Ah summer

While the rest of the country has been sizzling, we have stayed rather cool, often covered with a marine layer.

Our fishing and gathering traditions have continued.  Early in the summer, we were cycling down the beach to gather mussels.

Later, we spent one morning crabbing and gathered our limit (24) of Dungeness crabs.  They took quite a while to cook, clean, then pick the meat out of.  We ended up with something like 8 pounds of crab meat.

And August 1st is the local opening day for salmon fishing in the local bay.  Foggy conditions have limited the fishing opportunities, but fish are starting to show up.

On top of all that, our garden boxes have produced quite a few artichokes, garlic heads,  snow peas, and lots of salad greens.  Even the cherry tomatoes on our deck are ripening.

Enjoy the bounty and the season.

A night at the opera house

Last night, we went to a ballet performance in the Palais Garnier opera house.  It is a beautiful building that was designed in 1860 by Charles Garnier.  The gilded auditorium is quite amazing.  I took several photos to illustrate the level of bling.

The ceiling was painted by Marc Chagall, depicting various operas.

Today we went cycling again, and one sight along the way was the Place de la Concorde.  It is the largest square in Paris and in the center is a 3300-yr-old obelisk that was a gift from Egypt in 1831.  On the side of the obelisk, diagrams illustrate how the obelisk was erected.

Finally, a beautiful mural with a significant message that stands near the Centre Pompidou.

We tested negative for Covid, and will fly home tomorrow.

Thanks for sharing our journey.

Hoping for Peace!

Jardin du Palais Royale

This morning, I walked to the Palais Royale to visit its courtyard jardin.  The space was lovely and reminded me of a smaller version of the Jardin du Tuileries. 

Here's what it looks like

Then on the way back to the hotel, I passed the Bourse de Commerce (which translates as stock market).  It is another lovely building in the neighborhood.

In front of the Bourse de Commerce, I found a silver horse and rider (Charles Ray 2014).

Later in the morning, as we cycled along the Seine, we stopped to admire the gold-winged horses atop Pont Alexandre III.

Another memorable train trip

Over the years, we have had many adventures/misadventures relating to train travel in France.  And still, we choose to travel by train.

Today, we took off from Nimes, heading to Paris on a high-speed (TGV) train.  However, because they are on a tight schedule, passengers must pre-position themselves to be at the correct place to board the car in which their seats are located.  In the past, we have always looked for and found the map of where the cars would be, and gone to the correct spot to board the correct car.  Today, we were shown the layout map, and went to the spot designated for car 2 (a first-class car).  However, when the train showed up, the location indicated on the map was deep in the second-class cars.  As there wasn't adequate time to drag our bags half-way down the track to try and find car 2, we boarded the train at car 15.  It was rather crowded, and there wasn't really an adequate place for our bags.  We put two of the bags upstairs, and sat downstairs in empty seats, until the conductor came through.  He advised us that we could move to a seats 123 and 124 in the first-class car that was just on the other side of the bar car.  And he advised us to bring our bags with us. 

And so the journey began.  The bar car was upstairs and about 3 cars ahead of where we had been sitting.  Gradually, we shuttled all the bags up to the first class car.  Over the years, we have learned how to book lower level seats to avoid dragging our bags upstairs and then back down, but despite buying lower-level seats, we ended up sitting with all our bags upstairs.  So the first hour of our 3+ hour trip was pretty stressful.

The train

Our first-class car

Gare de Lyon, the train station to/from the south, in Paris

But we arrived in Paris, and the sun was shining.

After checking into our hotel and eating lunch, we set off to visit the Atelier Brancusi -- the studio of Constantin Brancusi, a Romanian sculpture who lived and worked in Paris in the first half of the 20th century.  He bequeathed his whole studio and contents to the French government, contingent upon the promise of the Musee National d'Art Moderne to reproduce it as is appeared on the day of his death (in 1957).  The Atelier is just west of the Pompidou Centre, and it is free.

Here's some of what we saw in the Atelier.

Fleurs

Green space is tucked in around many of the old buildings in Arles. Abundant shade trees provide a really delightful, cool environment below. Many little gardens have lovely flowers blooming this time of year.

Here's some of what I found while walking around the old part of town.

  

Our time in the south is up.  Time to pack for Paris.  

Enjoy whatever flowers you encounter today!

Last cycle through the Camargue

We are heading north in a couple of days, so we headed south to cycle through the Camargue one last time.  Today's ride went to Mejane.  Along the way we saw the chevaux blancs (white horses), taureaux (bulls), and flamingoes that we expect to encounter down there.  

Chevaux blancs

Waiting for a promenade with the chevaux blancs

Taureaux

Taureaux with flamingoes in the background

Flying flamingoes

But today, we also met three horse carts driven by Gitans (Gypsies).  We have seen horse-drawn wagons occasionally, but this was the first time that we ever saw horse carts.

Two carts, one tail-gaiting the other

The mischievous dark horse that ran straight at us

A stately appearance, with the braided mane

Great day to be in the Camargue.

Saint Louis

 In Aigues Mortes, the central square (Place Saint-Louis) features a statue dedicated to Saint Louis (King Louis IX).  His statue is quite impressive, as was his role in the history of the place.  He launch his crusades from Aigues Mortes.

Brass fish spew water at the base of the statue

The base of the statue is pierced with the bow of a ship

And the stern of a ship

The base of the statue is enscribed with this message

Of St. Louis the town of Aigues Mortes wanting to perpetuate the most glorious memory from his annals raised his statue in the place bearing witness of this Christian hero for the 7th and 8th crusades

For Sunday, a church visit

An elaborately carved doorway greets visitors to Saint Trophime, located in the Place de la Republic.  The church construction began around 1100, and the carved doorway was added around 1190.  Saint Trophime was perhaps the first bishop of Arles, in the late-2nd and early-3rd century.

From above Saint Trophime, its bell tower is visible with some ruins of the Roman amphitheater in the foreground.

This steeple of the College Saint-Charles (a private middle school) was visible from the Roman arena.

Enjoy Sunday and the holiday weekend.