Sometimes you just can't wait. . .

Duane last had a haircut from the amazing Megan in early July, Paula just before we left. Yet, as we were having trouble recognizing each other because of our flowing locks, we went out for haircuts in Lyon. This is always little scary because these talented women speak less English than we do French. So basically, there was a lot of motions, waving of arms, finger scissors and holding your fingers tightly together and saying over and over, "Just a little bit!" It all worked out and we look like humans again as if we just got off the boat yesterday. Paula is a full 5 lbs. lighter and Duane can now see again. Or, as they say in Italy, "Grosso Successo!". . . . GREAT SUCCESS!
Dinner in Lyon was another Grosso Successo as well! It doesn't really matter what you eat or where you eat it . . . . It is great! Lyon's reputation as a gastronomic capital is well earned. We did find in Paris that you can get bad or mediocre food, apparently in Lyon, you can't.
The people in Lyon are terrific. We think it is because they are not overrun by tourists 12 months a year. Sure there are tourists here, but very few and they all seem nice. Tonight we were giving our Maître d a few marketing tips on how to get more people into his restaurant, he said, "No Thanks" and said they use only the low key approach of telling potential customers what great care they use in preparing their food. It is the Lyon way. Slow and easy wins the day. Probably a good lesson. By time we left at 8:30 his restaurant was nearly full and the real French dinner hour was just around the corner.
We leave here in the morning and Duane gets his Peugeot in Avignon. He warns you now that the frequency of blog posts may fall off as he'll spend a lot of time lost. See ya!

We almost hate to leave. . .

Lyon, as we've already stated, is a wonderful city. Today we walked all over some more and went to the Roman Museum. Duane noticed right away that the architecture of the museum was superb! He had never heard of the architect, but the architect himself gave a tip of the hat to Corbuisier, so all is right with the world. Roman ruins and artifacts can be a huge bore, but not this. Outside there are 2 huge theaters, one for singing and poetry readings ((Duane is so glad he missed that) and one for larger theatrical productions. They are, as you might guess, ruins, so you have to use your imagination for parts of it. What we do see is remarkable and exhilarating.

This is the larger of the two and would seat over 3,000 people in chilled marble seats. Duane thinks they brought their own blankets to these events. The rich people brought along slaves to warm up their seats for them.  Lyon was a BIG Deal in Roman times and had, in addition to these two theaters, a chariot track which, as you might have guessed, held chariot races! The track is so old they only have a vague idea of where it was! (now that is a REAL RUIN!) so ruined you can't find it!

This mosaic tile floor (Each tiny tile was only about 3/8"square) was on the floor of some rich dude's living room. There were many like this each one more impressive than the next. But Duane doesn't want to lose you so we'll go back out side. 

This spectacular garden was at the Museum of Art. It was raining lightly so we didn't get to sit in it, but it was glorious. This whole city is full of parks and gardens and squares and fountains and statuary. Did I tell you that we love this place?

This is actually the Lyon himself! Grand isn't he? Beside him in the same garden was this bunch of flowers!

I know you're disappointed as they are made out of metal, but they were stunning! 

See! I told you they were special! Each one of these flowers is about 3+ feet in diameter. 

And the above theatre, the Celestine, is right next door to our hotel. Duane wanted to attend a production , but rapidly remembered he was in France. 

Down for the count

This will be brief as we are down for the count. No pictures today as we simply stored all the memories in our soon to be worn out brain. We are loving Lyon. It is a city that gets very little attention because of its big brother, Paris. We hope it stays this way as a great deal of Lyon's charm is the lack of tourists. We have one more day here and probably won't do a thing but walk around and enjoy. The food here, and we've not gone full "gastronomic" is wonderful.. . . . Creative, inventive and TASTY!
Now Duane has got to go to sleep! Good night!

Last night we walked. . .

Last night, still full from lunch, we walked. The main thing we visited is Notre Dame Basilica. Yes, I know, everything is named Notre Dame. Here are a few photos, both day and night shots. 

