There is a new PHOTOS page; Re-posting (without pictures) "Our 'In-Seine' Walk Down the St. Martin Canal"

[Re-posting without the pictures; pictures are now in a new Photos page - on the right side of the blog page]

Our apartment in the 10th Arrondisement is a 2-minute walk to Canal St. Martin, a tributary to the Seine River, and the only other above-ground flowing water that I know of in Paris. We had done some grocery shopping in the morning along with buying a few items at un boucherie (a butcher shop), and we went for a walk in the afternoon.

The canal has a system of locks in it to control the flow of water down to the Seine, and to make it navigable for the tourist boats. Most canals that I've ever seen and been on are above ground, of course, but Canal St. Martin has a section that is "underground." It's not technically underground; it has just been covered over, and I wanted to see it.

The parks department was out replanting some of the areas, while other areas were bushy and quite grown. The circular area with the covering in the center of the flowers is a light and air vent for the canal below. Darlene was nice enough to stop and sit down next to some small purple flowers so I could take a picture.

One game we like to play at home in the summer time, especially when we're having a barbeque, is bocce. The French have a similar game called boules. The balls are metal and there are different weights. I don't understand all the strategies involved, but we stopped for a while and watched this group of men play. Unlike bocce, all the players on each side are at one end and they take turns flipping the heavy ball with an underhand motion. It appeared that one player on a team is the marksman -- the one we saw could hit the opponent's ball every time. Another player was the finesse player, rolling the ball to within a few inches of the target ball.

As we walked in one part of the park-like area, we saw mice running around; there was some sort of red pellet food or bait in the area. There were lots of scampering critters, and one of them paused long enough to pose for a picture.

The Metro is an extremely convenient way to get around Paris. The old signs are elegant and representative of a by-gone era. This is a stop along line 5, the line that is closest to our apartment.

Place de la Bastille is the area where the French Revolution reached its climax on July 14, 1789. The old prison is gone, but the area is very popular, especially around Bastille day (July 14). We'll be here this year as the 225th anniversary is celebrated in fine fashion. The July Column in the center is dedicated to people and events of July 27-29, 1830. A golden Mercury at the top is facing west, and the French flags waving in the wind show the pride of the people. To the east of the column is the new opera house, Opera Bastille, formulated out of a request by President Francois Miterrand to have a "place for the people" rather than just the rich!


As in Amsterdam, there are some who live in boats wither in the canal or tied up in the Seine River. Some are quite ingenious, and others look weary and tired.

We finally made it to the Seine River after a 2.5 mile walk. The closest bridge was Pont D'Austerlitz, built between 1804 and 1806. We took a couple pictures with Notre Dame Cathedral in the background, and then two selfies from the middle of the bridge.

The only problem with walking downhill for 2.5 miles is that you then have to walk uphill 2.5 miles to go home. But it was a great day, and we got to see a part of Paris that we'd never seen before.

Until the next time, Darlene and I wish you "bonjournne."

Au revoir!

Stuart

[test post 31 May 1030 AM Paris time]

sending this post to see if the email process is functioning to send out the travel blog posts.

Please do me a favor -- if you receive this blog post in an email -- please "reply" to the email and just tell me that you got it.

Thanks.
Stuart

Un jour sans photos

Once translated from French, the title of the post is "One day without photos." I didn't take any pictures today, at least none with my camera. I did capture many memories in my head, and those pictures will be with me for a long time. It was another beautiful day in Paris, France, even though the weather report said it wasn't a good day. I think that you, the readers, know that I feel that every day is a beautiful day in Paris! If you're counting along with me, it's day 8 with 52 more to go.

Darlene and I had breakfast as we were coaxing the sun to break through the clouds and show itself as it did so majestically on Sunday. I don't think that our intercessions were strong enough; it stayed cloudy most of the day.

I took the Metro and met a friend, Alessandro, who was here from Rome to "close escrow" on his new apartment. "New" was relative as the building was built in the 1870s. We had a most delightful lunch at a Paris tradition, Le Boullion Chartier, founded in 1896. Starting with a Kir Royal, then an entree, then a plat -- what a delightful meal. Of course we had a vin rouge with the meal!

