December 30 2024: Geneva
Greetings –
We managed to squeeze in a short visit with Emma who came to the hotel and it was nice to catch up.
Although Mike still is not completely better, we decided that some time outside the ‘rehab center’ (La Reserve Resort and Spa) might be invigorating. I had already decided that I was going to take the train into town, but at the last minute, Mike decided to join—thinking some exercise (walking) could be beneficial. So, following brunch, we ventured out into what the meteorologists said was a sunny day although cold… but that sun is quite elusive and in reality, it was yet again a typical Geneva grey day. It was also in the 30s. But we walked to the train (about 5 minutes) and went three stops to the Central Geneva Station where numerous trains going to and coming from diverse distant places converge. We had decided to head to a photo exhibit called “The Deadly Beauty of Cinema.” The exhibit, hanging on the walls of a former movie theater in downtown Geneva which is now undergoing a big transformation into a mixed use building that will include a cinema, included about 50 large-scale color photos depicting abandoned, reused/rededicated, and other movie theater buildings from about 10 countries, including the US (California and Texas), Cuba, France, Italy, Switzerland, and more. It was a good exhibit, well put together with minimum text but enough to understand the demise of the traditional movie theater.
From there we walked to the national bank. Turned out that I had brought with me about 200 Swiss francs that I had accumulated on previous visits but had never used because using a card is soooo much easier. But when I tried to use the francs the other day (thinking I might as well get rid of them as I am less and less likely to use them in the coming years), I was told that these were “old” francs, and no one can take them except the bank. Apparently, Switzerland periodically creates “new” (and better) currency (without changing value) and the old bills need to be exchanged for the new ones. My bills were from 2021. The new ones are smaller, don’t have pictures of any people, and are sort of plasticized. We walked over two bridges across narrow stretches of the Rhone to get to the bank and in a few minutes, I had fresh new Swiss franc bills.
We then strolled a bit, intending to see what might have been an interesting exhibit about urban spaces, but it was closed… did some window shopping, saw a parade, and finally walked back to the train to go three stops and walk four minutes to be back at the hotel. Saw the shoes in the picture and figured they’d be great for me (NOT!)
One piece of serendipity I forgot to mention yesterday. We had taken a taxi to visit with Elizabeth and we gave the address to the driver. As we approached the house, the driver whose English was awkward suddenly said “house of Julia, house of Julia”… and we realized somehow, he knew that Julia had grown up in that house. We tried to explain with our limited French and his limited English that Julia no longer lived there, but her mother was still there. We then determined that somehow, he knew Julia or he had a friend who knew Julia. We got his name and mentioned this to Julia, who thought the whole episode was pretty funny. She hadn’t seen him in more than 20 years; she crossed with him when she was in high school and had a retail job over Xmas and he, too, was working in the same shop! Switzerland is small, Geneva is very small, and Carouge is tiny…. So I’m sure these kinds of things happen often. But it was truly serendipitous for us to wind up in a taxi whose driver knew Mike’s niece!
Tonight we ate at the hotel’s other restaurant—Chinese (which is odd in Geneva since there is not much of a Chinese population). So, we were suspect, but we kept hearing over and again that this restaurant holds a Michelin star and that it is very special. Well, I’d give it a 4 on a scale of 1 to 10. We have three favorite Chinese restaurants in Oakland/Berkeley which I’d give a 10 when compared to this and prices would easily be half. Mike chose very mild dishes, including your basic wonton soup and a noodles dish. He says the soup was lukewarm and was just your basic wonton soup that you could get anywhere. I had something called red rice roll with shrimp as a starter. It was good, but certainly not “great;” I had a Szechuan beef dish with the “special rice” and again it was good, but nothing to write home about. There was a little starter that the restaurant provided to everyone—a little shrimp wonton which was definitely overcooked and again not hot enough. But it was good that Mike at least ate something…
I spent about four hours on the phone before dinner dealing with our various hotel cancellations and the cancelation of our pre-paid new years eve dinner in Bulgaria. The plane flights were easy to cancel and get “credits” so we had done that on Friday. We had also started to cancel hotels on Friday and then hit all sorts of snags. After stating to the Munich hotel that since they would not cancel the reservation (with a refund), I told them that we were going to have other people stay in our room—and that we were contacting a homeless shelter to provide three good nights of sleep to two clients, the reservation manager (who stated “we accept everyone into our hotel”) somehow seemed to figure out how to cancel the reservation without charging anything to our credit card. We still need to show medical documents to the Sofia hotel, but that seems to be able to work. And for the New Years Eve Dinner which had to be prepaid and where the manager was absolutely unwilling to move at all on the pre-payment—we have contacted two NGOs and offered the dinner to two staff members. We have not yet heard from them, and I fear they are off for the holiday, so we don’t know what will happen there. These were all very uncomfortable and angry calls on all sides.
Hoping Mike perks up tomorrow.
All the best-
Fern
December 29, 2024 At the “Rehab Center”
Geneva, Switzerland
Happy Day Before the Day Before—
Thanks for all the kind words about our health situations. I am fine and Mike is a lot better than he was on the 26th. Almost back to normal.
But all of this changed our travel picture: We are still in Geneva but at an upscale “resort” located about 20 minutes from Geneva’s downtown. It’s important to remember that Geneva is a really small city, with a population that is less than half that of Oakland. But it is the home of the highest number of international organizations in the world, making it a global city. And of course it is a large financial center where lots of wealth management takes place at non-publicly listed banks and private banks, and there are also a lot of foreign-owned banks as well. Given my vast knowledge (or lack thereof) of the financial world, I can only say that it sounds a lot like money laundering and non-taxable funds, and that every time we are here we are struck by the cost of living and the obvious wealth in the region. The larger metropolitan area has a population of a little over 1 million.