Duane is still reeling from his last mass and walked right into another. . . It just seems like the right thing to do when you bust in on one of their services. Duane was a little sad as they offered no insence, but the singing and organ playing were great so he put a few coins in the basket. 

They were pretty insistent that we take no photos inside so we waited until dark and snapped these. 

And right along the water front is this massive beauty. No, I don't know what it is. . . .

We'll try and find out tomorrow about this building. 

In the mean time we turned our back around and saw this on the way home. . . 

Pretty fancy bridge, huh? They say Lyon is lit up better than Paris and we're starting to believe them. 

 

Today in Lyon

We won't complain about a little rain as we are in Lyon and so far we love this place. Lyon seems to be a lot more like France. Sure there are a few tourists here, but very few. Mostly, if one is to learn from yesterday, it is French people doing French things and eating very, very well! The old town is just remarkable and this city is clean, well preserved and full of gorgeous things to visit, see and photograph. That said, we'd better get out there and take some photos! We'll sign back up later with a few pics. 

We're on our way. . .

Today we are back on the magnificent train system on our way to Lyon. We've not been to this part of France before so there is excitement everywhere. Duane is particularly excited as Lyon, by all accounts, is the gastronomic capital of France. Duane wonders if Paris knows this? 

Duane decided to walk the one mile (Towing bags) to the Gare du Lyon this morning. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Little did he know Paula would overheat and our nice, little morning stretch would turn into a sweaty forced march through the sleepy streets of Sunday morning Paris. Ouch! Paula, of course, did eventually cool down and we were able to access our surroundings. While Paula is ripping off every piece of clothing allowed by law the French are marching in dressed for a bitter Autumn walk. It was, after all, about 58 degrees F. Our favorite Sunday Morning character, not allowing for the criminal contingent and resident crazy guy (Most large stations are required, by law, to have at least one crazy guy) was a somewhat overweight man with dirty, white tennis shoes, bright red Bermuda shorts, dingy short sleeved white t-shirt all tucked up underneath (Wait for it) a huge, puffy down vest snapped up to his fragile, little white neck around which was, of course, a tightly wrapped, pale orange scarf of questionable origins. He was a hoot! He was moving quickly and allowed no time for a photo shoot. 

We are now Lyon bound on the TGV (Which stands for, Duane thinks) Things Goby Veryfast. We've heard reports that these babies get wound up to 150-190 mph! Things are whizzing by rapidly so it must be so! The TGV are smooth, quite quiet and whisk people all over France at high speeds. It is terrific! 

Not enough has been said. . .

Not enough has been said about our weather! We're planning our final Paris dinner, so not much time.  The weather has been phenomenal! One day Duane had to wear a sweater. All the rest he wore his basic (Now Famous) black T-Shirt. Paula never wears more than is absolutely required by French law. We have these smashing new French scarves and it is too hot to wear them. The French, of course, are wearing all kinds of unnecessary clothing, but not Paula and Duane. Seriously, we've had sun every single day with some days in the low 80s, but mostly in the 70s. After last year we feel completely blessed by the weather gods in France. Now we gotta go! It is Pizza night in the Marais!

Today we get ready to get ready for Phase #3

When planning trips of this nature Duane and Paula start months in advance to secure flights, rooms, apartments, maps, rental cars, books, TGV tickets and train timetables, where the geese are fed and where to acquire the best foie gras. Now, almost a month into this adventure, Duane is more certain than ever that one month in Paris is the perfect amount of time. Not everyone would agree, of course. I know some of you, (You know who you are) would want to just stay here forever (ML), and others would get all stiff legged at any amount of time over 10 days. You pick, but do come.
Now on to the French dressing customs.  Our good friends, Olivier and Adrian picked us up yesterday and treated us to lunch. Thank you! They were well mannered, impeccably educated on French history (Very Interesting) and dressed like perfectly normal humans. So many of the French, we are thrilled to report, are still dressing like the French. That is, tasteful under garments, long sleeved sport shirt (Collared), woolen vest, heavy sports coat, spectacular shoes and a wonderful French Scarf wrapped 4 times around their toasty necks. All of this is not so unusual except that they dress like this when it is 80 degrees outside. It is Fall after all! They are remarkably well turned out! If the temps drop down to the chilly 70s they'll add a trench coat on top just to complete the look and be prepared for anything. We love them. Forget anything you have heard to the contrary, the French are delightful people, including the waiters and waitresses. That fancy, little guy in the paint splattered suit could be an exception, but we doubt it!

