Midnight in Paris

It's not quite midnight, but we're packing our bags and getting ready to say au revoir to our temporary home on rue de Bourgogne. It has been a fantastic visit in countless ways. And we've been so busy exploring that we've been pretty lousy at keeping you informed via the blog updates. Our apologies for that, and our thanks to the most steadfast readers who kept returning despite finding the same old news. We look forward to filling you in more once we're home. And that's soon indeed. Meanwhile, we'll sign off with a fond farewell and a few photos.... A bientôt!
Michael & Marjorie

TechnoT savvy

Part of the reason for the very intermittent missives is that neither of us is tech savvy. Yes, Michael teaches about keeping up with technology, but that doesn't help us master things like this. And so after spending lots of time uploading images that now seem to have completely disappeared, we sit here wondering how to proceed. Okay, we'll deal. A few quick updates. Marjorie's co-author, Dixon, came to Paris. We've been working well together. Our writing voices & working styles are so similar that Dixon said, "We share a common ancestor." For a change of pace, I have shifted from writing about food markets to snapping photos of various kinds of markets--fabrics, stamps, antiques, birds, buttons--all kinds of images that might (or not) land in the final book. We had the relief of finally obtaining our carte séjours, a bureaucratic circus that required countless hours of time, reams of paperwork, and even a few chest Xrays, medical exams, interviews, and the forced watching of a film about French values... and finally netted us i.d. cards festooned with burgundy (how appropriate)-colored stamps, which we will probably never need to show anyone. But at least we can't be kicked out of the country for that reason. Our enjoyment of the food continues. Among the highlights have been a traditional Lyonnais meal with a dish of silkworkers' brains (not real ones), fantastic falafels, morning croissants (we've happily fallen into a rut with a few favorites), & rhum babas. Marjorie has acquired a taste for oysters; Michael hasn't. Another highlight was an early morning visit to Rungis market--a humongous wholesale & distribution center that feeds most of Paris. Maybe you should be glad that we can't upload the pix, since we've got several of the meat halls that would make your stomach turn: severed tails, tongues, and other t- anatomy. The food halls & sights were so chilling that Marjorie found it necessary afterwards to dip into a therapeutic hot sauna in the Marais. We've gone to gritty cabarets in Montmartre and to elegant Grand and Petit Palaces. We've discovered some edgy art at lesser known galleries and rediscovered classic sculptures at the Louvre. Paris has all extremes, plus everything in between. We are currently in London for a few days and enjoying the re-immersion in English, but we both miss Paris. We miss our friends & family too. Come to think of it, who needs technology after all?

Springtime in Paris

It feels like a whole season has passed since our last post. The cherry trees bloomed brilliantly, but now their pink buds have scattered to the ground as if a wedding procession just went by. Tulips lit up the parks like neon signs flashing "spring," but they too have let go their petals and given way to the next round of plantings.  Michael's mother, Dolly, passed away last month.

We were fortunate to have been with her at the end. We miss her incredible kindness & those big blue eyes. We've had wonderful family time in the past month--in Boston, York, Wellesley, Medfield. And now in Paris. With Rachel and Melissa, we saw modern art at the Pompidou, classic oeuvres at the Louvre, sculpture at the Brancusi atelier, an opera at Palais Garnier, and shops galore in the Marais. We even braved a meal high atop the Eiffel Tower despite at least one queasy stomach.

We've just said à bientôt to Henry, Audrey, Maggie & Jonathan after a week's visit that included an improvised Passover seder with reading the Haggadah from an iPad, a picnic & pigeon chasing in Luxembourg Garden, playgrounds & sandboxes, lines & lollipops at Euro Disney, food & more food, and so much more.

Michael has finished teaching his doctoral class at INSEAD. But next up, Marjorie's co-author, Dixon, has arrived from California so the next few weeks will be busy with even more markets, write-up's, and photos.

Each day we both try to take in how extraordinary it is to be in Paris. And now that the days are already long (it's light until 9 pm), we get the equivalent of 1 1/2 days for every one--a much better exchange rate than the dollar's. We're wondering if any of you has been steadfast enough to stick with us despite our very occasional posts? Thank you!

Fashion Week

 The semi-annual event of Fashion Week has hit Paris. Notice the hat that doubles as a Seder plate:

It means that beautiful women are even more evident than usual in Paris, all with stoic expressions and tottering on high heels even when crossing the chalky limestone paths of the Tuilleries.

My fear for them is that they'll step in the dog poop--but at such a height, would they even know? 

Just up the street from our apartment is the Rodin museum, which hosted the Dior exhibition, otherwise known as Why the Hell Did Galliano Self-Destruct as a Nazi Lover? But the show must go on, and lots of others showed up, including one man in drag with laurel wreath lamenting that The King is Gone. Not sure if he meant Galliano or Elvis or Henry IV.

I'm making progress on my food markets research. Michael is an excellent apprentice. We went to the market at Bastille today, and we saw an organ grinder hamming it up to the crowd, a fishmonger gutting sea bass, and a drunk piccolo player.  All that plus really good fruits & vegetables.

M&M

Soup or Sidestroke?

