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Post by htmb on Jul 9, 2014 16:05:02 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 9, 2014 16:12:05 GMT
Glorious, Htmb! You perfectly capture that elusive quality of rainy light in the second picture, which is a wonderful photo in every way. These gorgeous views allow us to appreciate your enjoyment of the place. Great idea to show the calm end of a journey as teaser of reports to come. Thank you!
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Post by htmb on Jul 9, 2014 16:18:24 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 9, 2014 16:35:19 GMT
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Post by mossie on Jul 9, 2014 16:52:26 GMT
I can never get enough of my favourite park Buttes Chaumont. Don't praise me, I was brought up under two mottos. "Grin and bear it" and "press on regardless". My mother did not allow complaints of any sort.
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Post by htmb on Jul 9, 2014 16:55:17 GMT
Nope.....gotta say it. I bet even your dear mum would be impressed!
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Post by htmb on Jul 9, 2014 16:57:02 GMT
Glorious, Htmb! You perfectly capture that elusive quality of rainy light in the second picture, which is a wonderful photo in every way. These gorgeous views allow us to appreciate your enjoyment of the place. Great idea to show the calm end of a journey as teaser of reports to come. Thank you! Thanks, Bixa. The word "calm" might describe much of the month. Just a perfect kind of calm.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2014 17:21:33 GMT
If you stay away from tourist hell, most of Paris stays quite tranquil all through summer.
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Post by htmb on Jul 9, 2014 17:24:28 GMT
That I've managed to do, Kerouac. In fact, my oldest granddaughter will be disappointed that, once again, I have not gotten to take a photo of the Eiffel Tower all aglow.
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Post by bjd on Jul 9, 2014 18:09:17 GMT
I see you went through the nicer part of the 19th arrondissement. Some of it is pretty ratty.
What do you mean, you don't have a picture of the Eiffel Tower lit up? You should send your granddaughter a postcard of it. I'm sure she would appreciate it.
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Post by mich64 on Jul 9, 2014 18:14:41 GMT
Wonderful htmb! Enjoy your remaining days!
Would you stay longer if you could?
Good idea bjd! I am sure she would love to receive a post card and combining it with her wish of the Eiffel Tower sparkling would be indeed be special for her.
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Post by htmb on Jul 9, 2014 18:19:53 GMT
She's seven, and wanted me to take a picture of the Eiffel Tower. Particularly one with it all lit up. She likes to scroll through my pictures on my iPad, so a postcard is not quite what she has in mind. I've actually never seen it lit up, and never been up the tower. It's just not high on my list of priorities, and I guess I need to come sometime when the days are shorter to see the lights. I've got some old pics from the daytime, but maybe I'll run down there tomorrow and take a couple of rain/fog shots.
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Post by htmb on Jul 9, 2014 18:44:28 GMT
Wonderful htmb! Enjoy your remaining days! Would you stay longer if you could? That's a good question, Mich. I think I would, but there are certainly a lot of things calling to me from back home, too. I've gotten a lot more exercise here than I get at home. I've eaten better, have hardly watched television, except for World Cup. I haven't driven a car in a month, and haven't paid for gasoline. I've rarely been inside an air conditioned space, something that's critical to have in Florida mid-summer. I absolutely hate air conditioning, but due to the heat and humidity at home it's really a necessity. I've been around a lot of nice people and have had lots of fun. On the other hand, I don't think an extended stay in Paris is for the starry-eyed dreamer either, if you know what I mean. You've been here, so will understand it can be noisy, crowded, dirty, and discouraging in so many ways. I think the challenge of being here, having to figure out the system so to speak, is what I like best. It's a personal issue. It makes me feel like I've accomplished something to be able to get by in a country where I barely speak the language, and where each day offers a different set of puzzles to solve.
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Post by lagatta on Jul 9, 2014 18:46:34 GMT
Calm is an odd way to describe a hectic large city, but it is true that there are surprising oases and moments of calm in Paris. Another thing I appreciate, despite the spread of pollution worldwide, is the improved local air quality there.
Paris does have an evanescent, ever-changing light, so while it can certainly be rainy and grim, it isn't quite the same as London, Amsterdam or Brussels, with their iron skies. (Though such iron-skied places have compensated by developing the concept of "cosy").
