The End/Fin

Sunday, July 27, 2008
Grundy County, Iowa

Our last two days in sunny Paris were enjoyable enough that Reed was sad to go on Thursday morning. We were gathering the bags to go to the metro station and on to Charles de Gaulle airport and Reed complained that Paris was so fun he didn’t want to leave. This was a surprise since he usually complains when he’s been forced to gad about but I guess having a second afternoon in the Luxembourg playground on Tuesday afternoon and then a visit to the menagerie at the Jardin des Plantes AND the sewer museum on Wednesday really pleased him.

We took a picnic lunch of cous cous and baguette sandwiches and strawberry tart to the Jardin du Luxembourg to meet Jack, our old friend from Verderonne. We sat in the shade of a large potted lime tree next to the central fountain and watched the kids sail toy boats and got caught up with each other’s news. Afterwards we took Reed back to the play area and let him work off his energy for a few hours before we headed back to the apartment for another yummy pasta dinner. Wednesday the weather heated up so we kept looking for shade as we looked at the interesting assortment of animals at the menagerie. Reed spent about 30 seconds on each one – various birds, monkeys, turtles, spiders, antelopes, yaks, and so on - until we got to the fermette and the goats, where he quickly settled down for long petting sessions with the various friendly goats pressing themselves up against the fence. Reed seemed to know where to scratch them as they generally stood still for him for a very long time. He came away after about 15 minutes refreshed and ready for the snakes and lizards.

We stopped for a break at the tables in the shade behind one of the refreshment stands where Reed noticed a pigeon with a long strand of narrow plastic band wound around its leg, hopelessly tangled. He and Walt managed to capture the pigeon and between the three of us untangled the strand and released it to a light smattering of happy applause from the onlookers.

I had planned to spend Wednesday by myself wandering around Montmartre or visiting Sainte Chapelle and the Louvre while Reed and Walt went to the Eiffel tower, but decided that it would be more fun to do whatever Reed wanted to do. He nixed the Eiffel tower plan – “there will be too many people and we’ll have to wait in line!” – and chose the botanical gardens and the sewer museum instead. The sewer museum was a cool underground respite from the afternoon heat, if rather smelly, and Reed and I were rewarded with a glimpse of a real sewer rat who popped up out of somewhere I couldn’t see and scurried down the concrete passageway next to the narrow branch line of the canal-like sewer. My favorite part of the museum was at the end, watching the videos, and learning about the Paris sewer watch squad: the municipal employees who come in their little truck with a flashing light on top to rescue whatever important thing people have dropped in a storm drain. Like most French people, they seem unfailingly polite.

So, we still have the Eiffel Tower on our list of things to do in Paris, and we decided to do it next time, when Reed is old enough to stay up until midnight and we can go in the evening to see the city light up. And I will have to save Sainte Chapelle and the Louvre for the next time as well, along with many other parks and gardens. And is it possible we didn’t eat in a restaurant while we were in Paris for 3 days? Well, yes. We got free yogurt and cereal as well as croissants and baguettes and pain au chocolats from the boulangerie down the street as part of our apartment rental deal; we packed picnic lunches for our days out; we made dinner in the apartment with the delicious provisions from the corner grocery also just down the street. When you’ve got a bottle of 2 Euro rose’, fabulous lettuce, ripe tomatoes, 3 kinds of excellent cheese, pasta, cream, salt and pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a fresh baguette and a few slices of ham, there’s not any more a person needs for a great dinner. Why pay for a waiter to bring it to the table?

Our trip back to the states was uneventful, just long and tiring; fortunately we were welcomed in at the restful and restorative home of college roommate Ann and her husband Harry in Chicago, giving us a break in between the plane to Chicago and the train to Iowa. Now we’re back at my parents’ in Iowa, eating too much sweet corn and potato salad and chocolate zucchini cake, watching out the window as a severe thunderstorm threatens to flatten the crops and cause more flooding. It seems as appropriate place as any to bid adieu to this gastrosabbatical blog, and refer you to my other blogs, some of which will get more action than others as we get back into daily life in Idaho in a couple of weeks. For my ongoing food explorations, check out Palouse Locavore. For our family’s continuing battle to avoid gratuitous plastic, see A Plastic-Free Life, Sort Of. And will we be moving to France in the future? Time will tell, and so will one of my blogs.

Montmartre and Paris

Monday, July 21, 2008
Montmartre, Paris

We bid adieu yesterday to K and K, very sorry to have to leave but inevitably drawn towards home now that our time in France is almost over. We arrived in Paris and made our way to our studio apartment at the base of the Montmartre butte without any incident except for the entrance gate of the Montparnasse metro station going shut on me, pinching my shoulders in a death grip I slowly managed to extract myself from by brute force – backwards, of course. That’s what I get for trying to get through with Reed and myself on only one ticket, hustling Reed through first. Fortunately I was rescued by the kind young man behind me who beckoned to me to come through with him, since my ticket had been rendered invalid once used. So I snugged myself up against his back and we made it through together, yet another example of the kindness of French people.

We spent Sunday evening among the hordes of tourists, going up and down the stairs of the various levels below the face of the whipped cream edifice towering over the rest of the city that is Sacre Coeur church, and admiring the view of the streets falling away Montmartre to the rest of the city laid out below, before bathing in the miniature bathtub in our miniature bathroom in this typically tiny Paris apartment. Still, it’s ours for a few days, with our own mini kitchen and t.v. and it’s much better than a claustrophobic hotel room.

Today Walt had his day out and about alone while Reed and I went to the playground in Luxembourg Gardens, where we stayed from 11 am until 3 pm, breaking only for a lunch of a panini, quiche, and some ice cream at the Buvette café right next to the playground. I sat on a bench and read while Reed ran around with the other children of all nationalities and gave his utmost to the fabulous play structures. Unlike four years ago, this time he protested but only mildly when I said it was time to get back. I didn’t have to carry him kicking and screaming all the way back to the Odeon metro stop, thank goodness. This time we got to admire the wrought iron balconies and window grates and geraniums on windowsills that are everywhere in Paris, which must be my favorite thing about this city. On the way back home on the metro train I thought how nice it was to be getting to know that one little bit of Paris so well. Even though Reed and I aren’t charging around the city visiting lots of museums and all the other beautiful parks, I don’t mind. I’ve got this relaxed feeling about Paris, that we have plenty of time, and that we will have many other visits in which to discover new corners and new views.

We had a delicious dinner in the apartment of pasta with cream sauce, sliced tomatoes in vinaigrette, salad, cheese (Roquefort, fresh goat cheese, and Lou Perrac – a runny sheep’s cheese K&K introduced us to), melon, and chocolate cake. Walt’s headed out again for an evening walk and Reed and I have settled down for an early bedtime. Tomorrow’s another big day.