29 August 2009

Parisian for the weekend

In April 2002, Walt I spent two weeks in Paris. One year later — little did we suspect it at the time — we had sold our house in California and become the owners of a little house in Saint-Aignan, in the Loire Valley.

Overlooking the Luxemburg Gardens, Notre Dame Cathedral,
the Pantheon, and the Latin Quarter in Paris.

In 2002, then, we had rented a small apartment near Montparnasse, on the Left Bank, for our vacation. One of the things we did during that time was go up to the top of the 52-story Tour Montparnasse building and take panoramic pictures of the city.

A closeup of Notre Dame shows how massive the
church is compared to surrounding apartment buildings

Obviously the weather was clear. The pictures came out sharp. I was using my gigantic old Canon zoom camera — it was new then. The Tour Montparnasse offers one of the best vantage points, along with Montmartre and the Tour Eiffel, for photographing Paris this way.

I'll be spending time in this Paris neighborhood over
the weekend. It's not very far from Montparnasse.
You can see the elevated metro in the picture.

By the time you read this, I'll be in Paris. I'm probably having a pretty good time. In my suitcase I have a box of ripe tomatoes from the garden and ripe plums from the neighborhood trees, all protected by bubble wrap. When I told a French friend what I was taking to Paris, she couldn't stop laughing. She said I reminded her of the stereotypical wartime provincial bringing garden-fresh produce to deprived family and friends in the occupied capital.

11 comments:

  1. I think I'm reading this before you get to Paris...it's 9:30 your time.

    Have a wonderful time...pick up a copy of Le Parisien and live the life! :-)}

    Tip: Robin McKelle at Rock En Seine Festival on Sunday night.

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  2. You're right Bill, I didn't leave Onzain until 9:30 but here I am in Paris now, at my friend's. I'm getting ready to hit the streets. Thanks for the wishes and tips.

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  3. ENJOY, we will with you as we read your journey.

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  4. I can't wait to hear about the café dinner... I'm wondering if it's one that you've posted about before!? I won't mention any names...

    Please pass on my greetings to CHM!

    Judy

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  5. Have a good time Ken! How thoughtful to bring back homegrown goodies to your friends.

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  6. Seine Judeet,

    Neither will I, but are we thinking about where you live plus the queen's consort?

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  7. I'll be in Paris on Tuesday; any chance those tomatoes will last? Are you bringing figs, too? ;-)

    Shelli

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  8. That métro look slike it's on Boulevard St. Jacques. C'est vrai?

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  9. Bill - The Gallagher show at Rock en Seine was canceled because there was a fight between the brothers. That's all they said on the news tonight, and I was not really listening. I don't know about Sunday night.
    Your guess about the restaurant is right. They could not get a reservation on the "terrasse," so they might have gone somewhere else, unless there was room for their party on the terrasse.

    Judy - thank you for your greetings.

    Starman - no, that métro station is Sèvres-Lecourbe and it is on Blvd. Garibaldi. Further up is Cambronne and then LaMotte-Picquet-Grenelle.

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  10. Yes, Bill, that's the one I'm thinking of...but, even with your hints, I can't actually remember the full name, and I can't find it in Ken's archives under "Paris" or "restaurants", and it's bugging the heck out of me!!

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  11. Judy, we had dinner at the Café Louis-Philippe. It was an experience. We actually didn't start dinner until 10:00 p.m. The food was OK but not great.

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