Tag Archives: Paris

Unknown's avatar

To Carolyn From Paris

by

I have said this before and it is still true that one of the best things about blogging are the friends you make online. If you are lucky, you may have a chance to meet in person and tonight was one of those magic nights where once you get past hello, you laugh and talk like old friends who have been sharing secrets forever.

Kim and I have been reading each other’s blogs and corresponding through email for longer than I can remember and I have always enjoyed her blog, Sassiland where she writes mostly about her life in Paris.

I was totally enchanted by her romantic heart when she went to the gravesite in Paris where I’d left my wedding bouquet when John and I were here on our honeymoon and I loved how she took the time to send me a photo showing me that my flowers were still there several weeks later.

Back in April of 2009, I was pleasantly surprised to see a message on another blogging friend’s site directed at me. While on a trip to Paris in 2009, Carolyn, who blogs at My Sydney Paris Life had chance to meet Kim and together they sent me a little message that you can see here.

Tonight after being treated to a lovely dinner at a Paris café by Kim, we snapped a photo for Carolyn who is home in Australia. Well, we think she’s home in Australia now. Carolyn is such a woman on the move it can be hard to track where she and her partner Clive might be and although her blog is about more than just travel, if travel tips are what you need, her space is loaded with great planning ideas.

I took the photograph below in the evening light of the café so it’s not my best work, but I think the message on the map is clear and that’s what is important. (Hello Carolyn, wish you were here)

Elizabeth & Kim

I have to say too that Kim very thoughtfully remembered my birthday with a sweet-filled cup that I loved at once. If you followed the extension posts I wrote about John giving me a room of my own for a writing studio then you will understand her reason for choosing the one she did.

It was a wonderful way to bring our Paris visit to a close. Margaret and I will be seeing the last of the sights tomorrow and then we’re off to Cornwall to rest up for John’s birthday followed the next day by Margaret’s. Thanks for following us around Paris this week. I hope you’ve had as much fun as we have.

Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends.

~ Virginia Woolf

 

 

Unknown's avatar

A Picture And A Promise

by

I’ve no time to blog much for the next few days as we try to pack as much sightseeing as possible into our trip so it may be just a photo or two each day until after our Saturday return to Cornwall. Here is a quick look at one place I promise to share with you later along with some things we discovered there. Can you guess where these photos were taken?

There is a hint in the photo below.

Unknown's avatar

Painting The Town Red In Paris … Almost

by

Painting the town red has had different meanings over the years. From spilling blood to drinking and rowdy behavior none of which we did during our travels yesterday, but we did stay out too late to ride the Metro home and had to take a taxi after seeing the sights below.

This shot could only be obtained by taking it from the middle of the cross walk when it turned green for about thirty seconds which did not seem to matter to drivers who kept going anyway.

Margaret and I went back and forth more times than we probably should have and finally when I felt I had enough to pull a good image from several, I stood off to the side and watched Margaret stand her ground in the ” green for go ” cross walk. She’s the blurry person in the center with her arms up to snap her photo. Note the traffic does not really stop unless they have to avoid hitting you. I found this a bit scary when I was out there as drivers kept coming regardless of right of way.

Table (steps) for two at the foot of the Eiffel Tower .. you can just make out Margaret finishing her crêpe in the bottom right of this photo (ham, cheese, and french fries with a hotdog thrown into the mix) while sitting in the light of the famous landmark. I enjoyed a dessert crêpe with chocolate, banana, and ice cream. I know most people wouldn’t call that dinner, but it did contain several food groups with some sugar mixed in for energy.

Every so often throughout the evening the Eiffel Tower lights up for ten minutes at a time with sparkly lights which make it look even more festive. A boat near the bottom of the image crept into my shot while I was trying to capture the tower with her extra glow.

We waited in long lines to go to the very top of the Eiffel Tower and did so with people who all seemed patient and well-behaved until the two women below broke into the line that we had been in for about forty minutes.

This was on an upper level after having stood for about an hour already in the first line at ground level. They pushed past two smaller and slightly older ladies and seemed intent on pushing past us when Stonewall-Margaret had enough and became an immovable rock. First Margaret made a small space for the two nice ladies to get in front of us and then she planted herself in front of the two pushy women and held her ground moving forward when necessary, but not allowing herself to be rushed.

