Beaujolais Paris! I’m really starting to enjoy the Metro. We arrived at the Seine and walked along the right bank after a photo op at Chatelet. I saw many things I wanted to buy, alas I did not take the opportunity because it would mean balancing packages with camera with guidebook with purse. Too tricky for me. My camera battery started to die on Pont Neuf, but it lasted through Ile de la Cite, and all the way home. I’ve been waiting a year to re-visit my favourite Paris street – Rue de St. Louis de l’Ile, and it did not disappoint! I found three colourful shops and got a great start on souvenirs. I bought a dress for myself and a luggage tag for my suitcase, as I lost the one that Sally H gave me, somewhere on my trip to Vigneaux. This one is colourful and fun, from the shop with the egg cups. We stopped at a restaurant decorated with Roosters (the Coq is the symbol of France) and I had a ‘lait chaud’. Really I just had to use the toilet, but it was a pleasant experience none the less. Upon our return to the apartment, we picked up dinner from neighbouring shops.

Persimmon. Heavenly.

- maki tuna and salmon
- temaki salmon and avocado
- salad and sauce, jasmine tea
- grapes, persimmon
The sushi was ok, the salad was good (why didn’t i buy some earlier in the trip?), and the persimmon was fantastic! Perfectly ripe, super juicy, and full of flavour. Oh Paris avec votre nourriture terrifique!
I spent the evening after dinner doing inventory of souvenirs and L and I planned out tomorrow’s agenda, which is a whirlwind of Eiffel Tower, Montremart, and shopping along Canal St. Martin for the rest of our Paris reminders. I can’t believe we only have on more day. There’s still so much I want to do, see, experience and buy. I know I’ve said it before, but I mean it – if I was fluent, I would be here in an instant. I want to live in Paris. I’m a bit nervous that I won’t be able to find all the things I want to buy, in the next 24 hours. It’s really important to me to get something special for my parents and brother.

Good night.

Alchemy and Art – Day Six

Jim Hodges - Love, etc.

Jardin Des Delices - produce market at the end of our street

Au revoir Vigneaux et ma belle famille! We arrived back in Paris at 15h30. My cold returned. I had an upset stomach, and my suitcase got stuck in the turnstyle at the Gare de Lyon. Two gentil hommes m’aide. Thank you, hommes.

Marche des Enfants Rouges - The oldest market in Paris (on Rue de Bretagne) at the end of our street.

I went for  a walk down Rue de Bretagne and picked up the cheese that L likes (Cantal), and a delicious goat cheese pastry for me. I love walking through the local neighbourhood. I was at my own leisure, meandering, greeting les gens en francais. They all knew I’m ‘un Anglais’ so spoke to me in English, but the point is that I’m embracing the culture! I want to go back out and spend hours, but alas we only have two days left. After we ate dinner, we left to visit the ‘Centre Pompidou’ where they have the Museum of Modern Art.

On our way to the Pompidou, we detoured to capture a photo of the house where Nicolas Flamel lived. As a huge Harry Potter fan, I reveled in the idea that the mysterious character from ‘the Philosopher’s Stone’ was a real person – who was actually rumored to have created a Philosopher’s Stone.

A photo montage of my mini-quest for Nicolas Flamel

The Centre Pompidou consists of six levels all with different themes. I enjoyed the level with the works of Jim Hodges and also, Elles – an exhibition of Modern artwork by women.  I also liked the yellow lights in one of the sections but the lady working said I wasn’t allowed to take photos. That was our first spank of the evening, as I had my camera in-hand, aimed at the lights that were in the hallway OUTSIDE the exhibit. No photos. However, the rest of the building allowed photography, so here is a collage of my favourite pieces…

Some of my favourite pieces (or those most interesting) at the Centre Pompidou

One thing to note – the Centre Pompidou offers a lovely view of the Parisian sky-line, and it’s free to access, unlike the upper decks of the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe, or Notre Dame’s bell towers. Just a tip!

On our way back to the apartment we stopped at a shop so L could buy some wine. It took her a long time to decide as there were many choices, and once she selected a bottle, the clerk immediately grabbed it from her, said “Merci!” and replaced it on the shelf. I said “Pourquoi?” with a funny look on my face – maybe he was offering a better choice? He pointed at a sign and said they don’t sell alcohol after 21h00. How bizarre, in Paris! He spanked us good (second of the evening – we had figuratively sore bottoms!), so we decided to buy the remainder of our goods – chocolate – elsewhere. We got slightly turned around on our way back and saw a big arch – research informs me the arch is St. Martin’s Gate (Symbolically marking the entrances into 17th-century Paris at the sites of the old toll-gates, these two triumphal arches (the other is Porte St. Denis) served only an ornamental function. Their sculptures and bas-reliefs celebrated the King as a head of war) – on the same road as the Musee des Arts et Metiers, as well as the cafe where we sipped chocolat chaud the other day. Now that we’re back at the apartment, I’m going to write postcards.

Au revoir!

