Paris Buses

     Going on an adventure in Paris sometimes involves riding the bus. I've learned to expect extra excitement whenever I step onto a bus. I search maps, bus schedules and routes to my destination. Thankful that I rarely am on a schedule or in a hurry, I walk to the bus stop and wait. This morning, I noticed the street was being resurfaced-no number 92!  There was an alternate route that I didn't know how to get to. I walked 5 or 6 blocks to the end of construction and caught number 92 to the Marché Saxe-Breteuil which is an open air food market. Lots of fresh vegetables, fish and cheeses. Coming back, I rode number 28 with no problems.

      Yesterday, I went to Mussé D'Orsay on bus 63-no problem except orienting myself when I stepped off the bus. After my museum visit, I turned the wrong way for bus 63, walked all the way around the museum, and took bus 69. All was well because I know bus 69. The thing is, both Metros and buses sometimes stop in the middle of the route and have everyone get off. Then, they merrily drive away with no explanation that I can understand. 

     No problem, I'll just wait here for the next bus 69 to stop. OK, on the next one, right direction, good seat, know my stop, nice French lady next to me. She starts talking about the route the bus was taking and sure enough, it didn't look right. No stops posted on the electronic board! A Japanese tourist was frantically dashing around the bus trying to figure out which was his stop. I surely understood his anxiety! I was able to get off at my stop and walk.

      The walking is good for me, right?   Maybe I'll just walk to the fabric market in Montmartre when I go next week.   If I see a bus going my way, perhaps I'll hop on for the next adventure!

Grocery Shopping in Paris or How to Burn the Calories Before You Get Them

The food is so good and fresh in Paris!  Everything tastes better!  But, to prepare it at home means about a mile walk to get to all the shops and grocers.  There are the patisseries, boulangeries, fromageries as well as several small chain grocery stores - Franprix, G20, Leader Price, and Carrefour.  Each has one particular product you want.

So to shop - get all dressed up  with full make-up (not my usual style) and walk to Rue Cler with a shopping cart.  You have to carry everything you buy home - no car to put it into and drive it home.

Stop first at Leader Price to get staples and cleaning products.  Go to the boulangerie and get "une baguette"  which costs 1 Euro anywhere you shop.  Stop by the produce market - get (at  this time of the year) peaches, nectarines, raspberries and melons.  Then go to FranPrix on Rue Cler.  It's the one that has the French Quaker Oats.  I love my oatmeal!

The cart must now be packed to get everything in there.  Hopefully I was quick enough to pack the groceries in my cart and not be in another little old lady's way.  They huff and sniff at my stupidity!  Hopefully I can pay quickly, but not with a 50 Euro note - they look at your other bills and insist you use a 20 instead!

Walking home is tiring and of course, hot right now.  People can be irritated if you take up too much of the sidewalk with your cart.  Getting into the church involves a key for a very heavy door that has to be held open while dragging the cart up steps.  There's no room to get the cart upstairs without keeping the heavy door open with your body while trying to push the cart up more steps.  The heavy door slams and reverberates throughout the building so you also have to let it close quietly while still, of course, holding onto the heavy cart.

Then it's easy - just up the elevator which operates with a key for security.  Put the food away and then prepare a scrumptious meal.  Sneak a slice of baguette while sauteing fresh chicken that tastes like it used to at home.  Make a salad with those great fresh veggies and dress with EVOO and a really good vinegar.  The tiny French green beans cook quickly as do the wonderful yellow potatoes which are so flavorful that they don't even need butter.  But you wouldn't want to skip the French butter!  I'm convinced that the butter is the secret to French cooking.  Put a little bit on everything you cook.

Everything tastes like it tasted when I was a child.  How have we lost that in America?   Perhaps one of the reasons there is so much obesity in America is because the food does not satisfy all the senses - especially smell and taste.  I eat a little less here in Paris and enjoy it a lot more.  I will certainly have to plant my garden next spring and find some country butter!

