Blue Sky

Blue skies outside today, so I'm going out to play. I did want to check in though and let you know that I had a fun visit with Clare. I snuck a pic of her at Pere Lachais Cemetery:

We started our visit there with a blue sky, but it got really gray and eventually we were thrown out of the cemetery because the winds were too high. I suspect they were worried about tourists getting hit by falling masonry.

Clare just sent me the link for this man, André Gill, a french characturist from the 1800's so I'm including his photo in this post too. Well, not a photo of him, but of his jaunty memorial. Doesn't he look great?

I spent Thursday afternoon and all day yesterday laying about in the recliner with Lily and Pokey since they were needy (okay, so was I) and it was horrible outside.

It probably didn't help my mood that I was watching The Wire Season 4. I love the show, it's so stunningly acted and written with the most complex characters and story arcs. But boy, it really is a hard subject, the life of drug dealers and cops on Baltimore streets. If it were a movie I'd avoid going. But it really is worth it. Definitely a show that you have to start watching from the very beginning or it will make no sense. I highly recommend it, 5 out of 5.

Another Visit to Pere Lachaise Cemetery

My husband and I visited Pere Lachaise Cemetery yesterday with sunshine and beautiful blue skies. It was marvelous. It looks very different at this time of year with the barren trees than it did when I went last August (posted here and here).

The next three photos are details from the tomb of Etienne-Gaspard Roberts. My new camera with the 10x zoom lens is a blast to use.

These stones are piled at the base of the angel. Parts of her wings?

And now for something completely different:

More blue skies for today. I'm not sure I'm going to get any chores or sewing done. I need to go on another photo safari. Where to visit?

Oh, yesterday I did do a summary over on the Lazy Gal Winter Class, so you might want to check that out, especially if you signed up for the class and haven't finished your project yet. I'd love to know how you're doing.

French Sphinx Tomb

More pictures from my visit to Montmartre Cemetery on Halloween. I love looking for the egyptian influences on french design. This is the Laver-Frantz tomb. I don't know when it was actually constructed, but the earliest death date is 1839.
An owl. Okay, that bit isn't Egyptian.

But the sphinx definitely are, even if they are far more french than egyptian.
These are the longest legged sphinxes I've ever seen.
They have wings - a very unusual feature.
Each sphinx has two snakes wound around her head and draped down to her neck. I love the scarab necklace.
Another angle to see the snakes. What an amazing amount of detail.

I ended up skipping the walk yesterday so that I could spend more time with my sweetie. Retrospectively - what a mistake. Yesterday was glorious and today the forecast is 100% chance of rain. At least I made Chili with Beer yesterday, so that will help us warm up.

Montmartre Cemetery Dogs and More

This is one of the most impressive monuments at the Montmartre Cemetery. It belongs to the Laurecisque family.

The woman is Francoise, who died at the Palace of the French Embassy in Constantinople in the year 1847 at the age of 24. That's my interpretation anyway.

I love that the feet are represented as well as the heads. I'm really surprised at the presence of a bat. This entry in Wikipedia says bats are a symbol of death because they are nocturnal. Boring answer.

I've also seen a few owls on the monuments. A paraphrase from Wikipedia to the rescue: The Romans, in addition to borrowing the Greek association of the owl with wisdom, considered owls to be funerary birds due to their nocturnal activity and nesting in inaccessible places.

Pierre was just 7 years old. That's a Book of Hours on his chest.

In my last post I featured cats, so this time here are the dogs of the Montmartre Cemetery:

Okay, don't get mad, but I'm including this woman under the category of "dog". Look at that slavish devotion - makes me a bit ill.

I am bumming at the moment. The water was scheduled to be off yesterday, so I forewent a shower. No big deal. For some reason we don't have water again today -aaaghh. My hair is a fright. Maybe this is the push I needed to go get my hair cut.

I finished watching Veronica Mars Season 3 last night. The show has been cancelled - another reason for my bummed out mood. I LOVE that show, I am so ridiculously attached to the characters. Veronica and her dad had the most believable father/daughter relationship on tv. I loved their interplay. Okay, sure I'm glad Kristin Bell is now on Heroes, but she won't get nearly the role she had before.

All the fans get out there and buy the DVDs, and if you haven't tried the show, do so. Do you like mystery stories? Smart women with snappy pop cultural references (I'm looking at you Buffy and Gilmore Girl fans)? Then try it. Please.

What else besides my sliminess and Mars-lessness? Yesterday I took a big long walk, hoping to get some Christmas presents in the Marais. Of course the store was closed. May just head back there today.

Ya'all were asking about arrondisements. Paris is divided into 20 sections, called arrondisments. They spiral out from the center of the city. I live in the 8th, which is very "bourgoise," and contains the Champs d'Elysees and lots of really expensive stores. Not right where I live mind you. I think I walked through something like four arrondisments yesterday - no wonder I was so tired.

