Neuilly sur Seine

Great books:\r

French Women Don't Get Fat; The Secret of Eating for Pleasure - Mireille Guiliano\r

Paris to the Moon; A Family in France - Adam Gopnick \r

Sixty Million Frenchman Can't be Wrong - Jean-Benoit Nadeau, Julie Barlow\r

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19 March - Gorgeous spring day in Paris! Walked with Pam and Morris and Katie to enjoy the Trocadero and Eiffel Tower and snooze on the lawn in the sun....then a visit to the gardens at the Museum of Rodin. Dinner at La Capricciosa with Vicki from Juneau.\r

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20 March - Walk to the Cimitiere des Chiens where Rin Tin Tin is buried with the inscription: La Grande Vedette du Cinema. This cemetery of animals is located near the Pont Clichy and is filled with not just dogs but also cats and birds and horses and people! A sunny spring day in Paris....just gorgeous!\r

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Interesting quote from another website:\r

'A Parisian Pet Cemetery? \r

At the entrance to the cemetery stands a huge sculpture with the carving of a Saint Bernard carrying a child on its back. The dog represented is Barry, who saved the lives of 40 people in the Alps before he lost his own life attempting a rescue for the 41st time. There is also a large tombstone\151with a statue of a German Shepherd Statue on top\151that memorializes all of the police dogs who die in action. The grave for Rin Tin Tin had me puzzled. The inscription said this dog had been a star on television, so I assume it is the same dog I used to watch as a child. I just wonder why he is buried in Paris? Maybe the story is rather of like Jim Morrison's; Jim had to die in Paris in order to be buried at P\232re Lachaise. Rin Tin Tin has always struck me as such a strange name, too, similar to the name of a French cartoon character. \r

Not only dogs and cats are buried here; there are also tombstones for three horses. I was surprised to see a stone for a rabbit and also one for Cocotte, a chicken said to have lived for 25 years and to have been a wonderful companion. This made me smile but I do remember coming home one day with a baby chick I had won at school. My mother let me keep it and it slept in a box next to my bed and followed me around like a puppy. Eventually, we took it to a farm as a chicken can't be house-trained. I hope Drumstick lived to a ripe old age and died of natural causes. \r

My friend and I are both cat lovers and so we loved seeing the many cats that live among the tombstones. (They do other things among the tomb stones as I discovered when I got home and traced a horrible smell to the bottom of my shoe). Most of them were tame and friendly-looking; one could pet them or feed them, and they managed to weave their way around our legs as we wandered around. While we were there, some ladies came and fed some of them. We overheard one saying her cat had recently died and she came to the cemetery twice a week to walk around. It brought her comfort. '\r

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21 March - Met with the women of the local american church (www.woac.net/bloom) for coffee clatch and updates for expats living in Paris! An American Airlines flight attendant Colleen Larsson spoke about tips in Paris and her website: www.colleensparis.com.\r

I visited the SNCF boutique to pick up my ticket for tomorrow and then a quick lunch before heading to 'Visite des Egouts de Paris' or a visit to the underground sewer system of Paris....very interesting but very smelly!\r

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22 March - \r

My schedule:\r

Depart Paris Nord 0615 \r

via Beauvais \r

Arrive Blangy sur Bresle 0853\r

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Train to Bethencourt near Blangy sur Bresle to visit Gaye Banfield who I worked with in Brisbane Australia in 1995-1996 and who I visited in Teddington/London in 1999. She also has a five year old son Fred and an almost one year old bassett hound named Louis. We had a wonderful visit catching up on our lives and walked up in the hills through the Queen Elizabeth park where an oak and beech tree mark the bonding of England and France. Pizza dinner at La Trattoria in Blangy.\r

Per Gaye, Life is a Mystery to be Lived, Not a Problem to be Solved!\r

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23 March - \r

My return schedule:\r

Depart Blangy sur Bresle 1231\r

via Beauvais\r

Arrive Paris Nord 1503\r

which did not work as good ole' Paris is on strike (la greve) again! We did not find out until Gaye dropped me at the Blangy train station and found that there was no train. So she drove me to Abbeville (about twenty minute drive) and I caught the 1320 to Amiens and had to wait until 1613 for the train to Paris Nord so wandered Amiens and enjoyed the massive cathedral there. Then the train did not depart until 1640 as they had to go find an engine! Beautiful day in France!\r

