Leaving Paris

 May 3. Going home.

Although our return to the United States made for a very long day, the flights were on time and uneventful with very little turbulence. 

We were up at 6:00 am, showered, dressed and finished tidying up the apartment before we left. Our Uber driver, a very nice man from Mali, was on time and we sailed through the suburbs of Paris. The only stall came as we neared airport grounds. Traffic slowed to a painful crawl due to traveaux (works). As we approached the departure gates we soon realized another reason for the congestion: cars/shuttles/taxis had to pay a small fee of €1 to get to the lanes to drop their passengers! 

That was only the beginning of a series of absurd incidents trying to get to our gate. Upon queueing up for the check-in desks to drop our bags off and get our boarding passes, there was a man asking oddly irrelevant questions of each person waiting in line. How did you get to the airport? Where did you go on your trip? How did you get there? How long did it take? Why were you here? Why are any of us Here? What is quantum physics? Mind you he wasn't writing any of this down or keeping any sort of account of our answers. He was just there to apparently annoy everyone and hold things up.

Then it was a series of more showing the passports to a variety of individuals who may or not have had anything to do with anything but whose task was simply to slow things down, look at papers they may or may not have understood before scowling and allowing us to move to the next absurd station.

We eventually cleared all the hurdles and made our way to one of the new concourses at Charles de Gaulle airport where we settled in to await our Delta flight to Detroit.

The flight took forever to board, as our passports had to be checked one more time, we had to go to another station to actually scan our boarding pass and finally we were on the plane. 

After nearly 8 hours of sitting in a chair at 38,000 feet, with only the occasional screaming infant to mar the otherwise tranquil mood shared by a couple hundred strangers, we were soon back in Michigan.

The absurdities concluded once we reached Detroit airport. Get this, once we cleared passport control, we had to wait for our bags coming off the plane, then schlep them about 100 feet to an area that said "Recheck your bags" -- the bags were already checked through to our final destination -- hand them to a guy who then just placed them on the conveyor without looking at anything and we moved on to our final gate. 

We had about 2 hours to kill and kill it with did we a glass of wine and a cheese board. 

Our flight to Grand Rapids left right on time and after a short 20-30 minutes we were down and heading for baggage claim. Our neighbor Sandy had kindly agreed to pick up us and she was waiting in the cellphone lot for our text that we were curbside.

Once home we unpacked a bit but mostly just enjoyed being able to relax after a long day of flying. Sandy had kindly left us a delicious pasta cucumber salad which was the just the perfect thing to help welcome us home. To bed early for a good night's sleep.

Friends, Impressionism and our Last Day in Paris

May 2.

Aside from meeting up with friends today, our afternoon was capped off by our early evening visit to the Musée d'Orsay. More of that later.

After yet another wonderfully leisurely morning we left the apartment about half past 12. Making our way to Place Nation, we took the no. 1 to Chatelet, transferred to the no. 4 and got off at Etienne Marcel. From the Metro we made our way through an open air market on rue Montmartre making a beeline for our first objective for our afternoon - Mora, Susie's favorite culinary/pastry/baking supply store. Located a stone's throw from the old Les Halles market complex, Mora is one of the go-to places for many a pastry/culinary chef.

Market on rue Montmartre

From Mora we walked around the corner to Detou, a small but critical shop for purchasing spices, chocolate, vanilla, nuts and plenty of other cooking/baking staples. Leaving Detou we realized the time was slipping away from us for a 2 pm rendezvous. We had to burn some Metro asphalt to get back cross the river for Susie to meet up with Jill Colonna at Mariage Frères tea shop in the old Jewish quarter.

Hi! Susan popping in here for a moment: Jill writes a wonderful blog and has published "Mad About Macarons" and "Teatime in Paris". I first learned of Jill through another blog "Paris Breakfasts", written by American-residing-in-Paris watercolorist Carol Gillott. Jill and I had communicated a bit by email and, as it turned out, we were able to set up a mini-meet up in Paris. Cool!

Steve joined us as well and, over a cup of tea, the three of us had a wonderful chat about about blogging, writing, pastries, food, our stories and what ever else popped up.

After saying adieu to Jill we headed over to the Carnavalet Museum to kill a bit of time before heading back across the river to meet with old friend Val. Susie and Val first met in 2006 when they were taking the basic pastry course together at Le Cordon Bleu. Val was a life saver for Susie in the translation department, particularly in the practical kitchen.

An interesting find on the way to Carnavalet in the Marais

We met Val at a place she'd been wanting to try - Les Antiquaires, just down the street from Musée d'Orsay. It was pouring rain and a bit chilly, but when we went inside to the warmth to snag a table, we were told we'd have to sit outside if we weren't going to eat. So it was - drinks under the awning - at least we were out of the rain.

After we said au revoir to Val we headed off in the rain to the Musée d'Orsay to make our 6:00 pm time slot for the featured exhibition. We had purchased our tickets back in February and were glad we did. 

