A temps perdu.....

Et nous avons pris les temps de vivre! Merci a Dieu, le temps s'est mis au beau! Time and weather --all embodied in the same word... (In our spare time... And we have made time to enjoy life. Thank God, the weather has changed for the better!)
I write this wanting to give a glimpse of some the places we have been that je ne prends pas de temps to write about! But this connection between time and weather deserves some musing... in a country with a rich agricultural tradition and bounty like France, time and weather are the important and integral parts of the growing cycle... and these are true to their Latin roots of tempus temporis for time and tempestas for weather --although more commonly a storm---and the root of temporary which is from the Latin for seasonal --temporalis. By the way, the same root is for tempero --to control yourself! And thus I will stop here as I have studied Latin and French many years ago, but I am not scholar of linguistics (although it is interesting!). The only remaining question is one of relevancy as in these days of green house gases and global warming (yes, I am a believer...) these words will have lost connections as the passing of the seasons is not so rhythmic and predictable... maybe the 40 "Immortals" of the Institut de France will need to add a new word to the French language --or time will become like Le President Bush --stuck in denial.
(I know, enough! --he's almost through-- but he's in office for as long as we are in France so he's fair game! And if Obama continues to sound like Bush-Lite in his campaigning, he's fair game too! McCain flew too many sorties, c'est une perte de temps to write about him.)
You will recall that we went to Toulouse to make the foie gras and duck confit. Well, we also visited Toulouse and some the towns in SW of France, Carcassone, Cordes-sur-Ciel, Albi... so let me continue the story...
This is the Languedoc (Langue d'Oc) the area of the Oc language which is French but with Spanish mixed in!
Toulouse is the large city --remember Airbus?-- along the Garonne river and it is built predominantly out of red brick so that it takes on a rosy hue at sunset.





The basilica of St. Sernin was the most famous of the churches on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (see the March 5th post for refreshing the memory!) It is a Romanesque church dating back to the 12th and 13th century (Architects do not cringe). Basically these are a single nave with heavy exterior walls and barrel vaulting, and as the walls need to hold up this massive structure, there are few and narrow windows. This is rather amazing in these large basilicas; St. Sernin has a nave that is 377 feet long, 210 feet wide, and nearly 70 feet high.


Toulouse along with Albi, Carcassone, and other towns in this area were home to the Cathars, a religious (labeled heretic by the Church) sect that has Eastern roots and believed in a separation between Good --the spiritual world of God-- and Evil --the materialist world of Satan. Man is a spirit caught between the two worlds, constantly seeking "purity". Thus their "Parfaits" (and they also believed in equal rights so there were "Parfaites") lived their in poverty, humility, and patience. The believers, the "Croyants" (and "Croyantes") strove to emulate them. Obviously, this did not sit well with the powerful (and wealthy) clergy and bishops or the Pope. There were several Albigensian crusades against the Cathars, who were the cloth weavers and merchants and supported by the nobility in these towns. The Second Albigensian crusade was lead by the King of France, Louis VIII, who got great support and participation from his associates by promising that the fiefs of the area would be given to them once they were conquered (so... this idea of a war and then no bid contracts for the oil fields has precedence --and undertaken by Le President Bush who confers with our Christian God...) The Dominicans and their Inquisition finished them off... except that they are resurrected as part of the tourist trade in the region.


Next stop, Carcassone, the Cathar fortified town Disneyized by Viollet-le-Duc in 1844. (I will write about Carcassone and Albi in my next "catch-up" piece) Our French friends do not approve of our belittling of Viollet-le-Duc as he probably did save many historical and wonderful places like Carcassone, St. Sernin, Chateau de Vincennes --but did he really have to add that spire to Notre Dame de Paris? In his own words about restoration:
"means to reestablish [a building] to a finished state, which may in fact never have actually existed at any given time."
Disneyworld.

Bruuuce!

Bruce Springsteen played at Parc des Princes last night. We were there! I had purchased the tickets in January as we are big, big Bruce fans and the thought of seeing Bruce, Born in the U.S.A., in Paris, My Hometown, seemed like a fabulous opportunity! And it was!
If you have not seen Bruce Springsteen, and he was accompanied by the E Street Band, you need to know that he has the most energy of any performer that I have ever seen --he wore out the crowd! He was Born to Run! And he has a great time playing his audience as he has that Human Touch.


