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Our current location is the small village of Paraza, on the banks of the Canal du Midi that connects the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans across the south of France. Much of this area was once part of Spain and contains walled cities and castles that were strongholds during the 11th & 12 centuries during the Crusades and the conflicts between the locals, the Pope and king of France.  As in other parts of the region, the vegetation is surprisingly tropical and colorful, especially for November!

Our exploration of the area has taken us to two remarkable medieval cities, Minerve and Carcassonne.  Both have been well-restored and are remarkable building feats when you consider both their location and the time in which they were constructed.  Minerve is carved out of a canyon that can be reached on foot and the leads to a cave through which the river runs in the Spring.

There are no cars (and, on the day we visited, very few people, either). But we’re told that, in warmer weather, the town is teeming with both locals and tourists who come to walk the ramparts, explore the cave, and enjoy the loveliness of the village.

Carcassonne is more well-known, and larger, than Minerve.  Since we are here in the off-season, we haven’t had to wade through the hordes of tourists who visit here in warmer months.  As we walked the ramparts and rooftops, we understood why there were so few of us there.  The wind is so strong that it blew our hats off onto a nearby rooftop! (And, over Rick’s protests, I climbed over a railing onto the roof and retrieved them…)

The WIND has a name. It is called la tramontane, (the Languedoc equivalent of the Mistral in Provence) and it comes from the Atlantic to the Med through this valley between two mountain ranges, the Pyrenees and the Montagne Noire. It has been quite strong for several days (some gusts are enough to make you hold tight as you climb the stairs or walk up the street).  We are breaking out our layers as we try to figure out what will keep us warm enough to keep on exploring.  One thing we did not bring, and don’t need here, is an umbrella!!

But, when we come back at the end of a day, we are happy to return to our lovely dwelling at the Domaine Mediterranée, where our hosts, Marie-José and Harry welcome us and prepare fabulous dinners, with well chosen local wines, of course. In addition to being good cooks, they are excellent tour guides – providing us with maps, directions and advice for touring around the area and, sometimes, even going with us! (That’s Harry in the long coat in the pictures from Minerve…)

When we visited our friends, Tori & Ray, in Chicago last July, they put us in touch with a friend of theirs, Joanne Hurley, who now lives in Durban-des-Corbiers, in the heart of the Languedoc region of France.  We have been amazed by her generosity in offering, not only to share advice about exploring the region, but to host us in her home for a week!  Joanne and Apolo live in an old stone home in this small village.

We arrived here on Halloween and even had some trick-or-treaters come to the door. The house is cozy and warm and a lovely place to take things a little easier after our week on the road.

Apolo is a talented painter, who works all day long in the cave/studio below their home. We were able to see a few of his paintings on display at a local restaurant where we had Sunday lunch. These are two of our favorites.

We explored the village, the oldest part of which is built into the hillside leading up to the ruins of an old castle and a church. We visited the local market that, while smaller than the urban markets we’ve seen, had wonderful produce, a poissoniere, a fromager, and a purveyor of local honeys and essential oils.

We spent half a day in Perpignan, which we reached over a VERY narrow and winding road. I was glad that Rick was driving (!), but sometimes wished that his inner race car driver would slow down just a little bit… Perpignan is an interesting city rather near the Spanish border where the Caltalan influence is evident. The trees lining the streets include date palms and orange trees along with the chestnuts and other deciduous trees we expect to see. The canal that runs through the city is very picturesque as are the buildings dating back to the 13th century. We plan to return there in a few weeks when we’ll be staying in Narbonne, which is closer and eliminates the need to drive over the mountains.

We’re enjoying the wines of the Corbiéres region. Most reds are a blend (in varying proportions) of Syrah, Grenache and Cinsault. Heartier and more robust than the Cab Francs of Chinon, enjoyable and inexpensive. The whites are primarily Vermintino, Grenache, Marsanne & Roussane. As we drive through the countryside, the fall colors become evident, especially in the vines, in contrast with the evergreen hillsides.

Next we’ll head about an hour north to Paraza in the Minervois region of Languedoc.  More wines to try, more places to explore…

 

Our time in Paris is over and we’ve headed out to see more of the country.

