Things we won't & will miss about Paris...

We are almost ready to leave, so we decided to make a list of will and won't miss.

WE WON'T MISS: 

Josh: dog poop, crowded metro, my apartment, the accent on french words, pickpockets, the rain, rats, the homeless, homeworks, the teachers...

Isa: the waiters in the restaurant, the teachers, the bank, the drunks and the homeless all over the city, the dirt, the rain, the dry-cleaning close to home, the security doors in the metro, the stairs to our front door, the smell in the metro, the weirdos all over town, the hairsalons, our noisy neighbors, the dust on the furnitures, carrying luggages in the metro without elevators, the clercks in public offices, Orange telephone customer service...

WE WILL MISS: 

Josh: crepes, baguettes, pain au chocolat, the view from the Eiffel Tower, the museums, my friends,
casual conversations with people you just met, going to buy groceries across the street all by myself, staying at home while mom and dad are having dinner in a close by restaurant, macaroons...

Isa: the musicians in the metro, the fromagerie and the boulangerie at the corner of the street, picnic in the public parks with cheese and wine, the old buildings, the cabblestone, the health system, my friends, the moules frites, the escargots, the courtyard of our apartment, free museums for the kids, the ads , my colleagues, the monokini, the farmer market every other day, the English bookstore close to the school, my Monday morning coffe-breaks with the other moms, walking around the city at night without fear, not using a car, the poems, french books, the chocolate store, crepes, les baguettes aux cereals, my Navigo card, rock salt, my son talking in French, smoking in a bistro, concerts in churches...

14 Juillet ...it's time for celebrations in Paris

I've been dreaming of a pic-nic "en plein air" in a park, at sunset since the last couple of months...unfortunately the weather has been awful. So I almost gave up but then, on the 14 of July, this opportunity came up again and I was able to fulfill this little dream of mine.

Together with another couple of American friends, we packed some cheese, baguettes, delicatessen and of course wine and we went in the most unusual spot in Paris where too have pic-nic: south of Montparnasse , along the avenue Pasteur, there is a small green area, almost big as a tablecloth, on a steep slope on one side of the curb.

At first sight, you wouldn't think of this spot as a desirable place where to sit and eat on the grass while chatting....but, as usual, we were wrong. After a few minutes from our arrival, the place was packed with people waiting, as we were, to admire the fireworks.  The amount of spectators was close to a thousand, on the grass, on the curb but mostly in the middle of the street, which had been closed to traffic by 9:30 pm. When we arrived there, we understood why this place was so popular: the avenue Pasteur is in straight line pointing to the direction of the Tour Eiffel and this particular area is elevated with respect to the rest of the nearby buildings so that you can enjoy a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower !

The fireworks celebrating the "Prise de la Bastille" were spectacular and lasted more than half an hour , for Josh's greatest enjoyment.

 What a night!

From rags to riches

I took Josh and his friend Gabe to visit the sewers of Paris. 

Gabe and Josh getting in the sewers...

Yes, they really stink. Yes, you can really see, in broad light just a few feet away from you, all kind of organic and inorganic product floating in the "streams". Yes, humans are not the only living creatures who visit this place...we saw rats! Actually, I was surprised I saw only a bunch of them, which was just fine to me.

OMG!!!! What is that?????????????

The museum explains in details the development of the sewer system sine the Roman times...but you have to hold your breath to read all the posters! After an hour we had enough and when we emerged, breathing the polluted air of Paris was such a pleasure and a relief!

Gabe and Josh....out and alive !!!!!

We stopped by a bistro ti have a quick lunch (the best cheeseburger Gio has ever tasted with french fries and of course mayonnaise!!!!) 

Then we ended our "cultural day" with a tour in the temple of music, l'Opera Garnier. What a building! It was my first time and I found it spectacular. Did you know that the  the main staircase was designed so that the width would allow two "dames" with their extravagantly large gowns to pass one next to each other without having  their "crinolines" messed up?

 

 We decided (actually it was Josh who asked for it) that we will go to see an opera before we come back in the States so we booked La Cavalleria Rusticana...a l'Opera Bastille. Let's hope he likes it.

Une Petite Renarde rusée at the Opéra Bastille

Acte I 
La petite renarde était avec sa mère dans la foret soudain le garde chasse se réveille dans la foret et attrape la petite renard et la porte a la maison. Le jour après, la renard prend revanche : elle mange tout les poules et puis s’enfuie.