The women as you can see thought it was quite funny and the older women kept pushing and touching Margaret so much so that at one point Margaret said to me, ” I wonder if she could scratch my left shoulder-blade for me … I don’t think she’s touched that spot yet! ” It was both exasperating and funny at the same time.

Here is Margaret looking pretty well over it just before we reached the elevators to go up to the last level and the pushy woman as you can see was trying to avoid my camera. Other people were watching her poke and push at Margaret and were making faces that showed their surprise at the woman’s bad behavior as well.

After a good look around I snapped a ton of photos some of which you see above and then we stood in more lines before touching down safely on the ground.

Earlier in the day we paid a visit to the Arc de Triomphe where once again we were not content to just gaze up from below, but had to make the climb to the top to take in the view.

I took this one of us myself so it is a bit off-center.

Once the heat drove us down, we saw that there were preparations underway for a remembrance ceremony.

There were members of the military and soldiers everywhere.

This female office was advising a women who was about to try to cross the dangerous looking roundabout to use the underground tunnel instead. After snapping a few more photos, we headed for the tunnel ourselves as we were not allowed to get too close to what going on under the arches.

Posing for glamour shots at a place for remembering the dead always surprises me.

Once we were through the tunnel we saw more activity related to the ceremony happening on the Champs-Élysées.

I don’t think this gentleman minded my taking his picture. Most were willing to pose for us.

The children were waiting so patiently for everything to begin.

Here is a little cafe scene that one always associates with Paris.

And a last one for today. If you click on this you can see the drivers are all talking on their cell phones on their way home after work.

Unknown's avatar

Notre-Dame … Pretty In Pink?

by

Aside from our feet which are covering miles it seems each day, Margaret and I have found the Metro to be a good mode of transportation although a bit more difficult in ways than the London Underground.

Notre-Dame is the grand cathedral so many come to Paris to see. I had talked with Margaret about my trip in 2008 up to the tip-top of the left tower and she did not mind the wait of about an hour or so to get inside. Once inside we climbed about 500 steps to reach the top and moved briskly up a staircase that became more narrow as we went up. Margaret snapped the image below to show you how worn the steps have become using the person ahead of her to illustrate.

She took this of me on the way back down.

Margaret snapped this tourist shot of me with some of the famous gargoyles in the background. They have wires up to keep you from falling, jumping, or getting carried away trying to get that perfect shot while you’re walking around the upper levels.

I know this shot has been done a thousand times or more but I just love having one to call my own.

If you squeeze in through here and climb up some wooden stairs, you can see the bell that rings in the tower.

When you climb the rest of the way up the stone steps to the top of the tower, you are treated to long distance views like this one and the two below.

While we were on this first upper level, Margaret was graced with a blessing from above while shooting over in the far left between the two gargoyles you see there. A pigeon perched high above her let go with a shower of poo hitting her right on the top of her head with enough force to go everywhere including her camera. She laughed it off with more humor than I would have and after a quick cleanup carried on with her photo shoot.

Safely back on the ground we went inside for a walk around the massive interior of Notre-Dame. We were a bit put off by all of the cameras flashing and people posing especially when flash photography was banned and some people were clearly trying to pray. People seemed to forget that this was a house of worship first and a stop on the “must see”  list for visitors second.

This priest seemed bothered by the behavior of the masses as well.

This is a slightly crooked view of the altar cross from behind.

Some places need a bit of repair.

I must have touched the wrong button as this pink was unintentional.

We left as they were lighting the candles for the evening service.

Here is a last look at the inside.

Outside there were more folks dressed for a big day.

And color choices which left me wondering how he  … yes he, managed to find shoes to match those pants.

I’ll be back with more about this bridge and what I saw there later as well as a story from the bookstore below.

Here are a few night shots of Notre-Dame.

Notice the moon in this photo and how pretty Notre-Dame looks in pink.

* Margaret just read this post and said that she had some pink interior shots as well and she was using two different cameras so it must be something (lighting we didn’t notice) that made some images look pink.

