An early morning walk to a garden in Nantes before our trip to Brittany was lovely and pleasantly. Then we visited a chateau/castle made into a museum. This city is on the ocean and was a major port for slaves and trade in the early days(1600’s) and is now a busy city with a lot of history of kings and queens and invaders from Britain, trying to live down their past.

We jumped in the cars and headed for Le Faouët, where Michel Garcia has his workshop. Another harrowing car ride full of bumping over curbs, going the wrong way and getting lost. We made a planned stop at a restaurant that was full because of no reservations were made ahead. The next stop was Carnac, an ancient gathering of megaliths and stones. Similar to Stonehenge.

We arrived at our destination, a nice B&B in a big house. A welcome dinner and lots of congenial fun. Relieved to have reached our destination it’s so quiet here at night, you could hear a pin drop and the weather is perfect.

I spent yesterday resting after an early walk headed to the Montmartre/Sacre-Ceour, area hoping to see the sights I missed the first evening. The day turned out to be so hot that I turned back for the apartment. I felt like I was coming down with a cold. I went to Monoprix and bought yogurt and Orange juice. That was the end of that. It was so hot I had trouble sleeping.

I awakened feeling better and the cold seemed to have disappeared. The first day plan was to find my apartment, meet the group, possibly go to a Textile show and have dinner with the group. I got an early start to beat the heat, took two busses (I’m proud of myself for that) arriving at 9 am. After finding the apartment, I walked to Luxembourg Gardens, a grand garden with at least 100 statues, two monumental fountains and lots of people enjoying the park. Luxembourg Palace, at the end of the park, is the home of the French Senate. Everywhere one looks in Paris, are statues, fabulous churches, parks, not to mention the motorized scooters everywhere, even on the sidewalks. I missed the trip to the exhibition this afternoon. I’m not too disappointed as it was really hot this afternoon. Dinner was lovely with the group at the corner bistro. Tomorrow we are off to see several textile museums.

View from Square Carpeau windows

World Fountain

Palais de luxembourg

I set off on my own on the Metro to see the Monets. Paris is filled with fabulous art. I went to one museum, l’Orangerie, the museum with the Monet panels filling two rooms. What a masterpiece! The museum also contained many Matisse, Cezanne, Reniors and many more. The show of Blue Riders had just closed. I decided this was it , one museum. Tons of tourists in this area. Much construction going on, traffic, not to mention the heat. Bleh! I walked my 10,000 steps today. It’s tough work being a tourist.  My hosts are so wonderful to me, plying me with pate, French wine, helping me with directions.

Hot weather is upon us! it is predicted to go up to 99 by Wednesday. Rather like the heat wave we just experienced in Marin last week. So we set out this morning for a big market in the Saint Denis square. What a market, fish, meat cheeses, and fruits inside, fabric and clothing outside- I have never seen such a huge colorful jumble of hawkers of wares, smells, and people from all over the world buying for their families. This was definitely not a tourist destination. From there we had lunch in an outdoor cafe o n the square, checked out the cathedral on the square with its stories of Louis the XVIII raiding all the tombs on site for valuables. I am amazed by all the history connected with Paris.

it was great, but it all went downhill from there when Don’s cell phone got pickpocketed on the metro. We spent most of the rest of the day dealing with that.with a flurry of visits to police and calls to Apple, ATT , etc. We did manage to go to a restaurant for dinner, in spite of all this. The Bistro Julien decor was Art Nouveau with paintings by Alphonse Mucha on the walls. We loved the decor and the prices were right. It is a plus to be with Locals and go to places where you do not see tourists other than me of course.

Rose Window

I was met and welcomed by my extraordinary host and hostess, Don and Genevieve. After a lovely late lunch in their apartment in the heart of Montmartre, we set off to explore the hills and streets of this part of Paris that once was its own small village in the 1600’s. Stopping for a drink at a pub, meeting sidewalk artists, looking at the windmills and Sacre Coeur with all the visitors and checking out all the little stores was part of the charm. We returned around 9.30 and it was still light outside. Extraordinaire!

Continue reading →