And Switzerland has time and again decided against becoming part of the European Union. And despite many different reasons, most people say it’s because Switzerland is “too rich and too stable to want to join.” Instead, Switzerland has some kind of “special relationship” or “special status” which seems to work for Switzerland, and I assume that it works “well enough” for the EU. But I’ve heard other reasons as well: the Swiss can call elections on issues several times a year and some worry being in the EU could constrain that form of direct democracy; immigration concerns related to peoples’ free movement within EU countries and the impact on wages; Switzerland’s funding within the EU would force it to pay more than it would get back in services and programs; Switzerland doesn’t see itself as having a security problem given its geographic location; and Switzerland’s desire to be independent and neutral.
Anyway, back to our situation. We are now comfortably ensconced at our rehab center (aka La Reserve Hotel and Spa), a luxury resort that is about 20 minutes from downtown (by train or car). It’s located on about 10 acres of landscaped property on the shores of Lake Geneva. There are two restaurants (one is Michelin star) and one additional lunch place that is in the health spa. There are two pools (one indoors), lots of spa treatments (or so I am told), and diverse sports options. Obviously being winter (and pretty cold—between 30 and 40 degrees), I assume many of those sports options are only for the hardiest. La Reserve has a safari theme (get it “La Reserve!”) so all the art/paintings and photos hanging on the walls are of animals in the wild. And throughout there are other indications of this theme, like on the glasses and the leopard patterned carpeting. It’s a bit dated in the plan and furnishings (not at all poorly maintained; in fact everything is impeccable; but the design is sort of 20-years-old and the hotel isn’t that up-to-date technologically, but they compensate in other ways).
For example, after returning to our room last night after dinner, during turndown they coiled all of our many electronic cords that were dangling everywhere, with little leather “straps” to make them neat. And at my computer was a little packet that held a cloth to clean the screen of my computer!
We arrived mid-afternoon yesterday after visiting with Elizabeth (Mike’s sister-in-law) which was the reason we were stopping in Geneva and why we come pretty much annually. She’s really been under the weather (some kind of bug) for more than a week but seems to be on the mend, but not yet up to her normal state. We had a chance to catch up and drop off gifts for the family, but didn’t linger so that Elizabeth could rest. We had hoped to have some time with Emma/Hem and Finn (niece, husband, and son) who live in London but who had been skiing in the alps over Christmas, but we all crossed in transit. Emma will be staying on in Geneva so we will try to connect in the next day or so.
Oh yes, the weather… Whatever app you look at for the weather in Geneva it shows bright sun… but it is quite overcast. Perhaps that is winter sun here in Geneva. At least no rain. I’m using the day to catch up on work and prepare for next Maui trip and interviews. It’s sort of a good transition moment—no need to do any touring as we’ve been to Geneva so many times… so it is a very very pleasant and probably much needed R&R with great food and pleasant surroundings.. and we are sort of ignoring this wildlife theme… even a Christmas decorated glass elephant… still rather strange.
Let’s see… the other photos above include the giant chess and checkers games (about 10 sets) outside the restaurant Kiosque des Bastions where we had dinner (but only ate a few bites because of stomach concerns) on Friday night…. One more shot from Le Trein Bleu … just because it is so damn photogenic… and the tree with Xmas messages on the streets of Carouge (where Elizabeth lives and where Julia and Emma grew up). For those interested, Carouge is a little hamlet at the edge of Geneva proper. It used to be its own town but is now a district of Geneva. It’s quite quaint and supposedly modeled after Nice, but many Swiss say it is the “Greenwich Village of Geneva” because it has a lot of boutiques and artisan studios—but it is a very sanitized, romanticized miniature of New York’s Greenwich Village; In any case Carouge is quite sweet.
That’s it for today.
Oh, the other change in plans is that we will now fly home from Geneva, several days earlier than we would have had we been in Sofia.
See you stateside in 2025.
Fern
PS – Will write again, for the foodies among you, after we try the Michelin star restaurant and if we do anything interesting beyond lounging around here.
Day Seven Paris: Septième Jour; Christmas Eve Day
Joyeux Noël et joyeuse Hannukah…
Greetings from somewhere between Paris and Geneva on board TGV fast train.
This note is from yesterday, December 25 and I doubt that I will be sending any note tonight since (other than dinner) most of the day is being spent in transit… Hotel to Gare de Lyon; TGV to Geneva; transit to Geneva hotel, etc. But I will try to send just a little photo spread of Le Trein Bleu at the Gare Lyon station… later tonight.
Yesterday (December 25/ Christmas Day) we started out early to catch the train to Angoulême, to spend Christmas Day and dinner with Julien’s family who are from this small city (approx 200,000 people) and live in the outskirts, about 15 minutes from the center— in the countryside. [To get you oriented and know who is who—Julien is married to Julia, Mike’s niece. They have three children and live in Geneva. where Julia grew up. Julien’s aunt is Katerine and his mother is Joelle.]
Because plans for Christmas were up in the air for a while, and we only confirmed that we would come to Angoulême a few days ago, and because it was Christmas and everyone is traveling somewhere, we were unable to get the fast train from Paris (which would have taken about 1.5 hours). Instead, we needed to take the train to Bordeaux and change trains in order to get to Angoulême. So the trip took about three hours and 15 minutes. We left Paris where the mist was still strong and arrived in Angoulême where it was quite sunny and a bit warmer than Paris.