Unknown's avatar

A Brief Look At The Louvre From The Inside Out

by

I have been fortunate to be able to visit Paris several times in the past and it is a bit different coming in September than during the December – February months as on previous trips. While the weather is certainly prettier in many ways with blue skies and no rain, there are loads of tourists and it was so hot in the Louvre yesterday that both Margaret and I felt sweaty and uncomfortable for most of our visit even though we were wearing cotton shirts and lightweight jeans. Not that I want you to think we don’t appreciate a chance to be here and see this together, but I know the next time I visit Paris I’ll choose cooler month when less people are traveling.

I tend to prefer images of the Louvre taken from the inside looking out.

Turning my camera to the inside, I want to give you a glimpse at how huge everything is in scale.

I always love to visit this room to see the famous painting on the left. I could sit and look at it for hours. I was sitting on the seat across from it for a few minutes when a tour came through and the guide encouraged everyone to take a seat and I swear they practically pushed me off my little spot on the end. Just as I was giving up my seat, they all jumped up and hurried off to the next painting. I find most small groups or individuals were very considerate, but the tours I had to watch out for because they were on a mission and if you weren’t part of their tour, you were just collateral damage if you got in their way.

I loved this guy and I’m not sure why. I think because he looked so real to me … more like someone who actually drew breath than some of the other figures. He had a good spot for viewing the room too.

I wondered if he worried about his double chin the way I worry about mine.

He was protected in a case so I have a bit of a reflection.

I shot this when we arrived and Margaret photographed it at the end of our day and the same two men (only one you can see) were still there sketching when the Louvre was closing.

I took this because I wondered what this woman was thinking. There were tons of people photographing this sculpture from it’s most photographed side, but I was more interested in her story.

This was an enormous sculpture and it was his outstretched hand that drew me in at first.

So I photographed his hands and then noticed that he had a mustache, which intrigued me as it is something you don’t often see on sculptures of this kind.

Does that look like a mustache to you?

Look who showed up for a wedding shot.

In the History of the Louvre section there were paintings throughout the ages of artists capturing the looks of visitors as they viewed the museum. Two caught my eye. This one above because of the outrageous faces people are making and the one below because of the neat uncluttered look of it. We are off in a minute for another full day. I hope to be back with more images tomorrow.

Unknown's avatar

Is Life Really A Cabaret – Dreaming Of Joel Grey

by

This morning I woke up suddenly, startled out of sleep after seeing Joel Grey walking along a Paris street near a flower shop like the one above. Before this morning, the only two things I knew about Joel Grey had to do with his career as a stage and screen actor and that he was the father of Jennifer Grey of Dirty Dancing fame.

Although he’s played many characters in his lifetime, he is most well-known for his role in Cabaret and is also as I just discovered, a fine photographer who based on his work, might find my photography a bit tame. As someone who dreams in color and almost always sees a deeper meaning in most of my dreams, there is far more to this dream than I can share. I try very hard to be careful when sharing stories that involve other people especially when their story is not even remotely a part of mine.

So while I wish I could reveal more, I am going to practice a bit of restraint and keep the deeper meaning of Joel Grey’s dreamy visit to myself. How about you … do you struggle with how much is too much to share either in a blog or your everyday interactions with others?

Unknown's avatar

Change Of Plans – Suggestions Anyone

by

For the last six or eight months, John and I have been planning a big trip in September. Having walked the 105 miles of the Tour du Mont Blanc almost two years ago, I have been looking forward to doing it again with him this fall to celebrate a big birthday I have coming up. To make it even more special, we’ve been planning on taking my sister Margaret with us on the long walk through the Swiss, French, and Italian Alps.

Things got a bit complicated when Margaret and I began to plan her travel arrangements so that the timing might work with the schedule for the TMB. Because she was coming from Alaska, most of the flight options had her traveling for a minimum of 19 hours (it was difficult to find these) or up to 38 hours with the exception of one airline which could get her here within about 10 hours with connecting flights, but only flew from Alaska one day a week.

After all three of us had put in too many hours at the computer with no real progress and loads of frustration, I offered up an alternative plan … one that seemed less like an endurance event (which the TMB really is) and something more restful and less time restrictive.

