Versailles...

What adjectives does one use to describe a place like Versailles?




Of course, there is no other place like Versailles; I'm sure it is one of a kind.




Marie Antoinette's hamlet was my favorite spot there. It is where she went (with all her servants) to live out her fantasy of living a 'simple peasant's life.' I guess I am a natural when it comes to being a simple peasant. I simply adored the iris growing along all the sod rooftops.







The smaller chateau was pretty impressive.





And at the main Chateau, the rooftops were not simple at all!




In fact, I spent a good deal of time looking up. The ceilings were each filled with art, some even framed with gold.







The place was crowded. I'm sure we walked well over ten miles, and saw just a small portion of the gardens and buildings.



What adjectives do you use to describe Versailles? How about 'stunning,' 'overwhelming,' and 'exhausting?'

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...just another day in the City of Light...

We began the day with a walk in the park. It was a holiday here, so lots of kids and families everywhere.




We visited several more incredible cathedrals; there seems to be one on every corner, each from a different century.







And mer-horses.... who knew they existed?




We waited until late afternoon, then headed down to the Eiffel Tower. It is stunning by day....



...by evening,



... and by night, when it becomes very 'sparkle-y' for five minutes at the top of each hour, eliciting 'Oohs' and 'Ahhs' from the hundreds of visitors from all over the world.

Back to the apartment to get some rest, before we head out for more tomorrow. A demain...!

-Posted from my iPad

A mon seul desir...

Today began with the realization of one of my life-time dreams: to see the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries in the Cluny museum. One of them (Hearing) was out for cleaning and some restoration work, but the other five were there in all their beauty and glory.




The Cluny is an amazing museum, housed in a hotel and Roman bath structure from the end of the second century.




After the Cluny and a lovely lunch of crepes, we went to the d'Orsay museum, home to an extensive collection of Impressionist paintings. Photos were not allowed in the museum, unfortunately, but their website gives you an idea of the wonders there. It is also a beautiful structure, housed in a former train station. I felt like I was in the movie, "Hugo," with the added plus of Great Art.




We are learning our way around the city, and I am very glad to be with my son, who speaks French very well. We keep our energy up with frequent chocolate croissants!

-Posted from my iPad

I'm loving Paris in the springtime...

...when it's raining, or even hailing, as we got a bit of that today, too! This is my son in front of the Notre Dame cathedral.




This is the roofline of the buildings out our window. The rooflines in Paris are amazing. Lots of stuff going on up there.




Our first view of the Eiffel Tower. We'll get closer soon, I'm sure.




Gargoyles and their friends keep an eye on us.




Notre Dame is amazing, both inside,




...and outside. But I admit that it was somewhat overwhelming to both of us.




We both liked the gothic St. Severin cathedral even better. The ceiling structures there were amazing!




We have a busy itinerary for tomorrow. But before that, we need to get a good night's rest, having had very little sleep on the plane last night.




So stay tuned..... There are many directions we can go here, as you can see!

My future meets someone else's past...

A few summers ago, I bought this little book of photos at my neighbor's yard sale.  I had no plans at that time to go to Paris. I just like old photos.

These are all held in corner slits on a nice onion skin paper. Each photo is about 2x5". The place name is hand-written nearby in black India ink.

I will actually be going to Paris next week. My oldest son is taking me for my birthday!

I will finally see the Unicorn Tapestries at the Cluny Museum.

And I would love to see the sites from these photos, or at least some of them, and take my own photo from the same viewpoint.

If I can, I will post here about my adventures while there. If not, I will certainly let you know about them when I return.

The booksellers on the left bank! Will they still be there?

Isn't it a lovely serendipity how you can sometimes pick something up, not knowing what part it will play in your life, and then a few years later find that it has a meaningful part to play, after all?

Another lovely thought is that perhaps someone will buy one of my travel albums for a pittance at a yard sale some day, then will go in search of the things I have seen and treasured.

Life, inspiring life....

Things that make me happy....

Photo by Christopher Tomlinson

...The photo of 4 owlets on the front page of this morning's paper. Now that's Good News! Can you see them all? These aren't the ones we watch. That Mama had 3 babies, though the nest was blown down and one owlet is in rehab with a broken wing. The nest was replaced in a basket, and Mom and the other 2 babes are evidently doing fine, though we haven't been to see them recently.

 

...The 'Super Moon' over the Eiffel Tower. This photo was posted today as the Astronomy Picture of the Day on the NASA site.

  

...The 'Super Moon' over my front yard.

...Listening to an interview of Jason Mraz on NPR. He said about his new album, "I definitely wanted to create a big-picture album that all humans could relate to with a universal message of love." 

(NPR) Mraz's sunny disposition doesn't always come naturally. The singer says that, for him, pursuing happiness is an active choice — not a default.
"It's from being melancholy and having my human down experiences that I learn, that I overcome, that I transform — and these realizations I put into song," Mraz says. "That's what I choose to put in my backpack and carry with me around the world."

...Listening to  the songs on Jason Mraz's album, Love Is a Four Letter Word. And putting them on my iPod and carrying them in MY backpack!

I recently read the book, IMAGINE: How Creativity Works, by Jonah Lehrer. He talks about the melancholy nature of creativity quite a bit. Of course, that isn't a new concept, as many have written about it before. But, as a creative person who occasionally struggles with some depression, I find it wonderful and encouraging; happy-making, in fact, to hear someone like Mraz turn his melancholy into intentionally joyful music.  So much better to listen to a song that makes me want to dance than to listen to music, or look at art, that makes me want to huddle in a corner and weep. Just sayin'....

"So you say it's your birthday...."

My husband and I went to the beautiful mountain town of Ouray, Colorado for a couple of days over my birthday. ("Well it's my birthday, too-oo!") I did a tiny bit of sketching, but no real painting. Ouray is nicknamed 'the Switzerland of America.' I always wonder if Switzerland returns the favor, calling itself 'the Ouray of Europe.' I somehow doubt it.

We saw a lot of beautiful mountains, including snow-capped peaks. We saw high mountain ranches worth a literal fortune. We saw nesting herons: 18 nests all in a row with about a third of them visibly occupied; and nearby, a nesting eagle with at least one eaglet. We saw long-horn cattle and yaks (yes, yaks.) We saw lots of elk, and that certain kind of people that can only be seen in high mountain Colorado towns, where stocking caps reign supreme year-round.

A lovely birthday trip. I feel as if I have been living out of a suitcase for some time now. I have emptied it of our Ouray things, done the laundry, and am repacking to go back to California for a week with my parents. Then I will be home for a week, to unpack and repack again for a trip with my oldest son to Paris. I will finally get to see the Unicorn Tapestries, and I can hardly wait!

Posted from my iPad