knock, knock

This beautiful knocker is on the gate
that leads into the Museum of
Decorative Arts in Bordeaux. (If I didn't
live in a co-op, where we have
certain rules about uniformity, i.e., I don't
get to choose, I'd paint my front door
this color in a New York minute.)

[Linking back to Blue Monday and Macro Monday.]

inSPIREd Sunday

Adam and Eve getting their marching orders:
This window is in the church of
Saint-Pierre, in Bordeaux.  The church was
built in the 14th and 15th centuries
and is one of those on the Way of St. James
in France, on the route to Santiago de Compostela. 

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

I'm sitting in the railway station.
Got a ticket for my destination . . .
I wish I was homeward bound.
—Paul Simon

[To see more b/w images, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Skywatch Friday

I was fortunate enough this past August and
September to get to travel quite a bit
(by plane, train, and boat).  The air miles
alone logged between Aug. 19 and Sept. 23 
were just under 17,000.   And I caught
some beautiful skies too—this one as I left Oslo.

[To see more Skywatch pics, go here.]

Thursday Challenge—"paper"

There's not a single room in my house that
doesn't have books in it.  And as a
"design element," I think they add warmth
and a true personal touch to my home.
What I don't get is books facing backwards on
a shelf or covered so you can't tell
what the heck they are.  They are there to
be read, aren't they?
(I do get that this is different. They really are
here just for design value—but even so.)

[To see more of the Thursday Photo
Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—P is for "pecking order"

Or maybe that should be "pigeon power."
Have to hand it to this little bird,
though, who didn't hesitate to go up
against the big boys.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

non, merci

While I'm not exactly a vegetarian, I do
draw the line at some things—
and this is one of them.  This butcher shop
that specializes in horse meat is deep 
in the heart of the 15th arrondissement and
well off the beaten tourist path.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and Our World Tuesday.]  

sea-kayaking

One more from the place where I took Saturday's photo:
This is Ida (Ee-da), one of our guides on the
Arctic expedition.  She is a barely-5-foot-tall Swedish
dynamo, who drove a zodiac, carried a
high-powered rifle when we hiked, is certified
in sea kayaking, and also specializes in
snowmobiling and whitewater rafting—she was one of 
my faves (and I have a few) on this awesome trip.

[Linking back to Monday Mellow Yellows.]

inSPIREd Sunday

This is the entrance to the Monolithic Church
of Saint-Emilion.  It was carved out
of a solid limestone hill in the early 12th
century.  Columns have been added
since they discovered cracks in the nave (partly
the fault of that 3,000-ton bell tower
sitting on top of the church).

[To see more churches from
around the world, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

The Arctic—beautiful, peaceful, unspoiled.

[To see more b/w images,
visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

Sunglasses on display in one of the
über-trendy shops of the
Palais Royal, in Paris.  Would you wear 
them?  I would (for a giggle).

[To see more Weekend Reflections, visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"joyful" (#2)

My kids on Christmas Day 1984, 
holding the one gift they really, really
wanted and were so happy to receive—from 
my mother.  I never did completely understand
the appeal of those Cabbage Patch Kids.

[To see more of the Thursday Photo
Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—O is for "oysters

Fresh oysters: best breakfast ever, on Cap Ferret,
overlooking the beautiful Bassin d'Arcachon.

. . . with white wine, of course.  For
breakfast?  Oh, yeah. 

Cimetière Montparnasse

I visited a number of cemeteries on my recent
trip to France. This is the Montparnasse
Cemetery, second-largest in Paris and final
resting place of Charles Baudelaire,
Samuel Beckett, Auguste Bartholdi, Jean Seberg,
Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre
(who are together even here), and about
40,000 other souls.

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday and My World Tuesday.]

Blue Monday

This "club" of pétanque (i.e., boules) players is
hidden away in the 15th arrondissement
in Paris.  Thanks to my wonderful friend and
traveling companion Genie
(who does the blog Paris and Beyond)
for introducing me to this place.

The men and women who play here have
obviously been part of the club for
many years—there's so much warmth and 
camaraderie on display,  yet 
they take the game very seriously.
I learned a lot while I was watching them.

[To see more Blue Monday posts, go here.]

inSPIREd Sunday

Colorful candles in the Saint-Eustache church,
in Paris:  This late Gothic masterpiece
was built between 1532 and 1632.  Noted Parisians
baptized here include Cardinal Richelieu, 
Madame de Pompadour, and Molière, who was 
also married in this church.