Christmas dinner was at Julienne’s aunt Katherine’s house; Christmas Eve had been at Joelle’s house, but we missed that one. For those who have been following this travel blog for decades, you know that we come to Geneva almost annually and then generally travel elsewhere after the Christmas holiday. This year everyone’s plans were up in the air and it was difficult to coordinate. So we decided to head to Geneva to see Mike’s sister-in-law (Elizabeth) but also to see Julia and her family (three children: Louis who is 7; Ella who is 5; and Sienna who is 1), which meant heading to Angoulême for Christmas Day. Over the years we have met much of Julien’s family—at Christmases and at the wedding. But we had never been to Angoulême (and in retrospect probably should have come for a few days–as Julien kept insisting–rather than just Christmas; but the day was good.
Katerine lives (part-time, I think) in a sprawling “homestead” with several stone buildings built originally about 900 years ago (and renovated on the inside numerous times). The property is exquisite and includes a landscaped garden in the English tradition with hedges that form a maze of sorts. There is a lovely terrace and a large field and a swimming pool. Inside the stone house are about five bedrooms, sitting rooms, living room(s), dining room, and numerous foyers, and a wonderful large, modern kitchen. We were given a tour of the house by Margaux (one of Katerine’s grandchildren who is about 8, I think. She doesn’t speak English so the tour was translated for us by Ella who is 5 and Louis who is 7). They had a definite plan for how to see the house which started from the gardens and around the outside and then the inside, including all the bedrooms and bathrooms.
After wine/champagne and snacks, and a bit of catching up on how everyone is doing—and the kids opening tons of presents—we moved on to dinner—which seemed like a classic French Christmas dinner with foie gras and tasty small plates with meat; a game dish, potatoes au gratin, and lots of other selections. This was followed by a selection of local cheeses and then a wonderful chocolate covered chestnut dessert…. And ofcourse lots of wine.
Louis (Mike’s great nephew ?) and his cousin Matteus (who is a few years older) engaged in a pretty hot game of gin rummy; the girls were busy drawing and using lots of new art tools that were part of the barrage of presents.
We left by train (thankfully, the fast train) at 9 :30 and were at our hotel in Paris by about 11 :30 pm—tired and stuffed— in time to pack up and get ready for the train to Geneva in the early afternoon.
Happy Happy-
Fern
Greetings from the TGV from Paris to Angoulême on Christmas Day. PHOTOS TO COME
Spent a jam-packed Christmas Eve day in misty, moody, drizzly Paris. We have been to Paris many times in the winter and the weather is always very unpredictable. We’ve been here when it’s been beautiful but cold; cold and snow; rainy; sunny; and more. This year it’s been overcast nearly every day, but sometimes wonderful bursts of sun at odd moments. We are headed to Angoulême to have Christmas dinner with family but will return to Paris tonight (very late). Angoulême is supposed to be sunny all day and a bit warmer than Paris (probably in the low 50s.)
Anyway, we got our full value of our day passes on the Paris Metro yesterday as we must have been on about 12 different trains over the course of the day.
We began by heading to see the Lavirotte building, a fantastic circa 1900 apartment building in the 7th arrondissement—a wonderful example of Art Nouveau architecture. The front façade is decorated with all sorts of sculptures and tiles. Would have loved to see what the inside lobby and the apartments are like. The neighborhood gets wonderful little hidden peeks at the Eiffel Tower, especially of the base of the tower from the sidewalk. It was a bit eerie given that the top of the Tower just disappeared given the dense mist and cloud cover.
From there we headed to see the Samaritaine Building, a luxury department store affectionately referred to by Parisians as “La Samar.” It was built in 1925 and boasts a riveted steel frame supporting a huge glass pyramid in the Art Deco style. It’s a dramatic statement with the whole store (5 floors, I think) sitting under the glass roof with a café and bar at the top level. The escalators are in the center. There is some kind of mural that surrounds the underside of the roof that has a golden-yellow hue, so the entire store seems sunny and bright, despite the rain. Didn’t look at what the store sold, but I think it’s probably like Galleries Lafayette except focused only on the higher end brands, so the clientele is smaller and wealthier. Maybe Galleries Lafayette is like Nordstrom and Samaritaine is like Bergdorf Goodman. It was pretty quiet given that it was the day before Christmas. By the way, the story of the creation of La Samar is quite interesting including the construction of a pump house in 1607; the opening of a small shop in 1870; a marriage between the owner of the shop and the head female retail assistant in the dressmaking department of Le Bon Marche (a competitor); closure of the store due to fire concerns; rebuilding; and transfer of ownership to a global corporation.
From there we took the Metro to the Gare de l’Est and Chateau d’eau neighborhood which was a far cry from La Samar. The neighborhood is an ethnic stew of Indians and Pakistanis, other diverse Asian cultures… Here one can find haircuts for just nine Euros and lots of street food, spice shops, and assorted tiny shops where you can buy almost anything you can think of—cheap. There are also hundreds of little restaurants that line the streets and the famous “passages” (covered walkway/alleyways).
Then we were off to the Palais des Glaces which I really wanted to see. It’s an amazing structure that was rebuilt in 1924 and has been used for a variety of performances from circuses to theater (and especially this winter because of the centennial of the reconstruction). In the winter it is used as an ice-skating rink. We walked in the rain for about 1/3 of a mile after getting out of the metro. But we couldn’t find it. Then we checked the address and ostensibly we were right in front of it. Alas, our research was not so thorough. We were standing in front of the “petite” Palais Glaces which has a theater (small) on the second floor where comedy groups perform along with upcoming artists. The actual building/rink was about a 20-minute metro ride in the opposite direction. We might have done it, but it was raining and cold and getting dark, and we had dinner reservations for Christmas Eve.. Moreover, Mike’s back was bothering him. So, a bit disappointed we decided to take a taxi back to the hotel to recharge before heading to dinner. (Next Xmas, we’ll make the Grand Palais a priority!)
