Paris en Musique….

Saturday, April 21, 2012

As you see, we took a day off yesterday.  I spent most of Friday with my feet up fighting off the sniffles…I’m much better today for having stayed down yesterday!  Jim walked to the park yesterday morning to use the free wi-fi; couldn’t get a thing.  And it rained while he was there…actually it was so cold…it hailed!  Notice the photo I took of hail on our window ledge.  He came back very frustrated and I realized I’d forgotten to turn his wireless connection on before he left!  Oh my…so in the evening I bundled up and we walked back to the park after dinner for some wi-fi time.  Other than being very cold it worked fine.  I try to upload photos and videos there as those two data projects eat up the time very rapidly on my USB 3G port that we purchase time for on the Internet.  The park lady actually had to tell us it was time to leave…they close the park at 8 pm this time of year!  I wondered why everyone had left?

Notice the second photo of the pigeons…they were all huddled together on one of the many vents that has warm air trying to stay warm.   Yes…it’s a cold and wet spring in Paris but we are still having the time of our life!

Today was cold but sunny weather.  Instead of walking so much we’re going to ride the Metro between our stops today.  We left about 11 am for the Metro and our first stop was at the Tuleries Metro for a short walk to Galignani Bookstore on the rue de Rivoli…very close to the Hotel Meurice.  Jim wanted to purchase another book by Stephen Clarke to read on the trip.  This bookstore is known to have a large selection of books in English.  He actually ended up purchasing two of them 

Back to the Metro and on to our second stop:  St. Paul’s in the Marais…the 3^rd arrondissement.  We were headed for an exhibit that our friends here in Paris, Maeliss & Nicolas recommended.  A history of music in Paris called “Paris en Musique” in a very old public building at 24 rue Mahler.  This is a public library now and was built in the 16^th century and was at various times a prison and also a palace.  Plus the exhibition hall next door.

We discovered that the exhibit didn’t open until 1pm so we decided to backtrack and visit the church of St.Paul & St. Louis a couple of blocks away.  But, before turning around we went to the corner of the building to take another look at a very historical watch tower…built more for decoration than functionality…it is a beautifully preserved piece of history.  There were four people standing on the corner also…looking at maps.  We asked if they were lost and wouldn’t you know … they were Americans.  One thing led to another and we had a good five minutes of fun with two couples from Charleston, S.C. on their third of three days in Paris before they leave in the morning for the south of France.  They were looking for a store that sold wax jackets from England or something and we began to share information.  Part of their trip is a boat cruise down the Midi River which we did in 1999.  Before parting I took a photo for the blog and also exchanged cards…one of the ladies was sure she’d seen my blog on the Internet…if true…small world isn’t it.

After a nice visit at the church we returned at 1 pm for the exhibit and were pleasantly surprised when they only charged us the reduced tariff…we saved 2 euros!  Perks for getting old!  Usually reserved for EU citizens we’re always thrilled when we get the benefit.

It was a beautiful and well presented history of music of the early twentieth century using photos, posters, sheet music and headphones for you to listen to the music of specific artists.  Well worth the hour that it took to view the exhibit.

Back to the Metro system and we were off to Montmartre.  Went all the way to the back side and walked back up Lamarck…the same way we’d exited the area two days ago…looking for a hotel that Jim wanted to find.  It is called L’Ermitage Sacre Coeur Hotel.  A very small hotel on the back side that it very quaint and looks like a great place to stay…but you have to book ahead as there are very few rooms and they are generally booked months in advance.

We walked all the way up to the top; stopping to visit in a small garden park and then began looking for a particular statue that I’d seen in a photo on the Internet.  Never found that but did continue past the Montmartre Vineyard; The Rose House, The au Lapin Agile and finally the Moulin de la Galatte.  We saw the Carmelite Convent where our granddaughter stayed for a night last year on her trip to Paris from Germany where she was on a mission with the church.

Continued walking down until we reached the Abbesses Metro and once again boarded the train for our final stop for the day.  We were off to the 6^th arrondissement to see the small museum called Mussee Zadkine located very near to the Luxembourg Gardens.   Sad to say…it is closed until June 2012 for renovations.  But it was suddenly clouding up and we rushed back to the Metro amid drops of rain but never opened our umbrellas.

Arrived back in the 15^th and stopped at the Monoprix for prepared hot food to take home for dinner.   It was nearly 6 pm and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast!   Finally had to open the umbrellas on the final dash home but it soon dried and after a delicious dinner we walked to the park for some free wi-fi time.  While there a French lady stopped and asked if she could take our photos…we chatted for a while and I’m hoping that she will send us the photo.  She said that she thought we were “so cute” sitting there on the park bench typing on our computers!  I’d left my camera in the apartment or I would have had her take a photo for us also.  She was very interested in our small laptops…she thought there were IPads because of their size.  We have really enjoyed the French people but then we always do.  

Dessert after we arrived home was a small glass of our liquore and  half of a chocolate bar while I typed my journal.  We talked with Terry and Linda tonight…hard to believe we’re only got a few days until they arrive.