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24 March - Pam and Katie are off to Toulouse, Bordeaux and Carcassonne and it was an overcast dry morning but a rainy afternoon! I took the metro to the Avenue de l'Opera to visit the Die Bahn office. Because their train was over an hour late in arriving into Paris from Frankfurt last Friday, they will give me money back probably in the form of a voucher. I thought that it would happen on the spot but I must wait for it to be sent to Germany and processed so I am sure that I will be gone before it is posted to my sister's so hopefully she will be able to use it. I then enjoyed a mocha grande at Starbucks which I had not had in a few weeks. I then headed for the Latin Quarter via Le Louvre and Notre Dame (which I went into again). Visited the Hotel Dieu which is a hospital and then found the Gibert Joseph bookshop(although I was looking for the Gibert Jeune bookshop) and found a great book of maps of the bus routes. I walked through the gardens at Luxembourg and Observatoire and I had hoped to tour the catacombs today near Montparnasse but when I arrived there, I found that they have been closed since November and will not open until May. So headed for the bus station and took a tour on the #96 to Porte Des Lilas via Belleville, one of the higher hills in the city. I found the loo at the McDonalds then headed back and got off at Chatelet near Les Halles and walked back via the gardens at Tuilieres. Unfortunately, as I walked the skies got darker and darker and I made it as far as the Champs-Elysees and then it poured. Took another loo break at the Marriott but the rain continued so just kept walking cos it is only rain! After I passed the Arc, it was raining less and the sun came out and shone on the Arc and there was a double rainbow in the sky.....just beautiful! I was so glad that I decided not to return via the metro.\r

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25 March - The sun has returned and it is a gorgeous day for more walking so headed up Avenue de Ternes to Boulevard de Courcelles and stopped at Moulin Rouge at Place Blanche. Only 135 euros for dinner with 800 other folks! Then to Cimetiere de Montmartre to visit Truffaut, Degas, Dumas and Dalida (really Yolande Gigliotti who lived from 1933-1987 and was a singer and her gravesite is a full size statue of her...check her out at www.davida.com). There was also an interesting grave of Docteur Guy Pitchal (http://www.gedenkboek.nl/bp/f/parijs/montmartre/guypitchal.htm).\r

I continued up the hill to Montmartre and Basilique du Sacre Coeur via Rue Lepic and Rue Saint Vincent and also saw many more people. Walked inside the church and the crypt where everyone was passing the gisant (the recumbent Jesus). After visiting the sites on the Butte, I headed down to Place Chateau Rouge where I found little Africa with coiffures catering to blacks and wonderful textile shops with colorful cloth. Returned to Montmartre area to visit Halle of St Pierre and the Place Abbesses and the church of St Jean de Montmartre. Headed back home via Place Pigale, Rue Pigale/Bruyere/Moncey/Liege/Madrid/Lisbonne/Ternes with a stop at the St Augustin church. Many Easter services are being held starting today. Also stopped at a few shops along Rue des Ternes where I found wellie type boots by Aigle (www.aigle.com) but in bright colours such as orange and lime green. Returned to find Morris home early from work for Good Friday so we enjoyed a rotisserie chicken and salad.\r

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26 March - Morris and I did a Paris Walk with Peter and Oriel Caine (actually with Iris Grossman Spencer) on the main Paris sites described in the book The Da Vinci Code (www.paris-walks.com)....it was interesting! We met at Mabillon metro and walked to the meridien line and discussed its history. We then visited Eglise de St-Sulpice and discussed the play on words of the Fontaine des Quatre Points Cardinaux (after the sculpted portraits of the Archbishops Bossuet, Fenelon, Massillon and Flechier facing the cardinal points of the compass. The name Fountain of the Cardinal Points or the Four Cardinals Who Never Were is a play on words as none of the four churchmen ever was made a cardinal....point in French means both point and never). We continued our walk discussing more french history and the book and Rennes de Chateau. We also visited the Eglise St-Germain-des-Pres, the oldest church in Paris. We crossed Pont des Arts to visit the pyramid outside Le Louvre(designed by leoh Ming Pei) and ended our trip at the upside down pyramid at the basement entrance to Le Louvre. Since the Da Vinci Code book was released, it is unfortunate that people are now pinching the Arago brass markers that mark the original meridien (there were originally 135 markers and we saw a few and also where one went missing above Le Louvre entrance).\r