We picked up our leased car and drove out of Paris on Monday.  I think I talked about the arrangements we’d made for the car in an earlier post, but it’s worth repeating.  Three French car companies – Peugeot, Renault & Citroën – have similar lease/buy-back programs designed for foreign travelers.  You can choose the model that works best for you and get a brand new car (our Peugeot 308 Diesel- standard transmission with cruise control and GPS – had 1.1km on it when we picked it up!).  You can lease for between 21 and 170 days; the first 21 days cost us $65/day and every day thereafter is $15/day.  Our 4 month rental (Oct 24-Feb 20) averages out at about $25/day. At the end, you just return the car and there is no obligation to buy.  All 4 of our small suitcases fit into the trunk and we’re motoring on…

Our first stop was Chinon, a medieval town in the Loire Vally.  We love the cabernet franc wines produced here and are having fun drinking the local product and exploring the nearby chateaux. We began at La Cave Voltaire (13 rue Voltaire), where Patrice, the proprietor and sommelier, shared five of his favorite Chinons.  He knows all the winemakers and talks proudly about the wines of the region. This is a place where all the locals seem to congregate in the evening. From what we could tell on the two nights we stopped there for wine & cheese before dinner, rue Voltaire is the busiest (walking) street in sleepy Chinon, at least this time of year.

We continued down the street for dinner to a quirky place called Restaurant-Musée Animé du Vin et de la Tonnellerie (12 rue Voltaire), run by an equally quirky fellow named Dédé.  There is no menu here.  He pours you wine, all you can drink – two glasses at a time from his specially designed pitcher, and serves you food – rillettes, and delicious bread called fouée that comes from his wood-fired oven along with white beans, salad and dessert, all for 19 euros!

The Loire Valley is well-know for its beautiful chateaux.  We had time to visit two – Villandry and Azay-le-Rideau. The latter was undergoing a major renovation so we were somewhat limited in what we could see, but Villandry was spectacular!! The gardens are amazing, arguably the best in France, but the inside of the chateau is worth a visit, also. It is still privately owned and they maintain it beautifully.

We followed with lunch, accompanied by a local sparkling rosé, at l’Etape Gourmande, a lovely stone farmhouse about 1km out of the town of Villandry.

Venturing south from Chinon, we stopped at Oradour-sur-Glane, a town that was obliterated by the Nazis with all 642 people killed on June 10, 1944, just four days after the Normandy invasion by the Allies and two months before the liberation of Paris. The French government has preserved the ruins as they found them as a memorial to the martyrs.   It is very moving to walk through and learn the story of what happened here.  The buildings are marked to indicate what they were before the destruction (like the ‘Sabotier’…the shoe maker’s shop).

We drove another hour or so through beautiful countryside – rolling hills and ancient towns, one more charming than the next. Our destination was Moulin du Roc, a lovely hotel in the peaceful village of Champagnac-de-Belair. Rick quotes our friend Robert Parker saying that this is “the most romantic place he has stayed in France.”  We agree!

We then ventured out through the Dordogne, home of foie gras!  We hope to spend some concentrated time here next year but, for now, it was a pass-through.  We stopped for lunch in Sarlat-la-Canáde, a really charming old town where there are foie gras shops on every corner. and we drove through Les Ezyies-de-Tayac, a narrow, but beautiful town that seemed to be carved out of the stone faces of the surrounding mountains. The afternoon’s drive was just beautiful…rolling farmland interrupted by ancient villages nestled into the hillsides and small towns with impossibly narrow streets. It was a beautifully clear sunny day for appreciating the countryside.

Our next four nights were spent in the Bordeaux area, two in Saint-Emilion and two in Paullliac. Rick has fond memories of a trip that he made here in 1990 with a group organized by Bob Schindler of Pinehurst Liquors including friends from the Baltimore Wine & Food Society.  Thirty-five chateaux in eight days…yes, really(!).  In all my travels, I’ve never been to Bordeaux, so I was looking forward to reliving those heady days of 1990.  Well…it was not to be.  I’m convinced that the best (and maybe the only) way to experience this region is the way those guys did it back in the day – with all the chateau visits pre-arranged and a driver to get you home at the end of the day.  We find that we are here on a weekend with a bank holiday on Monday, and most of the chateaux are closed! But we took pictures from the outside…Beychevelle, Lafite, and Latour…plus the lovely wild flowers that appear randomly as you drive through endless miles of vines.