I knew all of this, and I wanted to see the concert! (the anthropologist in me!) It was an opportunity to see thousands (maybe 20,000??) francais acting like les americains! Well, like Americans in moderation! (I wondered what the Institut de France thinks about French acting like Americans at a concert given by The Boss!) Yes, they do sell beer and hot dogs (but no hot dogs inside!). And there were certainly no all you can eat seats!
Everyone was clapping and singing and Dancing in the Dark and waving (which was different and makes the wave at Fenway seem pathetic --imagine the whole floor of the stadium waving their arms in the same direction in time to the music for the entire song!) I think we should institute a French wave!

We have attended a number of Springsteen concerts at home. I must comment that the crowds in Paris are similar in ages and numbers as in the States at his concerts --as are the ticket prices. However, the quantity of beer consumed (and food) is about 1/1000 of what is consumed at a concert at home. Thus, no sticky stands, no beer spilled on you by the guy behind you who is on his 6th 32 oz. cup, people stayed at their seats, and no drunks shouting out... but everyone was having a great time. (And --going home was civilized, jovial, and organized-- the Metro had extra trains and controlled access to the platforms so there was no overcrowding, and everyone used a ticket... the car behind ours was singing the refrain from Growing Up all the way back!)
Being that Bruce is Bruce, he did give a little political twist as he was playing and the song that he closed with questioned the anti-immigrant sentiments in the US --which is also appropriate in Europe these days-- and spoke about the loss of liberties following 9-11 as he introduced Livin' in the Future. I have always wondered if the Bruce Springsteen fans have ever paid attention to his lyrics --he is the balladeer of the American experience for our generation. Barack Obama has listened --and the French paid attention.

Le soliel reste sur la touche.

While summer may have arrived with a vengeance in New England, we remain less summer like than I would like --the sun remains on the sidelines for those of you who may not have caught the title! This has not stopped our visitors from savoring Paris nor did it stop us from a sojourn to the Dordogne and Bourdeaux area last week with our friends Jacqueline and Philippe. There is some symmetry to our travels with them and our visitors here --they show us around like we show our guests around (I cannot help but say it, what goes around comes around! although I often used it in the malevolent, Italian sense of mal'occhia!). But --we have the longest days! It is light here until 10pm --I simply love it (although can you imagine if we had days this long at home? Think of all the gardening that could be done --and with the prices of food, everyone should contemplate at least some tomatoes!)
The Dordogne area is in the southwest of France, inland from Bordeaux on the coast. As the gulf stream is close by (at least for now....) the climate is a more temperate and for example, there are some palms and other more tropical plants that grow in the area. The area where the Dordogne is located is in the Perigord --and along with the surrounding areas of Lot, Quercy and Gascony-- and this is the home of foie gras, truffles, and great wines. (We were actually close to Toulouse for those of you following along with my travels!) This is also to region of Lascaux and Les Eyzies --the pre-historic cave paintings of France (even Pre-Historic French knew that it was about the food!).


These little hill towns including Sarlat, Bergerac, St. Emilion have those wonderful winding pedestrian streets (although cars somehow manage, albeit no SUV's) and old stone buildings. There are also a number of half-timbered buildings in these towns as well and they date back to the 16th century.


Of course, Bergerac is famous for Cyrano --de Bergerac!
The town of Rocamadour was built around the abbey that was founded here in 1166. It said that the intact body of St.Amadour was found here which sparked the building of the shrine. Rocamadour was part of the pilgrimage network going to Santiago de Compostela. (Remember the coquilles St. Jacques in an earlier post?)
Following all the wars of religion (this is the area of the 100 Years War for those European history buffs!), the abbey was abandoned and in the 18th century it was restored --it remains however very sympathetic to its earlier roots (I guess considering that it is literally carved out of the hillside and the "ancenseur" is new, making major changes may not have been feasible. Of course, that begs the question of building there in the first place!) To access the town, there is long winding stair along the side of the hill --the stations of the cross have been placed every few turns-- I imagine on the way UP these make handy places to contemplate the Passion of Christ --as well as catch your breath (and the penitent did the stairs on their knees...). In the interest of time (okay you can laugh!), we opted to spring for the 4 Euro ride back up in the ancenseur....



