Musée du Louvre

It was a rainy day yesterday so I decided to go to the Grand Palais to see the Gauguin exhibit. I didn't purchase a timed ticket ahead of time and when I arrived, the wait was over one hour.  The guard said if I came back at 6 or 7 pm, there would be only a five minute wait. So I decided I'd spend my time instead at the Louvre.  Problem was, the rest of Paris thought a rainy day was a good day to go to the Louvre.

Crowds at the Louvre

Fortunately, I had bought an Amis du Louvre pass that lets me jump ahead in the security line to get inside.

Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel

I love the views from inside the Louvre looking outside.




What would it have been like to live in this palace?



La Grande Roue at Place de la Concorde

Sculptures in the Cour Marly

Kelly and I went to a late lunch after I returned from the Louvre.  We decided we needed to start trying out the cafés in our neighborhood so we know where to take the visitors who will be coming.  We chose Paris Saint-Germain down the street near our favorite boulangerie because I had seen a waiter earlier this week carrying frites that looked so good.  Our mushroom omlettes and frites were very good and the waiter was friendly.  We would definitely go back again.

Paris Saint-Germain

Kelly and his omlette and frites

I made it back to the Gauguin exhibit at the Grand Palais later that evening. 

 

I learned that he was interested in many types of media from woodblock and other types of prints to ceramics.  He had unusual techniques and did lots of experimenting.  I loved the jardinière (flower box) he created.  He would later add paint to the finished surface.

Gauguin in Bretagne

Jardinière

Breton Woman on other side
of Jardinière

The Christmas Lights were still up along the Champs Elysée.  And the Grande Roue de Paris at Place de la Concorde was all lit up.  Magical!

 

 

 

Le Temple de Paris

Our third day after arriving in Paris we decided to go to the new Paris Temple by Versailles. This is something the people of France have dreamed of for years.  When Kelly was on his mission over 40 years ago, he said he knew there would be a temple in France one day.  But he didn't think it would take 40 years.
We took the RER train out to Versailles and opted for a taxi instead of waiting for the bus.  The temple is right outside Porte St. Antoine near Marie Antoinette's Hamlet.  We saw it under construction when we were in Paris in 2014.



Paris Temple

Kelly in the Garden

 As you can see, when we left the temple it was pouring rain.  The temple doesn't have a spire with an Angel Moroni on top like most temples do.  Instead it has a replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen's beautiful Christus Statue.

 

Christmas Crèche



Temple de Paris

We arrived back in Paris at sunset and the clouds were starting to part.  The light made the façade of Notre Dame glow as we walked back to our apartment.  I still can't believe we are living in this beautiful city again.

Notre Dame

La Parisienne

After one week, we have settled on our favorite neighborhood boulangerie.  It is called La Parisienne and is about 3 short blocks down blvd Saint-Germain from our apartment.  It won best baguette in all of Paris in 2016.  Their signature baguette, la Parisienne, has so much good flavor and is soft inside and crusty on the outside.  It tastes so yummy with the good butter from Le Bon Marché or some Roquefort cheese spread on it. And of course we eat a baguette sandwich made with it every day.  If Kelly buys the baguette, one crunchy end is usually gone before he makes it home.  Whoever picks up the bread has the right to break off and eat "le bout" on the way home.

La Parisenne and Le Buerre Bordier
from Le Bon Marché

Look at all the air holes

 We get a pain au chocolat almost every day.  And we have sampled the bûche de Noel (Yule log) and a galette des rois (kings cake) at La Parisienne.  Notice the little green saw and the meringue mushroom behind Santa because, of course, it is a log!  The galette des rois is almond flavored and has a little fève or plastic charm inside.  The galettes celebrate Epiphany, on January 6, and the arrival of the three wise men to Bethlehem to give gifts to baby Jesus.  Traditionally, when the cake is eaten, the youngest child sits under the table and tells the person who cuts the cake who should get which piece.  Whoever gets the fève in his slice is the king and wears the paper crown that comes with the cake.

Bûche de Noel and Galette des Rois

Galettes in all Sizes

Pastries at La Parisienne

Galettes des Rois with Paper Crowns

I have been intrigued by the Tradition Feuilletée avec Nutella displayed by the cash register at La Parisienne.  I finally splurged on one tonight.  It was delicious-sort of like a dense pain au chocolat with many layers.  We'll definitely buy that treat again.

As I walked home from the right bank this afternoon, I passed another good bakery close to our apartment.  In the back you could see where bread was being made.  Loaves of raisin bread were out rising.  Lined up in the window were these large sacks of many types of flours.  The French sure know how to make the best bread and pastries.