Vigneaux and Vallouise – Day Five

Bienvenue a la ville de Les Vigneaux

Day two in Vigneaux. Cora returned to work yesterday after her year of maternity leave, so today Alain watched Nahel during the morning. He is such a sweet baby – very French-looking and very adorable. Lots of personality! He doesn’t seem afraid of me even though I am un ‘etranger’. I woke up to him crying whiel Alain was on the phone, so sat down to play with him for a while. He was just lonely!

Me feeding Nahel

My cold wastn’ any better today, so after eating a croissant, I returned to bed until Isabelle was scheduled to arrive for lunchc. Alain had made a delicious swiss chard dish, with salami and priciuto and cheese. I didn’t have much appetitite, alas, but I managed to devour the home-made raspberry sorbet he made from the garden. After lunch, Lindsay and I went for a walk through the village of Vigneaux. I delivered a package to Evelyn’s house (she is visiting her Mother in Avignon) and we stopped in many places to capture photographs of the beautiful old village and mountian scenery. It felt great to be taking more photographs, and I plan to take as many as possible when I return to Paris.

Alain in Vallouise

Cora arrived at the house just after we got in from our walk, and I learned that she and Eric now live in Vengeaux. They rent a sweet house in the village and lucky lady scored another place with orange decor (it is a colour she likes – the “heat colours”). Alain brought us to Vallouise – the ville where Cora lived last year – to find a water jug for L. The shop was closed, but we did buy some postcards. Alain gave us a tour of the old ville, and I tried my best to translate into Elnglish. I think I understood most of it. we ate dinner at Cora’s tonight – duck, turnip, beans, bread, cheese, and dessert made by Lenaic and Cora. It was, of course, declisou and I am sad that it is my last night here. i hope that the next time I visit, I can speak even more french! We leave tomorrow at 9 am to take the train from Oulx.

A bientot!

Nahel sucking on my cheek!

 

Itineraries and Mountains – Day Four

Itinerary

Oct 24 – arrived in Paris, slept ’til 5h30
Oct 25 – slept til 14h30, explored the Marais
Oct 26 – slept til 12h30, visited the Louvre
Oct 27 – train to Vigneaux, dinner with the family
Oct 28 – explored Vigneaux and Vallouise, dinner with the family chez Cora
Oct 29 – train to Paris, Centre Pompidou
Oct 30 – slept til 11h15, visited Ile de la Cite (Notre Dame), Ile St. Louis
Oct 31 – slept til 11h00, visited Canal St. Martin, Eiffle Tour
Nov 1 – left at 9h45 for Charles de Gaulle to catch our plane back home

French mountains from the train

Vigneaux (written in my journal in pink metallic pen)

A pink pen for a happy day! No troubles on our journey to Vigneaux. We sat in 1st class on the train and with the exception of my cold, all was well. Our first class tickets, for some reason, cost less than the second class tickets, and first class is worth it! There isn’t a lot of extra room, but fewer people, bigger toilets, and the headrests have built-in supports. Don’t ever pass up on cheaper first class tickets on SCNR!

L->R: Me, Lena, Lili, Alain, Isa, Eric

The entire Vigneaux branch of the Mouchet family ate dinner at Alain et Isabelle’s house, and finally L has found something vegetarian, satisfying and healthy! I met Nahel, and he is very sweet, as well as Auralie – Lili – who is the girlfriend of Lenaic. She speaks english quite well, as the english of Isa, Cora and Lena has also increased. They told me my French is better now, too! It is still difficult to understand everything, but I think it is coming along nicely.

For dinner we ate beans and other vegetables from their garden in a tomato sauce; lamb; bread; potatoes; and of course, le fromage. Lena told me that he introduced me to Lili as his cousin from Canada – she REALLY likes cheese! After dinner we ate meringue and pastries made by Alain – Nana would be SO envious!

Alain's mirangues

Then we went to bed. Lindsay and I have been having terrible difficulties sleeping. I fell asleep around 1h00, but woke up several times to the sound of myself snoring, as I had stuffed tissues up my nose to prevent a pillow wet with nasal drip. Blasted cold! I fell asleep at 3h30!

Sleep, where art thou? – Day Three

L infront of the Louvre

Last night we fell asleep at 5h30., Our goal to wake up at 9h30  to the call of the alarm was sorely ignored. I was up at 12h30 and we took a long time to get ready before leaving for today’s trip.

I may have evaded the germs at work all last week, but I fear I have now caught a cold. I wish they didn’t exist in France. A quick trip to the Pharmacie (and 33$ Cnd later) provided me with lozenges, razors (I forgot mine in my bathroom at home) and cold medicine. Alas, alas, alas. We ate a chalky meal of oatmeal then hit TEMPLE Metro Station (named after the Knights of Templar!!!) on our way to the Louvre.

Joan of Ark statue on Rue de Rivoli

It was a short ride to Opera, then Pyramide station and gave us an opportunity to see some of Walk #2  -Pyramids and Palaces. Joan of Ark’s statue was gorgeous, gold gilded and standing fierce.A collection of silver monster heads decorated the “Jardin des Tuileries” and I enjoyed their many-fingered details (from clay). Then there was the Louvre. I’ve never really had much interest in museums, and the Louvre, for me, was a big gallery full of thousands of pieces of artwork that are terrific, but only so-so in terms of my interest level. It was, however, the ONE thing L knew she wanted to do/see in Paris, so I couldn’t take that away from her! We didn’t have to wait long in line (except for the toilets) and it cost less to get in to the Louvre than it does the AGo. I saw the Mona Lise, and many other beautiful paintings. My favourite, though, was the room with French sculptures.