Our only full day in Saint Emilion was foggy until 3pm, so even the ‘route panonramique’ was a disappointment.  But, our little hotel is well located in the middle of the town and we did have a wonderful dinner at Logis de la Cadène, so it wasn’t a total loss. The town itself is charming with VERY narrow streets and a wine merchant on every corner!

On to Pauillac…although, in hindsight, it might have been better to book a hotel in Bordeaux and venture out to Pauillac.  Again, we faced the weekend closure of most of the chateaux. Pauillac itself is a kind of seedy town…not much to recommend it except the location.  We spend more time in the city of Bordeaux…at the Sunday Market on the Quai des Chartrons (great produce, meats and prepared foods, including oysters on the half shell), the Miroir d’Eau (a shallow pool of water that reflects the Place de la Bourse), and La Cité du Vin, a new museum devoted to the culture of wine that is striking in its architecture and in the breadth of interactive displays inside. The bar on the top floor, where everyone is served a glass of wine at the end of the visit, has a ceiling chandelier made of wine bottles!  We later learned, on a visit to Cordeillan-Bages, that Silvie, sister of Jean-Michel Cazes was instrumental in the planning of the museum.

We’ll soon arrive in the Languedoc where we expect the pace to be slower. More from there…

 

An advantage of staying in one place for a while is that we can encourage friends and family to join us.  While we are unlikely to have a bed to offer, we can help you find a place and then share time in the locale where our paths cross.

Ginny and Beverly, Rick’s daughters, were the first to take us up on this idea.  They arrived on October 13 and stayed for 4 (very packed!) days.  They found an Airbnb around the corner from our apartment and, even though their place had some issues, it was great to have them so close by. They did some touring on their own (Tour Eiffel, and rue du Commerce for shopping!!), and met up with a friend who works in Paris.

We also toured together – Marché aux Puces, l’Arc de Triomphe and the Champs-Elysées, Carrousel du Louvre, l’Orangerie, and a boat ride on the Seine – and shared meals, both in our apartment and at local cafés.  It was a whirlwind for them, but we all enjoyed being together in this wonderful city.

Our old friends, Lew & Pat Mastrobuono, arrived the day the Bev & Ginny left.

They’d been on a guided tour, but planned to spend a few extra days in Paris and overlap with us!  We’ve had lots of fun exploring the city with them and eating (!) together.  Their first night we met at Restaurant AG Saint Germain (2, rue Clément in the 6th arr), for a wonderful, and beautiful, meal. (I don’t usually post picture of ‘food porn’ but I can’t resist!)

They, too, toured on their own and with us.  Together, we visited the Musée Rodin (one tip for here is to get the audio guide!)and the Musée d’Orsay (the best collection of Impressionist and Pos-Impressionist paintings), with a brief stop at Napoleon’s tomb in the Invalides.

Last night, we ended up in our neighborhood, Le Marias, where we shopped in our local markets and had a ‘picnic’ around our dining room table.  Of course, we bought too much food so tonight we are eating leftovers while Lew & Pat are exploring Montmartre and the Trocadero. But what great leftovers they are!!
We had one final dinner together at Les Philosophes (28, rue Vieille du Temple in the 4th arr.) with the Mastrobuonos to celebrate Rick’s birthday. Lew finally found the great French onion soup that he’d been seeking for days… After we saw them off to the Metro, Rick & I stopped in at La Cave Jazz Club that we’ve been walking past for a month but never got to until tonight.  A late night, but worth it!

We all took a Paris Walks walking tour called “Taste of Paris” this morning on one of Paris’ best food streets, rue Montorgueil. We tasted grapes, melon, breads (both baguette and la casse noix), so many cheeses(!), eclairs, chocolates, macarons, olives, saucisson, foie gras, rillettes…all by 1pm!!  No lunch needed today!

We have also had the pleasure of meeting up with friends of friends, who have been most gracious and hospitable.  Jane Coblence, a colleague of our friend Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, treated us to lunch at her golf club in Saint Germaine-en-Laye and give us a wonderful walking tour of this historic and lovely town outside Paris.

