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A myth persists that Paris in April is wonderful with cherry blossoms and love in the air all because of the song written by two men who had never been to Paris let alone in April. The truth is – Paris is cold and rainy as it has been this April. May is approaching and I hope that will all change. We’re ready!! Despite the gloomy weather —Paris is Paris. Traffic is heavy and restaurants are crowded. Reservations are a must- just like theCape at the height of summer.

Sunday we saw a little sun for which we were grateful. We went to the Musèe National de Picasso -Paris located in the 3rd arrondissment bordering the 4th- the Marias. The museum is one we had gone to several years ago but was sorely disappointing as it seemed we had more outstanding works of Picasso at the MFA-Boston so we had never gone back. It underwent a major renovation, closed for several years, and recently reopened. We went to see the special exhibition going on now and were so happy we did.

Along these passages there were cushioned benches. We sat to rest. I suddenly realized we were sitting on Giacometti originals!!! And on one wall were Giocometti sconces. (Most people were walking by these without taking note)

Can you imagine sitting on a Giacometti bench? Below is one of the wall sconces.

The exhibition we wanted to see was of the works of art collected by a prominent art dealer expressly commissioned decorate his Paris apartment.

Below is a metal sculpture by a 20c Armenian artist we’d never heard of.

Ervand Kotchar- born in Tiblisi, lived in Paris and died in Yerevan. Fascinating work with interesting technique. The photos are front and back of the piece. It is encased in glass producing a glare. He was part of a movement called Dimensions.

Love includes some of the explanations because they are succinct and can better describe the artist and their place on the art world of the early 20th century. De Chirigo is a favorite of some but not necessarily me. Nonetheless he is an important painter of that era. Note how the figures come out of the canvas. The shows curators were clever to place the painting on top of a cabinet- mimicking what was probably in the apartment’s reception hall. Note there was a table and chairs drawn below one of the paintings above.

Moving on to the permanent collection-

Fancoise Gilot was the only woman artist I saw. Her paintings were of a kitchen and a salad!

Below is a shot of one of the upstairs gallery room. The renovators kept the original beams creating beautiful spaces.

There were a number of wonderful Picasso’s with which we are all familiar. However this one below I’d never seen. I didn’t make note of its title unfortunately. And with this I’ll close- we are headed out to lunch at the Bistro du Vauban with views of Les Invalides.

Hard to believe but it is 17 years since we bought this pad in Paris thinking if we used it for 5 years it would be worth it. Here we are 17 years later. I’ve been writing about our trips for most of these years and last night I started going through some of my past entries and am amazed at how much we’ve done and the wonderful experiences we’ve had.

Now, our time here has changed as we aren’t as mobile and lack the energy of those years past. Nonetheless, we continue to enjoy experiencing another culture despite the language barrier. Although I can’t sort out a problem with the electric company over the phone, I can usually get by at the market. But today something funny happened.

At the market

I saw some terrific looking fennel (fenouil) I picked up a rather large bulb and asked the vendeur how much it cost. Ça coüt combien? He gave me the price which I thought was quite expensive but I wanted the fennel and so handed him 15 euros expecting change. He looked at me as though I was crazy. Madam- he started speaking rapidly at which point I realized he had said 2.50 and I had misunderstood 12.50. (Deux vs douze). The difference in sound is not subtle to a native speaker but to me…..I had a good laugh and moved in. My giant fenouil is below.

The second funny thing that happened today needs some background. George usually cleans up after meals and always opens the kitchen window just a bit. Despite my many requests that he not open the kitchen window since it could be tempting to a thief (a Spider-Man type) if we left the apartment and forgot to lock it, he forgets and opens it. Today, before going to the market I asked him,”What can I do to help you remember not to open the window?” With that I left.

An hour later when I got back home I found the following posted on the kitchen window and we both haven’t stopped laughing since. I think he found the solution.

Sunday— we went to the Picasso museum. I’ll cover it in the next blog as it is a rather long one.

But before I go off – we stopped for a very early dinner while in the Marais- where the Picasso museum is. The restaurant’s name is Robert and Louise – you can google it for more photos and details. It has an open fire grill and specializes in beef, lamb, and the like. No fish on the menu. We didn’t know anything about it and walked in. Without a reservation, I think we got the last table – at 4:00 pm which is very unusual. We asked the waiter what the best item on the menu was. The photo of what we got is below. Every now and then these two vegetarians indulge. My phone’s battery was down so I could take only one photo.

