Paris Beyond Paris
Paris goes beyond geographic boundaries. You can find a little bit of Paris in a lot of places. What is your own personal Paris?
The Year We Ran Away for Christmas
It wasn’t totally spontaneous because we had talked about taking off for Europe during the previous summer - my next door neighbor and me.
But talk is cheap. I moved out of my sublet and moved to the East Side. He stayed on the West Side. We fell out of touch. I found a new job and was finally making some money that put me above the poverty line. So about two weeks before Christmas, I called A. and said, “Hey, you want to go to Paris and Venice for Christmas, and he said ‘Sure’.
Date: December 22nd, 2007 |
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Mushrooming in France
Normally, on an October Friday in Paris, I’d be thinking about heading south to the Loire Valley to spend the weekend with friends - in the serious pursuit of mushrooms. There, you’ll find Cepes, Bolets, Pied de Moutons, Chanterelles, Trompettes de la Mort.
Mushrooming in October has become one of our annual rituals - so it is my GREAT regret that I will be absent for this years’ outing. We are thinking of all of you! Fellow mushroomers. Meanwhile, we wend our way slowly but most assuredly back to Paris - perhaps in time …
Date: October 12th, 2007 |
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France’s 2nd Patron Saint: The Little Flower, St. Therese
Basilica of St. Therese in Lisieux, Normandy
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2007
After Lourdes, St. Theresa’s Basilica in Lisieux, Normandy is the second largest French pilgrimage destination for the devout and for those who just like to follow the pilgrimage routes throughout Europe. After Joan of Arc, St. Theresa, otherwise known as the Little Flower, is France’s second patron saint. She lived in the 19th century in Normandy and spent her adult life in a Carmelite convent. She died quite young in her early twenties. Her feast day is October 1st but pilgrimages …
Date: September 28th, 2007 |
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Paris Day Trips: Chartres
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2007
After Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral in Paris, the Chartres Cathedral may be one of the most well known French Gothic cathedrals because of its extraordinary ‘Chartres bleu’ stained glass.
From Paris, it’s easy to get to Chartres. All you have to do is hop on the train at Montparnasse train station.Round trip from Paris to Chartres costs approximately 26 Euros and takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes. The SNCF site will create your personal train schedule for the date you choose to travel.
You can visit …
Date: September 18th, 2007 |
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Great Cities’ Fallen Stars: Marilyn Monroe, Princess Diana
Paris has Diana and Los Angeles will always have Marilyn.
Part of Princess Diana will always belong to Paris because this is the city where she spent her last moments on Earth.
Date: September 13th, 2007 |
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Dancing while Val d’Oise Burns
Here is the sad irony. Over the past weekend (Nov 24-25 ‘07) while in Val d’Oise, families and friends mourned the loss of two teenagers in a motor scooter collision with a police vehicle, in Paris, wealthy debutantes dance at the Hotel Crillon. It wouldn’t have been so blatant except that Le Parisien managed to post both the car-burning repercussions and the video of the debutante ball on the same page this Tuesday morning.
Not that these two disparate worlds haven’t coexisted in France …
Date: November 28th, 2007 |
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Back to the Seventies: Oui or Non!
Yes or Non. Even the Chartres cathedral town is not immune to tagging. Whether or not you agree that tagging should be considered as an art form of the era, there is no doubt that ‘tagging’ or ‘graffitti’ creates the anchor for this seventies vintage photo.
Regarding the sheepskin coat. The coat went the way of Good Will. I can only hope that it kept somebody as warm as it kept me during my brief sojourn in an unheated cold water student flat in Paris.
If you are curious to know more …
Date: October 8th, 2007 |
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Tourist Abductions in France
What are the odds of a tourist getting abducted in France? It might depend on what kind of car you decide to rent.
Date: September 21st, 2007 |
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Mister Freedom in Paris and LA
Sometimes you need to go beyond Paris to learn about Paris history - especially when it comes to expats in Paris like William Klein.
I was wandering down Beverly Blvd in LA and stumbled into the shop called Mister Freedom, the brainchild of LA transplanted Parisian Christophe Loiron.
William Klein is a NYC born photographer and filmmaker who’s film ‘Mister Freedom’ 1969 was the inspirational name for M. Loiron’s LA shop which specializes in vintage western and rural gear.
Klein’s film has been described as an ‘anti-American film’ in the sense that it was a …
Date: September 16th, 2007 |
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Tonga Triumph in Montpelier
Normally, I’d be cheering for the US team, but when it comes to the Rugby World Cup, I have to admit that knowing Tonga is in France, and knowing the enthusiasm with which Tongans support their Rugby World Cup team, I have to feel a little happy for them - even if they did beat the US team 25 to 15.
Date: September 13th, 2007 |
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