And we also met up with Julie Tave, a friend of Margot & Cleaveland Miller, when she and her husband Alain were in Paris for a meeting.  We shared a table at a cafe near the Musée Pompidou and learned much about the Dordogne, which we hope to visit before too long.

And, of course, Anne & Jeff Vitek-Doniger, who have been an anchor for us in Paris.  They moved here five years ago and have provided us with invaluable help as we learn to navigate ‘their’ city.Who knew 50 years ago, when Anne & I graduated from high school that we’d reunite in a city so far from West Palm Beach!

Our next planned meet-up is in Barcelona in February with Alicia Banks and Jim Butler, another of my high-school classmates and her husband.  But there’s lots of time between now than then.  SOOOO…if any of you readers have an urge to come to the continent, let us know and we’d love to get together.  We mean it!!

Before we left the US, we received an email from Airbnb inviting us to participate in a ‘beta’ of something new that they were trying called City Hosts.  We chose two of the experiences in their ‘immersive’ category and intentionally scheduled them for the first two weekends of our time in Paris, reasoning that it would be a great way to meet locals and fellow travelers who could share ideas that we could act on during our stay.  This turned out to be a great way to start out.

The Parisian Locavore with Marc began with lunch at a tiny local restaurant, Bloom, where the menu was small, but everything was local and fresh.  We learned a new term, ‘flexitarian,’ which either means “one who eats primarily vegetables, but occasionally eats meat or fish,” OR “a silly word to categorize people whose eating habits don’t already fit into a category but who desperately want to belong to a label.”  An enjoyable start with 5 other travelers and Marc, our host.
The following day we all went with Marc to the markets in his neighborhood, where we chose ingredients that we would use to cook our meal on Sunday. We visited the Boucherie (butcher), Boulangerie (baker), Poissonerie (fish monger), Fromagerie (cheese shop), and Verger (produce market) and came away with a pintade (guinea fowl), 2 dorades (fish), fennel, carrots, figs, potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes, melons and basil. And wine, of course…

On Sunday, we all showed up at Marc’s home, where we prepared a sumptuous meal using all the ingredients we’d bought the day before.  Somehow, we all squeezed into a table set up in Marc and Caroline’s tiny kitchen where we enjoyed quite a lunch. (No dinner was necessary that night!)

The Chanson Singer with Sylvain began with cocktails at Hotel du Nord, a legendary Paris establishment that was the location of  an eponymous  French movie. There we met Sylvaine and the other two guests on our tour.

We then proceeded to Sylvaine’s home, where we enjoyed a great spread of cheeses, saucissons, bread and lots of Champagne.  He performed a set of French songs for us accompanied by a talented young man who played the piano and the accordion.

 

The following evening, we all met at Madame Arthur’s, a cabaret in Pigale. Sylvain, our host, made sure to get us there early so that we had one of the few tables.  He also supplied us with Champagne and some nibbles while we waited for the show to begin.  What a show! The performers were all men in drag, and many of them made pretty attractive women!  And our host was one of the performers. Not something we would have found on our own, but we’re so glad we were there!

We would highly recommend that you check out these City Host experiences when you travel.  It looks like Airbnb has expanded the program to include many locales, even some cities in the US.

 

We are beginning our final week in Paris (for now…) and, although I’m looking forward to the adventures to come, I’ll be sad to leave the City of Light.  There is just so much here that there is always something new around the next corner.  I wanted to share some of these delights…

On the recommendation of someone we met, we took a guided tour of the Palais Garnier, an opulent building that is the home of the Paris Opera.  Finished in 1875, and recently restored, it is well worth visiting. We decided after the guided tour (15 euros), however, that we’d probably been just as happy renting the audio guide (5 euros) and this doesn’t require a reservation.

Everyone takes boat cruises down the Seine (and we will, too), but few know about traversing the Canal St Martin through Paris.  This cruise begins at the Port d’Arsenal (near the Bastille Metro) to the Bassin de la Villettes. In 2.5 hours, you travel through a 2km underground tunnel(!), 4 double locks and 2 swinging bridges right in the middle of the neighborhoods of Paris. It’s a lovely way to pass an afternoon.