Many restaurants are closed on the weekends. If they are open, service usually does not start until 6 pm at the earliest. Thus, it was luck that we happened to walk by and find Robert and Louise open not far from the Picasso museum. Another bit of luck- as we exited a taxi was letting someone else out and we got right in headed for home.

After getting home I went for a walk around the block and came across this etched into the side of a building. I’d passed by many times but never noticed this.

We arrived a week ago welcomed by cold temps but warm friends. Our direct flight- no stopover in Iceland this time- was amazing. It was as if we were teleported from Boston to Paris- it was so fast.

Our apartment was ready- clean and stocked with delicious goodies by our neighbors. We are so lucky to be in such a congenial and friendly environment. The big change which we were delighted to see was the renovation of our buildings facade- once a boulangerie (bakery).

We’ve not done much since arrived as the first several days we struggled with jet lag and barely got up and out to replenish our food supplies.

The first big outing was a big disappointment. Several months ago we had planned with friends to see the exhibit it at The Pantheon about the WWII Armenian resistance here in France. The leader of the group, Missak Manouchian was shot months before the end of the war. His wife escaped. Considered heroes here they were recently re- interred at the Pantheon. We all got there at the appointed time- but much to our disappointment the monument was closed- hit by a flash workers strike. Oh- what sighs of disappointment. We weren’t the only ones.

You see the photo above with the credits.

After a drink in a local cafe we parted and hoped we’d be able to try again.

We center been out shopping at our market, hit a couple of restaurants for delicious dinners, and had friends in last night for a pot luck kind of dinner. We do take aways from the market ( Lebanese foods- kufte, falafel, eggplant dip, hummus and yogurt) but home made pizza contributed by our French friends. ( yes it was delicious).

We usually take a pullcart to the market and fill it up. George is dragging it home.

And it still hasn’t stopped raining. The worst fall since 1988 according to the papers. It is still Paris with lots to do, even in the rain.

This is the way I look almost everyday — prepared for rain and more rain. Even on the days when the weather forecast says, “No Rain”, I know there will be rain. And there is!! I’m standing in our little kitchen about to go to the market.

I headed out and started this time at the far end of the market where I encountered these enormous mushrooms. I’ve never seen any so big. I failed to ask what they are called. They are so big the vendeur has sliced them in half. Next week if these are still here I might try them. Right across from the mushroom stall was the rotisserie you see below. Whole chickens and ribs were being roasted. You can buy them whole or cut up. Along side were two 2-3 ft saucer-like pans where small potatoes and mushrooms were being roasted. We bought some and they were delicious. Imagine the work involved. These stalls will be taken down in about two hours when the market finishes at 1 p.,m. The venders pack everything up and go to another location.

This week we went to the Museé D”Orsay (the one that was a train station converted into a museum). This exhibit was of Van Gogh’s painting from the last year of his life. He spent that year in Auvers-sur-Oise 30 km a small village about 30 kg. northwest of Paris. It was really hard to get decent photos because there were so many people there. I’ve never seen anything like it. The museum is to fault for selling so many tickets – that’s what everyone is saying. There were group tours going through in addition to folks like us just trying to get a peek. It was hot, too, which is not a surprise given the numbers of humans. Nonetheless – the works stand up to any kind of trauma the viewer is experiencing. Van Gogh is Van Gogh — one suffers willingly just to get a view of these wonderful works – some of which we had never seen before.

Wheatfield under thunderclouds 1890

Wheatfield with Crows. 1890

Haystacks 1890

Below is the last painting Van Gogh did. It is called Tree Roots – 1890. Some people read it as a message of his inner turmoil, but there is no consensus by art historians on this.

There were 200 paintings and sketches in the exhibit. We did not see all of them as there came a point of saturation and fatigue. So — we headed to the restaurant for some refreshments. The big clock is from the old train station and can be seen from the street. We were lucky to get seating. The waiter was fun and spoke perfect English. He confessed that this father was from San Diego.

Taking things out of order I did want to show you the little brasserie – the Segur — which has become our local go to place for a quick good meal. The waiters are fun – especially one older guy who has a trick where he slips and tips over a coffee cup he is carrying onto a customer – but to everyone’s delight he catches it and the cup. The joke is – the cup is empty. There is generally a round of applause and much laughter. He has done it every time we’ve been there.

My favorite salad now– sliced leeks in a vinaigrette with a chunck of blue cheese on top. One portion if so big that we order one for ‘partager.’ which I’ve learned is perfectly acceptable.