After arriving back at the hotel, we headed to Le Christine for dinner. Le Christine is a small restaurant on a very tiny street at 1 Rue Christine. We had assumed when we made the reservation (which was done very recently after realizing that we would not be going to Geneva for Xmas Eve/Christmas Day) that Le Christine was the restaurant inside Le Relais Christine located on 3 Rue Christine. We knew this very wonderful hotel because about 20 years ago we stayed there for New Years Eve and remembered it well and loved it. But it turns out that the hotel doesn’t do dinner and Restaurant Le Christine has no relation to Relais Christine (except perhaps that they are adjacent to one another). The restaurant was fine and only a 6-minute walk from our hotel; in fact, the dinner was quite good (although overpriced—but then again it was Christmas), but the service was pretentious.
After dinner we headed by Metro to the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysee to stroll and see the wonderful Christmas lighting along the boulevard. It was tasteful and fun, with lots of Parisian families doing the same stroll we did. We walked about 2/3 of the way to Place Concorde, along the Champs Elysee and then popped into the Metro to head back to the hotel. By then it was about midnight, and we had a really early and busy next day to tackle (Christmas Day). More on that tomorrow.
Happy holidays
Fern
Paris to Geneva by TGV… And Then…
Greetings on December 27 with update from December 26
Greetings on December 27 with update from December 26.
Hope you had a good Christmas and are enjoying Hannukah.
We began the day (December 26th) packing and heading to the train from Paris (Gare De Lyon) to Geneva (where we were to stay just two days (visiting family) and then head to Bulgaria and finally Munich. Mike had felt queasy for a few days, and in fact, didn’t have any wine at Xmas dinner. But yesterday (12/26) by the time we got to the train station he was feeling pretty miserable with stomach pains. Still, we managed to stop at Le Tren Bleu at the station for a salad and dessert. Le Train Bleu is a restaurant steeped in history. It began in 1900 as a buffet at the time of the Universal Exhibition and later became the very elegant Le Train Bleu restaurant. It was designed by Marius Toudoire, the architect who also designed the train station clock tower and facade. While we tried to eat simply given the stomach issues, we just couldn’t pass up lunch in that amazing space.
We boarded the train fairly smoothly except that we had more baggage than usual, because we were lugging Xmas presents around, so it was a little tough boarding and deboarding (especially since Geneva was not the last stop of the train, so we needed to move fast). We were in first class on the train, so they served lunch—looked very good, but by then we were both apprehensive about eating anything rich…and the French don’t know anything but rich foods. I nibbled; Mike declined.
And about four hours later we were in Geneva.
We checked into the Tiffany Hotel, where we have stayed many times before. It’s centrally located and easy to get to Carrouge where Elizabeth lives. But it’s definitely not the lap of luxury. Rooms are very small and cramped and it’s sort of dark. And by now Mike was definitely sick, and I was beginning to feel nauseous. It was about 7:00pm and we decided not to have dinner. Julia, who is still in Angoulême suggested we go to a clinic to be checked out. Within an hour we decided that was a good idea. Well… we have now experienced the Swiss medical system!
At Julia’s suggestion, we went to a “private” clinic (there are also public ones) with an ER (sort of like our Urgent Care places but better equipped. Naturally it was immaculate, well appointed, very “white.” At one point I left the waiting room to go to the bathroom and when I returned Mike was gone and my purse was just sitting on a chair (unattended). I tried to figure out where Mike was and then someone came to tell me he was in an exam room because he had fainted — twice… the second time he was momentarily unconscious. They said I could go to his room once they finished some tests.
In the meantime, they also checked me in for some kind of meeting with a doctor, but later decided all I needed was some anti-nausea pills.
When I got to Mike’s room, he was in hospital garb with lots of tubes —- nutrition, dehydrating liquids, pain killers. They had done blood work, EKG, and assorted other tests. And they decided they wanted to do a CT scan. The good news is that Mike’s internal organs are in good shape. So, they finally decided it was stomach virus, and I probably had the same thing only less severe. They also gave Mike anti-nausea pills. By the time we left, it was after midnight and we needed to go to a pharmacy to have the prescription filled. Before leaving they hit us with the bill (they had told us immediately upon arrival that our American insurance would not be accepted). When it came time for the CT scan they reminded us that we’d have to pay for it and we could decide not to do the scan. They also said the scan would be expensive. Mike joked with the doctor about whether it would cost more or less than a Mercedes… She said she didn’t really know the cost but probably $1,000. Well, the bill for all of Mike’ tests came to $4,000 which we needed to pay on the spot; fortunately they took American Express. Then we taxied to the 24-hour pharmacy near the hospital to get our medication ($80). We didn’t realize the pharmacy would be very busy so I asked the taxi to wait for us, so that Mike could sit in the car. Well, the pharmacy was very crowded, so the taxi had to wait about 20 minutes with the meter going.
Turned into a mighty expensive day. But the good news is that we are on the mend. Still being careful with what we eat… and not eating much. And Mike is sleeping a lot.
But all of this has pushed us to make some big changes to our travel plans. We decided we were in no condition to fly today to Bulgaria and that we needed a few days to recoup. So, we will stay in Geneva for the next four days but relocate to an upscale resort-style hotel on the Lake—about 20-30 minutes from downtown Geneva — La Reserve. And then we will fly directly from Geneva to SFO on January 1. It will be a lot different from our planned New Years in Sofia, but I think it makes sense. Maybe some massages? It looks lovely and Julia and Julien have stayed there many times.