A favorite activity is wandering into one of the many cooking stores. Here's one where Julia Child shopped, called Dehillerin. I considered buying this pot for a backyard swimming pool.

Speaking of Julia, we just learned that she & Paul lived right around the corner from our apartment, on rue de l'Université (or as she called it, roo de loo).

Parisian Salon

We'd heard of famous Parisian salons, but none of those imaginings of literary crowds and intellectual tussles prepared us for our adventure at a salon today....the Salon d'Agriculture.  For weeks we've been going eye-to-eye with a large brown-and-white speckled cow, her nostrils flaring, and identification tags dangling like long pierced earrings. She stares out from posters promoting the Salon that have been plastered around every metro and bus. Today we went to see what the hullabaloo was about. No intimate affair, since every French school child on vacation this week must've been there, with parents & grandparents in tow. We made our way inside and discovered aisle after aisle of livestock competitions, horticultural exhibits, and food stalls. It was the York Fair on steroids but no Zipper (unless you count the demo of the new European car that was spinning 360° while a line of people waited to be permitted to inside, where they'd scream until they tumbled out at the end, pale & disappointed that it was over). The French obviously deserve to take great pride in their food and land, but this annual event is a blatant trumpeting of national pride. And so our surprise to find a McDonald's prominently exhibiting. When McD's first opened here, it was an outrage.  Furious chefs & farmers protested; one even took a bulldozer to a storefront to make the objections known in a most unsubtle manner. And he immediately became a national hero. Fast forward 30 years later, and McD's are all around. They've managed to adapt to the local culture--and economy--by sourcing 75% of the food from French land. We hear the frites are really good. And now France is McD's largest market--outside of the U.S.  Mon dieu!

February (so far) in Paris

Hey Team,

I thought that I'd give Marjorie Rose the night off from our Sunday night blog. It has been cloudy and cold this week. We took advantage of the lack of rain to go to a bunch of marchés. We do this jointly...even figuring out how to get to the right location--typically by bus. Who knew I would actually enjoy taking the bus! We typically check out the market, go to café to take notes and debrief, then go back to buy stuff for dinner. Given this routine, we have not gone out to eat a whole lot.

I have enclosed a set of pictures of the market at rue Mouftard. This is an ancient street that has had a food market from the 14th century. The market is closed to traffic so you can walk among the stalls for the foods and cafes. At the bottom of the market what seemed like gypsies were playing music, dancing, and leading a sing-along. Sorry no pics of me and Marjorie Rose dancing....though that perhaps is us in the dim light of the picture watching from the cafe!

Finally, in a burst of non-marché activity, we went with Marjorie's cousin Emily to the Rodin museum and then later to dinner near the Eiffel Tower. The Tower is pretty amazing at night; on the hour the lights are accentuated by a blaze of sparking lights.
That is it for today,
Au revoir,
M&M

Oscar's 15 minutes of Fame

Oscar is a pin-up star of the blog world.  Check this out:

http://happydogonline.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-guy.html

Catching Up

We've fallen behind in posting updates.  One theme of our French experience so far has been the rampant bureaucracy.  An example comes from prior to our departure.  We were instructed that we must get visas before we left due to the length of our stay, and warned we might get turned away at the border unless we could pull out visas upon arrival (it wasn't true--we whisked through passport control in 30 seconds).  After weeks of waiting after our initial application, and our departure date only a couple days away, we were given an "appointment" to come in to apply in-person.   We arrived at the French consulate in Boston at 1 pm.  We were told that the office was closed for lunch.  They would re-open at 2:30!  So we hung out at a nearby Souper Salad, watching scores of people hustle in and out (obviously not French, or else they would have had a leisurely lunch).  Promptly at 2:30, and weary of waiting, we returned to the consulate.  We were greeted by a dark window, locked door, and the instructions below.

This sign was far more prominent that the travel posters of the Azure coast or the official map of French provinces.  Obviously, we got our visas in time.  And the odds we'll actually have to show them to anyone are virtually nil.   Other examples abound, now that we're here.  We went to get photos for a different official document.  Michael poised himself for the photo.  The photographer abruptly stopped.  "No, no," and he wagged a finger.  "You must not smile," he explained.

And now here are some more recent photos.  Just to prove we're really in Paris:

And seeing some interesting art, such as this David Hockney exhibit-- images that were created, and displayed, on iPhones and iPads.

We're adjusting to the café life, and realize this is what we'd been practicing for all those mornings at Peets:

Since Michael will be working at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, we timed our trip there to overlap with the market day.  This is the place where I originally fell in love with French markets in 1995.

 

Today we visited a flea market--the "Puces" (fleas) at the Porte de Vanves.  Aisles of tables, with wares that ranged from the odd to the overwrought.  

Stay tuned....

Bonjour!

It's Sunday night in Paris, and we've just figured out how to create a blog.  Our hope is that we will use this as a way to keep in touch with friends and family while we're away.  We would like to share some of our experiences and pictures with you.  For example, today we ventured out to the Marché Raspail (the weekly organic market in Paris).  Here are a few glimpses of what we saw, bought, and later ate.

This final photo shows one of the highlights-- a delicious potato pancake.  Who knew that "galette de pomme de terre" translates as "latke"?

To be continued...

A bientôt,
M&M