I also love Buttes-Chaumont. You can walk on the grass, and there is nothing posh about it. The former quarry had become a dump, even for horse carcasses (and doubtless some human ones) and was a source of infection and pollution. There was an idea at the time, in France, Britain and many other places, of providing more salubrious recreation for the common people than the "tavern" and other "dens of iniquity". (Though I'm sure the wealthy spent far more time and money in gentlemen's clubs, casinos and brothels). Whatever, it certainly made life far more pleasant for ordinary workers and their families on their day off.
There is, of course, a suicide bridge, which evidently has been made harder to throw oneself off. I think you show it, and how the sides have been made higher.
I love the view to Montmartre. One time I was in Paris, Jean-Marie Le Pen had made some predictably idiotic statement about Muslims in Paris wanting to turn le Sacré-Coeur into a mosque. A (far from fundamentalist) Moroccan friend laughed it off, saying "we want Notre-Dame!" He had also taken a friend from his village near Fez there, and of course the friend removed his shoes out of respect.
And, of course, the view from your rental flat.
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Post by htmb on Jul 9, 2014 18:53:23 GMT
Lagatta, I saw the fence was higher and had forgotten the reason until now. You're right!
I like the 19th, and probably would not mind staying in some areas up that way. Much of it is interesting and certainly has a less crowded feel than some other parts of the city.
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Post by htmb on Jul 9, 2014 20:29:32 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 9, 2014 20:40:43 GMT
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Post by htmb on Jul 9, 2014 21:08:00 GMT
I love the individual styles and character of each of these buildings. Any of the renovated places would make a charming home.
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Post by lagatta on Jul 10, 2014 0:52:55 GMT
I love la Mouzaïa too; as you have indicated it is also in the 19th but a bit more out of the way. It might be less pleasant to stay there in the wintertime. Paris winters are nothing like ours but streets like that can get icy and slippery. The rude arsehole is a universal figure, though perhaps different cultures have different ways of expressing their rudeness.
As for living there, I'd love one of those houses (especially the wee ones; I have no need for a full-sized house) or flats, but if one were to buy, it would be imperative to have an exploration and guarantees about what lies beneath.
We had to spend a lot and experience a lot of hardship because our flats would have simply collapsed if we hadn't shored them up and changed the foundations. Montréal is an island and there is a lot of ground water near the surface. Before it was all settled and urbanised there were many creeks, streams and small rivers, fed by all the runoff from our so-called mountain, and the proximity of "le fleuve" St-Laurent (in French, a river that flows into a sea is a fleuve, as opposed to a "rivière", but we have some damned big "rivières"). I believe la Mouzia was quarries, like Buttes-Chaumont.
Perhaps your granddaughter would like a tourist trinket, like the many Eiffel figurines?
It is too bad that where you live is so car-dependent, though nowadays many urbanists, even in places as unlikely as Texas, are trying to work towards another kind of development and planning.
I think the place I stayed near les Buttes was actually in the 20th, but very close to the 19th and a lot of the places I shopped were in the 19th, including the market at Place des fêtes. It is a good and cheap market, though sadly La Place des fêtes is an ugly concrete redevelopment. I was a bit above la rue des Pyrénées and the air was much better there than "down below in Paris" (I was there during a summer heatwave). I love the bus from there to the city below.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2014 2:33:25 GMT
In several parts of Paris like Montmartre, the Buttes Chaumont or even where I live, every sale of a dwelling must be accompanied by a "quarry certificate" which certifies that the building is not on top of any caverns or excavations.
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Post by mich64 on Jul 10, 2014 3:57:17 GMT
I do look forward to hopefully one day spending at least a month in Paris, perhaps even longer. Whenever we have had the opportunity to visit it is always so rushed.
The one thing I find relaxing is not having to speak. While I am always trying to learn to speak more French it is not for conversation. The two weeks I go away each year are a relief for me.
I like the thought of not having to drive as well and getting more exercise. Being able to shop everyday for ingredients for a meal I want that day, not something taken out of the freezer would make cooking enjoyable again.
Like Kerouac and Mossie recently, your photos have shown the home of the city.