Our visit with Elizabeth will turn out to be some kind of lunch or tea… She has been sick for the past week, so had we gone to Bulgaria we probably wouldn’t even have even seen her.
More tomorrow.
Think health!
Fern
Day Five Paris: Cinquième Jour
Greetings from Saint Germain area –
Woke up to a clear and sunny day, which we hope will be our new norm.
We got off to a late start and had to pack up since we were relocating to the Saint Germain area (Metro-Odeon). Had a quiet breakfast in another café which also seemed to be populated by the 35 and under crowd, several with babies.
Once we finished packing, we took a taxi from Montmartre to Saint Germain. It took nearly 45 minutes to go less than four miles in the taxi. Traffic is really a mess in Paris. Add to that the Christmas shoppers and window shoppers as well as tourists and bicycles and you’ve got solid gridlock—everywhere. But the metro is pretty packed also. We would have had to deal with suitcases on busy trains, so we taxied. We had a long list of things we wanted to do today, but then Mike was feeling under the weather—hopefully just a cold brought on by walking in the rain all day yesterday. We’ll see how he does tonight. That said, we may pick up a Covid test tonight… just to make triply sure. (But I’m pretty sure it’s a cold)… So Mike stayed in the hotel room and I ventured out. Good thing we changed hotels (which was always part of the plan). Hotel Le Relais—Saint Germain is small but tasteful (albeit a little inconsistent in the décor. Our room is large with lots of extra space to maneuver. We have a full-size couch, as well as a circular glass-top table (which is what I am using to write to you at this moment). It’s a far cry from the cramped, dark room we had at the Montmartre hotel. And we have a really big bathroom.
So, while Mike went to sleep, I headed by Metro to see the famous Christmas decorations at Galeries Lafayette (and to finish last minute gift shopping). The decorations did not disappoint. Galeries Lafayette is all decked out with a huge tree-like form designed in the style of a chandelier. I am told it has 20,000 programmable lights and a fiber-optic lighting effect at the top. I managed to squeeze in with the hordes of people entering the store and see the “tree” from both the main floor and the better views from the third floor. I totally got lost on the 5th floor as I tried to get the missing gifts. Galeries Lafayette is 750,000 sq feet (main store) and there are some additional stores for housewares, etc. adjacent. The store is 130-years-old and for nearly as many years it has been creating a hub of excitement with its Xmas themes. But the real highlight of the store is the neo-Byzantine stained-glass dome which is 43 meters tall (141 feet). That is what is worth seeing over and again.
From there I walked to the Passage Vivienne which is a wonderful set of enclosed walkways roofed over with glass. It too was very decorated (tastefully, I might add) for the holidays. I strolled the Passage… and then walked to the Bourse Metro station and headed back to the hotel.
Mike seemed to be in better shape, so we headed to dinner at a restaurant that was about a 15-minute walk from the hotel: Les Parisiennes—at the Hotel Pavilon Faubourg. It’s a quiet, upscale place where we figured Mike could find something agreeable to eat. And although it is close to a lot of the hustle and bustle of Saint Germain, it is on a small street and is a peaceful place which is what we needed. We shared carpaccio as a starter and then the vegetarian main course which was a melt in your mouth array of vegetables inside a puff pastry. Naturally it was all dripping in butter… but excellent. And we shared an order of the sweetbreads (one of my favorites).. Then we walked back to the hotel… I had many other stops I had hoped to make today and will try to get more in tomorrow. I did want to stop at the d’Orsay but didn’t get tickets in advance and they were booked straight through until January 20.
It’s been nice to see a few new things and to retrace old steps. Not sure how many times I’ve been to Paris, but it’s been many… and like NY it never seems to get old. What’s really nice is that I don’t need to go to the main sites since I’ve seen all of those places.. So just strolling without a plan works well. Tomorrow will be the last real day here as we will head to Angoulême in the southwest of France on Wednesday, returning late that night (just a day trip) and then head to Geneva on Thursday. Fortunately, the weather forecast does not include rain for the next six or seven days. We had our fill of that yesterday.
Good night on the evening before Christmas Eve. Bonne nuit la veille du réveillon de Noël —- not sure that is really the correct way to say this. And on the night before the night before the start of Hanukkah.
Merry Merry and Happy Happy
Fern
PS – about 15,000 steps today/ 6.5 miles. It’s adding up, but then again so are the calories being gained from French food.
Quatrième Jour Paris: Day Four
Notre Dame dans toute sa splendeur — December 22, 2024
Greetings from rainy Paris – Il pleut et il pleut et il pleut et il pleut !! While tomorrow is supposed to be sunny, today it just rained and rained.
After brunch in a small cafe populated by what appeared to be university students, we headed by Metro to Ile de la Cite to see the newly repaired and renovated and very cleaned up Notre Dame Cathedral. It was very smart of us to have booked the reservations because as we arrived we could see a very very long line snaking around the front plaza. Probably about 700 people standing and cueing up in the rain, which by then was actually pretty strong. Along the route from the metro stop to Notre Dame we caved in and bought some chintzy plastic touristy plastic domed umbrellas with illustrations of the Eifel Tower along the bottom rim. Good thing, because as we walked the last few meters it was a downpour.
