Fresh food

In France, we bought and ate lots of fresh food.  Strawberries and cherries were in season in Provence, and were in season in Oregon upon our return.  I saw some chanterelles in the markets of Provence.  So, I went out foraging for them here.

 Surprise! The season has begun. I came home with almost 2 pounds.

Another surprise: while we were away, my garden box produced massive radishes.

France was grand, the food was good, the people were great. We plan to return, but for now, we are content to eat locally in Oregon.

Versailles

Today we took the train to Versailles and picked up bicycles for our bicycle tour of the grounds of Chateau Versailles.  To begin our tour, we rode our bikes to a local open market, and bought food for a picnic.

Front of Chateau Versailles, with a 3-hour-long wait to get inside, this morning

Back of Chateau

Louis XIV

Versailles was built by Louis XIV, to escape the filth of Paris. The grounds are huge.  Our tour guide was a British man named Stu who had a master's degree in history.  He made the history of the site entertaining and interesting.

Our tour guide

We visited on a fountain day, when the fountains were turned on from 11 to noon, and 2:30 to 4 PM.

We also visited Marie Antoinette's peasant village/farm.

Although most of the group toured the Chateau after turning in their bicycles, we skipped the Chateau, and took the train back to Paris.  It was a nice adventure, and we only encountered a few drops of rain.

Opera and rooftops

Today we took the Metro over to the Opera Garnier.  It is a beautiful building with exquisite detail all around it.  Lots a school groups were touring it today.

The Opera Garnier from ground level

Detail of the trim at the top of the Opera

The Opera from the roof of the Printemps store (the gilded dome is part of the store)

Behind the Opera building, two huge department stores are located.  They are both very elegant.  We meandered through the Printemps store, on our way up to the 9th floor rooftop cafe.  The morning was quite sunny, and the views from the cafe were stunning.  We enjoyed cafe au lait while plotting our next move.

The view to the north, Basilique du Sacre Coeur in background

Grand Palais, in front of Eiffel Tower

Place des Vosges

Our train trip from Arles to Lyon, then Lyon to Paris went pretty well.  We arrived here about 3, and had plenty of time to walk around the neighborhood.  We are staying in the Marais district, about a block west of the Place des Vosges.  So we walked over there and saw lots of families in the park.

We were quite surprised to find a pair of talented opera singers busking on the sidewalk opposite the park.  They were using a recorded accompaniment, but their singing was quite good.

A bit later, we encountered a talented group of about 12 stringed instruments playing classical music.  They ranged widely in age, and were also quite good.

The acoustics in these arch-covered sidewalks were quite good.

Just another Sunday afternoon in Paris.