Last week, I took a cooking class at La Cuisine Paris and learned how to make macarons. These little cookies are everywhere in Paris, and they’re not cheap! Now I know why they’re so expensive.  There were 8 people in my class, all English speakers. We didn’t just watch the master; we got our hands sticky and had fun making our own creations (chocolate praline and salted caramel fillings…yum…). We ate a few during the class, but each person also went away with a box of macarons, too.

Paris is full of museums. Our favorites are the smaller ones that don’t overwhelm,  like the Orangerie and Musée Marmottan, both of which feature Monet’s paintings. We visited the Marmottan with our friends Anne & Jeff last week and enjoyed the special exhibition that put paintings by Monet, Hodler and Munch side by side.  The museum also houses the largest existing collection of Monet’s work.

 

We then returned to Anne & Jeff’s neighborhood markets and put together a spectacular ‘picnic,’ which we enjoyed in their lovely dining room.

I’ve been reading about the covered passages in Paris and, yesterday, we set out to discover a few of them.  These were the early version of the shopping arcade and in the 1850s there were as many as 150 in the city.  Today only about 20 exist, all on the Right Bank.  Each has it’s own unique character; some are a bit run-down, but some, like the Passage du Grand Cerf (rue St. Denis, 2nd arr), are beautiful, and filled with little shops that just sparkle!

Another type of shopping altogether is the Paris flea market.  Here you can find everything from knock-off watches and leather jackets to antique furniture and paintings next to random drawer pulls and buttons in bins and guys hawking hot iPhones!  Marché aux Puces (Metro #4 to Pte de Clingancourt) is the biggest and most famous of these.  It is a maze of alleyways filled with stalls.  It’s easy to get lost browsing the eclectic offerings.

Department stores are not usually worth noting, but the Galeries Lafayette  on the Boulevard Haussman is an exception.  The views of central Paris from its rooftop terrace are great, but the real lure is the atrium inside. This store rivals any building we’ve seen in its grandeur!

Speaking of views, though, a trip up to the top of the Tour Montparnasse provided a pretty spectacular 360° look at Paris and its surrounds.  We began on the 56th floor where you view from inside, but walking the 3 flights to 59 provides an outdoor view that is even better. We think this view is better than that from the top of the Eiffel Tower, and it’s a lot easier to get a ticket! It is in the 15th arr and there is a Metro stop close by, but we got there on the #96 bus straight from rue du Rivoli.

On Beverly & Ginny’s last night here (more about their visit in a later post), we took a short (1 hour) cruise on the Seine.  It was a lovely way to see the city by night without committing to a dinner on board – there are way better places to eat in Paris. There are lots of boat companies, but we chose Vendettes du Pont Neuf because they had many excursion times and they picked up from a convenient spot on the Ile de la Cité under the Pont Neuf.

We’re packing in a lot as our time here winds down.  And there’s still more to come…

One of the joys of having an apartment rather than a hotel room in Paris is that we have a kitchen! And we are making good use of the resources in our neighborhood and cooking and eating at home often.

Our typical day starts around 9 unless we have reason to wake earlier. Breakfast always includes a croissant (that one of us walks to the corner and buys fresh) or several slices of fresh baguette with the best butter we’ve ever tasted (raw milk butter with actual crystals of salt in it!). Rick still insists on having his eggs and orange juice in addition, but even these are special – farm fresh eggs and freshly squeezed OJ.

We typically spend the middle of the day exploring by Metro and on foot and, by about 3 we’re ready for something to eat. There is no lack of bistros and sidewalk cafes no matter where we are, so it’s easy to stop for something small and a half carafe of wine.

On a day such as this, we really don’t want a big dinner and we’re just as happy to eat in. So our choices are cooking or heading up to the boucherie for something we can eat at home.
I found a small bag of Carnaroli rice (reputedly better than Arborio) and, with it, I made a wonderful risotto, with crevettes from the local fish market and parmasean from the neighborhood fromagerie. Another evening the risotto had local mushrooms in it.  Hard to say which was better… We have enough rice to do this for several more meals.
Several times we’ve picked up rotisserie chicken parts that are soooo much better than the stuff you get at the Safeway! And the other night, our dinner consisted of escargots (sold by the dozen already stuffed with garlic parsley butter, and ready in 15 minutes in the oven) and beef carpaccio (prepared by the boucherie…all we had to do was add the shaved Parmesan and olive oil!)