This is the blackboard with today’s desserts. We ordered the chocolate gateau. served with ice cream and a vanilla sauce. The cake was yummy — and I think flourless.

Before signing off there is one other thing we did this past week which if you come to Paris you must see. The two exhibitions about Notre Dame and are located underground just in front for the cathedral. The first exhibit is called the Crypte Archeologique of the I’lle de la Cité – which is the island Notre Dame is on. The exhibit takes us from the earliest preserved foundations of the city to the present. The second, which is free, is about the fire and reconstruction – takes you through every aspect of the planning and reconstruction. December 2024 is the finish date. The exhibit is called: Notre Dame de Paris: at the worksite.

OK – OK — I can’t finish without showing you the pastries at the only Mori Yoshida shop in the world – which unfortunately is only a 10 minute walk from our place. At 11 a.m. when the shop opens on Sunday, I arrived to find a long line of people already waiting to scoop up these prize pastries.

The tall ones are not chocolate but a chestnut cream (not exactly whipped cream) with whole roasted chestnuts pieces inside.

The sign above says that there is milk, flour, eggs and alcohol in the pastry and that is costs about $8.00

This pastry comes in a cake form too, which we ate last night (and seen below) at our neighbors. Called Mont Blanc, the cake is a cream of whole chestnuts sitting on a flaky phyllo dough crust. I have to confess, we ate it after eating the Mont d’Or (pictured last) – which is a cheese from the region of Jura, baked in a crust with a touch of ham and potato. It was also soooo delicious. We all dieted today!

Mont d’Or — this served 4 of us for dinner, so how bad could it be?????

The days are passing and the news seems to be getting worse so I’ve decided to stop tuning in – at least for a while. It is part of the reason I haven’t written a blog since the first one, but isn’t the only reason. Seems my computer is getting low on memory (my computer isn’t the only one)… and thus is not uploading photos and allowing me to transfer them easily. I’ve spent quite a bit of time trying to figure it out and finally have.

Today I did something I thought was pretty good — I ordered a turkey – une dinde – from our local boucherie for November 22 to cook for the next day, Thanksgiving. The butcher didn’t speak English but had a voice translater on his phone – so we were able to communicate between that and I’m humble French. I think I ordered a 6 kg turkey. We shall see. I don’t know if comes plucked or not or cleaned out. We shall see! I’m hoping that my small oven will hold it. I didn’t even think of that. It will be an adventure.

Now -what we’ve been up to. George turned 92 and we had a nice celebration planned with our neighbors who are good friends. They made the reservations at the restaurant at the top of the Pompidou Museum where the food is supposed to be terrific and the views breathtaking. We were all excited and getting ready when an email was received saying that they had to cancel because workers in the museum had gone on a one-day strike. We found out later why, but I won’t take the time now to go into it now. We panicked! After trying two other restaurants we finally got reservations at Le Dome on Blvd Montparnasse. We had a blast! Great champagne, a terrific dinner with oysters to blow you away and a meille-feuille (napoleon) pastry for dessert all added up making it a really nice celebration.

The dessert was a delicious as it looks– flaking and light as they say. There was nothing light about the calories that came with this. One piece would have been enough for the 4 or us.

Finally we got to an art exposition – at the Foundation Louis Vuitton museum (architect Frank Gehry). Rothko — 1903-1970. Now I get it that some people don’t get Rothko, but I love his work. Not his early work (which I didn’t take photos of). It seems he didn’t much like it either. He said so and stopped painting realism. He make a comment something like, “I’m butchering the human figure.”

Many of his early paintings, however, show his interest in squares and rectangles and, in retrospect, could be appreciated. After the early period, room after room left me in awe. At the end the curators surprised the visitor with 3 Giacometti bronze statues which Rothko greatly admired. These photos do no justice at all to the real works. One can see the color but not feel the vibrancy of the painting. The deepth of color – the seemingly simple shapes – the movement which one sees only after a while — all make a huge impact on people like me. (Granted — as I said — this isn’t for everyone).

Above is one of his early paintings which is in a transitional period from realism to experimenting with color and shapes.

Another transition piece which begins to show the direction he is going in – but is not yet “A Rothko”.

Now — a Rothko. One can never confuse this with any other painter.

Very dramatic and powerful!

We all spent a lot of time looking at this one… so much going on to get absorbed in.

One of the Giacometti’s with a Rothko as backdrop. The curator wrote that this Rothko was perhaps moving into a minimalist period – but others think it was a sign of the depression with which he was struggling.