Instead of walking a path that looks like this … or sleeping in places like this, I suggested a totally different sort of trip to Margaret and she decided it sounded good to her as well.

Even with the change, she will still be here for most of the month of September and for the first time since we were twelve and fourteen, we will be able to celebrate each others birthdays in person. She’s a September birthday too and since John’s birthday falls between ours, we’re going to be eating a lot of cake that month. The big question is, where are we going to be when we are blowing out our birthday candles.

A few days after she gets here, we’ll head for London for a week of exploring. My 50th birthday will happen while we are there, so John will come up the day before and stay overnight in order to celebrate the milestone with me too. Now here’s where you come in, I’m looking for suggestions for things you think we should see and do during our week in London and I’d like to have a plan that includes something special for my birthday.

Having been there a few times, I do have some ideas, but I would love to see if you can surprise me with something I haven’t thought of yet. I’m not sure what is on Margaret’s list, (we just decided on the change recently) but I do know that I would like to photograph London from the top of the London Eye on my birthday.


I would also like for us to see a show or two in the West End, but I am not sure what might be enjoyable. I’ve seen several there in the past. I loved Billy Elliot when I saw it in 2005, and Miranda and I saw my all time favorite musical, Les Miserables when we were there in 2003. I’m not opposed to a more serious production either as I was thrilled to see Ralph Fiennes in Brand on the same trip with her when she was fifteen. If you’ve seen or heard about a production that you think is too fabulous to miss, please let me know so we can consider it for our list.

After our week in London, we’ll be a bit closer to home as we do up the southwest part of England for a week or two. Then we’re off by plane to the next place on our list. It’s one of my favorites and if you’ve reading me for long, you may have already seen some of my photographs from there. Can you guess where we will be by the images below?

A Gift for Abelard & Heloise

This is one I snapped on our honeymoon.

I can’t wait to show Margaret where I was standing when I captured this familiar Paris scene. The seventh picture holds a clue.

Margaret and I will be spending seven days in Paris on our own for a sister’s week. We have a lot already in mind to fill our days, but tell me what you’d want to see and do if you were joining us. I’m looking for things I may not have thought of yet.

Lastly, I could use suggestions from my Paris blog friends on short term holiday lets. I’d like to book a place soon and I have scoured the internet looking for a place that is not too pricey, works well for two, and is in a decent location. We don’t mind walking, (I’ll need it to offset my bread intake) and I have used the Metro before so we are fairly flexible. While I would prefer a studio apartment, if you have a hotel recommendation that is reasonable, I’d be open to having a look at that as well.

I’m so looking forward to spending this time with Margaret. We’ve not had a chance to travel together since we were children and I don’t think our memories of fighting over who had more room in the backseat of the car on road trips in the late sixties and early seventies is going to compare at all with the memories we’ll be making in September 2010.

Unknown's avatar

Remembering The Day We Met – Valentine’s Day 2008

by

I took this picture last February when John and I were in Paris on our honeymoon and I’ve been saving it for just the right time. Today is the third Valentine’s Day we will spend together and the anniversary of the first time we met face to face.

Yesterday evening, John called out to me from his study and I went in to find him rereading a series of short emails that passed back and forth between us on February 13, 2008. We were emailing each other right until they closed the airplane door, documenting our thoughts and excitement as I was getting on the plane to fly over to meet him for the first time. He’s that kind of man, tender, romantic, and permanently etched on my heart. I am grateful everyday for him and I love how he remembers the details of our romance. Well loved, every day is what I am, but on Valentine’s Day it is especially nice to remember how we began.

If you don’t know our story yet and you’d like to know more, you can read about our first meeting below. After I take him a little breakfast in bed, we’re going back to Bedruthan Steps to recreate that first walk. We didn’t manage a photo the first time, but we took one a year ago and if you come back later you will be able to see a photograph from today’s walk posted underneath the one from last year at the bottom of the page.