If you think . . .

If you think today was short on news just wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow we do laundry! We'll discuss the merits of cold vs. warm vs. hot water for washing and exactly how long one should tumble dry synthetics. The discussion will be lively! Don't get up early, but don't forget to chime in!
Before we sign out tonight we wanted to go over the toilette habits of the French. As it turns out. . . They never actually go to the toilette when they are out and about. One can go for days without finding a public toilette and when you do find one they make you pay to pee. It is tiresome at best. The toilettes themselves are works of art. No not real art, but better than most of the junk in the Pompidou Center. Most are hidden away in basements of old buildings with questionable plumbing histories and a scant nod to privacy. It is not unusual for everyone to share the same stalls, although they are like little lockable closets. Duane gets a little claustrophobic in them, but can usually make it out before the cold sweats overtake him. Everyone shares one sink (Who said everyone should have their own sink?) and the running  water. . . .Now that is a topic all it's own. . . Frequently there is no water faucet handle as we know it. One must search for the basic operating principle. #1: There is a peddle on the floor that you operate like an accelerator in a car (Varoom! Varoom!) #2: There is a wand about 18" in length sticking out from the wall that you operate with your knee (Duane prefers this one) #3: There is the auto water (dull, boring and unpredictable) #4: The push down model that starts, stops, starts stops, and then stops completely (Duane hates these).  #5 the handle. . . This works like every faucet you've ever used, but sticky. Men and women use the water closets interchangeably so when waiting outside one marked "Hommes" (Men) it is not at all unusual for a "Femme" (woman) to walk out and go to trying to figure out how to get the water to flow. What does seem universal even in the darkened basement models is some version of the Dyson 10 second hand dryer. Your hands aren't really dry in 10 seconds, but the air and heat stop. Just step back, count to 3 and reinsert your hands for another 10 second burst! It does make loud, screeching reassuring noises, however, and after awhile your hands are dry enough to return to the streets only dripping periodically. Thus endeth the lesson on toilettes. Tomorrow we discuss clothing choices, again!

Being the observant people you are. . .

Being the observant people that you are you will have noticed that the photo on our home page has finally caught up to where we are, Paris. Paula was certain all of you were very confused by our earlier picture taken on some bridge in Switzerland. Now it is fixed. . . Until next week when we leave Paris, then you'll be confused again. It does, however, match with the name, so we might leave it alone.
We met our landlord for lunch today and he took us around some of the hidden haunts in the Marais. That was great fun to have a local guide telling us about the history. No, I'm not going to repeat it for you. That would be boring. If you are so inclined. . . Google "History of The Marais" . . . That will fascinate you to no end. As for Duane. . . He's gonna get some gelato and go home and take a nap. Not at the same time. Have a great Friday!

News Flash!

After several days without any winners in any of our contests :o(     We finally have a winner, but in a new, not defined category. . ."Weirdo of the Day." Lucky for you, Duane broke several laws of physics, one or two traffic laws and all pedestrian laws to get you a picture. And without further comments:

As is usually the case when you're stalking someone, they won't stand still and have no regard for proper lighting. Still, I think you can see the merits of this spectacular contestent. Starting from the ground up he absolutely killed a pair of white leather Keds with matching paint splatters. The suit, a black suit, with tails, was splattered liberally with large blobs of Yellow, Green and white. It was smashing. His hair, cut in the high and tight on the side and  long and floppy on the top style was multi colored with just a hint of turquoise under a bright pink mop on top! It was a look that will put you in the winners seat very time. He seemed to be some sort of celebrity as there were several boys following him around catering to his every need. And I expect his needs were many!

And then there were only 2

Duane is stunned to learn there are only 2 more days of Paris. Where does the time go? If you check FB today there is a picture of Duane and his sibs from about 1957 or so. Where does the time go? 

