A day off?

I kind of took a break today from sightseeing and running around. I woke up with a bit of a sore throat. The rain and cold yesterday probably didn't help. Chris returned to NYC today so now I'm on my own.

I slept for quite a while and took some pre-cold medicine to fight off the throat thing. Finally decided around 2pm I should get some coffee and real food.  And decided to explore the neighborhood and do some gift shopping and practice my French with the shop owners.

View of Eiffel Tower from Charles Michel metro.

 There are lots and lots of different shops..meat, high-end clothing, cheese, chocolate, bread and pastries, antiques, restaurants, and many many more.

The cheese shop closest to apartment and wonderful.

In the park fairly close by.

Eiffel Tower from the park.

Rain, rain, rain

Today we could not avoid the rain. I finally got mid-afternoon tickets to the Open which you have to buy the day before so it is a crap shoot. We planned to visit the Paris Modern museum before tennis. It is located on Rue de President Wilson and the permanent collection is free to tour. It is a small collection but the Matisse pictured below is very large and very stunning. The room was constructed for this piece and its companion which is the "test" work.

Matisse - The Dancers

 While waiting for the rain to hopefully let up, we sat at a cafe with heated outdoor seating. It was fun to relax and watch the people go by. I decided this woman waiting for the bus with the fashionable coat, pants, boots and umbrella kind of represented the day.

We did make it to Roland Garros where play was suspended. The rain let up long enough for play to resume but then it started up again. They continued to play in the light right. The line judge (wearing the red jacket) in the picture was not happy with the court referee that he had to sit in the rain and judge. What about the players?!

This match ended and we were going to stay for the next but I wanted to get up. We both did some souvenir shopping then while deciding which court to go to next, the skies opened up big time. I didn't have my rain poncho so we stood under an awning for the longest time.

It finally let up a bit but I surmised that they were not going to resume play so we left. The plan was to get to Paris Opera to see ballet but there were just too many people trying to get to the Metro and it took us longer than expected. By the time we arrived, the performance had started and there was no way to get late seating.

A non-tennis day.

Another mostly cloudy day but the rain held off until very late. Chris wanted to see the exhibit at Musee de l'Orangerie.

The building was constructed for a specific set of very very large Monet paintings called The Nymphes but also exhibits other French artists associated to Paul Guillaume and special exhibits.

I particularly liked the Derain paintings in their permanent collection and the special exhibit of Italian painters in a almost photographic style from the late 1800's call Maccheaioli.

The museum is located in a corner of the Tuileries, a park along the Seine. Lots of people were enjoying the break from the rain and the scattered sunshine. The iris are blooming in spectacular fashion. There was even a peonie blooming.

From the Tulieres we walked up the Champs Elysees to the Arc d' Triumph. So many people it was crazy.

I was not feeling great so went back to the apartment to rest for just a little. We were planning on not going to tennis and instead go to the theatre. Specifically Comedie Francaise to see a Feydeau.

Chris headed to the theatre to try to get rush tickets. I made it back to the theatre just as he was discussing something with the box office. He had stood in the wrong line, or so he thought, and got student tickets for 5 euro way way up at the top balcony.  The seats turned out to be just fine.

We couldn't really understand what they were saying as they spoke very fast but the comedy was broad and much of it was physical as we had expected. It was great fun.

The theatre itself is quite beautiful. We had a bird's eye view of the whole thing. 

This the chair that Moliere supposedly used in the production of The Imaginary Invalide. He also supposedly died in this same chair. They have it exhibited in one of the lobbies.

The weather worked to our advantage

It was another cloudy day. And today it rained off and on...mostly off. But rain during the day means that tennis matches are interrupted and move to the evening.

We went to the Museé Rodin which is in and on the grounds of a hotel where Rodin lived. It was lovely.

Rodin sculpture in the woodsy area.

We did make it back to the Open. There was a really good match between a German and a very young Pole.  We got seats at the end which means you don't have to swing your head back and forth while watching play. The German, Kohlschreiber, won in five sets.

Kohlschreiber serving.

 The evening did end with a rainbow.

Memorial Day in Paris

Today was Memorial Day in the United States and I wanted to honor our soldiers. There is an American cemetery just outside of Paris in Suresnes. After wondering around the train station for several minutes (there were two Starbuck coffee shops), I finally found an information desk that knew where to point us.

We took the short train ride to Suresnes and climbed the hill to this beautiful spot. It was a gorgeous day. The American in charge of the memorial, Angelo Munsel, was so so nice. The memorial service had been on Sunday so there was no one there except us and Angelo.

 The views from the memorial and an overlook which is at the bottom of the site are fantastic. You can see all of Paris.

By the time we made it back into Paris via the tram and walking across the Seine, it was time for evening tennis. We got into Court No. 3 to see Chris' favorite player, Francesca Schiavone.  It was a good match. Franny won in two straight sets.