Acte II 
Elle se trouve en hiver et elle rencontre un blaireau qu’elle expelle et prend son terrain. Après elle rencontre un autre renard et elle fait connaissance et puis ils se marient et ils ont beaucoup des enfants

Acte III
Dans la foret la garde chasse le rencontre et la toue. Après il veux un autre renard et il comprend que c’est l’histoire qui recommence.

                                            

Wallace & Gromit at the Musée de l'Orangerie

Since we spent all Saturday at home cleaning, working and doing home works (as usual, outside it was pouring rain), on Sunday we took advantage of a brief clearing in the sky to visit Les Jardins des Tuileries. 

It was here where everything started, in 2003. We were here in Paris, for a conference. We had lunch with a colleague of Giuseppe from USC (at that time Giuseppe was still working at Eurecom, near Nice while I was working in Torino). She suggested him to consider to move to California, both of us. After lunch we came here, to talk and consider the offer. It was spring, there were hundreds of people walking in this beautiful garden, we were talking excitedly about our future when all of a sudden Giuseppe asked me to marry him. Wow! That was a surprise. We never talked seriously about getting married (despite having a 2 years old baby back at home...). I wanted to test him, so I told him that, if he was serious, he had to get down to his knees, right there, and "propose" in the old fashion way. He did! Right on the spot, in front of all the people passing by...he did. Well, of course you know the answer, otherwise I wouldn't be posting on this blog. Yesterday every little detail of that day came back (not that I really had forgotten it..) and it was like it just happened. 

Josh also had his share of good time playing on the jumpers. 

By the time we walked the entire length of the garden, it started to rain again so we decided to visit le Musée de l'Orangerie: sensational! The two oval rooms with the famous "Les Nymphéas" are absolutely stunning. We've been to Monet's house in Giverny, we saw the gardens, the pond and the bridge, but still there is no match.  

We finished the visit by looking at the exhibition "Debussy, la musique et les arts", which was very well done apart from the ....silence. It wouldn't harm a bit of  Préludes or La Mer, as a background. 

Finally, we saw this painting, by Paul Cezanne (this is his wife). 

Giuseppe's first comment was: "You really need to hate your wife to depict her like this!". 

Josh's comment was: "She looks like Lady Tottington, in the movie Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit". 

If you don't remember her, here is a hint to refresh your memory: 

I guess they are both right!

The Gummy Bear dance is here!!!!!!

....just imagine what would he do if he had good music!!!! What about Giuseppe? Is he totally stunned?

Old church = strong balconies

We went with our new Michigan friends, Linda and Joe, to hear a concert in the Eglise Saint-Eustache. 

The organ, 8000 pipes, is one of the largest in France. The organist was incredibly talented and, from what I heard, it seemed to me that there were not only 2 hands, but 10 or more playing the keyboards! 

Needless to say, it was J.S.Bach music:

• J.S. BACH – Sonate en trio en Ut mineur – BWV 526

• J.S. BACH – Prélude et triple Fugue en Mi bémol majeur – BWV 552

Although my son's name was inspired by this composer, I'm not such a big fan....Giuseppe is already screaming, I just said a blasphemy!

The church is impressive, with a vault 108 ft tall and, since I am reading Ken Follet's "The pillars of Earth", I started counting all the columns, the windows...then I almost fall asleep.

Interestingly, I discovered that inside the church, in one of the chapels, there a triptych made by Keith Haring, the artist famous for his colored "figures"....this one is made of bronze and white gold: 

Gothic art and contemporary art in the same Church...inspirational! 

Just a regular week

This was just a regular week. Josh started it with a BDay party in a Laser Tag arena here in Paris. Of course he loved it: he's 10, he was dressed like a marine during a combat training, surrounded by his hyper excited screaming friend in the dark and he could shoot at any moving object! All his dreams came true.

Then on Thursday he came home with his French tutor (Margaux) and his friend Gabe: they did home works together and watched a movie in French. He seems to get better and better every day in his French and lately I noticed that he uses more his Italian to help him in the translation. Alla buon ora (finally!). Let's hope that he's going to get enough to continue when we are back in LA. I told him that there are sailing classes in France and that, if he continues to practice in Pasadena during next year, he might be able to participate to one of them. Catamaran? Who knows, why not. 

Friday morning I had my first experience with a bike here in Paris. This is such a smart idea: once you buy a Velib' card (around 60 euros/year but there are even daily tickets for so much less), you are entitled to take any of the thousands bikes that are parked  around the city and you can return it where you liked it. So much fun! I discovered streets and squares that were totally unknown and I realized that, despite months of walking, I am totally out of shape!!!!