Last Saturday, we tackled the most ambitions cooking project yet, foie gras. Rick found a whole foie gras on sale (!) at an upscale frozen foods store, Picard. For those of you who know Rick, you’ll appreciate that this pushes two of his pleasure buttons – foie gras AND a bargain! We opted not to follow the directions on the box (they were in French, and even the translation seemed overly complicated) but went with a recipe I found on line. Thank goodness for the Internet!!

It turned out well and was delicious, if a bit rich for our American stomachs!

We spent Thursday in Giverny, in Monet’s beautiful garden.  We took the train from Paris (SNCF from Gare Saint Lazare to Vernon), where we rented bikes at a café across the street from the station (l’Arrivée) and rode the 5km (about 3 miles) to our destination. It was a very scenic but very cold ride. The morning temp today was just about 50F! The return trip was in the sun and was much more pleasant!

My last visit to Giverny was with Julie when she was 9. We brought along a book that we’d read about a little girl who visited Monet’s garden and we sat on the edge of the stream with our toes in the water and re-read the book.  It doesn’t look much different now…maybe a bit more wild, but the flowers are lovely and the water lilies that poked their heads out were just as beautiful.

The gardens are always blooming…different flowers at different times of the year. It’s not hard to see why Monet loved this place and was inspired by it.

We tried to take a ‘selfie’ but couldn’t figure out how to do it AND get some of the garden in the picture, too.  So, a sympathetic passer-by offered to take our picture with my phone…much better…

Hello virtual travelers!!  I promised to share some of the things we’ve worked out to make this adventure possible.  I’ve tried to group these into sections so you can skip those that don’t interest you.  Here we go…

PACKING (and laundry)– The important lesson here is to pack light!  We limited ourselves to two carry-on size suitcases each. They do have wheels, but we need to be able to carry them onto trains and up stairs when necessary.

You will get bored with your clothes, but few people you encounter will know that you’ve worn that same outfit 25 times! Choose items that wash and wear and stick to basic colors (black works really well in Paris and doesn’t show the dirt). I brought 3 pr of pants (2 black and jeans), 1 pr black shorts, 8 shirts (various sleeve lengths), 2 short skirts, a black cardigan, a gray sweatshirt, 2 dresses, and one silk vest (to wear over black to get dressed up), 5 pr of shoes (sandals, 3 pr flats & gym shoes), 2 pajamas.

Since we’re packing for multiple climates, we focused on layers and items that serve more than one purpose. For example, my exercise pants can be an extra layer under jeans in cold weather.  My heavy jacket is a Patagonia that packs into a sack that is smaller than a medium-sized pocketbook. Haven’t had to use it yet, but it’s not taking up much room. My light jacket is a biking jacket that stuffs into its own pocket. I’ve carried it with me in my daypack in Paris…it weighs about 6 oz.

Pack about a week’s worth of underwear and plan to do laundry.  We’ve tried to choose apartments that have at least a washing machine, and we wash about every 5-6 days.  In Paris, we don’t have a dryer, but this rack works quietly nicely…

A few other essentials that we made room for include a good (2-stage) corkscrew, a compact knife sharpener we bought in Japan (don’t you hate it when the apartment you’ve rented has dull knives?), our iPads and laptops, a tiny speaker for the iPod, and our AeroPress coffee maker. In addition we have what we call our ‘everything bag’ that we often carry on international trips.  It includes a few batteries, cold tablets, a few rubber bands, scotch tape, bandaids, ziplock bags, flashlight, magnifying glass, matches, sticky notes and a door stopper…all the smallest possible size and all useful at some point.

