Thursday May 1 bank holiday - all museums closed happens once a year

What are the chances I would hit this my first full day in Paris! But I'm skipping.

I arrived in Paris yesterday about 6 am. Not one of my better ideas to take the overnight bus. It took me hours of schlepping my bags up and down metro and train station stairs and frustration at trying to figure out the ticket system when I was really tired! I was headed for a Paris suburb to the east called Noisy le Grand where Doug's community has a small house that he had arranged for me to visit. Onto a local bus and following Sr. Dao's great directions, I arrived at Maison de l'Inspiration. Two sisters greeted me and I was just in time for a wonderful breakfast of oatmeal, fruit, wonderful brown French bread and tea! We sat in the small dharma room until everyone had their food and were seated and we enjoyed our usual silent meal!


I had told one of the sisters that I was exhausted and needed to rest. Doug had said, and it happened that they set me up behind a screen on a futon bed in the corner of the dharma room. I put a black headband over my eyes and was out for a couple of hours?


When I awoke, they tried to feed me lunch but I'm only eating twice a day and was still full. Sr. Gao, a delightful 77 year old nun from Laos, told me I was to stay in her room downstairs. She said she gets a room to herself as she doesn't sleep well. I told her I was fine in the dharma room, but she insisted as a lot of people would be coming in from Belgium today for a weekend retreat and could be lined up in the dharma room to sleep. I think they might have wanted me out of the way!

So off I went for my first taste (above ground!) of my favorite city!!! But it took an hour and a half to get to the Seine! My first stop after the informational tourist office at Gare St. Lyon was an Internet where I proceeded to book 2 nights at an airport hotel as I'd never make my 7:35 am flight next Tuesday to meet Doug in Barcelona from the Maison. Then I booked the other nights at this hostel near Gare du Nord in the Montmarte area. Then I wandered along the Seine, stopped along and ate my leftover dinner sandwich from Amsterdam and enjoyed people and bateau-watching on the gorgeous sunny day! What could be better Michelle? I can't find the question mark! This keyboard is taking forever as the a, s, m keys are moved! screws up usually fast typing!

 

I took pictures as I walked the Rive Gauche (left bank) looking over at the two islands where Paris began - Ile St. Louis and Ile de la Cite, where Notre Dame soars over all! From one of the booksellers I bought these cute sets of magnets of Paris for my maj jongg friends to choose from. I went behind the cathedral to the memorial to the 170,000+ Jews who were deported, only 3 percent of whom returned! It's different than I remembered when I was here visiting Doug in 1998. I was unexpectedly moved to tears!!! Only 10 or so people are let in at a time so no overwhelming crowds.


I then joined the mob in the square outside ND but didn't join the line to go in then. I headed to the Rive Droit (you can guess!) to find Les Halles metro to head home, another hour and a HOT half, crammed in with commuters! I truly thought I was going to pass out and sweat was running down me! I was happy I had made the choice to move and was hoping I could tell the sisters delicately enough as they had been so welcoming. Sr. was all a flutter worrying about where I was and tried to feed me! I gave her the Amsterdam cheese I had brought as a gift. She said they usually don't eat cheese but she would keep it down in her room for when she gets hungry during the night!! She's too cute!! We had a lovely conversation about Doug! Then the abbess Sr. Gao, a French sister who was actually born and lived in Morocco until she was 14 and moved to France. She apologized for not visiting with me in the morning but explained her 91 year old mother still lives on her own in Lyon; drives; cooks, shops, cleans, etc. and she calls Sr. each day at 9 am to confirm she's still alive for another day!!!


She also has a son, a daughter and three grandchildren! She is 4 months older than I am and has been a nun for 14 years. BTW, the Laotian sister has 7 children, one who used to be a monk but now lives near Plum Village and married to a Dutch woman. She is going home to Laos for a 2 month visit to see her other family and several grandchildren!!