We have to end on a happy note – pear cake anyone? It was from the Grand Epicerie at Le Bon Marché. If you don’t fancy a pear cake, about a chocolate soufflé? It was out of this world!!

Hard to believe we are back in Paris for almost a week and are just beginning to wake up! The jetlag has been brutal this time, probably due to our advanced ages and to the gloomy weather. Since arriving we’ve had one or two nice days — the rest have been cloudy, cool, windy and rainy (sounds like the Cape!). Our trip over was easy on Icelandair and getting to our apartment from Charles De Gaul was a breeze. Ever since Uber threatened the regular taxi business, getting a cab at the airport is easy. One waits on line and takes the next cab. There was no line this time – and the first cab there took us immediately. There is one fixed fare for addresses on the Right Bank, and one for the Left. The total fare was 62 euros which is really a good deal.

Our apartment was clean and waiting for us. The kitchen table was laden with fruits, bread, cookies, jelly and honey, and the refrigerator was stocked with water, butter, cheese and other goodies. What good neighbors we have! On Thursday I made my way to the market to buy fruits and vegetables, makings for a salad we would be taking upstairs for a dinner with our neighbor-friends. I didn’t have my iphone with me so I couldn’t take photos of the produce for sale. It was amazing. The Fall Harvest is in full swing. There were more varieties of squash, pumpkin, onions , mushrooms, apples, and potatoes than I imagined existed. I’ll try to get some photos next week. (We totally missed Saturday’s market having slept right through it).

Here’s a photos of what I brought home.

There isn’t anything unusual above, but all was so fresh and delicious — especially the figs and the broccoli which was the biggest, greenest head of broccoli I’ve seen in years.

George and I went for a walk later in the afternoon when it stopped raining. Here we are sitting on a bench where the market is set up (and now cleared with everything washed down).

Several crews descend on the area after the vendors dismantle their stalls and clear the side streets of their trucks. Below you can see one of the crews with their cute little washing machines. They are careful not to spray you too — but one must be aware of that possibility.

On past trips we have noticed a police detail right about where clean-up crew is above, but were sure as to why it was there. And today we discovered the very obvious reason. It is adjacent to the Ukrainian Embassy!! That white van with the lights on is the police unit.

Thursday we are taking dessert for a dinner party to which we are invited so I’m been eyeing the pastries in the local bakeries. Pretty yummy. I might just make a fruit tart — that is if I’m awake and brave. I would have bought something but there were 20 people on line – a line which stretched out the door and down the street. I didn’t want to take a photo. I’m not sure why so many people were on line here. We have three other bakeries within a three block radius.

While I was wandering around George was sitting it out on another bench! You can see him under the red canopy (part of the market which hasnt’ been dismantled yet. That lady with the cane is not me!)

Before I leave off for today I thought I’d add two close ups of that terrific head of broccoli (it was delicious!) and the figs/plums.

More to follow. Today is George’s 92nd birthday. We are headed to the restaurant Le George on top of the Pompidou Center. (That is if we wake up in time to get there for our 7:30 reservation!!)

Don’t know how the time goes so quickly, but here we are again feeling as though we’ve just unpacked only to be packing those suitcases again. Knowing that if our health holds up we will be back makes it a bit easier to leave.

I wanted to show you some photos from a super interesting exhibit we went to at the Musée de quai Branley which is a museum of anthropology. It is situated on the Seine with beautiful gardens – simple with tall grasses bordering the pathways. There are few flowers, just tall cooling grasses and other green plants. A couple of years ago I had a photos of the wall of plants on the outside done to demonstrate how plants can be used to make the environment cleaner (i’m not sure it accomplishes that be you get the idea). The photo below was taken about 10 years ago. The grasses are now about 6′ tall. I wish I had taken one this time to show you the comparison.

We came with our friends to see the exhibit entitled: Song Lines, Tracking the Seven Sister. “The exhibit takes us across the Australian desert on the trail of the Seven Sisters, one of Australia’s largest and most important legendary stories.” These stories are how Aboriginal communities passed down their knowledge from generation to generation. The works depict the Seven Sisters moving from one region of Australia to another while they sing to each other escaping an evil sorcorra who is trying to abduct one of them. He doesn’t succeed. While they travel they connect with the land and the Country, spelled with a capital C, as it is what they call their land.

It is hard to pick photos to show you because one is more beautiful than the other. Interspersed between these magnificent works (some woven and other painted) are the figures you see –the Seven Sisters – sometimes sitting around a fire and at other times flying through the sky. We thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit and what was even better we learned something about another culture that we had no idea about. After the exhibit we went to the roof-top bar/restaurant for a drink and a nibble. And what a view!

