STELLA

Got a picture of Stella.  Not a good one, but it's her.  I miss my dogs so much, thinkin'  I need a pet.  She flies around the courtyard.  Not a bad life.

ST.- SULPICE

I took a little walk through my neighborhood.  Jardin Catherine Laboure is a sweet little spot down the street from my apartment.  Inside the walls is a community vegetable garden.  Although there are signs posted everywhere saying "no dogs allowed", I spotted this little fellow at the entrance gate with his owner.  Seems to me that a common thread between Texans and Parisians is that they LOVE their dogs.

Since the weather has cleared up, as well as my allergies, a stroll to St. Sulpice seemed like a good idea.  The square, well all of Paris for that matter, was bustling. 

St.-Sulpice is a Late Baroque parish church.  It's now more popular than ever with tourists because of its prominent role in the novel  The Da Vinci Code.  The Church of St.-Sulpice was founded to replace a small Gothic church.  Various architects contributed to the design of St. Sulpice over a century (1646-1745) which explains the different design styles within the same structure.

What a sacred place.  I lit a candle and said a prayer for Graydon and Raquel in one of the small chapels of the cathedral.  

Since most grocery stores aren't open in Paris on Sunday, I decided to stop at La Grande Epecerie.  That place is heaven for anyone who likes good food.  I go there EVERY DAY.

Each and every section of the store is a visual feast.  They have such a rockin' wine section that I wanted to send you a shot or two of it.  When the manager saw me taking pictures, he said, "Madame, you can take a picture of me, but not of my wine!"  I apologized, and he was very nice about it.  Don't know what the rule is exactly, but I had already taken a few shots.


Outside of my apartment windows there is a gorgeous courtyard.  I'll post a pic, but I'm waiting until I can get a shot of Stella.  That's the name that I gave her.  She's this groovy bird that lives in a nest nearby, but it appears that there's a nest under construction on my bedroom window.  I never open that window.  I don't want to disturb her work, but more than anything, a visit from Stella while I'm asleep would give me a heart attack.  She won't hold still for a picture, but I'm not giving up.

Weather is Gorgeous in Paris . . . Finally!

Hi gang,


Sorry that I haven't blogged for two weeks.  The rain has stopped, and French language school is kicking my #*&!!!!!  Really, I just gotta tell you that four hours a day of intensive French is just that . . . INTENSE!  Having said that, it's the way to learn.  Our teacher Carmen refuses to speak English unless it's ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.  When I say absolutely necessary, I mean practically life or death.  She is an amazing instructor.  Talk about patience!  When she told me that she was a Fulbright Scholar, I was at a complete loss for words; English or French.  We are so very lucky to have her as our teacher.


My class is small.  There's only one guy, and I can't spell his name.  He's a customs officer from Brazil.  At the moment we now have a darling young woman from Taiwan, two young and very cool Japanese women, the guy from Brazil, a Slovenian dentist (she's FUN!),  a cute Vietnamese doctor from Australia, and me.  It's kinda sad.  I'm the only person who came into the class speaking only one language fluently.  I don't know who else they'll put in our class next week, but there will be a few at least.  We lost one or two at the end of last week.  Anyway,  IT'S SO HARD, but I am actually learning to speak French.  I'm starting to think in French.  My sweet little real estate agent put French subtitles on my tv, so now I'm addicted to French game shows. It's a good way to learn.

Let me back up to last weekend.  I went to one of my favorite restaurants.  It's the little bistro at the Hotel Montalembert.  I had a delectable crab entree that was served two ways:  as a crab salad with ginger mayonnaise and also crab tempura.  The dish was accompanied by a green salad with a sweet and sour dressing.  Wow!  Actually, as I looked around the room, most folks were ordering it.


The real reason that I went there was for my very favorite dessert: molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.  So there's no picture.  I know.  I got so excited when it arrived that I forgot about my camera and woofed it down tout de suite!!!


I have sooo much making up to do on this blog.  I'll write tomorrow to tell you what I did on the weekend.  A bientot!

Hey Ya'll! Made it to Paris!

So, I made it to Paris!  It's as beautiful as I remember, although the weather stinks.  Rain, overcast, rain, overcast.  No problem.  The folks at the Hotel Lutecia are as nice as can be.  It makes me wonder.  Could they be Texans?  No way.  Parisians can be SO COOL too!  

Anyway, had dinner at this great little restaurant in St. Germain des Pres, Les Jardins de Saint-Germain.  Couldn't decide what to order, but the server, Isabelle, gave me more than a hint what to try.  I had the prawns and rice.  Wow!!!  Just what the doctor ordered.  After really gross airplane food, and a complete jet lag hangover, that was the dish that I needed.  I fully intended to take a photo of my food for this blog, but . . . when I saw it, I dug in so fast that I forgot all about the pic.  Anyway, here's a photo of Isabelle.  She was not only polite and beautiful, she was well-versed in the entire restaurant menu.  Right up there with the best service that I can remember.

Really wanted to watch the Women's World Cup Soccer match, so I headed to a local "North American" bar advertising the game.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.  A couple of not-so-nice girls started shoving me at the bar, and it wasn't pleasant.  I held my own, but decided to leave. Who needs it?  I've never had that happen, and just haven't EVER seen that in Texas.  Wow!  Bad manners all the way.  A VERY BRIGHT spot in the evening was the chance to see several of my son Graydon's friends.  Charles was in the bar with his friend Tim. Ben and Shelby Barnes were making their way up the street as I headed back to the hotel.  They are absolutely darling, and it made up for the crazies to see all of them.


Tomorrow I start back to French language school at Alliance Francaise.  I'm nervous.  I don't really remember what I should.  I'll give it my best shot.  Details to follow.

PARIS HERE I COME . . . Yee Haw!!!

I'm leaving for Paris this Saturday.  I'll be there for three weeks.  I'm attending language school at Alliance Francaise.  Yikes!  I don't remember much French at all.  But, the good news is . . . I plan to have lot's of great meals in Paris.  I will send you details, pictures and a few recipes (I hope).  Takin' my Longhorn boots.  A lot of French folks talk to me when they see my boots, at least that has been my experience.  We all know that Texas is its own country.  Talk to you then!