Thursday, 9 September 2010
Bonjour!
Woke to a lovely, sunny Paris day. R thought that after last night’s clearing storm that it might get really cold here, but actually the clouds came and went, and it was quite pleasant out this morning.
Breakfasted on the usual – we’re going to need another jar of raspberry jam soon! And then did a little apartment cleaning – worked on the rugs today; they really needed it! R had some Caltech work to do, so we didn’t get out until about 10 a.m.
At the recommendation of our neighbor Stew, we headed to the Musee Nissim de Camondo, just off Parc Monceau. We had visited the Musee Cernuschi, virtually the house next door, several years ago, but this was our first time to the Camondo. Very interesting place. The father had his childhood house torn down, and in its place had an 18th century-style house built based on the Petit Trianon at Versailles; then furnished everything in the same style. The place is superb; this man was quite a collector! From the paneled walls brought to the house from throughout France, to the amazing china and silver collections, it is quite a sight to see. However, it is also a very, very sad story. This man’s only son was killed in the First World War, and his only daughter was not interested in maintaining the collection; she preferred horses. So, he re-wrote his will to leave his house and collection to the State of France upon his death circa 1935. The family was Jewish, and when WWII came, unfortunately, his daughter and her family were arrested and eventually transported and died at Auschwitz. She had refused to leave France, as she felt that her French citizenship would protect her; as I say, very, very sad, as this was the end of the entire family.
From the museum we took a lovely walk through Parc Monceau. It is a beautiful garden (yet another of the lovely green spaces in Paris!) with great jogging paths and lots of fountains and decorative ponds. Many people out enjoying the sunshine … and jogging through the park! From there we took a bus to Pigalle in Montmartre, with the idea of heading up to Sacre Coeur and that general area. However, there was a problem with the Montmartrebus, and to be honest, climbing up that hill didn’t interest either of us today! So, we decided to head back to the Galleries Lafayette and see if we could find some crushed red pepper for R’s spaghetti sauce, which he plans on making tomorrow … time permitting! R got a lovely picture of Printemps, a competing department store right next to Lafayette – note the gilt and mosaics! They sure don’t make department store signs like that anymore!
Had a nice walk through the Galleries food-stalls – R took a great picture of their spice shop, which reminded us of a lot of the spice market in Istanbul! Also had baguettes avec jambon et fromage (ham and cheese) at one of the many food stops they have. Have decided that we greatly prefer Galleries to Bon Marche – especially as it’s much easier to get to and from, even though it is on the right bank! Finally found R’s crushed red pepper, and headed back to the apartment for a nice afternoon nap!
As lunch was SO late today, actually skipped dinner…munched a little, including a Magnum Classic for me! YUM! (Hil: Found that the little 8 a 8 (like 7/11 except not open nearly as long!) has 4-packs of Magnum Classics that I just store in the freezer in the flat…GREAT idea!)
The rain clouds REALLY moved in this evening; an amazing storm, but clearing now and hopefully a nice day tomorrow! We’ve got to clean house, go shopping and get ready for Mom, who is scheduled to arrive at 6:55 a.m. on Saturday morning! It will be GREAT to see her!
Lots of love,
m
x
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