They were all fine and seemed to understand my need to be closer to town. I had a GREAT night's sleep and with no window to see the light, didn't wake up until almost 8!! After breakfast during which Sr. explained who I was and why I was moving to the group, she and a newly arrived German sister who had just arrived from EIAB (European Institute for Applied Buddhism), who has been the translator for Doug and me when I attended a German retreat in Waldbrol, outside of Cologne two years ago. What a lovely surprise!!! We had lots of hugs as she recognized me right away. She has come to stay here and Sr. was teaching her about driving in France, since the abbess is currently the only one who drives. All the rest of the residents seem to be Vietnamese sisters.


So off I went but the rest of my day will have to wait as this is a real strain typing! I will just say I treated myself to a heavenly 45 minute foot massage after my days of walking!! Bon Nuit!!!

MONTMARTE



I spent a wonderful rainy day wandering around on a walking tour I'd found in a book somewhere.


There was the Place des Abbesses where there used to be a kind of nunnery for wealthy aristocratic widows, spinster, etc. During the Revolution the 46 year old Abbess went to the guillotine, and probably all the rest of them, too.





There was a church near here and I thought maybe it had been from that period. As I got closer I could hear music so went in. There was this mass going on and a joyful group of African women all dressed in the same sarong type dress with headgear, all in blues and greens and some patterned material with a picture of Blessed Mother on it but I couldn't read what it said. The priest was also African as he was singing along with them. It was amazing, happy and fun to watch! I stayed through communion and then moved on. This was on a Thursday afternoon so don't know what the occasion was but it was sure upbeat and I enjoyed it!


Another stop was a Place where Picasso and several other artists all lived when he was in his 20s and just starting out. Salvadore Dali, another Spaniard, lived and painted around here but a bit later. His museum WAS open, unlike most of the others that were closed for

 

May 1st Bank Holiday! There were hundreds of his works with many sculptures. that he favored doing. I had never realized he sculpted! Many of them had that melting clock on the And whole series of elephants. then he did drawings/paintings in a whole biblical series and apparently bought into Catholicism in the later part of his life. Very prolific, crazy, bizarre, surrealistic artist and person. The "pope" of the surrealism movement threw Dali out of the group as he went too much his own way!

 

It was time for my main meal of the day so I picked this random restaurant. I was seat between a foursome and a couple who had just been seated. After I ordered a wonderful prix fixe meal with French onion soup (which I'd only ever had once in my life as it really disrupted my digestive system, but, hey in France....!)I asked the woman next to me if the service was included. Turns out she didn't know, they were from Seville in Spain! And on their honeymoon!!!! Well, I thought that was so romantic! Turns out it is a second marriage for both; they became reacquainted last June at a high school reunion (shades of Paul and Stephanie!P) We had the waiter take our picture. Paco (which she said is like a nickname for Francis) and she was Reyes, kind of a version of King! They were lovely and said all their families were so happy about the marriage including his son and daughter, 14 and 11. Best wishes to them for a happy future!!A romantic couple in the most romantic city on earth! What could be better!



By this time I was up by Sacre Couer on the top of the high point overlooking all of Paris. What a stupendous view!!!



I continued on the walking tour past an actual Montmarte vineyard, a reminder that this used to be a farming area. I kept coming down through the picturesque streets ending at a couple of Moullins which I figure must be windmills. I somehow missed the Moulin Rouge but it's too touristy anyhow. I ended at Pigalle headed back to my hostel. Of course by this time all the beds in my room were taken except the top bunk!! They don't assign beds, just rooms. But the woman at the desk had a heart and said I could look at the last room available, last bed and it was BOTTOM bunk!! So I spent the night with me and three guys!!! The room was a mixed quad, but I didn't care! I was up and out by 7:30 and on my way to Giverny! The lovely young man at the desk, who had helped me yesterday when I couldn't put in the password on my iPad because the user names were all lower case and the computer kept switching it!! Anyway he asked if he could help with reservations for train, hotel, etc, in Caen and here I am at the lovely, well, at least authentically French, hotel he found for me.