Movies and Home!

Yesterday, we visited Parc Monceau, a smaller (smaller than Luxembourg Gardens, that is)and the neighborhoods around there. Not much happening; I did buy a hand towel that looks like a Metro ticket. LOL, a fun remembrance. We walked around the area just north of the Arc de Triomphe, where we don't usually spend any time. Fun but nothing really earthshattering or new. Paris, like everywhere, has the same stores in every neighborhood. And apparently, there is a corporate window department: all the same. And they don't change often enough. Except for one store....

I don't even have the name, but something marina in the name. A chandelier candlestick in the window; Perhaps three feet high, holding a dozen 3" diameter candles. Massive. Beautiful. Expensive (2200€.)Impossible to get home. Did I mention the multitude of chandelier motifs this year? All over. Laser cut out ones for sticking on the windows, cardboard cutouts to hang, Christmas tree ornaments, wallpaper, lamps, candleholders. Beauçoup! They had a cashmere throw in a simple tuck stitch, and a brown cashmere cardigan with zippers and suede trim. Oh, la, la!


We rode the bus all the way to the peripherique, and then home. Nap. Dinner. And one last movie: A Good Year with Russell Crowe. Delightful. After the movie, we sat outside at Deux Magots for a quick drink and catching glimpses of the nearly full moon between the clouds. By then, it was well after 1:00 am but it was still active on the streets and perfectly safe to stroll the half mile or so home.


Today I pack. Shouldn't be a problem this trip. TLOML (The love of my life--Jeff) did not buy the volume of books and paper that he usually does. Nor did I buy much either. As a matter of fact, I still have two important items for Michael still to buy today.

Then tomorrow, we leave the apartment early and fly home to Dulles. No snow or bad weather to worry the travelers, so the trip should be uneventful!

Alas, the sun is gone.

Yesterday's sun gave way to more typical Parisian showers this morning. Since we'd stayed out very late last night---we went to a 10:00 movie, walking home and arriving after midnight, we easily slept late this morning. What movie? An Israeli film about two girls in the army assigned to checking IDs and papers in Jerusalem. I don't have much tolerance when people don't take their jobs seriously. I'd only give it two stars out of five. (Une Jeunesse Comme Aucune Autre)

By 2:00 this afternoon, in just a light drizzle, I decided that I'd best get some fresh air and exercise. I miss my morning excursions to the gym more than I'd imagined. Next trip, I going to make arrangements to use a gym here. So I Metro'ed over to Sevres-Babylon for some snoop shopping in the 7th.

Rue Cherche-Midi yielded some interest, but nothing really notable. I ducked into Comptoir Richard for my special Parisian treat: almonds coated with chocolate and then dusted with cocoa. Even better, each is individually wrapped, providing some portion control.

Bon Marché was a treasure chest today! Firstly, I was able to see and touch a coat I'd seen in Vogue this fall. I'd torn the picture out---it's in the files at home---but I saw and touched it!!! I was so overwhelmed I've forgotten the designer but I'll go back and look again next week.

But the piece dé resistance today was cashmere. Lovely, lovely cashmere sweaters. Plaited cashmere in blue and white, giving the appearance of the ultimately soft faded denim. Cashmere and lurex looking like moonbeams. Cashmere lace embellished with tiny beads and sequins. But I think the best was a one-ply, medium gray, very loosely knit pullover. It practically floated on the shelf----four or five ounces maximum. Now I know we can knit these---especially my friends with the fine gauge machines---but the result was ethereal! www.colourmart.com, here I come. If I order tonight, the yarn will be at the office before I return.

This picture is taken with my new QuickCam. I played with it this morning---hoping the crowd from Waverly would sign on---and snapped this of the tulips I bought in the market on Tuesday. They are more attractive than the picture expresses. Tulips seems to be available most of the fall and winter anymore. I saw them at Whole Foods before we left Baltimore, too.

Tonight we are heading toward Jussieu, (to the east of our apartment) checking out a restaurant from a guide book. If we don't like the way it looks, we'll probably end up with either lasgna or pizza.