Speaking of expensive, I can't believe the prices on the craft items here. Yes, I knew fabric was outrageous at 18 euros a meter (something like $25 dollars for a bit more than a yard) but DMC embroidery floss, which is manufactured here in France, is priced up to 1.6 euros a skein. That's A SKEIN. For regular embroidery floss, not the neon or the rayon floss. Over $2.20 for a skein? That's not just the lousy exchange rate. Skeins are routinely less than 30 cents in the States and if you find a sale it can be 20 cents. Ouch.

I know that's not completely fair. I'd then have to pay tax (or shipping charges) on the skeins - something up to 8% - I don't know of a state where it's higher than that. And the french price already includes the tax - what is it, 17%? I'm no mathemetician, but that still doesn't add up.

I assume it's expensive for the Europeans as well. If so, I'm amazed there are any fiber artists and crafters at all in Europe. What's the average salary in Paris, anyone know?

Cemetery Cats

I am such a goober, didn't even realize while I was writing my last post that it was Halloween. D'oh! I had a great time with my friend. We went to Laduree twice - once in the morning for incredibly tasty pastries and in the afternoon for coffee floats (cold espresso with a scoop of coffee ice cream - it was way too strong for me). In between we spent time in Montmartre.

The cemetery there was lovely. Definitely looks like fall, doesn't it?

There were more cats at the cemetery than I have seen in Paris. They didn't look mangy or scrawny, so I don't know if this is a cat sanctuary or someone local has a lot of pets.

Same cat, different angle:

Same cat:

Part of the cemetery is underneath the roadway. Feels a bit claustrophobic - I wouldn't want to be spending eternity right here. There is a cat in this picture, there by the car tire.

I have loads more photos but I haven't sorted through them yet.

I have been busy working on Christmas presents, cutting up fabric and playing with batting - my allergies aren't happy. I can't complain too much - my allergies are always worst in the fall and they have been better in Paris than anywhere I have lived in years and years. Woohoo for that.

My sweetie and I finished watching The Sopranos Season Six, Part Two. Definitely enjoyed it, though the season suffered for being split in two (better than not having the episodes at all). I'd give it 4 out of 5. Or maybe 4.5. I'm glad that it revisited some of the themes from earlier seasons, but why oh why did we never get more of the Russians? That bit in the Pine Barrens with the "interior decorator'? Fantastic. Always seemed like there should have beeen more repercussions from that.

Today was a beautiful sunny day. If only the rest of autumn could be this lovely.

We're Tourists

Here's a quick tour of Paris with Tonya, Morey and Janet. I'll have more photos later, but these are the ones for our families. And yes, my camera shy husband was with us on these tours.

On Thursday the 18th French transportation workers were on strike, so we walked all the way up to the Sacre Couer Basilica in Montmartre. We had lovely sun and not many fellow visitors.

The traffic was really light on the streets. I think everyone decided it was a holiday from work and stayed at home. Good thing we didn't try to go to museums - we heard afterwards that the Orsay was closed and so was most of the Louvre.

We'd heard riding the metro hadn't been so bad, so decided to chance it on Friday. Hmm. Got the first train okay, but the line we intended to transfer to was "perturbed" and then cancelled. Our second choice was also cancelled. A very sweet woman who worked for the metro told us what line to use instead so we did eventually make our way to Montparnasse, and started our tour at the cemetery. It's not as cool as Pere-Lachaise.

This is the tomb of Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. Why are people leaving metro tickets here as well as roses?

Next up, the Catacombs, where centuries worth of Parisian citizens were moved when the regular cemeteries started to cause health problems back in the late 1700's. It took decades to move the bones down into the former mines.

Riding the metro home was a chore. Fewer lines running and lots of people smashed into the cars. We let several go by before realizing it wasn't going to get any better and we just had to crush into everyone already on board. Not altogether pleasant, but my husband said it was like riding the metro in Cairo but without the heat and aroma.

The museums are open again and we were assured there wouldn't be any more closures by a helpful woman at the tourist office. So we joined hordes of people on Saturday to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre.

Here's my uncle trying to get the best shot of a funerary monument:

We had blue skies so headed over to Notre Dame Cathedral, again with lots and lots of people. Waited in the cold shady side of the cathedral for about 45 minutes to climb all the way to the top. The stairs just about did me in (why is everyone compelled to go fast?) but I made it. Woohoo, gargoyles. My uncle taking a photo of me:

And me taking one of him:

Me again trying to get a shot of a gargoyle:

The streets were full of rugby fans of both persuasions (South Africa and England). Thought these English fans were a hoot. Now that the match is over, does this mean the fans will get home or just sleep at the railway stations for several days hoping that service gets back to normal soon.

Today is the Arche de Triumphe (agh, more stairs up to the top) and the Eiffel Tower. We have to take advantage of this chilly (51 degrees) but clear weather.