This area of the southwest of France is not well traveled by Americans --but it is well known by the British; many have bought and restored houses here to either relocate or for holiday homes (the French have feelings about this --I bought some prunes from Agen at a little provincial fair in Paris and told the elderly merchant that I would be going to the Dordogne, and he proceeded to tell me about all the British!) The Brits also have been importing these red wines for centuries --no wonder they love Bordeaux--it's genetic! (By the way, it was not called Bordeaux in Britain --it was claret), and this term --from the word "claire" meaning light (as in Claire de la Lune)-- was used to distinguish the "lighter" Bordeaux from the dark red wines of the Cahors region (roughly inland from Bordeaux), which had been preferred in Britain as far back as the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine in the 12th century. (Shows you all I know, I thought claret was a thick, fortified wine --I would never think that anyone would re-name French wines so that their terrior was not showing!) The Bordelais realized that they had a stranglehold on shipping from this area as all of the major rivers of this region flow to the port of Bordeaux. The taxes levied on wine from "upcountry" and the restrictions on shipping gave the Bordeaux wines an advantage. The wines from the interior of the region like the Cahors are becoming popular and recognized --Cahors was given an AOC designation in 1971 (note: Georges Pompidou, local, just happened to be Le President--sort of like Le President Bush giving an AOC to Saudi oil...)
David and I had visited this area when Andrew was 20 months old (he's now married with two dogs) and visited the caves of Peche Merle and Cougnac as well as another whose name escapes me; I still remember what a magical and spiritual experience it was seeing those paintings from up to 25,000 years ago... (and I remember vividly the utter disappointment when reaching Les Eyzies to see that the entrance to the cave closed with a sign "greve" --strike-- posted! So we have yet to see that cave!), and we love it now --speaking of Cro-Magnon ideas, if John McCain manages to win the election, you can look for us there...we will be eating very well!

Musee, Musee

May was and June continues to be high season at our chambre d'hotes (French name given to rooms rented as bed and breakfast accommodations in private homes --great way to travel!) We have enjoyed everyone's company and our opportunity to re-visit favorite places. (Although the weather has not been what I want spring time in Paris to be --but I am in PARIS-- so how can I complain???) The opportunity to return to these great places is a luxury --I have been to the Musee d'Orsay 5 times (our membership was a great investment as we can go in the member's entrance and avoid the lines!)
The first time that you visit a great museum, you really are taking inventory (and some visitors chose to catalog that inventory by photographing every single piece on display! do they EVER look at them when they get home???? Imagine sitting through that evening of "let's look at my vacation pictures..."). But honestly, you are so enthralled that you are actually seeing the originals of art work that you recognize, and being introduced to pieces that you do not know, that you do not have the time (or brain capacity) to look into the piece and absorb its flavor (this is France --and it is always about the food!) And the sense and process of taste is exactly what you need to emulate when looking at these artworks --their presentation, their perfume, their texture, their taste as it lingers, their terrior...(of course, we Americans are probably confused about taste --how would you describe the taste or terrior of a vente iced soy carmel latte with an extra shot and whippped cream???? And those, and more complicated drinks of COFFEE get ordered and imbibed daily!!! Well... maybe twice a week now since you have to DRIVE to Starbucks...)
But it is the return visits that give you the chance to understand and experience what makes these masterpieces. You can also be more discerning... and decide that greatness does not always mean that you like the works.
In my last visit to the Musee d'Orsay, I was wandering around the Impressionist galleries as my friends were looking at the paintings of Monet, Renoir, Pisarro, Cezanne and the others. I made an observation --Monet must have painted in his sleep! I realize that he lived a very long life, but he painted hundreds of pieces --the familiar ones of the Rouen Cathedral, the British Parliament, Venice, the countryside just outside of Paris, the monumental Les Nympheas-- The Waterlilies from his garden in Giverny-- we all know of these. But there are many others that equally magical. And you simply must be across the room to really see how masterful they are (so those thousands of digital shots taken to every corner of the globe are impressions of impressionists!) I was particularly taken by Monet's treatment of water and reflections. In his pieces Yachts, Argenteuil and Regatta, Argenteuil, the water from a distance looks mirror like. At close inspection it is merely white lines (okay, merely MONET's white lines!) One of my other favorites is the Magpie, which is a magpie sitting on a gate in a snow covered landscape as the sun creates those blue tinted shadows after a new snow fall. It gives you that sense of stillness and sparkle that you see and admire those mornings after a heavy snow fall (before you have to shovel and drive to work in that post-snow storm traffic!) But let's not forget the magic of that moment!

My other observation is that Pisarro and Sisely are under-appreciated in the States.

