Author: Ella

Post by Ella Walking by the 10th or so carousel I’ve seen since coming to France, I wished I’d been taking pictures.  Each is unique. The Carousel of Extinct and Endangered Animals that I posted about in Paris was probably the most unusual. Way back in sixth century Byzantium (today’s Istanbul), the concept of the carousel…

Post by Ella Expedition day. We took the bullet train to Antibes. 13 minutes. We barely sat down on our plush 2nd class upper level seats when it was time to stand up and get off the train. One way fare per person 5€. Practical Note. I’d managed to buy train tickets online the night…

Post by Ella I felt obligated to try a Salade niçoise in the place of its origin, Nice.  I do love a good salad and the caprese salad I’d had on Halloween night was outstanding. The traditional niçoise salad is composed of tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, niçoise olives and anchovies or tuna, and dressed with olive oil….

Post by Ella A few last notes about Paris.  On our last day in Paris, after a fun time with Méliès in Bercy and admiring the joyful grave of Simone and Jean-Paul (I need to reread Simone and wouldn’t you know it…I live with someone who owns all her works 🤷🏼‍♀️), we headed into Luxembourg Gardens…

Post by Ella Ghosts, goblins, skeletons, and witches…it’s Halloween in Nice! I am ecstatic to be out of Paris. Just walking off our EasyJet flight into the fresh sea air was rejuvenating. We couldn’t figure out how to get a one way tram ticket from the airport into Nice so we hailed an Uber. Checked…

Post by Ella We. ebbed and flowed today. I am a Monet fan so that’s where we started the day. The Monet museum lacked a few of the huge canvases I had remembered from 2018. But still, some inspiring works. The temporary exhibition of trompe l’oeil (“deceives the eye”) was unique. It was crowded but…

Post by Ella The artist “Invader”, aka Frank Slama, started creating street art back in 1998. Mostly ceramic tile. Little mosaic pieces resembling items from the 1978 video game “Space Invaders”.  I hadn’t noticed one until our stroll through Montmartre. And speaking of invaders, fungi are a strange looking species. We happened to walk by a…

Post by Ella Montmartre is known as the artist’s neighborhood and worth a few hours of exploring. The Sacre Couer is located up at the top of a hill and if you brave the 197 steep steps, the reward is a spectacular view. (Spoiler…there is also a funicular if your knees are too rickety). Many…

Post by Ella Rodin’s realistic and giant depictions of the human body never cease to confound. The sense of tension in nearly every piece rarely fail to evoke emotion. Horror in the case of the Burghers of Calais when you know these six sacrificed themselves to King Edward III for the “greater good”.  Passion when gazing…

Today, we visited the ever popular cimetière du Père-Lachaise. Grubb was aiming to find the final resting places of several notable historical figures such as Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison. The cemetery is huge, divided into…well…divisions. Numbered. One to somewhere in the 90’s. No, it’s not a grid. It’s like a kids drawing…

Ahhhhh. That’s a big sigh of relief. No Louvre, no Versaille. We started the day at the Musėe de Cluny, specializing in medieval art. Not big on the “must sees” for most folk.  Except Grubb. Plenty of room and quiet to enjoy the art. No one wanted a selfie in front of a carved wooden altar…

Dinner tonight somewhere off Saint Germain, not far from Notre Dame which is where we were when we got hungry. Shared starter: Escargot (snails) in a buttery pesto sauce. A first for Ella.  Quite pleasant.  On the right side of the plate you can see a clamp-like device that lets you hold the shell while you dig…

The dodo? At 103, mom decided learning to play the piano would be a nice challenge to add into her life. My brother, Mike, found a guy on Facebook marketplace and took her to look at a small selection of pianos. The next day, said piano was delivered.  I dug into my old piano bench…

Why so crowded in off season? Is there even an off season anymore? From Google’s Search Labs | AI Overview. “Major tourist areas are increasingly crowded during the “off-season” due to a combination of factors including the rise of remote work, increased accessibility through low-cost airlines, the impact of social media promoting popular destinations, and…

Tonight we headed for French cuisine right down the street at Le Robinet d’Or Restaurant & Bar Canal Saint Martin. I had roasted Camembert with honey to start and creamy risotto with scallops for my main. Delicious. Grubb had cassoulet of scallops in cream to start and flambéed kidneys with roasted potatoes as his main.  Served…