Grammies and Sunglasses

    In this seventh decade (the later part) of my life, I am of the opinion that more of women's bodies should be covered.  There are, of course, many reasons for this, one being that we need something on our shoulders because we get cold easier than we used to.  Gone are those dreaded hot flashes that could warm you up even when you didn't want to be warmer.
    The other reasons are wrinkles, age spots, and saggy this, that, or the other.  Oh, I forgot varicose veins, bunions, and hammer toes.  Wow, this is depressing me.  Maybe, I'll just go put on my sundress, flip flops, and sunglasses(to hide the previously listed affirmaties) and go shop on Champs-Elysee's!

     I think there's a heat wave in Paris.  We are living on the fourth floor(this means fifth floor in America) on the west side of the church.  We have to close the windows and shades after lunch to keep the sun out.  Thank the good Lord there is air conditioning!
    I went shopping yesterday to buy a sundress and sandals.  This is how it's done here.  Get all pretty, then find a bus route to where you want to shop.  I wanted to ride Bus 42 to the Opera stop.  I walked 5 minutes to where I thought the bus stop was.  It was not there.  I turned around, walked back and finally found the right bus going in the right direction.
It was a great ride across Paris-crossing Champs-Elysee, going by lovely gardens, and a view of the Arc de Triumph.
    I missed the Opera stop and got off at the next one which was the one I needed.  Galerie Lafayette was straight ahead!  It is so huge and  gorgeous inside, like a hybrid of a mall and a huge department store in Art Deco style.  Every little section is one brand with its own sales people, dressing rooms, and check-out.  The sales people are so helpful and kind.  One young lady helped me determine my size-42 for a dress and 38 for shoes!!  The summer sale is going on and there are deals to be found!  I bought a pretty cotton sundress that was made in France.  I'm so much cooler now.
     I decided to have a gallette(savory crepe) and a sweet crepe for lunch.  A French lady sat beside me and we talked, mostly in English because she is traveling to L.A. in October and wanted to practice.  It was such fun talking to her and using a little French.
Then I had to locate the bus home.  At least, this time I walked in the right direction for about three blocks when I came to the stop for good old Bus 42!  Another beautiful ride  home and a five minute walk back to the church.
    This was my first solo trip across Paris and I am so pleased with all I accomplished and learned.  It is almost always beautiful and exciting to do even mundane things in Paris.  Maybe that's true when you are in any foreign city.
    I'm loving my stay here immensely and know the time will fly with many things left undone.  However, I plan to enjoy as much as I can.  I'll take you on a food shopping trip next time!

Linens and Chartres

I was reading on  pinterest an article about changing linens once a week-good plan.  Then it recommended  rotating clean sheets with fresher ones on the bottom in the linen closet.    I've always thought what a waste of time ,energy, and space this practice is.  I own one set of sheets, wash them and put them back on the bed-freshly dried.  No rotating to do, no linen closet, and no folding!
With that off my chest, I'll  get back to Paris and Chartres.  We rode the train  from Paris to Chartres on Wednesday, spent the night  in a former monastery, and returned on Thursday. The town was so quiet and uncrowded making me realize that I've become somewhat accustomed to the busyness of Paris!
Our visit was so relaxing and the cathedral was as beautiful and inspiring a everyone had told us it would be.  You could feell the Lord and imagine h worship of the pilgrims since the twelft  century.  It has the lageet collection of medieval stained glass in Europe.  The Chartres blue is especially lovely and renowned.

One Month In Europe!

     Dan and I arrived in Paris on June 9, having taken the red-eye the  evening before.  We actually slept some on the plane-a first!  Our daughter Caroline met us at Charles de Gaulle Airport.  She took us to the Trocadero for the most wonderful view of the Tour Eiffel.
Lunch was at a bisto away from the tourist area.  We loved the creme brulee for dessert.  
   That was our first day and we have had many "Grammie Adventures" since.  We have been in our apartment for a week now.  Last night we went to the lovely Madeleine church to hear an American combination choir of 300 members from across the country directed by Andre Thomas.  Faure's Requiem was ethereal!
     My first post is brief, but I hope to relate future and past adventures in upcoming posts as a diary for myself and perhaps a story of interest to you!