Last Friday Tom and I went to the Louvre to perhaps see the special Vermeer exposition. We waited for about twenty minutes in the security line, then another fifteen in the ticket line, only to find that the show was sold out for that day. It was suggested that if we got to the museum by 9:00 a.m., opening time, getting same-day tickets would not be a problem. Today we interrupted our vacation sleep (which normally lasts until about 8:45) and were on the very crowded Metro this morning at 8:30. We were at the Louvre Metro stop and through those security gates by 8:45. We then waited another 25 minutes to get through the security line which didn't open until 9:00 am. Then we waited for another 15 minutes in the ticket line, only to discover that there were no tickets until later today, at 2:00 p.m. We purchased those tickets and came back to our 'hood for coffee and a morning spent reading.
We set out, once again, for the Louvre at 1:15, were in line for those with tickets by 1:35 and then we waited. We waited until after 2:00. We waited some more. About 2:10 we were at the front of the line, and then we waited some more. In front of us, in another waiting area, there were about 100 people waiting with 2:00 p.m. tickets. We joined that group at 2:15 and the wait from there was going to be another 30 minutes, according to the signs. At that point we had already spent more than a total of 90 minutes (over two days) waiting and we had at least 30 more to go. At least. And then, to walk around the exhibit, to jostle and to be jostled, to try and walk around all the old people who had headphones and who never, ever move out of the way, to try and get close enough to read the notes on the wall about any particular painting, to keep breathing the hot, stale air..... well, we looked at each other in this stupid line and both said, almost at the same time, "This isn't worth it." So we left.
We will simply read the book instead of seeing the movie, to pen a metaphor.
I could go on and on why there isn't better crowd control at one of the world's biggest and best museums but there is no point to that. It was disappointing and frustrating and I was surprised that more people didn't bail out. I guess more people are OK with lining up like cattle and being herded into roped off lines, being taunted with the carrot of what they paid for as a reward for waiting patiently with hundreds of other cattle to see ..... something. All I know is that Tom and I were not OK with it, regardless what we paid for the privilege of being treated like cattle or sheep.
We metroed back to our neighborhood and stopped at a familiar cafe for a cafe creme (for Tom) and a cheap red wine (for me) and sat there for about a half hour. We ordered another round and suddenly the skies burst open, the temperature dropped ten degrees and the rain and wind outdid themselves to put on a show for us. Rain pelted down, the wind ripped the overhangs from their moorings, it was as dramatic as it could be and we were so, so happy to be sitting two feet away from the wind and the splash. It was as good as a museum exhibit could have been and with no crowds. C'était très dramatique.
That's been our day so far. Tomorrow is our last day to play in Paris and we will see what transpires.
A demain!
.
Monday, February 27, 2017
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Living Life on the Left Bank
It is true. I am, at this moment and for the past five days, in the heart of Paris. France, that is, not Texas. Four months ago I asked for a week off of work (we make the work schedule far in advance) and then in January I had to figure out how to spend that vacation time. What a great idea: go to Paris! It had been about ten years since I visited this city, and damn the expense, I wanted to return. So I did. Fortuitously, my friend Tom was planning on being in Rome early in February and was able to take the train from Rome to Paris and meet me here, and thus we are staying in a fine apartment in the 7th arrondissement in the heart of the city.
It has been, so far, most excellent. The apartment is very lovely, the location is one we know well, the weather has been cool but not cold and Paris is as beautiful as she has ever been. We do simple things: walk a lot, see some art, stop and have a coffee, read in the apartment, go out for uncomplicated dinners. Tom and I have a long history of traveling together but again, it has been about ten years since we indulged in the pleasure of being in the same foreign place at the same time. We laugh a lot, which is very necessary on vacations. I try out my French but as soon as shop keepers see us, they know we are not French and they speak English to us. I don't care.
There is something so freeing about being far away from home, on vacation. The lack of proximity to one's day-to-day life means it is easier to leave the cares of that life buried at the bottom of the suitcase. But at the same time, it is easier to ruminate on one's life, the point of it, the future, what one should do. No decisions need be made, and that is a gift as well.