A sunny morning but the clouds are rolling in this afternoon and it rained in the evening and all night.\r

Morris returned to the house and I wandered looking for Deyrolles which I finally found after a bit of a search. It is described on this website quite well and is known for its taxidermy:\r

http://www.pbase.com/al309/paris1\r

and also on its own: www.deyrolle.fr\r

I rode the bus number 73 back to Neuilly and my headcold that had started this morning was getting worse. So Morris joined the Dennings for dinner at Relais de l'Entrecote and I stayed home and rested and reset the clocks for daylight savings time.\r

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27 March - Still raining on Easter morning. Morris went to the early 9am service cos he missed the sunrise service! We visited Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise cemetery today where Jim Morrison is buried amongst many other well known folks such as Balzac, Chopin, Oscar Wilde, Yves Montand and Simone Signoret. I happened by chance to see the biography of Edith Piaf last evening and she is also buried there (famous french singer). Enjoyed the gravesite of Victor Noir \r

who was a 19th-century journalist (1858-1870) shot in a duel for having either criticized (or perhaps cuckolded) a relative of Napoléon III. The statue on his tomb, by Dalor, shows him as he fell. In life he enjoyed a reputation as a playboy; in death, he has become a fertility symbol, the statue permanently surrounded by flowers left by his 'admirers'...\r

with good photos at this website:\r

http://dispatchesfromfrance.com/index.php?showimage=126\r

Enjoyed Easter ham dinner at the Dennings then the boys watched the college basketball tournament!\r

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28 March - Sunny then overcast then rain.\r

I took the #1 train to Bastille and explored the neighbourhoods there after finding a Starbucks and having a mocha! Walked the rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine honeycombed with courtyards and arcades with picturesque names but not much was open because it is the Easter Monday holiday....even the Marche d'Aligre was closed. Walked the Promenade Plantee over the Viaduc des Arts and returned to Bastille and explored the alleys of rue de Lappe and rue St Sabin where there is a great chocolate place La Petite Fabrique that was also shut! Crossed over Boulevarde Beaumarchais to explore Le Marais and stopped at the Musee Picasso but too many people waiting in the queue so just enjoyed the bookshop which also had great CDs by french artists such as Edith Piaf. Continued on to Les Halles which even had the gates down over the door and returned via the metro at Palais Louvre.\r

Pam and Katie returned from their trip to Carcassonne, Bordeaux and Toulouse which they really enjoyed. Vicki from Juneau returned from her train/bus trip to Brittany and is staying here two nights before returning to Juneau.\r

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29 March - Vicki and I took the #82 bus to Luxembourg Gardens and wandered the Latin Quarter and returned late afternoon on the #73 bus. We admired the flowers, especially the primroses, in the Luxembourg Gardens. Stopped at Odeon for a Starbucks before finding the Gibert Jeune bookshop to peruse travel books and maps. Then shopping for scarves and gifts at the Provence shop near Notre Dame. Vicki had lunch while I found the Finnish Cultural Center to get additional maps and information for my trip on Thursday to Finland. We then walked rue des Arts, rue Jacob, and rue de l'Universite, admiring all of the shops on our way to the Musee d'Orsay to catch the bus. Dinner of mussels at Leons.\r

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30 March - Vicki left early on the Air France bus for her American Airlines flight to the USA! We have been enjoying watching the move of the new neighbours into the building. Because the stairwells are so narrow, they must move into the upper level flats via a platform on a crane on the sidewalk on the street where they move just a few pieces at a time.\r

Spent most of day just catching up. Booking my final bit of the journey and documenting it all so that I know what I am doing. Also went through my things although I will not be taking much to Finland, I still need to figure out how to repack it all for my return home. Pam and Katie and I went for a walk and enjoyed a great chicken dinner.\r

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31 March - flight to Helsinki Finland.....\r