We then went to look at his new apartment that he just got the keys to last night. It is on the sixth floor, at the top of a building that has delightful views -- even a glimpse of Sacre Coeur! I told him I would gladly rent the place the next time I came to Paris -- it is such a beautiful setting for writing, painting, thinking, enjoying Paris life.

After a trip into the Latin Quarter, we visited the millenia-old Roman arena, walked to one of the mosques, where we had outside tea and pastries. A lovely stroll through one of  the numerous gardens brought us to the Metro where we had to part ways for the day. I do hope we are able to get together again before he has to head back to Rome.

I stopped at our favorite fruits and vegetables shop after I got off the Metro so I could get a few items to have in the apartment. A fresh baguette was necessary at the corner boulangerie since they were out last night when I went down there to get one. We decided to go out for dinner tonight and we chose to go to Mme. Swan, a Thai restaurant that had been recommended. Darlene had Pad Thai (no surprise there) and I had Ginger Chicken (ditto). On the way home we stopped at the nearby Gelato store and were greeted with a "Buonna Serra" as we entered. I guess he thought we looked more Italian than French (the greeting would than have been "Bonsoir"). Since we're neither, he spoke English to us! Get this -- the calendar on his wall was the 2014 Idaho calendar that we have at home, and his brother lives in Idaho! SMALL WORLD!

We plan to take some pictures on our walks the next few days, so we'll get back to posting photos soon. I hope you're having a good week no matter where you are or what you're doing. Until next time,

Au revoir!

Stuart (and Darlene)

Views along Paris' Canal St. Martin

I'd always thought that the only water flowing through Paris was the Seine River. When we started looking for apartments to rent for 60 days, there was this ah-ha moment when we saw that there was a canal flowing from north to south into the Seine. Our apartment is only a 1-minute walk from Canal St. Martin (assuming no street traffic to stop us), so we went for a walk along the canal yesterday (Sunday the 25th of May).

The weather was nice, and people were out; cafes were overflowing with customers eating and having coffee. There were also people out sitting along the canal. We'd heard that was a popular activity on Sunday. We people watched for a while as we also strolled along Canal St. Martin. It's lined with lots of trees that are filled with personality as you can see in these photos. I took more pictures but I don't want to fill this post with only "tree photos."

Besides bring water into the Seine, the canal and its system of locks also provides a way for boats to go up and down the river. The one boat we saw yesterday was full of sight-seeing passengers -- were they locals or out-of-towners? I don't know, but they all seemed to be enjoying their ride up the canal, watching as the locks would fill to take them to the next level. The process, of course, reverses for the ride downstream.

We might take the canal ride during our stay, but even if we don't, we can still enjoy the canal and the happiness it brings to the people who are drawn to the magical powers of water. It also helped that the day was a nice sunny day -- the first one we'd seen since we arrived last Tuesday morning. We do know that there will be more sunny days ahead, and even when it's not beautiful -- it's still beautiful Paris, France!

Au revoir now.

Stuart (and Darlene)

Daily Shopping in Paris

Bonjour de Paris! One of the joys of this fantastic city is the abundance of little markets, many of them specialty stores. Out our apartment door and to the left is a neighborhood boulangerie (bakery) where you stop in and buy your fresh baguette or other bread item. Down a small side street and up Rue de Lancry is the fruits and vegetables shop where we are already recognized when we enter. Of course there are the fromageries (cheese shops) and the butchers.

Yesterday we came across a small flower shop and bought this delightful peony. We improvised for a flower vase by using a wine bottle that has the winery's seal on the bottle. We particularly liked this flower because we will be missing the opening of our peonies at home. The soft petals on this one were so nice as they cupped up around the delicate insides of yellow stamens and the pink-tipped carpels. It was all so well formed.

In the morning, the petals were drooping and the once upright stamens were now lying down as if they, too, were resting from a long day. Our beautiful flower was beginning to look a little more ordinary. Perhaps as the day moves on, the flower will perk up again.