But Paula and Duane let NO grass grow under their feet. We visit the Rodin Musee and take a walk. Rodin was one of those artists that actually made money while he was alive and moved to this place.

Rodin, of course, is best known for this guy:

Le Pensevr. . . Or as we like to call him. . . . The Thinker. Pensive huh?. . . . 

From the other side he is just as pensive. . . Duane thinks he is worried about the pointy tree behind him. Where do pointed trees come from anyway? There is a huge garden and it is filled with things like this. No, not pointed trees, sculptures.

And just behind this guy is good ole Napoleon's tomb.

But the real hero of the day came out at night. .. . See if you recognize her.

Duane got a little close on this one. . . How about this one?

Whoops! Still too close. . . 

At night this baby really shows her stuff. Every hour, on the hour, they light her up like New Year's Eve for 5 minutes. . . It is stunning! Duane forgets how many light bulbs there are. It must be millions!

Blogspot is acting up!

Duane promises that he posted (Tried to Post) a whole bunch of photos, but Blogspot said, "Error, Error, Error! So we'll try it the old way. . . On the side and see if that works. We spent the day at the Rodin museum and the afternoon lounging about. We were really waiting for the Eiffel Tower to light up as that is when she really shines. With that said look to the right for some photos.

My God! I think we've got it!

Now, just 3 days before we leave Paris, I think we've got it down pat. Sleep late, lounge around, check Facebook, send Duane for pane Chocolat, croissants, and cinnamon rolls (the 3 Cs of good nutrition), make strong Italian coffee, lounge some more, check emails, eat said pastries, drink coffee, shower, shave, shine and lounge around some more, put on socks. Soon it will be noonish and time for Dejeuner as the petit Dejeuner has worn off.  If we get out before 12:00 noon we feel good about ourselves. Some will say 30 days in Paris is too long, some will say it is too short, we think it is exactly right. Learning the art of Slow Travel is something new to Duane and he just might like it. Next week, returning to hotel living and Duane having his own car will tell the tale. Duane thinks he'll probably revert to "Frantic Vacationing" dashing out of bed at 6:30 for petit Dejeuner at 7:15 and on the road by 8:00, if not earlier. There's a lot to see in Provence that Duane hasn't seen before and he's got keys to a snappy new Peugeot. Hang on tight!

Yes!

There is always a debate on whether one has to visit Versailles or not. After our trip to Fontainebleau, Duane says forget Versailles and go here. Yes! To Fontainebleu. Now to be perfectly honest, Versailles, as we've reported elsewhere, is the King of chateaus, but it is SO overcrowded (Just ask Chris Martin) that it is NO FUN! Fontainebleau is almost as good and there is hardly anyone there, as you can see. 

Actually, this is exactly what it looked like when we arrived at 11:00 This morning! Not a soul in sight and as you will see from our interior shots there was no one inside either. Paula had called ahead and said, "We're coming!" But we really didn't expect them to close it down to everyone else. It was nice.

Here you can see a great big long room. . . That's as much detail as Duane can provide. You'll just have to imagine this entire room with carved walnut walls, ivory carvings and gold on everything that wasn't walnut or ivory. It was stunning! And it went on forever. 

Paula nailed some pictures of the King's bed. Duane is seriously wanting one of these. 

And here it is from the other side. Looks just as good from over here. 

There was an enormous amount of proof that, "It is Good to be King!" We could go on and on and will. 

This little blue throne is actually Napoleon's it was quite nice! Old Nappy treated himself well!

This is our one "Church Shot" of the day. . . Trinity chapel. Even with all the wars, debauchery, stag hunting, boar hunting, sword sharpening, eating, drinking and hunting for wives in Austria they had a little time left over for worship. But before it is too late we must go back outside. 

See what happened there. . . . The sun moved! Duane knows the sun doesn't really move, but in this context it makes more sense to say it did. We'll have science lessons later. Duane spotted this tired young lady and just had to show you her shoes! Now remember this is a 3 hour minimum tour on cobble stone walkways, stone stone floors and gravel gravel in the garden. Her feet must be killing her.