Will You Stay With Me, Will You Be My Love

February 14, 2009

Today is the anniversary of the day I first stepped off a plane in England and into John’s arms. We’d spent the previous six weeks first emailing and later talking on Skype so we’d seen each other online for quite some time, but had never touched. Very quickly, I developed a huge crush on the darling Englishman who is now my husband. That we met for the first time in person on Valentine’s Day was more because it suited my work and travel arrangements than by romantic design. Because I had so many frequent flyer miles and a keen interest in seeing John in his own space, I suggested the idea that I come to him. I came with an open mind and a tender heart, but no expectations beyond the idea of getting to know him as only one can when actually in the same physical space.

As I write this, I have just been reminded by John that one year ago today, exactly 30 minutes from now, my plane touched down in a tiny airport in Newquay.  It is a vivid memory for us both and it’s funny now to look back and remember the thoughts and feelings I was having as I walked down the steps of the commuter flight across the tarmac and into his warm embrace that morning.

Any of you who’ve been reading my old blog at (giftsofthejourney.com) for long are aware of how this first meeting progressed from friendship and mutual attraction to the sweet ceremony we went through not quite two weeks ago. It seems appropriate to share our buttercup story and why these tiny yellow flowers have such meaning for me now.

When I arrived on that chilly day February 14, John asked me if I felt up to a little walk along the ocean on the coast path at a place called Bedruthan Steps. It was on the way back to the tiny village where he made his home and he was exited to show me a bit of the Cornish coast that he’d been telling me about for weeks. Despite having been too excited to sleep on the plane, I was definitely interested in seeing any of the places I had heard him refer to during the hours of talks we’d had using Skype.

We gradually worked our way back to the village and after putting on wellies we took a walk though a beautiful wood that opened into what I now refer to as the buttercup field. Of course, in February there were no buttercups, but I was intrigued as John described how by May the field would be covered in gold as the buttercups competed  with the constant green of the grassy space. As he told me this I thought how lovely that would be, but it was only after having spent the better part of two weeks with him that I knew with absolute certainty that I needed to come back to this field and stand in the middle of the buttercups that he said would come with the month of May.

Jumping ahead here and skipping over the activities that happened in order to bring me back, I arrived  back in England on May 13th. As I got closer to my travel date, I kept asking John, “ Have the buttercups bloomed yet? “ I was so worried that I would miss them.

Below are some of the images from the day I arrived in May last year. Few things in life are just as we imagine they will be, but this day was special and it was better than I could have imagined.  When I first saw the field of gold, I could almost hear Eva Cassidy’s voice singing in my head providing a romantic soundtrack to accompany the images that filled my eyes.  The song I heard was Fields Of Gold and I now think of this as our song. Take a minute and listen to it here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3YVil3Ajjs

I love the part of the song where she sings, ” Will you stay with me, will you be my love…”  These words were embroidered on a special linen tablecloth by my new friend Tina to use on our table for our wedding reception. The flowers you see are the two buttercups I picked that day in May. I tucked them in a pocket on the side of my pants and played in the buttercup field with them where they stayed until we returned  home. I forgot they were there and when I noticed them again, I took them out and pressed them in a book. They dried twined together having fallen into the position that you see in the picture. I took a photograph of them and Tina created a sketch from it and the tablecloth design is a now a lasting memory of the day I came back to John and saw the buttercups for the first time.

I’m off now to climb Bedruthan Steps with John as we go back to the place we walked one year ago today. Today we’ll celebrate old memories and look forward to making new ones…and soon we’ll be walking in fields of gold again.

Bedruthan Steps – February 14, 2009

Bedruthan Steps – February 14, 2010


Unknown's avatar

Happy New Year – 10 Years Ago Today

by

Ten years ago today people were worried about what might happen as the clocks rolled over into 2000. I had bigger fears than Y2K back then, but even so I tried to focus on the moments and the experiences of my daily life placing more value on creating a portfolio of memories than banking it all for a mega big retirement plan. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done the traditional things as well, investing in property and my 401K, but by far the best rewards in my later years will be the experiences I’ve shared with the people I love.

This was Paris in 2000, with us standing under a damp winter sky in front of the Eiffel Tower where I took my daughter Miranda in hopes of adding to her portfolio of special moments and memories.

Here’s to creating new memories in 2010 and building a retirement fund of a lasting kind … our connections to each other and the fearless pursuit of life worth living.