Hard to say much about the “new” Notre Dame…. First it’s totally packed with tourists. Hundreds of thousands of selfies being captured each minute, I’d guess. Throngs of people trying to capture the moment ?? It’s a bit strange to see it all shined up like this; everything very white and crisp. After all it is 860 years old. Not sure how people who are religiously affiliated feel about it. Somehow it didn’t feel as much like a sacred space, which I think it did on prior visits when—you sensed the history and there were moments without throngs of people. They’ve also added lots of chandeliers with fake candles and flame shaped bulbs which were throwing off a lot of light which enhanced the brightness of the space. So that too took away from the more mysterious feeling of past visits. I think they could have done a better job with the lighting using some kind of hidden reflective lights,
Another touch of contemporary life, there are credit card tap machines all over so that you can pay for your votive candles without the need for a cashier or carrying cash. While the candles are $2 the prompt on the screen lets you pay whatever you want, and has pre-set amounts from $10 to $50. Lots of people were buying candles. Not us.
Still, it was an amazing feat to use the same methods of construction and repair that were used centuries ago. Probably would have been good to have some kind of model and photographs that depicted “then” and “now.” The restoration has taken five years which seems like a miracle in and of itself given the devastation caused by the 2019 fire. Most of the roof and spire of the cathedral were destroyed and only about one third of the roof remained. The remnants of the roof and spire fell on the stone vault that was underneath, which is really the ceiling of the cathedral; some of the art suffered smoke damage.
Construction of the original cathedral began in the 12th century… and over these many centuries the structure had many compromising structural issues including dry-rot, water leakage in the spires, and problems with the stonework brought about by age and pollution. Indeed there was reconstruction work going on in the spires when the fire started.
We spent about 90 minutes checking out Notre Dame and then faced the rain again. We decided to duck into some place to get a snack and to stay dry. Many other people had the same idea so we eventually wound up in a pretty awful Chinese restaurant and had bowls of wonton soup. At least it was hot. And the rain did begin to lessen as we walked to the metro and back to the hotel.
Tonight we walked to Poni for dinner. It’s just about a half mile from the hotel. Very casual, on two floors connected by a spiral staircase ! Food was better than predicted. We had ceviche followed by a (much bigger than expected) salad with chunks of goat cheese slightly breaded, arugula and other greens, black cherries, apricots, cherry tomatoes, and other vegetables. Had we known the salad was going to be that large, we would have ended the meal then. But we had also ordered the duck to share. So we were more than full when we finished eating. Our waiter, by the way, loves California—especially Santa Cruz (his dream location). And his son wants desperately to go to Lycee Francais in San Francisco. That led to some conversation about American politics.
We walked along the decorated streets in Montmartre back to the hotel—mostly on Rue de Martyrs which did a really nice job of adding lights across the facing sidewalks.
I’m going to end now as we need to pack up in order to transfer to our next Paris hotel in Saint Germain.
More from Saint Germain tomorrow.
Fern
Troisième Jour Paris: Day Three
Bonjour en cette nuit pluvieuse à Paris – Hello on this rainy night in Paris—
OK… so today was really rainy, but not very cold (in the 40s and 50s; actually the temperatures have been quite pleasant and while we’ve had some overcast days, this was the first day where the rain really got in the way. But we persevered. Today was Mike’s birthday so we headed off to a pretty swanky brunch place requiring a 30-minute walk… uphill about 200 meters to the Hotel Particulier, which is located in a somewhat secretive setting requiring entry by reservation and through a gate. The restaurant is located inside a very small hotel with a very big reputation—just 5 suites I’m told and getaway places for those who can afford the prices (I didn’t get the price sheet). Supposedly, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Cameron Diaz and others of that ilk have stayed in one of these five rooms. I thought it might be snooty, but the restaurant was quite charming and staff was very friendly. It’s nestled in a hidden alley that you could easily miss—looks like a private entrance into a park, which it sort of is. The house/hotel is the former residence of the Hermes family. It must be beautiful in the spring when you can dine outside when the gardens are all in bloom.
We lingered over the set three-course brunch menu and of course began with some champagne for Mike and Lillet for me.
Before we left our two-hour brunch, I went downstairs to use the bathroom. Inside my private toilet was a brass plaque (see photo) that said “Brad Pitt pissed here”…. See not snooty at all ! Naturally I had to peek into the other stalls and found that Cameron Diaz and Jacques Chirac had also pissed there ! So much for formality. I expect to return again to see a brass plaque stating “that “Fern Tiger pissed here.”
But, while downstairs, I also checked out one of the private reception rooms and adjoining gardens and some other women who were also having brunch were looking around as well. They asked if I could take a photo of the three of them. I obliged and asked where they were from (since they were speaking American English). They said “California”.. I said “Me too, where ?” and they replied “Bay Area”.. I said “Me too, where specifically ?” And they said “Oakland.” That was pretty serendipitous,. But it got even more so. Turned out that the three women are long time friends and I think have similar age children who are also friends. One of the kids was doing a semester abroad in Paris and the mother came to visit. The other moms and their children came along for the ride and to have fun. One of the women turns out to be a developer or development consultant who works with nonprofits. Somehow it came up (all of this conversation is happening just outside these toilets) that I was married to an architect and the developer said “Oh I know all the architects in the Bay Area, who is he ?” I said Mike’s name and of course she knew him and has done some projects with his firm. Eagerly, she came upstairs to the restaurant to say hi to Mike (see photo) which she had someone at her table take. Small world ?? Then she asked for my email so she could send the photo to me (not sure why she didn’t get Mike’s email and send it directly to him). Anyway, once I gave my name she said… “Oh I know about you and I think you are on my database.” (Whatever database that is) I really don’t know who she is. But it got even more crazy. The women asked if we were only going to be in Paris or if we were traveling. When I said we were headed to Bulgaria, one of them has a good friend married to a Bulgarian and is reaching out to get restaurant recommendations for us.