Better to dress like this woman below and go with the natural look. Bare feet and all. This girl will feel much better at the end of the day. Duane is full of good advice like this if anyone is looking for some footwear tips. 

Duane offered sunblock, but she said she was covered. Paula asked that we move along. 

Dancing with the Royals

I know you all are still asleep, but in case of the apocalypse I wanted you to know we were dancing with the Royals at Chateau de Fontainebleau. This is our last great Chateau trip of the season as our time in this particular region of France is coming to a close. As is always the case, if you want to know more you have to do your own research.
Duane can always tell when it is time to move on, or think about moving on as Paula starts sending out obscure signals that she is getting bored. Signals like, "I'm bored, can we move on now?" After 45 years, Duane is getting good at picking up on these little hints and we will move on, eventually. But not until we do one more chateau! And tomorrow, of course, there is another museum, (Rodin) followed by one more extravagant meal at a French Restaurant and a walk along the Seine at night and the Eiffel Tower at midnight and a stroll down the Champs-Élysées. . . .
But now, we gotta go catch the train to Avon. It is calling!

Just when you think . . . .

Just when you think you've seen all the impressionist art you can stand, up pops another museum dedicated to none other than the impeccable Claude Monet. With the exception of a half dozen or so painters, Duane thinks most of the impressionist artists were posers. Monet, however, was not! He was, as the saying goes, "The Real Deal!" Today was Musee Marmottan Day. The top two floors were full of all sorts of "Art" most of which Duane and Paula thought was excessive and a little boring. But then they allowed us into the basement where they hide Monet's stuff. WOW! We just wanted to take our shoes off, sip a little absinthe and stay there all day. No matter how much Duane cried and begged they wouldn't let us stay. We have no pictures cuz they don't allow that sort of nonsense in a serious Museum. Just as they were throwing us out we ran into some old friends from our lunch date on Sunday. Paris is a huge place and once you meet someone you expect you'll never, ever see them again. That's not always the case. Bob and his partner Dave are artists from Santa Fe, NM. By accident, We had met them at lunch on Sunday when we were both trying to stay dry. We had an enjoyable conversation, said we'd look up their work in Tubac and said "Au revior." . . . So there we were deep in the basement of the Marmottan and totally enthralled by Monet's spectacular work when Bob walks up and says, "Bonjour." Good to see them again. Funny how that works. We exchanged cards and promised to stay in touch. 

So now, if you wonder who Monet is you'll just have to google him and see his work cuz we have no pictures to share. They'll look crappy on an iPad, but at least you'll get the idea. In person they'll make you cry. . . They are THAT good. 

We then turned our attention to the Fondation Louis Vuitton. This brand new museum is not even open. Yet more crying and wailing and nashing of teeth they still wouldn't let Duane and Paula in. Actually Duane was the only one crying. Still we're not in, but we did snag some pics and you can check it out on that google thingee. 

Oh! I forgot to warn you! This building is designed by none other than Frank Gehry! So there are no corners. There are no recognizable architectural features. There are no straight lines.

Frank, as is usually the case, dreams these designs up while quite buzzed. These are supposed to represent sails, or something like that. Frank's architecture is a lot like a car wreck at Taledega . . . You hate it, but you can't take your eyes off it. It'll keep you up at night trying to decide if you hate it or LOVE it! As is always the case with Frank, this building went way over budget and took over 10 years to get it completed. It will probably then leak. Still, we can't take our eyes off of the building.

Flea Market Day

Seeing that we had some time on our hands we decided it was "Flea Market Day." Now this is no ordinary "Flea Market." This one kinda/sorta goes on forever and it is always open. This isn't just your drunken Uncle Harvey selling his left over, wornout already, unwanted crap. This is some serious crap! We actually were so overwhelmed (If you can imagine that!) that we only got one picture and it is of the "Good Part! The "Regular Parts" have NO Red Carpet!