We have two more days here and then we jet home on Wednesday morning. Two more morning coffees at the small cafe down the street, two more chances to see a Vermeer show at the Louvre, two more days to finish the stinky cheeses we bought at the fromagier on Rue Cler. Two more days to suspend worries about work and money and two more days to pretend that Paris really does whisper in my ear.
Photos will be shared once I return home. Bonjour!
.
It has been, so far, most excellent. The apartment is very lovely, the location is one we know well, the weather has been cool but not cold and Paris is as beautiful as she has ever been. We do simple things: walk a lot, see some art, stop and have a coffee, read in the apartment, go out for uncomplicated dinners. Tom and I have a long history of traveling together but again, it has been about ten years since we indulged in the pleasure of being in the same foreign place at the same time. We laugh a lot, which is very necessary on vacations. I try out my French but as soon as shop keepers see us, they know we are not French and they speak English to us. I don't care.
There is something so freeing about being far away from home, on vacation. The lack of proximity to one's day-to-day life means it is easier to leave the cares of that life buried at the bottom of the suitcase. But at the same time, it is easier to ruminate on one's life, the point of it, the future, what one should do. No decisions need be made, and that is a gift as well.
We have two more days here and then we jet home on Wednesday morning. Two more morning coffees at the small cafe down the street, two more chances to see a Vermeer show at the Louvre, two more days to finish the stinky cheeses we bought at the fromagier on Rue Cler. Two more days to suspend worries about work and money and two more days to pretend that Paris really does whisper in my ear.
Photos will be shared once I return home. Bonjour!
.
Friday, February 10, 2017
NY Times, food, TV, rain. It's all we got.
This happens every year. This time of year comes and I am so tired and so vacant and so without purpose. Working six days a week since Christmas, my trip to NYC seems like it happened a year ago. I love to read and yet I can't concentrate on anything that's even reasonably smart. I like to eat but my dinners are so dumb that I don't even want to eat them. (well, except tonight, more on that later.) I love the rain, and I am so tired of everyone saying "Oh, we are so disappointed in this rainy weather for our vacation." I want to say "Oh, how would you like this vacation of yours if our hillsides were on fire after another year or two of drought?" But I shut my mouth, of course.
I have not tired of the rain. I will not tire of it until my car and house and dog and friends have been swept away. A long time ago, when I lived in West Marin, it rained for more than 30 days in a row. Some days were really rainy, some were just sort of rainy, but it rained every day of those 30 days and I loved all of it. Yes, I might move to Seattle, it could happen.
But the situation in the USA is so very grim and so very frightening. I read the NY Times online and I read all the opinions and so should you. I know many of you don't subscribe so here are a few to check out.
Roger Cohen is writing brilliant stuff, of course, here's his latest. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/opinion/preserving-the-sanctity-of-all-facts.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
Paul Krugman, of course. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/opinion/when-the-fire-comes.html?ref=opinion
About the silencing of Elizabeth Warren: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/opinion/what-happened-to-elizabeth-warren-has-roots-in-racism.html?ref=opinion
And this: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/08/opinion/donald-trump-middle-school-president.html?src=me
And it goes on and on. If you can't click on the links, let me know and I can get you the log in to the Times website. Or spring for the money and just subscribe for the brilliance of the editorial writers.
And food: the other thing the NYT has is Sam Sifton and his What to Cook this Week column, and his writing style as well. We need to be cooking for ourselves and our friends because in preparing meals we are using skills, like thinking and chopping and measuring and tasting. Skills that we might think are simple (and they are) but they are also important. Preparing food, even just for our own self, takes us out of our angry mind and puts us into our good mind. Sounds too new-agey but it works for me.