Me & L in the French Sculpture room at the Louvre

Whereas the rest of the Louvre was stuffy, buzzing with 28000 people throughout the day, and suffocating-feeling, the French Sculpture room – made of marble and filled with natural light – was cool, calm, and beckoned me to stay. L felt it too. It was nearly devoid of people and simply a dream.

On our way out of the Louvre I saw the inverted Pyramid where in The Da Vinchy Code, the Holy Grail rests. I stood at the same spot as Audrey Tatou! We then left the Louvre after an unsuccessful attempt to find ‘the internet’ and instead sought out something to eat. Poor L, who is a vegetarian, has been eating food that is outside her norm in an attempt to eat something. We were excited to find a  restaurant with a vegetarian option, and I was pleased to find a cute, english-speaking waiter (from Turkey!)

Our waiter from Turkey

We took photos of our meal for Emilia and Jenna, which was not French but it was nourishment in time of need. And only 10,50 Euros! We then began our walk home, hitting some stops on walk #4 – Alchemists and Artists. We both want to visit the Centre Pompadou, and I want more photos of the Flemel residence. Harry Potter stars, you know? Tomorrow we take the train to Vigneaux!!!

Paris Goals – Day Two

To See in Paris

1. Louvre (walk #2 — History & Mystery: Paris, Peter Caine)
   

   Courtyard Musee Carnavalet ('08 trip)

2. Eiffle Tower (#17)
3. Amelie’s Montmartre
4. Following the Rose Line (#19)
5. Notre Dame (#1)
6. Ile St. Louis (#9)
7. Knights & Mansions (#5)
8. Alchemists & Artists (#4)

Today we woke up at a stunning 2:30 pm. That would be 8:30 am back home – now feeling a bit less guilt! We were ready to leave at 4 pm and set out to explore our new neighbourhood. Previous tenants left copies of their guidebooks and despite having brought two of my own, I gave L a copy of a Marais map from one of the books on our shelf. The streets are so twisty here, it seemed like we were lost in the Bastille but really we ended up on the same street as the Musee Carnavalet (Rue de Sevigne)!

Hotel de Soubise

On our journey we stumbled upon a court yard for the Hotel de Soubise. Legend (history) has it that the family was poor, so the lady (Princess de Soubise) slept with King Louis in order to take care of her family. She became his mistress which resulted in this fabulous mansion. Her husband lived in the country estate, and Mme. Soubise birthed 11 children, number 5 greatly resembling the King.

Anyway, we wandered the Marais (3eme) district today – none of the streets run in a grid so it is easy to get lost. Again, as in my 2008 trip, getting lost in Paris resulted in a visit to the Musee Carnavalet. We didn’t venture far into the museum because we thought it was nearly closing time. Apparently, daylight savings time occurs one week earlier in France than in Canada – we were wandering around in fear of getting locked in the museum, when really we still had an hour to view some of the rooms.

Afterwards we headed back to the apartment and decided on Thai for dinner. Oops, they were closed, as were the market stalls at The Marché des Enfants Rouge – the oldest food market in Paris, built in 1615 under the rule of King Louis XIII. The name means “ Market of the Red Children” after a nearby 17th century orphanage where the children wore red uniforms. Anyway, the market was closed, so we tried for sushi. Closed for dinner break (2:30 – 6 pm). That’s how we found out that France had experienced DST. We went to a different supermarche, where the bread hopefully didn’t taste as terrible (why we bought bread from a supermarket in France is beyond me, except that the boulangeries were all closed) and picked up some food for dinner. I had some goat cheese with which to choke the atrocity of bread as previously mentioned, le boefe hashe, which I sauteed with olive oil and garlic, eggplant and one of L’s pain du chocolat.

Fromage de chevre

After dinner we ventured forth in search of an internet cafe listed at #32 Rue de Picardie. Instead we found two young men in search of 1 Euro with which to buy a drink. I told them I didn’t speak French, and started yelling over eachother to speak in a mix of English/French to me (I think they maybe had already had a drink?) Then I said in French that I had no money, to which they yelled in amusement for a great length of time. L was confused, and I was uncomfortable standing next to these animated youths, so we continued on our adventure, now in search of a cafe  – no internet required. L wanted a warm drink. For some reason, I am afraid to enter cafes. I don’t know if it is the people inside (or seated outside – it’s scary to walk through a crowd and the Parisians tend to stare!), fear of not understanding… je ne sais pas! I told L I would follow her, and we did find a nice cafe with a nice pooch to nuzzle me. Dogs are highly revered in France and are allowed in all buildings (almost) and even on the train!

Upon our return to the apartment I plotted out our route for tomorrow and now it is time for bed!

Bon nuit!

Sneak peak: Our apartment

Here’s a video tour of our apartment in Paris. Thought you might like to be Parisian for a moment…

Just incase you would like to live here too, va ici.