I don’t know if the French love Americans(they do)-I am often asked this-but, one thing for sure, they sure do seem to love Americana and cafes set up to look like an American burger joint from the 60′s. I don’t know if it’s due to movies and TV, which I suspect is true, but I am seeing more and more places for American food. The other day I finally got out of the apartment and went out for lunch at a new place called le Fils Rouge.

A look at the menu. It’s not a good place for a diet.

There is, of course, a counter with seats that turn.

Advertising food to go. I saw a young man eating one of those double burgers.

This little tableau was set up in the bathroom behind the toilet. The walls were covered with various American objects and old advertisements.

The door to the toilet. Many French people I have met seem particularly taken with Route 66. Maurice and I traveled along part of it in Arizona a few years ago. There are only sections of it left now but some cafes and stores along Route 66 have that 60′s look.

You have to have a juke box of course. There wasn’t a Fonzi hanging out though.

I still haven’t been outside with my camera. I’m feeling low on energy and drive, especially since it’s going to be raining or misting off and on for the next two weeks. I am going out for lunch today and will have my trusty camera with me so I’m hoping to have some new material. In the meantime, here are some IPhone photos. It’s really fun to use my IPhone for photos as there are all sorts of apps to apply. I recently read about a bunch of new to me apps that I plan to download and give a try.

I love seeing items through blurry glass. This was in a restaurant but I no longer remember the name.

Same place but bottles this time.

A look at the spiral staircase in the lobby of the Louvre Museum.

Maurice’s son told me McDonald’s had a bagel hamburger so one day I gave it a try. It was pretty good but, to tell the truth, I like the regular bun better.

I’ve only been back in Paris for a few days and it’s really cold out there-beautiful blue skies but below freezing every morning. Because of that and the fact that I picked up a cold on the way home, I haven’t been out of the apartment much so I went through my photos and thought I would post a few that never made it to my blog for one reason or the other.

A grafitti of Alfred Hitchcock.

I think the lettering on her skirt may have been added after the original was done but it sort of fits.

I saw this little girl wearing her crown from my apartment. I was sort of afraid she might get on the ledge and fall but she mostly seemed to dream. Luckily, she was soon brought inside.

Doesn’t this look great? I can’t wait until it’s warm again and people can sit outside to eat. This was in a square not far from the Luxembourg Gardens.

A look at the past in le Train Bleu, the restaurant at Gare de Lyon. I love to go in there and look around. I once sat in one of these seats years ago when I first came to Paris and Maurice and I had a meal there.

My daughter in law, Angela, is very creative and was never more so than she was waiting for the baby to arrive. Two days before he came she put together this angel wreath.

Blue feathers and other decorative features.

Isn’t this cute?

Little baby boy shoes.

The reason for it all.

And, finally, for anyone who wants to see a short video of Liam. I know most people could care less about photos or videos of other people’s babies. I have mainly put this up for relatives of Angela as I know they read this blog. I thought Liam looked especially bright eyed and interested for a four day old. I’m not prejudiced of course.

I don’t have any fresh photos of Paris but I do have some videos I took in New Orleans and Fort Worth so I thought someone might like to see them. And, big news, my newest grandson finally arrived on Wednesday afternoon. His name is Liam Joseph and he weighed over eight pounds. Here’s a photo of him although I think baby photos show very little of what they will look like in a few months. I thought he looked like his oldest brother myself.

His brothers were all around him very excited and curious. My son now has to get new copies of his and his wife’s birth certificates, a new copy of their marriage certificate, then get them translated into three languages (they speak German, French and Italian in Switzerland along with an old Swiss language) and then pay to have it all submitted for the new birth certificate for Liam. (Latest news-they might accept his previous papers for the last baby born here in Switzerland. Fingers crossed) By the way, just because a baby of a foreigner is born in Switzerland doesn’t mean he will be automatically granted Swiss citizenship. I think they can apply for it in six years(?) and my son says they will all apply as a family for dual citizenship. That way his children can choose which country they want to live in and if they want to go to a university in Switzerland or the States. The schools in Switzerland are said to be very good. I was asked when my son came to Switzerland. The answer is he came after I had lived in France for five or six years. The fact that I lived in Europe helped him get a job where he did and also made him want to live in Europe. It’s nice to have a least part of my family on the same continent.

Here are a few short videos I took in New Orleans.

A one man band. He told us he goes all over the States playing and picking up inspiration.

Life jazz on a street in New Orleans.

This looks like a fun way to end a wedding: a march down the street following a jazz band.

Bourbon Street which was crazy busy on a week night in Oct. You are allowed to carry drinks around the streets and, believe me, it looked like everyone was. I left after just a few minutes as I don’t like crowds with drunk people in them.

One day we took the steamboat along the river near New Orleans. It’s a lovely, restful way to see New Orleans and the surrounding countryside-much of which is below the level of the river. A man played on some sort of instrument using the steam to make music. It was very loud.

This video is from Fort Worth, Texas. We spent some time in Texas visiting relatives and decided to see the “cattle drive” that goes right down a street at the Stockyards which used to be where cattle were driven to and processed. It’s now a tourist area and they do a twice daily drive where the long horned steer slowly plod past. I expected a little more speed but I guess it’s much safer this way.

I guess the baby didn’t get the memo about his due date. There was a full moon last night and I was hoping it would do its thing as it often does on pregnant women but it didn’t work for us. So a few more photos of what else was going on around here in Switzerland.

My son has recently really gotten into cooking. This is a pizza he doctored up. It started out as a plain one euro pizza. He carmelized some onions to put on top and then spread a layer of parmesan cheese over it all. It was really good.

I’ve been making lots of brownies. As you can see, the 3 year old likes to like the bowl.

A car from China. I think it’s the first one I’ve seen.

The back of the church in my son’s village. Look at the living quarters attached to the church. I wonder if the priest lives there?

The bell tower on the church. I’m intrigued by the wheels by the bells. I’m assuming they were there so the bells could be rung by ropes from down below so no one had to climb the tower.