My husband asked me today if I was going to miss Paris this year, "always" I replied.
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Post by fumobici on Jul 10, 2014 4:10:26 GMT
Thank you htmb for sharing these. I think your rainy Buttes Chaumont photos look better than my harshly lit sunshiny ones, which probably will however not prevent me from posting mine at some point. I wanted to pay La Mouzaia a visit but I sadly never made it. This helps.
The town where I live's downtown is apparently honeycombed underneath with coal shafts that no maps exist for any longer. Nothing I'm aware have has ever fallen in but boring deep to make a foundation for taller buildings has hit some voids that scuttled the projects.
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Post by tod2 on Jul 10, 2014 13:09:13 GMT
I am scrolling down through your report htmb but so many photos won't open!! Will see what happens when I next go Online....
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Post by mossie on Jul 10, 2014 14:13:33 GMT
Le Mouzaia is something else and you have nicely captured the flavour of the place. Your comment about the man reminded me of the line "Where every prospect pleases, and only man is vile"
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Post by tod2 on Jul 10, 2014 14:25:55 GMT
Aah! success! Your photos are lovely and exude a feeling of escape. No crowds, no animals even, just the sound of your footsteps on the cobbles..... I think that great big wall covered in ivy will be a totally different colour if I get up that way in late September.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2014 16:42:53 GMT
Perhaps I can help you to find it.
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Post by htmb on Jul 10, 2014 18:19:52 GMT
Tod, I did see a couple of cats, but they looked sorely neglected and I didn't take their pictures. September should be a beautiful time to explore the Mouzaïa. Perhaps you will see some lovely orange, red and yellow colors. I now wish I'd gone there earlier in June when I first arrived in Paris. I'm sure you will have an outstanding time and we can visit vicariously through your experiences (all the while I will be insanely jealous).
I took a long walk around my neighborhood this afternoon for one last time. I took some photos and hope to post in a few days. I am certainly not ready to go home and I think I am even going to miss the seagulls.
I'm staying just around the corner from the Musée Picasso, and back when I booked this apartment I had visions of visiting there several times. It used to be one of my favorite museums, but no telling if it will ever open again. On my walk today there were three different clusters of individuals just staring at the Picasso doors, like they had no idea it was still closed and were in shock. After all, the street signs directing tourists are still up around the area. I felt sorry for these people who clearly had no idea. As I walked by, the museum doors suddenly opened and out popped two workmen who scuttled away before anyone could ask them a single question. Cowards. ;-)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2014 19:29:44 GMT
The Picasso Museum will reopen on Picasso's birthday this year.
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Post by htmb on Jul 10, 2014 19:38:57 GMT
Or next year, or perhaps the next, :-)
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Post by htmb on Jul 13, 2014 7:35:21 GMT
As you say, Kerouac, there is a sign on the doors of the Picasso Museum that lists the anticipated opening of October 25, Picasso's birthday.
Now, to go back to the beginning. My good friend and I met up in Paris since we look different flights out of Gainesville. We had the rail strike to deal with and quickly realized one of the smartest things we had done was plan to take the train to La Rochelle the day after arriving in Paris, rather than go straight from the airport to the train station. I took the train from CDG, changed to the metro at Gare du Nord, and arrived at our cheap hotel across from Montparnasse-Bienvenue soon after. We strolled around Montparnasse a bit, ate a little dinner and found out our train was a go for the next day. This was around the time Kerouac was traveling in the same direction, and since reading his reports of standing and sitting in the aisles I feel quite lucky. Never did a train issue directly impact my travel on this trip.
We arrived in La Rochelle quite early the next morning, and as we walked from the train station to the apartment I could tell all the advice I had received here was spot on. I found it to be a nice, very walkable, interesting town. The crowds were not too bad, but I would not wish to be there later in the summer, particularly during the film festival. I heard mostly French spoken in the streets, and only heard American English once. Our apartment was on the ramparts of the old city wall and had a great view of the water. I spent many hours just staring out the window watching boats of all shapes and sizes passing by.
We were in La Rochelle for a week, and it passed by very quickly. Since both of us needed to decompress from our jobs it was the perfect place.
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