I have taken almost no pictures of these paintings. So --you will have to come to Paris to see them-- and I will get to see them again... and I will let you borrow my Carte Blanche so you will not have to wait in line... but no Starbucks!
But these are my impressions from Jardin, Jardin the Paris "flower show" held in the Tuileries this weekend.



The title, 'Musee, Musee' is a play on the name of a Richard Serra (American sculptor) work, 'Clara, Clara' on display in the Tuileries, while his installation, Promenade, is in the Grand Palais. Monumenta 2008 is the second Monumenta --an artist is invited to make an installation in the large exhibition hall of the Grand Palais. Promenade is composed of five huge COR-TEN steel slabs that you walk through to experience... David as you might imagine loved the works!

Pere et Filles

There is a brasserie across the river named "Peres et Filles" --David thinks that it is named for the mis-matched aged couples that are common here in Paris-- a great French pun. I do not quite see the humor, but then I have not seen a bar named "Meres et Fils"!
Since the first of May, there have been two long holiday weekends, and we have had (and will be having) visitors. Timothy came for a week, and our friends from Lyon came up to spend the long weekend with us and to see him. The weather, I hate to tell you, was summer! Glorious sunny and warm days --and light until almost 9:30pm! And we enjoyed every minute!



Versailles is a 45 minute train trip from Paris. (I am sure that it seemed too short for Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette when they were forced to return to Paris!) While the palace is certainly beautiful and opulent, it is the gardens that were the highlight for me. While there is a marvelous vista from the palace, the gardens of different themes are laid out on a grid with tall hedges defining and enclosing each one so that you able to enjoy each one without the temptations of the surrounding ones!
In more of English garden style is the King's Garden --it is less formal and thus a more relaxing place. (I cannot imagine how these French kings relaxed with all the protocols they had in place --and it was worse for the queen having to even give birth in public so that there was no doubt that the child was hers-- but was it his??? Peres et filles...)
Today is the 29 mai --so I have been remiss in new postings-- but I have been using my hard earned experience as a hotelier with friends visiting over the last few weeks. I do enjoy having guests as it gives me an excuse to return to some of the museums and other places that I had visited. As I had mentioned in an earlier post about the Rodin Museum, we did see the Camille Claudel exhibit at the Musee Rodin. Pere et filles...
Camille Claudel (for those of us who had never heard of her) was a young woman who became a student of Rodin and a great sculptor in her own right. The exhibit is a retrospective of her work and her life and includes some pieces that had not been exhibited before. She was a young woman when Rodin became obsessed with her and their work was often intertwined --and thus she has been overshadowed by his greatness and fame. However, her work is wonderful --and is quite emotional in both subject matter and execution. She did leave the relationship and descended into depression. She was institutionalized --and remained so for the last 30 years of her life. When the doctors suggested to her family that she was well enough to come home, they refused to take her. Thus she remained. Her brother, Paul sang her praises after she died and blamed Rodin for all of her problems. He visited her 17 times in 30 years.
The exhibit was crowded and did not allow pictures...but the Musee d'Orsay has a couple of her pieces in the Rodin gallery --it is worth looking on the web for more information about her.


These are of L'Age Mur (Maturity) and is said to depict Rodin being taken from Camille by his mistress, Rose Beuret who is portrayed as death... look for Vertumne et Pomene and La Valse by Claudel... and the sweetest head of a little girl, La Petite Chatelaine...

1 mai et les muguets

After all the time that I have spent attempting (which is all you can do) to keep lilies of the valley --les muguets-- out of my flower beds, I found myself actually BUYING some yesterday. I bought some for us (they do smell wonderful, I admit) and gave a small nosegay to our gardienne, who has been most kind to us. We read in the daily paper yesterday that there is a shortage of muguets due to weather, and that their production is off by 30%. The quote by Jacques Petard, who is in charge of the "commission muguet" for the "maraichers" (truck farmers) of Nantes, and who grow 85% of the muguets in France:

"Les producteurs de muguets ne sont pas des horticulteurs, ce sont des maraichers."
I should find out how they failed! Might save me from a few doses of Advil!


The tradition of giving a stem of muguets on May 1 to wish "bonheur" was started in 1561 by Charles IX. The tradition was forgotten until the beginning of the 20th century, and became associated with the "Fete du Travail" on May 1 (which was started in 1889 and was NOT started as a Communist holiday for parading weapons through Moscow as many American have been led to believe!).
Donc, c'est la France, et demain est vendredi....le weekend a quatre jours!