Yesterday we headed to Notre Dame to see what we’ve been told is a fantastic exhibit about the renovations and inner construction of the church. We were all excited — got an Uber — got over there through the mobs of people,only to find out it was closed. Yes — another French holiday that one doesn’t suspect until it is upon you. Yesterday was Pentecost Monday. And so – most everything was closed and the streets were packed as the weather was fantastic. The exhibit is underground and will be open, free, until the renovations are complete.

Not to be completely done in, we went to a lovely, fun outdoor bistro for a bit to eat.

You get an idea of the throngs of people all around. That’s the Palais de Justice in the background.

That’s the café-bistro. I took that from across the street.

Since I haven’t shown you any delicious pastries on this trip – mostly because we haven’t been walking as we usually do and thus don’t get to peer into the patisserie windows, here is our dessert from lunch yesterday. George had the restaurant’s version of a mille-feuille – translated it means a thousand leaves. The US version is a napoleon. In France it seems every restaurant has its own version of this famous dessert. This one was called, strawberry mille-feuille. I had a gourmand café. You might be familiar with this. I love this dessert — it is a sampling of the restaurant’s desserts with a tiny espresso. One never knows what the offerings will; I’ve never been disappointed.

I had a brownie, a little sweet cake, a créme brulée with a prune in the middle, strawberries with real whipped cream and a little glass of fruits. What could be better to end a lovely lunch on our next to the last day in Paris? Au revoir!!

It’s hard to keep up with all that’s happening, though the truth is we spend a lot of time trying to recover in between our trips out and about. One thing we are very good at is taking advice on what to see, where to go, and especially where to eat. But we too have a few things to share with our French friends which are new to them that we’ve discovered. It’s very nice to have that feeling because that’s when we understand that we are no longer tourists in the place we have grown to enjoy so.

A friend suggested we go to see the Anna-Eva Bergman exhibit at the Musée d’Art Moderne. It is one of the City of Paris’ 14 municipal-owned museums and thus free to the public (though there is a charge to see the special exhibits). All of these museums are worth seeing which includes the Petit Palais and the Carnavalet in the Maris dedicated to the history of the city. The Musée d’Art Moderne was relegated to second place when a new museum of modern art was built and to which its great collections were transferred. It is the Pompidou in the Maris. The older museum is still well worth the visit. We often visit just to see the gigantic mural by Dufy called the History of Electricity, and Matisse’s preliminary studies for the work Dancers that were for the Barnes collection in Philadelphia. We didn’t get to see either of these today but headed right to the special exhibit (after paying our 15 euros each)

We understand this isn’t for everyone, but we found Bergman’s work both engaging and stunning. We had never heard of her before, and so, if our friend had not made the recommendation we probably wouldn’t have gone. You can look her up for more details about her life and work if you are interested — but for now I’ll simply say she started out in Norway, ended up in Germany (as she married a German) and moved to France during WW II. (She wrote scathing articles with illustrations against the Nazis. Not sure how she didn’t end up in prison.) As an artist she started as a realiste, but quickly moved to expressionism and then to her own style using metal leaf foils of all kinds, including gold and silver. She created a process which used Armenian bole (which is a colored clay preparation) in the first steps of working with the foil leaves. The These works are dramatic in person — you’ll have to use your imagination in order to see what we saw. (the first three photos are not the works in foil)

These works below are stunning. I have to admit much is lost in translation.(Sorry!) The longer you look at each the more you see. Each one is massive which adds to the effectiveness no doubt.

There are layers upon layers of colored foils in blocks and in strings. This work is called Mountains. We loved it and sat looking at it for a while (giving us a chance to rest!). What was really nice was there were not too many people at the exhibition unlike the more popular ones where you cannot get near the works of art because of the crowds.

After the exhibit we looked forward to lunch at the cafeteria-style restaurant in the museum. But, to our dismay it is now a fancy restaurant with service inside and outside. We took a table outside but were not comfortable so we left. We went next door – literally – to a new place as well – called Bambini. The two restaurants are side by side. The day was hot and as peak lunch hour was approaching both restaurants started to fill up.

This is a view of the museum from Bambin’s — the first restaurant is on the other side of the greenery.

Squid salad to start followed pasta. with thinly sliced truffles. We shared both dishes. They were delicious.

When we got home this snazzy Jaquar 3.8 was parked in front of our apartment! See you in a few days — we are going for a ride — (Just kidding!)