After Franny's match, we went to another with Rhyne Williams, an American. He lost a long match with a Polish player.  That was it for evening tennis. We came back to our neighborhood and had dinner at a Middle Eastern restaurant with fabulous French table wine.

Paris day two

Chris and I were exhausted from the flights over and ended up sleeping in a long time. When we finally got out and about, it was past the opening of the French Open. We made our way to Roland Garros which was very easy from the apartment. To make a long story short we could not get tickets. There is no box office. All tickets must be purchased online and printed out. The official website never mentioned this very important fact.

Quintessential Paris Metro sign.

The Auteuil Gardens are next to Roland Garros. That is where the rose picture was taken.

The France rose.

We gave up on tennis for the day and headed to the museums. I had been warned of massive demonstrations against the recently passed gay marriage law. We ran right into the middle of it. We were fine just inconvenienced by closed metro exits and streets.

Govrnment building in Pantheon circle.

I'll write about the museums later.

First day in Paris

The apartment is wonderful. Located in the 15th arrondisemont, there are many shops and restaurants close by.  There are also two metro stations.

It was an easy 10 minute walk from the apartment to the Eiffel tower. There is construction around and even on it but still it is very spectacular.

The weather is a bit sketchy -cool, partly cloudy with passing rain showers. But it has been warm enough for the trees to all be leafed out and these big azaelas to be flowering.

My friend Chris from New York arrived in the afternoon. we walked around the block to get pastries and a baguette at Kaysers, which according to the apartment owner is the most famous bakery in Paris. We then went to the cheese shop for fresh cheese. And finally to the grocery market for milk and cereal and such. Later in the evening we went to a dance performance. More on that later.

France, here I come

Twenty-four hours until departure.

MN AIDS Walk and backyard party

The Walk could have been a wash out. Big thunderstorms early in the morning passed through leaving warm and humid weather. But there was sunshine and Rosie's Art Ensemble team kept it together for a new record-breaking fundraising amount over $12,000!

Atferwars, we gathered back at my place for a cookout. And were joined by many of our sponsors. However, the rains did come and boy did they ever. Buckets and buckets. But that didn't stop us from having a good ol' time in the garage.

Rosie praying that it doesn't rain.

Two pooped-out kitties. Tired of all the rain.

Trish chatting with Roger.

In the park with the pretty people and flowers.

James ready to tackle the 10k.

As seen in tv

I think it wad a Lowe's commercial where a couple was getting their backyard ready for spring. They were constructing these flower towers. I thought I would give it a try.

It looks like I need some more plants.

Spring

The heat brought out the tulips.

Minnesota weather

From cold and snow two weeks ago to 101 degrees!

Twins Game

Michael, Jennifer, Amy and I at Twins vs White Sox.

Painting project

The living room painting project is complete. The project actually started at the top of the stairs and worked down.

Cleaned and patched all the cracks first then all the cutting in! There is not a wall wthout a window or a door or both. There is very little rolling to do.

Used Sherwin-Williams Duration paint which goes on smoothly and with virtually no smell. I have always had good results with Sherwin-Williams paint and this project was another happy result.

The color is called inviting ivory which ironically is pretty much what the previous paint faded to. It was tricky to see where I hac painted especially when working in the evening.

The staircase was very difficult but it looks great and the awful plaster cracks are gone...for now. I know they'll come back. The house is over 100 years old.

The economic effect of home improvement also took over. After buying paint and a few supplies, I decided to change out the switch plates and a new rug.

A busy weekend

After the 5k in St. Paul, we went to Lucky's 13 for bloody marys and brunch.

Got home by early afternoon and through everything in wash to get the dye out. Tried to take a brief nap before meeting Jenny and Brian to work on our BWCA trip.

Then to Old Chicago for the Kentucky Derby. Amy and Bunny git all dolled-up as can be seen in the attached photo.

Saturday was a long day so I got home and watched last week's episode of Amazing Race befor going to bed.

Sunday started with breakfast at Maria's with Christine, Rachel and Tom. Got to hear about Rachel and Tom's trip to South Africa.

Did get some more living room walls painted. A slow but steady progress.

In the afternoon met Stephen for coffee at Isles before riding bikes to Powderhorn Park and May Day celebration. The event got a really late start and I had to leave in the middle of it because of the bowling banquet.

Bowling banquet was interesting.  Good news was that I won most improved bowler! Total surprise. Trish took 3rd place high handicap game. That's her with her trophy.

Watched the final episode of Amazing Race at Marlin's. It was an exciting finish to a long and fun weekend.

A fun fun 5k

Running For Brunch April 5k was called Run or Dye. On Harriet Island in St. Paul several thousand runners and walkers were showered with dye.

Tracy's 9 year old son joined us and ran his first 5k!

It is snowing - that is all I'm saying

We dodged a big snow storm

There were predictions of a serious amount of snow for the Twin Cities overnight. The storm moved more east and missed us, thank goodness. However it is cold and damp and we've been getting snow showers.

The plants and birds are struggling through it all...and so are the humans.