Tour St. Jacque Unveiling Begins














Well, it is a beginning. I can't wait to see the Tour in its entirety. "They" say it will be about two more years of work before it will be completed. At least they are doing it the right way even if it takes a lot of time.

Waitin' on "La Mome"
















This is what I call a terrific place to wait for the movie to begin. The Theaterplex (my own word) at Les Halles in Paris has the perfect solution for those arrive early to see a movie. The Cine Cafe is very relaxing. Here in Lexington the lobbies have tables and chairs but the atmosphere is not tranquil and the game room for teens is a noisey place where the sounds spill into the lobby, big time.

Horseheads for Eric















Here they are, Eric, just as I promised. I first tried to eat horsemeat during WWII. My grandmother "fixed" it for the family because you could buy it without using ration stamps. She was an excellent cook but the family didn't like it. Dave and I tried it two years ago when in France. He had trouble with the mental image and I thought it was tough. It was fun to try it anyway.

Preservatifs, condoms, prophylactics, whatever!

















Call them what you may, We get a kick out of seeing the vending machines for them. In the U.S. they are limited to some men's restrooms. In France, you find them even in the Metro stations. Proof that the French are much more sophisticated and open about SEX. The puritans don't have sex. That is why there are so many of them. LOL We have even seen them mounted on walls of goverment buildings in France. Why not?

Food on the Go!














This restaurant has good food. The service is excellent. You select the food you want and put it on your plate. Then you place it in one of many microwave ovens and heat it. It is fun. An interesting concept in food on the run. Offered is an extensive variety of chinese food.

La Fontaine de la rue St-Denis
















It seems these folks were asked to model but they weren't. Just a snap and voila! Beautiful masterpiece to highlight the area, I do believe.

Love it? I do!














We love this building...Hotel de Ville, Paris....It is always exciting because the planners always have some interesting things going on both outside and inside. The building itself is a work of architectural art. The photo was taken just after the general elections. The "electricity" of the people was felt by all.

This is the inside of the Open Cafe.












In the heart of the Marais is the wonderful Open Cafe. We love it for lunch.....good food, excellent service, neat, clean, and pretty. I wish we were there right now. We have something to look forward to the next time we go to Paris....The love of my life city.

I love to cook














I am constantly creating some kind of dish in the kitchen. Bad thing: It is usually a one time creation. It's fun that way but if the family asks to have the dish repeated, they are out of luck. Too bad!! I go on "kicks". Right now it is a quiche-type extravaganza. I made a corned beef and potato quiche topped with out-door grilled maple bacon. It was a winner!

This is the Loire flowing under the bridge in Nevers.










We stayed at a lovely hotel "This End" of the bridge. The man-made falls, then the greenery, just beautiful. We drove there after we picked up the Clio at DeGaulle in Paris.

We drove to Chartreuse to see the city and to take the guided tour through the factory.





It was a fascinating tour complete with a film, a guide who explained the history of the beverage made by the monks, a museum, and a tasting session for a grand finale. We bought T-shirts, aprons, candy, but no chartreuse. Truth....I didn't like the taste, however, millions of people do. Therefore it is a great success and has been for hundreds of years.

Tragedy near Grenoble

We spent spring this year in Le Mure near Grenoble. We drove that trecherous path to Visille again and again. We often talked of how dangerous the road was. Today it happened, all the Polish pilgrims on the bus were either killed or injured. This statue of Napoleon is near the top of the hill and resides in a lovely park by the side of the road. It was at the bottom of this hill, about 7K away, that the bus went off the road and became ablaze. This is the fourth tragedy on this same stretch of highway. I've been following the news on TV5. They have done excellent coverage of the mishap.

Men on the March! The Cinemateque Museum @ Bercy is fabulous. There are floors of memorabilia and a comfortable theater that shows old classics. We saw an old version of The Man in the Iron Mask. When we got back to the States we ordered and saw other versions from Netflix. I had to buy a video tape of Richard Chamberlain's version from Amazon. It was worth the bucks! I still prefer his rendition. Note the huge etchings of men on the march emblazoned on the windows....permanently. This place has a so, so cafe but people seem to like it. This place (the museum) deserves a return trip.

Dalida!!! I am so happy that we didn't miss this Expo at the Hotel de Ville in Paris. I have seen her perform on television so often (films and Bios) that I thought she was alive until two years ago. She is such a superstar Diva. Sang, danced, acted....I still haven't seen her movies but I am working at getting them.

I am saying a prayer for his holiness 'cause if he is out of circulation for a longtime, his sidekick from hell will have more than the alotted two hours to screw up the country. Scarry isn't it?

I always wanted to see my name in Lights.....and here it is. Makes me feel young again for a minute or two. I am forgetting my troubles and getting happy. Don't miss Eric's ParisDailyPhoto. It is still my favorite blog.

Juliette was so glad to see me! Don't I wish. She will never know that Dave and I traveled from Kentucky to Paris just to see her perform on stage. We weren't disappointed because she is beautiful and can sing like no other chanteuse. She had 22 curtain calls that night. The couple in front of us came from Dublin just to see her. The couple beside us came from Geneva to attend the show. I wonder if she has an idea of how many people respect and love her work. There is only one Juliette Greco.

This is a stairwell. Wouldn't you love to make your "entrance" by floating down these stairs. We visited the new Architecture museum in Paris near Bercy Stadium. What a magnificent place. The displays were beyond words of description. The macquets were perfection.

Here is another of the ads from the airport. Such a neat series! I couldn't resist showing you another one.

This is the St. Peter & Paul Church in the Marais that always makes me sad because it is so beautiful yet so neglected. The facade is masked by years of grime and the once lovely old clock has "died". I wrote the mayor about it last year. I think I will write to the Pope. Surely someone with clout and money might want to restore it.

Well folks, after months of trying again and again, It seems that I can blog once again. I couldn't resist these huge fabulous gems in the window of a wedding shop in the Marais when we were there in June. We all know they are fake but aren't they lovely? Our photos are limited to Paris but they are from somewhere in France. We have traveled from the South to the North and East of France. Hope you enjoy the photos I will post for you. Love, Johnny

This series of ads is fascinating. I took these photos (the whole series) in the DeGaulle Airport.