Living in Paris 1. May 10, 2016
Welcome Party at Isabelle's brother Jean-Luc! Great to see some of the Marie- Saint Germain family, cousins and family friends. Foie gras, champagne, laughs and lots of hugs: a great mix!
At home with Isabelle's crazy brother Pascal in love with Pierre and lunching with Pascal's friend, Hugues le Bourlay, chef and "animator en gastronomie". Hugues runs a cooking school and show in Paris - www.nutrishow.fr
Window shopping Avenue Montaigne, of course!
More family time with Pierre's parents.
"Nuit debout" (a new way of protesting at night) at Place de la Republique. As always, the French are taking the street against reforms!
Meeting Shae, Kevin and Shae's family chez Carette www.carette-paris.fr, Place des Vosges. Great to spend time with some of our Texan friends!
A Saint Germain des Prés et l'Odeon with Virginie Robert and Didier Geneau, French friends we met in NYC now living in Paris.
D'après les recherches de notre ami Didier Geneau: l'arbre en fleur est un Paulownia tomentosa. Il est originaire de Chine. Il a été introduit en Europe, via le Japon, en 1834. Il y en a près de 900 plantés dans Paris. Le nom fut donné en l'honneur d'Anna Pavlowna, princesse des Pays-Bas, fille du tsar Paul Ier de Russie. Il est parfois appelé Arbre d'Anna Paulowna.
Dans certaines régions de Chine, la tradition voulait qu'on plante un paulownia à la naissance d'une fille. L'arbre grandissait avec elle et pour son mariage, l'arbre était abattu et son bois servait de dot.
Afternoon at The Tuileries and Place Vendôme. Great temporary exhibit at l'Orangerie on Guillaume Apollinaire and of course the infamous Monet's Nympheas.
Dinner with old friends at Café de l'Homme (Musée de l'Homme at The Trocadéro). Dominique and Jacques Garaïalde, Caroline and Hervé Lesieur. Amazing view on The Eiffel Tower!
Lunch at Marie-Claude and Bernard Potier. Their new crib in the 7eme arrondissement is awesome.
Great to see Tata (Aunt) Florence Magnen and enjoy the "catch of the day" with Philippe and Françoise Faÿ, Pierre's Parents.
Dinner with our dear and long time friends Ariel and Antoine Paszkiewicz, felt like we had seen them last just yesterday.
Sainte Chapelle, Ile de la Cité.
One of the Gothic wonders of the medieval world, the stained glass windows at Sainte-Chapelle in central Paris have been restored after seven years of painstaking work.
The restoration was finished to mark the 800th anniversary of the birth of King Louis IX, who commissioned the chapel in the mid 13th century to house his collection of religious relics, including what was believed to be Christ’s crown of thorns and part of the cross.
The work involved dismantling the huge windows into small panels and cleaning them with lasers. An outside “skin” of glass has been moulded on to the original windows to protect them from traffic pollution, without altering their look.