Our plans for today (Saturday) include going to the biggest flea market in Paris at Porte de Clignancourt. It should be interesting; we'll let you know if we find any irresistible items.

Enjoy your weekend, and feel free to forward this to your friends who might enjoy a bit of travel.

Au revoir!
Stuart (and Darlene)

[Live from Paris] How the French Do It, part un

Wednesday -- 21 May 2014
As the title of the post says, this is part one of my articles, "How the French Do It." I have no idea how many parts there will be, but the series must start at one (or "un" in French). Today is our first full day in Paris, but Day 02 of the 60 days we will be here. We were just discussing "how it seems we've been here for a long time already." That doesn't mean it's been dragging; it means that we're already so immersed in the Parisian lifestyle that it's hard to believe that our plane landed just a little over 33 hours ago.

These photos are actual photos I took here in our apartment. By the way, most of the "stuff" you'll see in my photos belong to the apartment owner. She lives in the apartment when it's not being rented. Anyway, I always wondered how the kitchens in the French apartments I looked at all seemed so organized and complete. Notice how the lower cabinet on the left opens to reveal a perfectly sized refrigerator; it's not as large as most in the USA, but it holds enough. Most French who live in the bigger cities buy items fresh more often, sometimes even daily. So they don't need a big refrigerator.

But then another question occurred -- where do they find a refrigerator to fit so perfectly inside that cabinet?

As you look on the cover for the eggs (those are ours), you will notice the answer to the question. That great Swedish export IKEA makes both the cabinets AND the refrigerator. How convenient is that!!!

That would be enough for the day, but there's more...

We stopped at the neighborhood boulangerie (bakery) and bought un baguette, s'il vous plait on our way back from our 3 PM lunch. Well, the skies resonated with thunder a little while later as we had the windows in the apartment opened. Then the rain came pouring down. What else were we to do? We sliced the baguette, put some buerre (butter) on the slices and enjoyed them with a bottle of wine from Bordeaux as the rains came down and the thunder kept on crackling. How nice (both the pleasures and the fact that we can enjoy great Bordeaux wines for practically nothing!).

Speaking of lunch, we ordered everything (even asking for the menu) in French, spoke to the waiter in French, completed everything in French. It was good! We're even having a few [short, very short] conversations in French here in the apartment! Not bad for day 2.

I hope you're enjoying your day.

Au revoir.

Stuart (and Darlene)

[Stuart’s Travel Blog] Day 0 – On the Way to Paris

May 19, 2014 --

The day finally arrived for us to leave the comforts of home for the excitement of Paris, France. Our 6 AM flight out of Boise meant an early (3:30 AM) wake-up. Our rescue dog Rosie didn’t know why everyone in the house was up so early, and then she saw our bags being taken out to the car. She knew what was happening; we were leaving her again. She really doesn’t like it when we go somewhere, and this two-month absence might be really hard on her. At least our daughter Adrianne is home with her; so that’s a help.

We had an uneventful flight from Boise to Denver as we sat in First Class seats 2A and 2B. We were a little late departing, but we landed on time. Right now we are on the flight from Denver to Newark, again in seats 2A and 2B. I don’t know what they’re serving us for lunch [p.s. It was a chunky tomato soup plus a lettuce salad with shrimp, very nice] on the flight, but I’m hungry as breakfast was at 4:15 this morning, about seven hours ago. Once we get to Newark, we’ll have a couple hours to spend in the International United Club before getting on the 767. The lie-flat Business Class seats will be really nice for us to be able to get some real sleep on the 7 hour and 25 minute flight to Charles de Gaulle airport.

Going through security in Boise was interesting this morning. We have TSA pre-check, so we didn’t have the normal long line, take everything off situation. But there was something in my “heavy” carry-on bag that they didn’t like. I knew what it was when I saw the scan. I had packed up a small box with Euro coins to take with me. Some were in coin tubes, and others in zip-lock bags. As the TSA agent opened my bag and looked at the expertly taped box, I told her what was inside. “I have to open it she said,” but my excellent taping job (I’m notorious for using LOTS of tape – ask my kids) initially foiled her. She thought she could just peel it off – no way!

