There is a store on the Left Bank near Rue du Buci which only sells antiques that are related to the nautical theme. There is always something fascinating to me in the windows there. I wonder if I was a sailor in some past life? I do have a restless spirit and I love to explore. Was I there next to Columbus, maybe scrubbing the decks?

I love this globe and wonder how it was used. The whole world on a globe the size of a baseball. I’d love to go in and look at it and see what countries are on it. And look at that little bracelet of skulls, probably made of ivory. What could be the story behind that?

These preserved fish fascinate me. I wonder what they are kept in to keep them from rotting away.

Sideroads of Europe

I love the Marais. It is an area in Paris full of architectural treasures and fabulous shopping. There is always something unexpected too.

The symbol of Paris is the boat. This is one of the most beautiful I’ve seen. It’s on the gate at one side of the Carnavalet, a museum in the Marais featuring the history of Paris.

This lady was in a window of a shop that usually sells photos. I’m not sure why she’s there but she caught my eye. (PS-Nancy, can you see your son in the reflection?)

I think I would like one of these in my garden. Shaped like twisting wood but made of metal.

I hope you put a muffler on your rain drain too. I think this is some sort of conceptual art as I saw some more knitted things inside the Village St Paul.

Sideroads of Europe

I recently read a list of sayings all starting with, “You know you’re in Texas when…”, such as “You know you’re in Texas when you have once worn a parka and shorts at the same time”-which is so true. I’ve done that. The weather changes really quickly there. I think I could do a list called, “You know you’re getting old when…” I really felt my age this weekend when we went to a dinner at the home of one of Maurice’s relatives. Everyone there was young with Maurice and I at the very end of the age spectrum. We arrived at 8:30 which to me is really late, sat and had drinks and some munchies. The TV was on the whole time set to some MTV type station with all of the music I’m not fond of, mostly rap, both French and American. I can tell I’m getting old because I couldn’t believe how the women were dressed in the videos. Anyway, I digress. Let’s just say that the music played all night and then, after a couple of hours, it all repeated again, so I didn’t even get fresh rap (which rhymes with crap, come to think of it).

We were waiting for the sister of the hostess to arrive. She finally walked in at 10:30 and said, “You didn’t start eating? You were waiting for me?” Sigh. We finally sat down to a very good meal at 11 PM. Now, this is the time I am usually in bed so the part of my brain that handles fast French conversation going on around a table had pretty much gone to bed itself. Anyway, Maurice and I didn’t get to bed until almost 3 AM. I was dropping around all day and couldn’t even relax because Maurice had invited eight (8!!) people to dinner. We don’t have a table that sits ten people. Luckily, one of them couldn’t come and we managed to squeeze around our table. I had planned on serving everything buffet style with a few people having to sit on the couch with plates on their knees but Maurice decided we could make it and we did, somehow.

Maurice made a really good beef burgundy and we had potatoes with that and a salad and cheese and I made an American Apple pie which everyone liked but Maurice’s son who doesn’t like cinnamon. I just can’t make apple desserts without cinnamon-they just go together in my mind. As an appetizer, I made a hot artichoke dip which I was really disappointed in. For some reason, it just didn’t come out the texture I wanted, but it was scarfed down so I guess it was ok. And, the best part, we got in bed by midnight.

Sideroads of Europe

Continuing on in my neighborhood:

If you go out the door of my apartment and turn left, this is the scene you see. It is a much busier street and if you look closely, across that street, is a store called, in English, 8 to 8. It’s sort of like a 7-11 and I often rush over to get something I forgot to pick up at the grocery store. To the left, at the corner, is the boulangerie where Maurice gets bread once a day. When I first moved here, the baker had floor delievered from a truck, via a hose, down to his basement and there would be a fine mist of flour floating in the air. The owner has since changed and he gets his flour delievered in large bags now. Maurice has noticed a change in the taste and texture of the bread recently and wonders what is going on. Will there be a new owner soon? We will see.

This is the view from our bedroom window when the marathon went past last year.

If we cross the street and then turn right, we hit a more posh neighborhood called St Mande. We go this way if we missed the Saturday market at Nation for the Sunday market there. They have a nice garden in front of the mairie with nice flowers planted all of the time.

A monument there dedicated to those who died in WWI. One is found in every town and village in France. An unbelievable number of lives were lost then.

If you continue on past St Mande you arrive at the Bois de Vincennes, which is a forest and park where Maurice likes to jog. In fact, this is why he bought the apartment where we live, so he could be in a park to run. There is a chateau there and the first Sunday of every month a car club meets in the front. There is also a Parc Floral which is great to walk through in the spring and summer to see the flowers and bushes.

Sideroads of Europe

Several bloggers have recently shown some photos of the neighborhood that they live in. Some have trees and even tropical looking plants all over the place, some are a short walk to the beach. In Paris, since I live in the 12th arrondissement which is residential part of Paris, it’s not as beautiful, it’s very urban, in fact, but not all of the photos I take can be as beautiful as the window of Hermes.

The front door to the apartment building where we live. I’ve always liked it. You have to enter a code to get the door to open.

If you turn right out of my door, this is what you see. Not too exciting. Those metal bars inserted into the sidewalk going down the edge of the sidewalk are to keep people from parking their cars on the sidewalk, which they will do as parking is at a premium. There is usually a car parked at the very end of the street on the sidewalk. I guess they don’t get a ticket. By the way, you have to pay to park on the street here or you will get a ticket. You carry on down this street and reach an elevated train track at the end, long abandoned although there is talk of incorporating it into the planned track now being built which will circle Paris. If I go right at the corner, under this track, there is a small area, fenced in, where a homeless man has lived since I have been here. He has it all boarded up for privacy and I can see a bed inside. He even has a door with a lock so he keeps it to himself. I don’t know how he arranged that. I see him sometimes staggering around really drunk but he has scratched out a life for himself.

I’ve always been fascinated with this house. It is just a short way down my street and on the left. I guess the owners didn’t cave in and sell the property to some invester to build an apartment building as the rest of the neighborhood has. I’m thinking that at one time this whole street may have had single family homes like this. A really tiny alley runs along side it and it is surrounded by a wall.

I’m not sure, but I bet this is just about the only weather vane for miles around. It’s on top of the house.

Nation Market. This is where we arrive if we continue on in the same direction in about six blocks or so from our apartment. You can see one of the columns that is there way in the background. Market days here are Wednesday and Saturday. We go just about every Saturday and get fish, meat, vegetables and fruit there which we put in our little red bag on wheels. It is always a fun experience.

There are always huge containers of food for sale at street markets, hot and inviting. Doesn’t this look good? We seldom buy any for some reason. The last thing we got was chacroute, which is all sorts of pork meats with sauerkraut which is a popular thing to eat here in the winter.

Sideroads of Europe

A few more shots of windows around Paris that I found interesting.

I’ve taken photos of the shop near Place Vendome selling Joy perfume which was once the most expensive perfume in the world although I’m not sure if that is still the case. Anyway, I stood there a minute wondering why the EN was behind the word Joy on the label before I had a “ding” and figured out that it means, “Enjoy”. Now I get it.

Isn’t the Russian shape pleasing? I’m not sure what these are but I like them.

On to the Hermes store. They always have fabulous windows. I sort of want this purse with the giant H on it. Did you know that Hermes began as a maker of hand sewn saddles? They still sell them in the store. At one time their scarves were all sort of “horsey” for the people who rode them and, I assume, bought their saddles. Now they have a line of clothing as well and I love their perfumes, especially Faubourg 24.

Look at this “cake”? Isn’t it charming? And notice the ballet shoes hanging above it. Isn’t the whole window just so girlie?