Since it has been a little while since I last posted anything purely chatty -- I thought I would catch you up. Since Catherine's death the household was quite sad, and then we both got the flu. I guess that makes sense doesn't it. Bette would say it was our body reacting to the stress. But, we didn't really let that get too far out of control, because we also have had a steady stream of really delightful house guests and visitors to Paris.
We have now started a tradition of celebrating St. Pat's day with a particular Irish family, and Leilah, a vibrant and beautiful free spirit who just turned 21 showed up here for her spring break, while her mom arrived a few hours later. We talked a big game about Guinness and Irish Music, but in the end we were all so tired we ended up at a tagine restaurant in a neighboring town chatting and catching up, and just being glad to be together.
Debbie left within two days of arriving, but Leilah stayed with us for a week. We really didn't have a lot of work to do for her, because she is so well versed in french and "Paris" that she was off on her own a lot. She and I spent one day shopping together in Paris and she showed me this great resale shop over near Le Tour de Jean Sans Peur. She would say it's near Les Halles or one of those trendy clothing shops. Of course at 21 she sees everything new, and at my age and place in life, I seek out the oldest buildings I can find. We had a great afternoon together.
Then Karla, Kate and Karl showed up after a few days in London, and in hopes of a great spring in Paris. They were a bit nonplussed (as we all are) with the cold, gray days, and the snow and hail that seemed to accompany them from the US, but Karl managed to get in a 100 km bike ride with SMUS and the big guy, so he has a great story to take back to Boston College. As a family they did all the usual site-seeing stuff, but I think the big highlight was going to mass on Easter Sunday night, where they found a baptism going on as part of the service. They described this wiggly little baby being stark naked and dunked three times in the baptism trough. I think that is the kind of experience you never forget.
Karla and Kate seemed quite thrilled with their day at Versailles in the golf cart surveying the grounds, and the three of us really had fun poking around in the Louvre. They also squeezed in a visit to the market and their family, Pat and me and Leilah had a fabulous french dinner just minutes from our house one evening. We also went to a certain couscous restaurant that is famous for being the only restaurant we could find one cold spring rainy evening a few years ago with Dave and Nancy, but that's another story.
Just as Karla and Kate were getting on the plane --- literally, Bette was arriving at CDG for her first adults-only vacation (as defined by longer than 3 days) in over 25 years! We figured out that we have known each other for over 28 years now, and her relaxed manner was good for my still grieving heart, and a real calming influence.
While Bette was here, unfortunately, the big guy continued to be ill for most of the time despite the antibiotics and the numerous remedies. He had a sore throat and cough for over three weeks. But that meant he was more likely to give up his car, or when he felt like it, to accompany us on our traipses. We went to Chartres Cathedral one Saturday, when it was actually sunny enough to be nice. Bette and Pat compared "catholic school stories" as we walked around one of the prime stops on the pilgrimage to San Compostello. We were tickled to be able to take the famous (often written about but rarely experienced) tour by Chartres historian Malcolm Miller. He is a Brit who apparently fell in love with the cathedral and its history over 50 years ago, and he hasn't left since then. He was a little snippy when he spoke about Americans, but he was complaining that we were populated by Puritans, and therefore were very rigid by nature about our religious beliefs.
Regardless of his health, Pat wasn't going to miss the Salon de degustaion better known as the wine tasting extravaganza, and fortunately for me -- Bette was there to accompany and to taste the wines with Pat. I can't say this is great event for me, but Pat enjoys it so much that I am tickled to go with him. It's hard to describe -- nearly 1000 little booths, each touting a wine product from all over France with the occasional chocolate or foie gras vendor sprinkled in. There are the entrepreneurial vendors who sell wheeled-dollies that are designed to carry three cases of wine for those traveling by foot or on the train for a mere €40. There are also decanter and wine glass sellers, and rarely there is a beer vendor. All this is squeezed into a convention center designed to hold about 1/2 this many vendors -- and then there are all the drinking people!
I was happy to see Bette find and enjoy a wine that our friend Cindie had told her about. Pinot Gris is a crisp white Alsacian wine (that region that went back and forth between France and Germany so many times that most people now just refer to it as Alsace, and no one really cares who is claiming them right now. She and Pat bought 6 bottles between them, and we had one with dinner one night; delighted to find that it was as good as they had remembered.
Now on Bette's checklist were several common tourist activities, but I have to hand it to her -- she had come up with a couple of interesting ones, also.
She is a long lost relative of Hans Holbein and his father, the younger and the elder, who were both famous German painters. One Sunday afternoon, we set off for the Louvre in search of the paintings that made HH (the younger)so famous. Erasmus is probably the one you might know if you are at all familiar. But I was particularly struck by a portrait of Anne of Cleves, one of Henry VIII's wives, who fortunately escaped with her head. I had read somewhere that she was pretty homely, and that was a reason H8 didn't like her, but the portrait was beautiful in a sharp-edged kind of way. Rumor has it that HH was chastised for "misrepresenting" the young woman in this her engagement portrait, until it was too late to put off the wedding.
Bette was also looking for a coat, which one would think given the frigid temperature, blowing rain, snow, and occasional hail would be easy to find in Paris -- but it wasn't until her last day here, and the most beautiful day of the trip I think, that we ran across a great coat for a good price.
Oh sure, we had to find chocolate, gelatto, and Notre Dame. We visited Musée d'Orsay and Sacre Couer, and of course the Louvre, but I think our treasure hunt for the Holbeins' paintings was one of my favorite parts of her trip.
The other really cool part of her vist here was Brugge, but that's for the next blog!