She had another agent get her scissors so she open the box, and voila – it was the coins just as I told her. But perhaps coins are dangerous, especially when there are so many of them, so she had to run the empty box plus all the tubes and bags of coins back through the scanner. Gee, all that showed up was coins – duh! “Do you want to put them back into the box?” she asked.

“No; you may,” I told her as she struggled to get them all back in. She then taped it back up, put it back into my bag, and zipped up the bag.

I’m sure glad she made sure that those coins were safe enough to be on a plane with me!

I promise that things will be more exciting once we get to Paris. Please tell your friends about my travel blog, especially if they like Paris. Au revoir for now!

Stuart (and Darlene)

Writing While in Paris

It's just a little over 2½ days until we leave Boise, Idaho, to begin our two-month stay in Paris, France. Aside from the "living Parisian" daily outlook in the City of Light, I'm undertaking several writing projects. I'll have my laptop computer with me, but some of the writing will be done the really old-fashioned way -- by hand.

I will be writing articles for a couple media outlets, and those articles will be fun to develop. When you read them, I hope you'll let your friends know about them.

The development of the storyline for my fourth travel-based mystery novel Art Thefts in Paris will fun to create. We'll certainly be going in plenty of galleries and museums as part of the research.

I have a new [lined] journal for making notes each day as I formulate a book based on our experiences during our longest stay away from home. There is also a new sketch book for when I feel like making a drawing of something that fascinates me or would make a great outline for a small painting.

Speaking of painting, I've decided to not take any paints or brushes with me. If I really feel the urge to paint, I'm quite confident I can find the necessary items there.

What do you think -- are those enough writing projects to keep me busy? I certainly hope so because I also want some time where we just sit and watch -- watch people, watch birds, watch flowers, watch clouds, water water, watch nothing.

It's about time for me to start packing, so I'll go for now.

A revoir!

Stuart

Bringing my technology gear

We're down to 5+ days until we leave for Paris. My normal mantra is to "pack light," and we could do it even for our two-month stay if I weren't planning on writing while there. Three media outlets have already expressed in articles while I'm there (Yea!), and so I need "gear" to make that happen. I'm also planning on developing the structure for my fourth travel-based mystery novel, Art Thefts in PARIS. I can't do that without "stuff."

Starting from the top left and going by "rows:"
cell phone charger (not shown is the requisite cell phone, aka "mobile" in Europe)
digital camera battery charger
digital camera USB cable
laptop power cord
16GB thumb drive for photos; wireless mouse (with USB connector)
camera mini-stand
flip video camera
digital camera case (duh, I need the camera to take the photo)
AAA and AA spare batteries
laptop computer
continental Europe plug adapters
3-prong-to-2-prong adapters

I'm sure there will be more I think of, and I 'll add it to the "pile." So you can see why packing light doesn't always work when you're planning to do some work while on vacation.

I'll certainly be posting photos while in Paris; feel free to tell your friends about my travel blog and my newsletter (sign up at www.stuartgustafson.com) -- they're not always the same information.

Safe travels!

Stuart

Two months in Paris!

Yes, you read that right. We'll be in Paris, France, for two months -- mid May to mid July. This trip had been in the "let's do it" stage for a few years, and then it moved up to the"let's plan it" stage, and now it's in the "Wow, we leave in 10 days" stage.

We've rented a nice apartment in the 10th Arrondisement (District, similar to ZIP code), 75010. It has a bedroom loft, full kitchen, sofa bed, private balcony. We're really looking forward to it. PLUS ....
> our daughter will be coming over to spend a week with us!
> our son and girlfriend will be coming over to spend a week with us!
> Our nephew and family will be coming up from Naples to spend a week in Paris, 3 minute walk away!
> friends from Australia will be there with daughters, 10 minute walk away!

Current plans include a trip to Normandy with nephew and family one week after the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Otherwise, it's just enjoy Parisian life, relax, write some travel articles, and work on my next novel Art Thefts in Paris.

If you happen to be in Paris wile we're there -- send me a text message to my US cell phone 208-859-0988 and let's get together.

Au revoir!