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.]

Think pink!

Last month, the Luxembourg Gardens
were a riot of pink—in the flower urns and . . .

everywhere!  It was a glorious sight.

[Linking back to Pink Saturday
at How Sweet the Sound.

Weekend Reflections

Chez E. Dehillerin, Paris purveyors of
all the things you need for cooking
—or didn't know you needed until you
walked into this wonderful store
and now you'll need an extra suitcase
to get it all home.  There were some serious
shoppers in this place!

[To see more Weekend Reflections,
visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—"joyful"

Riding the manège in the Jardin du Luxembourg:
That happy face means she just caught
a ring—granted, with a little help from the
nice man who runs the carrousel.
"Merci, Monsieur!"

[To see more of the Thursday Photo
Challenge, visit Dale's meme.]

ABC Wednesday—N is for "Norway"

We'd be coming in for a landing soon
in Oslo—and you'd hardly know you were
a quick train ride from the city.

[To see more ABC posts, go here.]

art-a-potties

These three French automated toilets from 1979 
are actually an art installation in Oslo.
It's called "Liberté" and there are sound systems
inside each one that play recordings of
speeches from WWII by Roosevelt, DeGaulle, 
and the Norwegian king Haakon.

(If you're confused, it might help a bit to know 
that one of the lesser-known goals of the 
French Revolution was supposedly to provide
public toilets for les citoyennes.)

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday 
and Our World Tuesday.]

something old . . .

While we were hiking in the Arctic, we found
this fossil of a sea creature from long ago.
A guide told us that the fjord we were in had been
formed about 65 million years ago and we were 
standing on what had once been the bottom
of a huge deep glacier.  We followed
the rules (leave nothing, take nothing)
and left it just where we found it.

[Linking back to Macro Monday.]

inSPIREd Sunday

This is Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois, located
across the street from the eastern
end of the Louvre.  It was founded in the
7th century, rebuilt many times since,
and now contains features in the
Roman, Gothic, and Renaissance styles.

[To see more churches from around the world, go here.]

The Weekend in Black and White

Here's one of the things I love about digital
photography:  When I was up in the 
Arctic, I must have taken dozens (maybe hundreds)
of pictures of birds, just hoping to
have a few that are any good.  I think 
maybe this one is a keeper.

[To see more b/w images, visit Dragonstar's meme.]

Weekend Reflections

This is the Fondation Louis Vuitton, one of
Paris's newer art spaces (it opened in 
2014 in the Bois de Boulogne, and was designed
by Frank Gehry).  There is some interesting 
art on display here, but the
main artwork is the building itself.

[To see more Weekend Reflections,
visit James's meme.]

Thursday Challenge—sun (#2)

At +/- 80° north latitude, this is what
the Midnight Sun looks like.
Toward the end of my recent journey in 
the Arctic, the sun did (sort of) set—
then rose 10 minutes later
in the exact same spot (and I still
don't quite understand how that works).

[To see more of the Thursday Photo
Challenge, go here.]

ABC Wednesday—M is for "mussels"

More good food from France:
I first had the mussels at Chez Hortense,
in Cap Ferret, in 2002.  This restaurant is not
that easy to get to (especially from New York!),
and when I finally made it back there
last month I told the waiter that I'd been thinking
of those mussels for 14 years.  We ordered
for three, he brought us at least enough for six,
and we ate every last one of them.  
Yummmmm!

[To see more ABC Wednesday posts, go here.]

le soufflé

The waiter poured Grand Marnier over my
dessert soufflé—then very generously
left the bottle, in case I needed just a tiny
bit more (which I did, bien sûr).

[Linking back to Ruby Tuesday
and Our World Tuesday.]

des bicyclettes et des persiennes

Took this shot on picturesque
rue des Thermopyles, 
in Paris's 14th arrondissement.
Love those (almost) Tiffany-blue shutters!

[Linking back to Blue Monday at Backyard Neighbor.]

inSPIREd Sunday shadows

This is one corner of the beautiful
Saint-Michel basilica, built between
the 14th and 16th centuries,
in Bordeaux.

[To see more churches from around
the world, go here.  Also linking back
to Shadow Shot Sunday.]

Pink Saturday

At Wolff & Descourtis, in the Galerie Vivienne,
you'll find the most sumptuous
oversized foulards.  Wish I could afford 
a whole bunch of them.  (I currently have 
not one.  Some day maybe.) 

[To see more Pink Saturday
posts, go here.]