The best part of this is Paula on the Red Carpet! That and if you look real hard you can see that this single row goes on forever into the future. Duane loves perfect perspective shots! This is, as you probably already imagined, the fancy part. The majority of it (Not this part) was long, winding, scruffy, tiny alleyways with NO  Red Carpet and more stray dogs. Each little space was set up to sell everything from door knobs to antique wall doodads, to chotskys to street signs to old watches to ancient dolls, and toy cars and everything in between? We walked and walked and walked and bought nothing. Not that there wasn't some serious antiquey stuff here, we just couldn't see any of it in our place. Paula's place is more of a Kokopelli place. So we went to lunch after checking out this cool Peugeot.

We have rented Peugeots before and found them to be a dandy automobile, but never one like this. 

This Citroen below is one of Duane's favorite French cars. This little old baby is for rent for flea market tours for those too lazy to walk like Paula did. Here you can see Paula picking out our lunch spot. Italian it is!!!! Napoli pizza as good as you'd get in Naples! 

And a little closer so you can see the wonders of this magical little automobile.

No! The front wheel is not coming off. It was made that way to take corners at great speed! Nifty huh?

What Duane Loves Most!

What Duane loves most is that it is 10:37 AM and he's still in his pajamas! In previous years (Chris Martin can attest to this) Duane would have already been up, fed Chris a croissant and some scrambled eggs and been outta here and on to the second or third "Sight" by this time of day. It was exhausting and painful and tiring, but we saw a lot of stuff that way. We also wore ourselves to a nub! This year, although we're in France, we are working on our Italian approach to life, "I'l dolce far Niente" and loving very minute. Today we may not get out at all. Paula is refusing to put on pants so I guess we're in.

About Last Night

I Last night Duane was just worn out from the Journee de Patrimonee and couldn't write anymore. Plus, it was late. Oddly enough, last night was our first truly French dinner in a restaurant. Vegetable tartine, foie gras, coc-a-vin, Creme brûlée and molten center chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. And now you know why Duane couldn't write. After that he could barely move. Oh, and a bottle of Bordeaux. We walked home through the Place de Vosges and listened to some fabulous street performers.

At this time of night there are few people and one can get some great shots.

And, of course, a close up.

Journee du Patrimone

The Journee du Patrimone is the one day a year when many of the museums and all of the public buildings are open to the public free of charge. Whoopie! Free entree! Duane loves free stuff!

The Picasso Musee, which had been on our bucket list, was open for free today. It had been closed indefinitely for renovation (the French are famous for this - it might take 6 months or 2 years to renovate, they never know).  Here, however, is where it gets hilarious! It was open, but there was nothing in it. Just clean, white, freshly dry-walled and painted bare walls. These French are such Tricksters! We laughed and laughed and laughed. There was a total of one Picasso!

We laughed some more and headed out to the Hotel de Ville . . . . Not a Hotel at all, but basically the City Hall. Home of the mayor of the city and the city council and all the administrative offices, etc. One would think this might be so boring you'd want to stick an ice pick in your temple, but then you don't understand the French. This is the fanciest building we have seen to date, outside of Versailles herself!

I know! This is the entrance hall to the City Hall. Just like yours at home, right? These people know how to put up a fancy, schmancy building! Nothing is too good for the mayor of Paris! 

And they're just getting started. . . This goes on for room after room after room!

One of the side rooms leading into the main hall. 

And this is just one of dozens of light fixtures to keep the mayor's work well lit. 

And this little piece of work over the fire place . . . It went on and on like this. But you must see the outside too. It takes up an entire city block and then some. 

As you can see. It was a bit overcast, but still a wonderful day. 

And then just to keep you all on balance (It is the Sabbath Day after all) we visited a cathedral. 

This one had "Great Stained Glass" or as we've come to call it, "GREAT GLASS."

I hope this shows up well on your giant computer screens at home! It is quite spectacular!

But after all this splendor we had to tone it down a bit. We visited a house. Not just any house, mind you! Victor Hugo's house! As you know, Victor is the writer of such Classics as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and of course everyone's favorite, "Les Miserables." It was so ordinary we didn't take any pictures, but it was a nice way to come down after the Hotel DeVille.