skip to main |
skip to sidebar
This weekend was a whirlwind of pavement-pounding and sightseeing as the family and Anna Stokes and I blasted through Paris in a little over 36 hours. We in with a plan of attack and tickets already in hand for the Musee d'Orsay and Versailles.
The Orsay is possibly one of my favorite museums in Paris and even two trips later there are still rooms upon rooms of things I still haven't seen, partly due to the large collection and partly due to the vast number of people that swarm the building day in and day out.
For all the amazing paintings and sculptures that are housed there, I'm sure there are two times as many tourists with their cameras, audio guides, fanny packs and children (yes, loads of children who really aren't going to remember seeing Monet's water lilies or even the Eiffel Tower for that matter). The crowds seemed lighter than we had expected - but still far too many people by my estimation. What I wouldn't have paid to have the museum to myself (a la From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - anyone read that as a kid?) and an entire day just to amble through it without being shoved or worried that I was standing in the middle of someone's picture. a complete impossibility, I know. but honestly, I didn't go to see an unsmiling Asian man standing in front of Caillebot's Floor Planers. And then I have to wonder - are they really there because they appreciate it all or are they there simply to pose
in front of the famous works and tell their friends they've been there, done that?
Granted, Paris is a big city with a lot of history and attraction to it - I completely understand. But there's something about hearing very little French in the capital of France that disturbs me... maybe it's partly that I've become an elitist sequestered away in my little townwhere there are no tourists and English is hard to come by. But there is something to be said for tour buses, guides indiscriminately waving umbrellas in crowded areas and groups of 40+ people causing traffic jams in rooms at Versailles. Obviously the whole thing is inevitable, and I'm part of the problem! and yes, I do try to convince myself that I blend in like a local, which I'm sure is far from truth.
I think the root of my problem with millions of tourists descending on a place like Paris is the fact that you then don't feel like you've gone anywhere. When waiters and waitresses immediately answer you in English, it seems like you might as well be in New York City ... so while I can moan and groan all I want, I do know I'm part of the group I love to hate, and there's really no changing that. So really, I guess my only plea is - for the love of God, please don't wear fanny packs!
side note: I'll soon be moving into the petit hameau de Marie Antoinette at Versailles... please forward all notes to Marieville.
So it's been quite a while since I made a mark on the blogosphere... and I know it's been lacking without my presence! But what can be said - a lack of blogging fodder and a school/ work schedule that nearly cost me my sanity prevented me from blogging.
BUT - at long last I make my second summer debut this time not from New York or home in N.C. but from my home-away-from-home, St. Marcellin, where my family and I are apparently living under a black cloud as it's been raining for what seems like half an eternity. Forecast says we'll get sun June 5. We're not sure if we can make it that long without washing away. I mean all this rain makes it hard to get anything done, drying laundry's like being in France and not eating bread - i.e. impossible.
So this summer's fodder is going to be (at least for a time) documenting the colors of France. Interpret that as you will, because I don't think I can really define it.
Example 1: It's an amazing phenomenon we've stumbled upon here. French women have taken to dying their hair and then matching them to their clothes!!! Now we're not talking typical bottle blondes and all here, you see everything from the fire engine red at right, to purple and orange. Incredible. Imagine the time and effort put into finding enough clothes to match that one specific color. And then what if this woman one day wakes up and decides she wants to change hair colors? She's now stuck with a closet full of red!
Like before I'm sure this will turn into a conglomeration of all my random thoughts and yes, ramblings... are you really that surprised?!
Peach tart à la Bonne Maman! quite the crowd pleaser and way easy... especially with the roll-out pastry dough that they've got here. use it for tart, quiche, appetizers - it works like a dream and cooks up flaky and wonderful! we bring rolls of it back when we come home.
Beignets de courgettes farcis (stuffed fried zucchini flowers!) so we bought a bunch of zucchinis from an old couple in the country one one of our Sullivan family drives through the country and on top were the blossoms, which the woman told us to fry up and eat. normally you're charged extra for the blossoms with the zuccinis but they gave us these for free with our purchase. we stuffed them with herbed ricotta and they turned out to be deeeelicious! (the pic is pre-frying.)
straaaawberries that ended up being made into confiture that we now put over yogurt in the morning for breakfast!