BANKING (mail, paying bills, and internet security) – For months before we left, I diligently contacted every sender of junk mail and catalogues and asked to be removed from their mailing list. Most were nice about it and we saw a dramatic decrease in our junk mail.  We requested e-bills, or at least electronic notices from the bank and all of our credit cards. Most want you to have a physical address in the US, so we are using Andy’s home in Bend, OR, where we also opened a P O Box that he will monitor periodically. We’ve maintained our bank in the US and have our pensions, etc. coming in as e-transfers to the bank.  We pay bills through the bank as we did at home and, when we need cash, we go to an ATM and get euros.
We were concerned about internet security since our wireless access will be provided by our various hosts or through the Skyroam Hotspot that we carry with us. Our financial advisor suggested that we install Hotspot Shield, a VPN that will encrypt our communication and prevent anyone from stealing our IDs and passwords. The free version does not work outside the US, but the pay version is easy to install and you can pay once and use on up to 5 devices. It works in the background and I’m trusting that it will work as advertised.

PHONE CALLS (and keeping in touch) – Before leaving, I bought an iPhone  (Rick is still a diehard Android user). AT&T allowed us to change our plan to a ‘hold status’ so we could keep our numbers but pay only $10/line/month.  Then we added a basic international plan that provides minimal access to data and reduced charges for calls.  But the big revelation is FaceTime audio!! If you call iPhone to iPhone, using this app over wireless, it’s FREE!! And the audio is better than any cell call I’ve ever had!  The main challenge is coordinating time zones, but my children and I have figured out telephone appointments…I talked to Julie for an hour (!) the other day and, on my birthday, she and Owen called on a FaceTime video so I could watch him learning to crawl.

HEALTH (and insurance) – As I said in a previous post, we obtained the bare minimum health insurance required for our visa, but made sure that it covered evacuation in case of emergency. We’re both healthier than we have a right to be at our ages, so we feel confident that we won’t need to access much health care over here.  We’ve maintained our Medicare and Medigap policies in the US, and will schedule appointments for physicals, etc. during our return trips.

GETTING AROUND (trains, planes and automobiles) – While we are in Paris, we are walking and taking the Metro…plenty of exercise and use of our Navigo passes.  We’ve used local trains to venture out to St.-Germaine-en-Laye and Giverny. When we leave Paris, we have reserved a Peugeot 308 through a lease/buy back program.  We’ll drive this as we move south to explore the Languedoc and then go northeast to Colmar.  It is a very economical and flexible way to travel outside the city. And when we’re ready to return to the states, we’ll just turn the car back in.  They will only allow someone to do this for 6 months out of a year but, if we have a different primary driver when we return, we can pick up another similar car!

 

We’ve been here a bit more than a week now and there is so much to report!  Hope I don’t bore you.  I’ll try to be complete but succinct.

We’ve done an amazing amount of walking, seeing museums and lovely sights.  Favorites include Museé de l’Orangerie, a museum of a pleasing scale that houses enormous Monet Water Lilies paintings in two oval rooms (this could not be captured in a photograph!) and Sainte-Chapelle, a smaller church near Notre Dame that made almost entirely of stained glass(!). We also attended a concert by a string quintet of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in this chapel one evening (Awesome acoustics and great music even though the stained glass was dark at night…)

 

We joined the American Library in Paris (great place to borrow books, attend lectures, and access their catalogue of e-books), and attended their grand reopening on Sunday. We reconnected with Anne & Jeff Vitek-Doniger at the Library opening and shared a meal with them on Tuesday.  Anne & Kathy went to high school together and Anne & Jeff now live in Paris.

Yesterday, we walked through the Tuileries Garden.  This seems to be a popular place for locals and tourist alike. How wonderful to have a large beautiful garden in the middle of this bustling city!

Then we found an English language bookstore, “Shakespeare & Company,” where many famous authors (Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, James Joyce) gathered and where, even today, aspiring writers are allowed to sleep in the stacks in exchange for helping out in the store!

We are really getting to know the Metro and have wandered through our own and many other neighborhoods (sometimes unintentionally!) as we explore this great city. Last night we tried a bus to get to the Champs de Mars and found this to be less satisfying…buses, unlike the Metro, have to deal with traffic!  But we did get to picnic at the foot of the Tour Eiffel…a beautiful sight day or night!

We’ve been eating well but are trying to stay even with exercise.  Rick has found a few nice places to run. And, after numerous visits to places suggested by Google (one was out of business, two were only class sites, and one was a corporate office of a fitness company), I finally found a gym within a 15-minute walk that would allow me to join for a month.

Today marks the beginning of Fashion Week in Paris. I may try to score a ticket and check it out.  I’ll let you know…