After that episode we walked in the rain (no umbrellas, only hoods) to see the sculpture of the man walking through the wall, which is also in Montmartre and just about two blocks from the Hotel Particulier. It’s by Jean Marais from the late 1980s. It’s based on a story written in the 1940s by Marcel Ayme and the location of the sculpture is on Place Marcel Ayme. The story (based on my quick research after seeing the sculpture) is about a man who finds that he can walk through walls. The hand that is sticking out from the wall is super shiny while the rest of the sculpture has aged and turned dark. This is due to the fact that so many people touch the hand. Perhaps, like Mike, they are trying to pull him out of the wall.
We continued our walk and found ourselves at the Musee de Montmartre… Those of you who know me, know I am not a big fan of museums and don’t like to spend a lot of time inside museums while traveling. But it was raining… Anyway, the Montmartre Museum is delightful, set in the charming 17th century house and grounds that was the residence over time for many artists, writers, and other creatives including Renoir, Dufy, and Suzanne Valadon. The permanent collection includes the story of Montmartre—from its days filled with mills and vineyards to the urbanization of the area and the annexation of the area into the city of Paris. Over the years this place became the hangout and residence for many artists and cafes and caberets and the population of Montmarte grew… and the area was seen as the bohemian part of Paris.
The museum has a large collection of the posters and actual publications of “Le Chat Noir” — a weekly literary magazine that included information about the nightclub of the same name and also political satire. The club became very popular and moved twice to larger quarters. The Salon of Incoherent Arts actually began at the club. All sorts of famous writers, poets, artists gathered at the club and also contributed to the journal. Neither the club nor the journal had much longevity (15 years ?). A side note— One of the Chat Noir posters is shown prominently in Breakfast at Tiffanys. Despite the rain (or because of it), we strolled around the museum/house.
And then we trekked back to the hotel… to get ready to have dinner. We (I) selected Chantoiseau which would have been a 15-minute walk (uphill) from our hotel. Alas, we wimped out and took a taxi since the rain wasn’t letting up. Chantoiseau is a small place with a very simple interior—maybe seats 30 ? Food was great and service matched. For the foodies—we started with oysters which came with some kind of vinaigrette and a tiny piece of kiwi sitting in each shell. The kiwi gave a little sweetness to the vinegar and the oysters were huge and perfect. We also had a second starter –-a sea bream carpaccio which came with some kind of a yogurt with very finely diced herbs and maybe cucumbers and pomegranate seeds… Whatever, it was truly fantastic. Then for main courses we shared the sweetbreads and an entrecote with baby vegetables. Everything was perfect. Since it was Mike’s birthday we didn’t pass on dessert—a lemon tart with some kind of lemon panna cotta (I think).
OK… that’s it. December 21 is over. On to the 22nd.
All the best-
Fern
PARIS DAY 2: Deuxième Jour
Greetings from Paris… in the wee hours—
Today we began our walking days… clocked in at about 15,000 steps and 12 floors. And I can feel it.
We headed to Sacre Coeur, the focal point of Montmartre—a basilica (don’t ask me what the differences are between a cathedral and a basilica and a church) located at the top of the hilly Montmartre neighborhood in the 9th ar. From the dome, which is about 200 meters above the Seine, the basilica overlooks the entire city of Paris and its suburbs. It’s a big attraction and the lines are often very long to get inside. Approaching the basilica is a bit like a circus with various mimes and hawkers selling everything from miniature basilicas to Eiffel Tower key chains, and then there are the singers and performers and those selling crepes on the street. In any case the interior is quite striking (although for me a bit too overrun with commercial signs “advertising” all sorts of events related to the church.
From what I was able to glean from the Internet, while waiting to enter Sacre Coeur, the basilica was first proposed in the late 1800s after the defeat of France and the capture of Napoleon in the Franco Prussian War. Apparently, Napoleon blamed his defeat on France’s moral decline and proposed the formation of a new church dedicated to the “sacred heart” of Jesus. The building was conceived before the outbreak of the Paris Commune, but it wasn’t constructed immediately. And since it was to be built at the highest point in the city, overlooking the area where the Paris Commune began, it remains for some, even today, controversial with politicians on the Left because it symbolizes the reactionary politics of the time.
We took a very circuitous route to get to Sacre Coeur – meandering through narrow alleys and cobblestone streets that are classic Montmartre. We stopped at one of the many Christmas markets, went to see several “passages,” and followed some of the street art that adorns many streets in the area. One big attraction seems to be a giant installation that covers one side of a large building. It’s systematically represents every written/spoken language using many different fonts and handwritten phrases—all of which translate to “I love you.” Being the “city of love” I suppose this is a logical statement. The place is filled with people taking selfies and photos with partners. We skipped the photo op but I did take lots of pictures of others taking pictures of themselves and their sweeties. A bit too schmaltzy for me… but I loved how much attention it got.
We also did a bit of window shopping. And we stopped at Halle Saint Pierre—a wonderful building that houses an art focused book store, a café, a gallery dedicated to “outsider art,” and more. We spent quite a bit of time there and came close to buying a few things, but then realized the difficulty of carrying the stuff back.
Oh, I should mention that we cheated a bit and took the funicular from the base of the church property to the three flights of steps leading to the entry. It’s a one- or two-minute ride. I actually love funiculars. Once we left Sacre Coeur we headed to see the oldest winery (very small) in Paris and that took us on another route back to the hotel where we needed to hustle to freshen up for dinner.