Not only was it miserable outside, but there were people everywhere including in the line for the timed slots. It wasn't clear where we supposed to be in the queue but, with the help of Asian family who also had 6 pm tickets, we were finally allowed to enter the winding line into the museum. Umbrellas, jostling, security at the entrance. Whoa!

The exhibition celebrates the 150th anniversary of the very first so-called Impressionist exhibition held in April 1874, entitled "Inventing Impressionism".  These artists didn't call themselves impressionists but referred to their group as the Société Anonyme Coopérative des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs (Company of Painters, Sculptors, and Engravers).  

Finally inside, we were met with hoards of visitors, many hanging out in the big central hall, probably to stay out of the rain.

a madhouse of tourists

We thought the exhibition was underwhelming, it was difficult to see the works due to the crowds, and the historical layout of everything was a bit confusing. On the plus side, we did see many of our favorites from the likes of Berthe Morisot, Manet, Degas, Renoir and more.

From the Musée we took the RER line C to Gare d'Austerlitz to catch the line 5 Metro back across the river. We got off at Bastille and took line 1 to Place Nation. From the Metro exit we walked across the street heading toward our apartment, stopping for supper at l'Eglantine. Susie had the Cobb Salad and I thoroughly enjoy my roast chicken with frites.

After dinner it was a 5-minute walk to our apartment. Once inside we prepped for our early departure to the airport in the morning. The plan: Uber pick up at 7:00 am and in the air shortly after 11:00 am Paris time. 

Next: Leaving Paris.

May Day in Paris

May Day!

A big holiday in Paris, especially for union members, workers of all sorts and young people, May Day also sees a fair amount of protests. More of that later. 

For us it was a day of relaxing over a leisurely breakfast and meeting up with our old friend Marie for lunch and a stroll through Père-Lachaise Cemetery.

A little before 1:00 pm we set out from the apartment making our way to the Metro line 2 at place Nation. Although the train was packed it was a short three stops before we got off at Philippe Auguste, a stones throw from Père-Lachaise. 

getting on line 2

We spied Marie sitting on one of the bollards flanking the drive into the cemetery. After a round of kisses and hugs we walked a block or so to the cafe Apéronome where we had a delicious lunch of chicken brochettes and a local beer.

After spending the better part of an hour or so catching up and enjoying a wonderful meal amidst the growing crowds out celebrating the 1st of May we made our way back to the cemetery and headed inside.

While I was especially keen on paying respects to Sophie Blanchard and Jane Avril and photographing the monuments ringing the first line around division 12 (don't ask), it was a wonderful time to just walk, talk and enjoy being in this gorgeous green space. 

Jane Avril in D19

And we weren't the only ones with such ideas on this day.

Guët in D19

Intrigued by the intricate carving here

Marie had a surprise for us: she walked us to the grave of Elizabeth Monroe Hay, eldest child of US President James Monroe. 

From the Hay grave we strolled passed the final resting place of French singer Edith Piaf in D97, always a popular stop for locals and tourists alike.

Group gathering at Edith Piaf's grave

From Edith Piaf we moved downhill and toward D76 and the Mur des Fédérés, known as the Communard Wall. It was on this spot on 28 May, 1871 that 141 Communards were stood against the wall and summarily shot, their bodies flung into a mass grave at the base of the wall. Ever since various left-wing groups, socialists and other progressive-minded people meet at the wall on various special occasions, such as May Day. In fact, according to Marie several large groups met at the Wall this  morning and later marched down to place Nation -- more of that later.

Marie and Susie

in D76

The three of us made our way back toward the main entrance, taking our time, enjoying the flowers, the green and the history along the way, with Marie providing fascinating stories of individuals we passed.

view uphill toward D19

near the grave of Auguste Comte in D17

The Triumph of the Republic by Dalou

We passed out of the cemetery by the side entrance on rue du Repos and made our way to a cafe at the corner of the street facing the wall of Père-Lachaise. We sat, ordered a drink and continued our conversation, which as always, proved enlightening and entertaining, the hallmark of a wonderful time together.

Eventually the three of us made our way to line 2 Metro stop but we were going one direction and Marie the other. We hugged, kissed and said goodbye, or rather au revoir, hoping to meet up again next year.

Our Metro ride was a short one but when we exited the train we smelled smoke everywhere inside the station and upon leaving the station found ourselves smack in the middle of a peaceful albeit vocal demonstration. The source of the smoke was extremely loud cannon fire heard every now and then.

The place was ringed by police creating barriers across all the roads coming onto the place but we persuaded an officer to let several of us pass so we could get to our homes. It didn't seem odd at all but still unsettling somehow. The French tell us this is de rigueur on May day and they're very used to it.

demonstrators climbed onto the statue in the center of the place

the police had cordoned off every street ringing the place

just part of a long, long line of police vans waiting for detainees

Once through the police barricades and passed the seemingly endless line of police vans and trucks we made our way to the apartment and home for the day.

Next: Our last day in Paris with friends old and new and those French painters who have touched us.