15-17 September 2022

Fall has hit Paris. Mornings are quite cool and the temperature is pleasant in the afternoon. Midriffs are disappearing under coats, sweaters, and the occasional down jacket. Scarves appear here and there, but unlike in Rome where Italians are very concerned about protecting their necks from the cold to avoid serious health consequences, Parisians use them also as an accessory. In the evening, breezes entice movement in yellowing leaves on the many trees in this city. Their rustling lets us know that fall is almost in full force.

It took only three days for the staff at the local boulangerie patisserie to remember exactly what Robert orders every day—coffee aux lait and a croissant. While Bonnie sleeps late, Robert works on the blog and his sketches.

We start each day with a few specific destinations in mind. One location often opens up opportunities to see other interesting things nearby. At the end of the afternoon Bonnie usually taxis or metros to the hotel to preserve her feet, while Robert walks back. After a brief rest, we head out to dinner about 7:30.

EuroDisney

Robert managed landscape design for some parts of the massive DisneyParis project from 1987 to 1992. He wanted to see what the place looks like after thirty years. The area around the lake is in good shape. The paving, walls, lighting, and rails are in top condition. A lot of the planting detail along the creek edge has been lost to volunteer growth of other plant materials.

The managers also added a tall fence that diminishes the intimate nature of the space. It is surprising that the trees along the lake have not grown more when compared to the trees along the creek edge. Those trees must be on steroids. Giant redwoods are at least six to eight stories high. The area that you enter to go to the theme park is very well maintained. Unfortunately, the hotel garden that he worked on was not accessible because they were renovating the hotel.

Everything else, including Frank Gerhy’s food court area, has been shlocked up. The spaces do not have an overall consistency in design and quality. The management even modified Sussman Prejza’s‘s delightful colorful signage with new signs on beige rectangular backgrounds and black lettering. Talk about 180° turn! Disney needs someone to take charge and clean up the incremental degradation they have created since the opening. 

Back to Paris

After our 45-minute ride back from DisneyParis, we exited the RER Metro. Bonnie asked Robert to review the options of what to do next, and there turned out to be one option—finding the jewelry designer Marion Godart in the Marais. We discovered the Marais is full of small wholesale shops of jewelry supplies.

After a bit of more wandering, Bonnie taxied back to the hotel. Robert took a 60-minute walk back and saw a few items of note: Notre Dame and Bubble Tea.

16 September 2022

Musee d’Orsay

We visited the Musee d’Orsay, which first opened in the old train station in 1988. The architect Gae Aulenti did a splendid job of organizing the interior spaces. She was also the architect for the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. We tried to make reservations, but because we are not using our Verizon phone numbers, we could not verify the purchase via text message. So we stood in line, but the line flowed smoothly. It took about 15 minutes plus a few more to check the pocket knife Robert insists on carrying in his backpack, despite all the security checks we have to go through. The impressionist rooms were quite crowded, and the Van Gogh room was almost impassable. There are several giant clocks and the view out from the glass of the clocks to the streets of Paris is stunning.

More Wanderings

17 September 2022

Church of the Madeleine

Printemps and Galleries Lafayette

Bonnie led the pilgrmage to these two behemoths of department stores. Both with long histories and beautiful buildings. Founded in the 1860s, they pioneered the department stores we know today: elevators, electric lighting, direct subway access, marked items with set prices, used economies of scale for lower pricing of quality products, discount sales, and window models to display the latest fashions (thanks Wikipedia).

Each take up multiple buildings connected by walkways. They are packed with tourists and locals and their food areas put to shame what Eataly attempts to mimic. In particular, the lines for the pastries were longer than those for Chanel and Lous Vuitton, albeit you can purchase a LOT of pastry for what you would pay for a handbag at Louis Vuitton.

National Opera de Paris

Tuilleries

Nourriture

Movie Star Bill Nighy!

We ate dinner with the actor Bill Nighy.

The weather turned cold but we decided it was best to eat dinner outside. Nearly all the tables were empty. Bonnie mentioned that the man two (empty) tables down looked like the actor Bill Nighy. Then he spoke to the waiter and we realized it WAS Bill Nighy. One of our favorite actors, starting with his portrayal of a burnt out rock star in Love Actually.

He’s the light gray speck in the far corner of the photo, right of Bonnie.

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