I am in another run of six days in a row of work. So there's no "Friday night" feeling until this coming Monday night, because I don't have to work on Tuesday morning. I might drink heavily on Monday night, could happen. I was thinking I would order out tonight but I didn't. But here's what I had and it was friggin delicious. I had some pasta, of course, one has to be a Putin Communist to not have dried pasta in the pantry. I had garlic (ditto) and a shallot and parmesan cheese, and I don't mean the kind in the green can. I also had about a quarter cup of cream. DISCO!!! Dinner. Boil that pasta with a lot of salt. Saute that garlic and shallot in some butter and olive oil, then toss in a handful of roughly chopped arugula (optional, but I had it) and when it's all soft and lovely add a lot of ground black pepper and/or red pepper flakes. When the pasta is just done, add the cream to the onion stuff, bring to a boil, toss in a bit of parm, then drain the pasta, add it to the pan with the cream, etc, toss away with more cheese and pepper. That's it. Put into a shallow heated bowl (heated with pasta water, of course) and sprinkle a bit of finely grated parm on top and I swear, it was everything I wanted tonight. The only thing that would have made it better would be if it was storming and rainy outside. It wasn't but I pretended it was. It worked, I was happy. Hot, cheesy, spicy, rich and with a nice steely Chardonnay, it was perfect.
OK, over and out. Be careful out there.
xo
I have not tired of the rain. I will not tire of it until my car and house and dog and friends have been swept away. A long time ago, when I lived in West Marin, it rained for more than 30 days in a row. Some days were really rainy, some were just sort of rainy, but it rained every day of those 30 days and I loved all of it. Yes, I might move to Seattle, it could happen.
But the situation in the USA is so very grim and so very frightening. I read the NY Times online and I read all the opinions and so should you. I know many of you don't subscribe so here are a few to check out.
Roger Cohen is writing brilliant stuff, of course, here's his latest. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/opinion/preserving-the-sanctity-of-all-facts.html?ref=opinion&_r=0
Paul Krugman, of course. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/opinion/when-the-fire-comes.html?ref=opinion
About the silencing of Elizabeth Warren: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/opinion/what-happened-to-elizabeth-warren-has-roots-in-racism.html?ref=opinion
And this: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/08/opinion/donald-trump-middle-school-president.html?src=me
And it goes on and on. If you can't click on the links, let me know and I can get you the log in to the Times website. Or spring for the money and just subscribe for the brilliance of the editorial writers.
And food: the other thing the NYT has is Sam Sifton and his What to Cook this Week column, and his writing style as well. We need to be cooking for ourselves and our friends because in preparing meals we are using skills, like thinking and chopping and measuring and tasting. Skills that we might think are simple (and they are) but they are also important. Preparing food, even just for our own self, takes us out of our angry mind and puts us into our good mind. Sounds too new-agey but it works for me.
I am in another run of six days in a row of work. So there's no "Friday night" feeling until this coming Monday night, because I don't have to work on Tuesday morning. I might drink heavily on Monday night, could happen. I was thinking I would order out tonight but I didn't. But here's what I had and it was friggin delicious. I had some pasta, of course, one has to be a Putin Communist to not have dried pasta in the pantry. I had garlic (ditto) and a shallot and parmesan cheese, and I don't mean the kind in the green can. I also had about a quarter cup of cream. DISCO!!! Dinner. Boil that pasta with a lot of salt. Saute that garlic and shallot in some butter and olive oil, then toss in a handful of roughly chopped arugula (optional, but I had it) and when it's all soft and lovely add a lot of ground black pepper and/or red pepper flakes. When the pasta is just done, add the cream to the onion stuff, bring to a boil, toss in a bit of parm, then drain the pasta, add it to the pan with the cream, etc, toss away with more cheese and pepper. That's it. Put into a shallow heated bowl (heated with pasta water, of course) and sprinkle a bit of finely grated parm on top and I swear, it was everything I wanted tonight. The only thing that would have made it better would be if it was storming and rainy outside. It wasn't but I pretended it was. It worked, I was happy. Hot, cheesy, spicy, rich and with a nice steely Chardonnay, it was perfect.
OK, over and out. Be careful out there.
xo
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
A movie from 1978 when we were all so, so young.