Tonight we headed to 404, a tagine/Moroccan food place that I really like and where I’ve gone numerous times on various visits here. Took the Metro which was quite efficient. The area where 404 is located—on a very narrow street—has lots of ethnic restaurants, all pretty small. We opted for the pastilla (which is a favorite ever since we were in Morocco) followed by a wonderful lamb and apricot tagine. Drank Moroccan wine… and ended with a simple orange salad.
Took the Metro back to the hotel using a different route, and here I am —finishing up this little memoir for today.
We will be in Montmartre for two more days and then we will move to the Saint Germain neighborhood—before heading to Geneva briefly and then on to Sofia. We also decided we would take the train on Christmas Day to Angouleme to have Christmas dinner with our niece and her family. The dinner will be at the home of Julia’s mother-in-law and there will be lots of people from Julien’s side of the family. On the 26th we will head to Geneva to see Mike’s sister-in-law. More on all of that as the days proceed.
Best –
Fern
Paris Day One December 2024
Greetings and Happy Holidays from Paris : Salutations et joyeuses fêtes
After a very hectic 6 weeks — NYC for a family event and to speak about my book at Pratt Institute (hosted by the School of Planning, the Art School, and the City of NY Cultural Affairs and Engagement Commission on November 11); 5 days in Mexico City on the annual girls trip, focused this year on Frida Kahlo; New York State (Columbia County) for the burial of my sister-in-law (a « green burial » in Rhinebeck NY; Thanksgiving ; the Book Launch Party in Oakland on December 4 ; and morew— we headed to Paris (and en route to Sofia, Bulgaria) for our pre-scheduled Christmas trip. It was not easy to finish Xmas shopping and packing, but we did it (sort of).
Flight was (fortunately) uneventful, but when we landed, somehow we got on the « all passport » line instead of the line that is for Brits, Americans, Canadians, Mexicans which moves very quickly. Our line was for passport holders from non-EU countries and not the four countried I just mentioned. I guess these other people needed visas or something and woulde re3quire more time. After not making any headway on our line, we decided to go all the way back to the beginning of the process and join that American/Brit, etc. line. Made it through very quickly once we did that. By then we were pretty exhausted and opted for a taxi instead of taking the train which is more our norm.
We arrived on a very grey, drizzly December afternoon. Haviing been to Paris many times, we opted to stay in the 9th arrondissement in Montmartre—an area we have never explored in depth. We’ll stay in Montmartre for four nights and then shift to the Saint Germain area where we have stayed numerous times. Anyway, we are at Hotel Rochechouart which looked better on the website than in person, but i twill be fine and is well located within the heart of the neighborhood. The building is from the 1920s and has a lovely Art Deco facade and an amazing rooftop (which in summer has a pretty buzzing bar) with views of both Sacre Couer and the Eifel Tower in the distance. Staff seems friendly and helpful, although when I asked if we could get BBC or any English news programs on the TV, the woman at the desk said «Perhaps this is a good time to practice your French ! » My French is at about the first grade level, having taken it in high school for just one year. So, perhaps in a good way, we will not be exposed to any news (other than on the phone) for a few days. Mostly, the problem with the hotel is that the rooms are painted in fairly dark colors and they are a bit dreary. Then again, we have a little terrace with good views. Tomorrow we will explore Montmartre as we « hike » to Sacre Couer through the winding streets of the neighborhood.
The sun broke through the clouds at about 3 :00 and everything seemed to brighten, as people emerged on the streets and later Christmas lights seemed to appear everywhere. We walked to a little bistro-like restuarant called Le Bon Georges, a few blocks from our hotel, for our 10 :00 pm reservation (When in Paris, eat when the Parisiennes eat !) Turned out to be a wonderful restaurant with a lot of locals and a very friendly and accommodating staff. Reading menus in another language is always challenging as they have all these descriptive words that are hard to figure out.
We ordered a really nice Pinotage from South Africa along with two starters : foie gras which came with wonderful toasted fruit breads (think apricots and raisins and almonds) and a delicate chutney on the side. The portion was huge. Given that it is illegal to sell foie gras in California (or so I believe) we decided to take advantage of the ease of getting it here in France. I don’t have any problem with the ban back home; in fact it made it ever more special to have it here. We followed that with a wonderful dressed green salad topped with (barely) hard-boiled eggs in a homemade mayonnaise. For the main course we opted for the pork (cochon) which was served in a mustard sauce with tiny lentils. We just couldn’t pass on dessert so we had the famous Paris Brest with almond paste and way too much wonderful cream. (By the way, we almost ordered the duck which sounded great, but the waiter kept reminding us that sometimes you find small pellets in the duck because it is so fresh and the gunshot might still be in the duck.)
We strolled back to the hotel and will call it a night, but first we need to go on line to make our third valiant attmpt to get tickets/reservation to get into Notre Dame. You can only book reservations two days prior to your desired dates and the tickets open up at midnight for the subsequent two days. We had trouble doing this from the states because of the time differences. But now we hop ewe can make it work.
Success ! We have reservations to get inside Notre Dame on Sunday at 2 :00. Not sure how long you’re permitted to stay inside. Guess, since the renovation is so new and its holiday time, lots of people are trying to get inside. It’s free, but you need the reservation or you have to wait in very long lines.
By the waym the photos inclulde Mike looking at the wine « list » which is a giant book ; the view fromn our terrace, Le Bon Georges from the outside and inside, and Sacre Couer from the rooftop of our hotel at about midnight.
All the best— More about Montmartre tomorrow.
Fern
Fern's Travel Notes 