J'ai visite Le Louvre!

Having visitors presents opportunities to take advantage of places in your neighborhood --in our case, the Louvre. And I recently took advantage of this opportunity! I fortunately had the luxury of limiting my visit to the Egyptian and Middle Eastern collections. (I will catch the Mona Lisa another time --it's been a long time since I saw her!)
A bit of background for those who may not remember their European history survey courses! The Louvre was originally built as a fortress in the 12th century and became a royal residence for Charles V in the 14th century. Our friend Catherine de Medici was responsible for the start of the section called Les Tuileries (named after the clay tiles --tuiles-- that were fabricated close by using the available clay). The Tuleries completed the enclosure of the palace. After the eviction and execution of Louis XVI and Marie-Anoinette, the Louvre was opened as a Center for Arts under the Republic in 1793.



Various collections were added over the centuries.
During the Paris Commune in 1871 (which was another interesting, but gruesome, revolutionary event) the Tuleries Palace was burned and ultimately the ruins were removed in 1883. Thus the courtyard of the Louvre was opened to the Jardin des Tuileries.
Le Grande Louvre restoration project was started by Francois Mitterand in 1981. The glass pyramid by I.M.Pei was opened in 1989 which created a new underground access to the museum, an underground gallery of the foundations and old walls of the Louvre fortress, and a shopping gallery. (If you visited the Louvre before 1989, you may remember the dark, cramped admissions area and the poorly lit and crowded exhibition spaces) The entrance through the walk of the old foundation walls is fantastic!

The collection of Oriental Antiquities --mostly from Iraq and Iran-- date back to 2500 BC and are a testimony to the wealth, power, and culture of the region (and this was before the discovery of oil and our addiction). Wandering through the halls of these massive and awe-inspiring walls and monuments, I could not help but wonder what it would be like to walk through a Notre Dame Cathedral (or Tower of London) exhibit in Baghdad or Tehran (or Cairo) with all the most beautiful and impressive architectural elements and sculptures on display. The harsh reality is that the works in these collections would have been destroyed by radicals and wars and all of the toys of war that the world has so readily exchanged for their oil (I think the translation of the story of Adam and Eve may have an error --I think Eve gave Adam oil and he had visions of money, power, and SUV's. What would he get from a mere apple? Even the American colonists knew that the value of apples was applejack!). Had these regions not been crusaded against, colonized, partitioned, or not had oil, the outcome might be different. (I am still reeling from Hillary's statement about obliterating Iran this week.)


This massive capital is from ONE of the columns of the Temple of Darius (500 BC Iran) --can you even imagine the size of the complete building? The floor plan describes the temple....the floor plan is locate on the stand in front of the capital --at about 4 feet high.


The winged bull is one of a number of these Assyrian guardians of the gates into the palace of Sargon II (713-706 BC Iraq) discovered in 1843 and sent to the Louvre by the French consul. These archers are taken from a long wall (royal palace Iran 500 BC) called the Frieze of Archers. The wall in the Louvre must be about 30 feet high with two rows of these figures, the rows containing at least 12 of these figures. What intrigued me is that the bas relief is made of glazed bricks which had been molded so they were all identical --and in great condition (no freezing to cause spalling!)

This frieze depicts the transport of cedar logs from what is Lebanon to the Persian Empire. It is fantastic with creatures like crabs, tortoises, fishes in the sea, and the boats shown without the logs on the way there and with logs being towed and transported coming back. Again, a huge wall --each boat (with oars and cargo) is about 2 feet high.
I have always loved the style of Egyptian art. I love the hieroglyphics for their use of natural objects like birds and animals (reminds me of some of the Oriental rug patterns) and the sculpture for its "clean" and elegant lines.



It is hard to imagine all of the people who were working on these monuments and decorative arts and the volume of work that was produced. The world-wide collections of Egyptian --and Meso-American artifacts-- always intrigue me in their volume and scale --I suppose you can be more creative living in a warm climate --look at all the time we waste with seasonal changes-- putting out the patio furniture, putting it away, opening and closing the pool, raking the leaves, shoveling the snow....and my favorite --changing the clothes! See what all that oil has done to us? Would we live in these areas without heat??

And having young adult visitors is an incentive to stay out late! And we were blessed with a clear Saturday night (not so easy in Paris) and a nearly full moon! These pictures were taken after 9pm --my own impressionist pictures-- shots after dark needing a long exposure and a steady hand!