Spring

Spring has fully arrived in Texas and Easter just arrived so there is a lot to see and photograph but most of these were taken in Paris.

Spring at the Eiffel Tower last year.

Seen in a shop window in Pais.

These are unusual rabbits.

It’s lots of fun looking at chocolate creations at Easter.

Love seeing tulips come up.

Seen on an île de Ré on the Atlantic coast of France.

Spring-like street art.

Here and There

Here are some photos that are literally here-Texas- and there-Paris.

Lunch at a Thai place in Dallas with family.

Could it be Spring without baseball? This is my grandson, Benjamin, at bat.

Even if it isn’t offically Spring, seeing these daffodils for sell is a sign it’s coming. I took this photo in Paris a couple of years ago.

Notre Dame in the Spring before the fire. The trees still bloom unbeleivably after the heat of the fire.

Spring in Paris

As you might imagine, Spring im Paris is beautiful.

A pretty tree in bloom, green grass, white daisies-what more do you need?

Closeup of the tree.

A little meditation.

Maybe I should buy an orange tree.

Loved the label, the beer itself not so much.

Spring

I’m so happy to get out and see Spring flowers. Nature really does carry on no matter what is happening to humans.

We joined our friend again for a walk along the Seine. Nothing better than the Eiffel Tower with roses in the foreground.

Ready for a closeup.

The roof of the newest Russian Orthodox church in Paris.

Something to do with art and sea creatures. I didn’t stop to check it out.

Hard to beat that view.

I went to get a blood test the other day-just as a checkup sort of thing-and while there Maurice said, “Why don’t we get the serology test to see if we have antibodies for the virus”. You can have it here without a doctor’s prescription but have to pay 38 Euros to do it. To our surprise, but not really, we were both positive for antibodies. I sort of suspected it. Looking back, I remember a day with really bad diarrhea and a strange rash but it went away at the end of the day. Maurice went through a period of a loss of appetite and lost quite a bit of weight. That was it. Somehow we got the virus. I personally think we got it before we were wearing masks and washing our hands all the time, and wiping down the groceries. Probably if we had started a week earlier we would have been able to protect ourselves. I was showing relatives around Paris and we were in museums, restaurants and bars, and rode many metros and buses. So there you are. We feel relieved and sort of scared at the same time. Now we wait to see if we are in any way contagious and if we are immune. Who knows when that will be.

Still

Still in quarantine, or at least self isolation, until May 11th but I wouldn’t be surprised if it went longer. The last I heard they are going to start small with children going to school but restaurants won’t be open. We managed to get some things delivered-not food but things like wine and milk.

Strawberries and asparagus have arrived, but not in huge amounts. I’ve had both in the last week which is such a treat. This photo was taken in Provence many years ago.

This photo was taken a few years ago in Chatelaillon at the market.

A lovely shutter with vine, also a few years ago.

This is a photo from a trip to the grocery store a few days ago. We were the only two in the store as we had arrived very early. There were two employees there stocking shelves. Look how the large carts block the aisle. Now add twenty people to the space and you can see it’s almost impossible to do social distancing. This drove me crazy way back when I first moved to France. I’m used to stocking being done when the store is closed. It just makes sense to me. Well, no body asked me I guess.

Spring Flowers

I miss going out for walks and discovering flowers blooming in Spring. Before we moved from our old place, I walked with a friend early every morning and it was great to find signs of Spring. On the Promenade Plantée I used to see Japanese ladies not only doing Tai Chi but arm movements as they walked and I started doing them too to keep my arms and shoulders flexible so when I was with my friend, we would incorporate them into our walk as well. Since we moved the only walk I had was with Maurice in our neighbourhood but I haven’t found any surprises of wisteria as of yet. So Maurice wanted to do some exercises every morning in our place and I started a little routine with a little of something of everything I have learned through the years only all standing up with there being no mats on the floor. It doesn’t do much of anything as it only lasts 15 minutes or so but keep us a little flexible and we burn a few calories and Maurice had the idea to include my friend on WhatsApp while we do them so that has added some fun plus I get to see her every morning. Here are a few photos of flowers I took through the years.

Beautiful fragrant wisteria.

White wisteria on Promenade Plantée

Love a row of irises along a wall.