Mixing the Bread Dough in the Machine

Large Bags of Flour Ready for Baking

 

 

First Sunday in Paris

One nice thing about where we live this time in Paris is that we can walk to church.  The church building is about a mile away in the Marais on the right bank and it would probably take longer to get there on the métro.  We walk across the bridge right behind Notre Dame.

 

Walking from the Left Bank to
Île de la Cité behind Notre Dame

Kelly on the Pont de l'Archevêché
over the Seine with
Île St. Louis in the Background

Notice the sun shining through the clouds on the buildings on Île St. Louis behind Kelly.  We do see the sun here every once in a while-but it never seems to stick around.
We made it to church in about 20 minutes.  It was nice to see some familiar French faces at the Paroisse de Paris on rue St. Merri.  But all of the Americans (except the Bishop and his family) were new since the last time we were here.  More people to get to know.
We had a quiet New Year's Eve at the apartment.  We decided not to attempt to see the fireworks at the Champs Elysée.  It was probably a smart move because Kelly heard on the radio there were over 300,000 people there.  We all know Kelly is not a fan of crowds.  Wishing you all a happy 2018!

Saturday is Market Day

We have a small marché down the street on blvd Saint-Germain at Maubert-Mutualité on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  I decided to check it out while Kelly was on his morning run.

Bulots (sea snails) et Langoustines (crayfish)



Langouste Fraiche-80 Euros per Kilo!
(Lobster)

All the fish and seafood looked so good and fresh.  And the produce was plentiful.

Lychees, Chestnuts and Mushrooms

Huitres (oysters)

I watched a woman get her accordion properly strapped on to perform for the shoppers.  It is a nice little market.  This week I will check out the famous Marché Mouffetard up the hill behind our apartment to compare.



Christmas in Paris

We conquered our jet lag and set out to obtain the necessities for living in Paris-our métro passes and my Amis du Louvre pass to the Musée du Louvre.  We had to go to three métro stations before we found one that was manned.  Evidently even in Paris workers still take a long lunch break. We headed for Les Halles to go to one of the many Christmas Markets they have around Paris.  On the way, we passed someone moving out of his apartment. A conveyor belt runs from the apartment window to the truck.  They place boxes and furniture on the platform you can see in the picture and bring it down to the truck.

We passed the Lego Store at Les Halles and loved the detail in the Lego Arc de Triomphe in the window.

We finally found the Marché de Noel, including Santa's little house with his wash hanging out on the porch.  We had our first crêpe-Nutella et banane of course!

Sausage Stall at the Marché de Noel

After the marché, I convinced Kelly to take me to Galeries Lafayette and Printemps to see the Christmas windows.  It was about 5:30 pm and the place was mobbed.  So many kids and strollers and tourists.  I left Kelly, who hates crowds, out on the edge of the sidewalk near the curb while I tried to catch a peek.  By the way, the sun sets so early here - at 5 pm - and sunrise isn't until 8:45 am.  Seems it is always dark.  Or raining. 

The windows were fun with lots of animation.  Printemps had a transportation theme and Galeries Lafayette was a circus.  Hard to do it justice with the photos.  We did not try to go inside.  Kelly was very happy to get out of there.  We have noticed increased security measures this trip.  Before we go in large department stores our bags are inspected by security guards.

 

Printemps Train

Printemps Siberian Express

 

 

 

 

Galeries Lafayette

The Pattersons are Back in Paris 2018

We are so happy to be back in Paris.  Kelly is a visiting research professor in Paris and is writing a book.  It is strange to be back without our children and a BYU Study Abroad group of students.  The BYU apartment was not available so we found an apartment to rent on blvd. Saint-Germain in the 5th arrondissement near the Latin Quarter.
We left Salt Lake City the day after Christmas and arrived on December 27, 2016 with four 50-pound suitcases for a four-month stay.  One nice thing that has changed is it is now a flat rate for a taxi from the airport to Paris.  It costs 50 euros to go to the rive droite and 55 euros to the rive gauche, where we are living.  With four large suitcases and assorted carry-ons, we had to wait a bit for a taxi that could accommodate us.  This one was barely large enough.

Arriving in a taxi from CDG

Our first order of business was finding a grocery store.  And lunch.  We found a Monop' down a block and a nice bakery around the corner with baguette sandwiches.
 

We can see Notre Dame out our window and if we go out on the balcony, we can see la Tour Eiffel sparkling.  Our apartment is on the 6th and 7th floors of the building.



We had one minor mishap.  The TSA inspected one of our bags and was kind enough to lock it when they were finished.  Unfortunately, we had not locked the padlock to begin with and the key was inside the suitcase. We found a locksmith around the corner who used bolt cutters to cut off the padlock-and he didn't even charge us.  Our Paris adventure begins!