Saturday Giuseppe flew to Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, for a short workshop. The poor guy was invited from the University (business class...) and he's going to be back in 5 days. He'll see places where I spent my childhood, the desert, the dunes, the Red Sea..so many memories. I asked him to stop by the monument of the thumb...you'll see what I'm talking about. 

Today I took Josh to the Mass in Notre Dame: it was not just any mass, this one was in Latin and the children's choir sang Gregorian music. It was astonishing: just to sit there, in this majestic Cathedral, hearing prayers and lectures in Latin and listening to Gregorian chants and to think that someone, 800 years ago was having the same exact experience! Isn't it incredible? But of course we couldn't understand a word. I wonder if we would have understand better in French!

Goodbye Paris, welcome Vienna.

School is over, the house is clean, ready for our “swapping” guests and we are on a plane directed to Vienna, where Giuseppe is waiting for us. We have 2.6 lbs of foie gras in our luggage...let's just hope that the security will let us pass!

  

I’ve never been in Vienna. I’ve never been in so many places in Europe, despite living in Italy for so long. And now that I’m in Paris, I want to make the best out of our year here in Europe and travel all around, before going back in California. We’ll go to Barcelona, London, Amsterdam, Oslo…at least, this is the plan. We’ll see.  

We are staying in a very nice hotel, the The Sissi…it’s very clean, the room is big and comfortable, the furniture is contemporary and everything looks pretty new. The only downside in the concierge: the guys don’t have a clue about anything. So you’re mostly on your own. But it’s ok. Vienna’s historical center is so small that you can cross it from one end to the other in 20 minutes, walking. If you don’t want to walk, the metro line takes you everywhere and it’s safe.

We had our first breakfast at Café’ Zanoni, where everyone, from the owner to the waiter speak Italian. We had strudel and of course Sacher Torte: delicious! 

Here we are in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral. It's freezing cold. 

We spent our first day visiting the massive Schönbrunn Palace: just the Christmas Market was worth the trip. Unfortunately the maze was closed but Josh had enough fun chasing squirrels all over the park. 

On the way back, Giuseppe couldn't resist so we stopped by the Bosendorfer show-room, where he was even able to convince the guy to let him play The Imperial 290. 

There's no way this monster will ever fit in our living room!

In the evening we bet on Josh being able to "survive" a concert of the Vienna Royal Orchestra in the Imperial Hall. 

Surprise, not only he made it through the entire program, but he actually enjoyed the program: Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Hayden. Naturally, he had a blast with the Radetzky March. 

Bravo Josh! Are you going to be a music star as your famous homonym? 

On the second day we visited the Belvedere, where we saw the Klimt Exposition. Let's just say that this Eugene of Savoy, like his others aristocratic relatives from Turin, knew how to build a summer cottage! The building is absolutely exquisite.

Around the city, you don't see only historical buildings...also unknown artists display theirs strange installations in public parks and plaza. Check this out! 

Later in the day we spent a couple of hours at the Albertina Palace, to see the Magritte's Exhibition. We all loved it but Josh had a blast: all this surrealistic paintings...his favorite was "Ceci n'est pas une pipe". 

My favorite is The Empire of Light. 

We then had dinner at the Bitzinger - Wiener Kulinarium where we tasted some specialities: the Wiener Schnitzel ...

...Gulaschsuppe ...

and Roast Pork Shank with krauts...

  
What a dinner!

Here Giuseppe, recovering from our 3 hours of modern art experience, shows the side-effects of too much beer! 

On our last day we visited Mozart's House: interesting, educational but somehow not surprising. 

Finally, we went to the Haus der Musik: it's the most amazing museum so far! 

 Josh had the  chance to virtually conduct the Wiener Philarmoniker and...well, let's just say that it didn't go too well. The virtual orchestra works with the same principle of the Wii game but if the conductor makes too many tempo mistakes, the First Violin stop playing, drops his instrument and starts protesting with several unpleasant comments (something like "in 36 years of activity, we have seen a lot, but this is too much, we can't take it any more!"). Needless to say, Josh was very disappointed.
Here is the movie: unfortunately the comments are in German with English subtitles that you can't read but I think, by the tone of the voice, you get the idea.

Here is the link: Virtual Conductor


Last comment about our trip: the check-in of your luggage directly at the train Station before getting the shuttle to the airport. How comfortable is it? 
Goodbye Vienna, welcome Torino.