Almost 40 years ago, Jill Clayburgh was "An Unmarried Woman." Don't ask me how this arrived in my Netflix queue, those movies just show up, and don't ask me why I decided to watch it, those things just happen. But I must say, except for a few dated scenes, this movie still holds up. It's really good. She is amazing. I would take umbrage with her quick recovery (a couple of months) from being tossed out of a 15 year marriage, but aside from that and a few other timing points, it's good. Jill Clayburgh was perfect and so beautiful, we all should have looked that good getting divorced. And hello, the lovely Alan Bates, well, he was way too sexy. Two thumbs up.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Too long, too busy, too many days and not enough writing
Because of a staff shortage for the last three weeks, I have been taking more shifts. Six a week. I had a long run of shifts and I was expecting a nice chunk of overtime pay but alas, that did not happen. I keep forgetting that you can work 12 days in a row without one minute of overtime (unless you work more than 8 hours in one day, of course) and thus, minimal overtime for me. It did teach me to just say "no" when asked to fill in. There is no point. No overtime, no reason to be nice to take more shifts.
Working at the front desk of a small 15 room hotel doesn't seem like it would be that big of a job. Answer phones, give out maps, make dinner reservations. How hard is that? But the morning shifts are pretty busy and there is always a lot to do and I am simply tired of working so many hours. The one day off I might get is spent either driving to Sacramento to see Mom or doing laundry and running errands so there really isn't a day off.
Movies: last night I watched "Sully" with Tom Hanks about his landing of a plane on the Hudson River in NYC by Captain Sullenberger. Good movie, although it is mostly about the investigation by the NTSB into his water landing. Hanks is good, as always, and the movie is solid.
I watched another Tom Hanks movie, "Inferno" which was stupid but it took place in Italy, so there was nice scenery. And part of it took place in Istanbul in the underground water cisterns which are lovely, so that was nice to see.
Tonight I watched Woody Allen's "Cafe Society" which was good, just a small movie about love found and love lost and life in general. It was simple, but I like Woody Allen's movies, so I was primed to like it from the beginning. There aren't a lot of sympathetic characters in it, they are all a bit self-serving, but the point was well made and the music was good and overall, I would recommend it.
And then I watched "Mr. Holmes" with the amazing Ian McKellan as Sherlock Holmes in his very late years, in the throes of either Alzheimer's or dementia, but it's a really nice film. He is amazing, just the way his old face can still convey twenty different things at one time. And in this movie is Laura Linney, who was also in "Sully" and she is one of my favorites, so it was a double win. It's a movie about characters, slow and nuanced. I liked it a lot.
Now I must convince Cooper and Bebe to go out and pee (it is raining, so they don't want to venture out) and then to bed because tomorrow is an early morning.
over and out.
Working at the front desk of a small 15 room hotel doesn't seem like it would be that big of a job. Answer phones, give out maps, make dinner reservations. How hard is that? But the morning shifts are pretty busy and there is always a lot to do and I am simply tired of working so many hours. The one day off I might get is spent either driving to Sacramento to see Mom or doing laundry and running errands so there really isn't a day off.
Movies: last night I watched "Sully" with Tom Hanks about his landing of a plane on the Hudson River in NYC by Captain Sullenberger. Good movie, although it is mostly about the investigation by the NTSB into his water landing. Hanks is good, as always, and the movie is solid.
I watched another Tom Hanks movie, "Inferno" which was stupid but it took place in Italy, so there was nice scenery. And part of it took place in Istanbul in the underground water cisterns which are lovely, so that was nice to see.
Tonight I watched Woody Allen's "Cafe Society" which was good, just a small movie about love found and love lost and life in general. It was simple, but I like Woody Allen's movies, so I was primed to like it from the beginning. There aren't a lot of sympathetic characters in it, they are all a bit self-serving, but the point was well made and the music was good and overall, I would recommend it.
And then I watched "Mr. Holmes" with the amazing Ian McKellan as Sherlock Holmes in his very late years, in the throes of either Alzheimer's or dementia, but it's a really nice film. He is amazing, just the way his old face can still convey twenty different things at one time. And in this movie is Laura Linney, who was also in "Sully" and she is one of my favorites, so it was a double win. It's a movie about characters, slow and nuanced. I liked it a lot.
Now I must convince Cooper and Bebe to go out and pee (it is raining, so they don't want to venture out) and then to bed because tomorrow is an early morning.
over and out.
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