Sisteron

After a lovely visit in the Grenoble area, I'm on my way to La Napoule (near Cannes) where I have a reservation for the 15th of April. The simplest way to get there from Grenoble is a bus that travels between Grenoble and Nice once a day. Easy enough, but it takes six hours so I thought I'd stop halfway there, in Sisteron, to break up the trip. There is currently a train strike going on in France and when twice as many people as usual showed up to take the bus this afternoon, they called in a supplementary bus. The only problem? The retirement-aged driver of the second bus had never been to Sisteron. That wasn't very reassuring! His driving wasn't very reassuring either. I was sitting in the very front of the bus, and the road was at times very narrow and steep with rain and occasional snow along the way. (There are a lot of mountains between Grenoble and Sisteron) Fortunately, some of the passengers knew the route so they helped the driver with directions and we found our way to Sisteron.

To think that just yesterday I was nervous about driving with a 17 yr-old driver with a learner's permit and then today the "professional" had me holding my breath again . . . !

I am staying in a hotel for the very first time tonight. I realize how spoiled I've been staying either in an apartment or with friends. Hotels are not nearly as much fun. And it's cold and rainy here so I haven't been out exploring yet. However, as I sat in the hotel restaurant having some dinner, I noticed a couple of interesting monuments - so I stuck my head outside in the rain just long enough to take the following pictures. I'll tell you more about the town when I go out exploring in the morning.

St. Nizier

I just spent a wonderful weekend with friends that I've known for over thirty years. Odette and I took the train to Grenoble to spend the weekend with her son Jean Marc and his family. Jean Marc and Florence (Flo) have four children between the ages of 12 and 17. They have a house in Grenoble and another house in the mountains above Grenoble in a town called St. Nizier. Here is a picture of their house in St. Nizier:


It is quite a large house and can easily sleep 20 people. It has a bathroom with mosaic tiles that date from the 1930s.


To get to St. Nizier you pass by a rock formation called the 3 Pucelles. Just below this rock formation is the site of the ski jump for the 1968 winter Olympic games which were held in Grenoble:


Here are Jean Marc, Odette, Flo, the twins Yvan and Simon, Sarah, and Merlin at dinner on Sunday night. Simon is practicing his driving so that he can get his driver's license when he turns 18 later this year. I held my breath a few times when Simon took the wheel of the 9 passenger van with stick shift to take us up and down the steep curvy road to St. Nizier. He did a good job though, and the eight of us returned safely to Grenoble on Sunday night.


On Monday afternoon I'll leave Grenoble and head south towards the Côte d'Azur (French Rivera). I'll check in as soon as I arrive somewhere with an internet connection.

Haircut

My hair is getting long. I usually get it cut every four weeks and now it's been five weeks since my last cut and I'm getting antsy. I miss Neil! She is my hairdresser in Boulder and I've been a regular client for about 20 years. Before I left, Neil assured me that French hairdressers have much better training than hairdressers in the U.S.; but I'm quite nervous about trying out someone new. There is certainly no lack of salons in Paris, but where to go?

Sometimes I even cut my own hair. This is the do-it-yourself method with the tools on hand in the Paris apartment:


I finally asked my friend Nathalie for a recommendation. She raved about her hair dresser whose salon is nearby. I went there this morning. Here I am waiting for Steeve to finish with a previous client (yes, that's how they spelled "Steeve")



I was very pleased with the final result:

Markets

I love open air markets. Almost every neighborhood in Paris has traveling markets offering a large variety of fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, cheeses, flowers, etc. I especially enjoy watching the vendors who prepare each item on demand - meaning that they will fillet your fish, or prepare your quails, or slice your meat to your exact specifications.

Yesterday on my way to lunch I wandered through a nearby market and was surprised by the variety of items for sale. No need to cook; you can find lots of prepared foods. Want paella for dinner? Or steaming choucroute garni (sauerkraut and sausages)? You'll find it here.


There were lots of non-food items too. How about a new hat for spring?


Or an authentic Panama hat?


Maybe a carpet?


Or African art?


I thought of Carol Fier who has one of these gadgets for slicing vegetables!

More oysters

Did I mention that the apartment in the Passage d'Enfer is within walking distance of the oyster place that I discovered? I went there for lunch for the third time today. Yummmmmm. Even better, the place is so small (16 seats fully occupied) that I now feel like a regular. When I went there last week, it wasn't too busy so I learned a lot more about the place and its regular customers, including one 96-year- old gentleman who comes in regularly. This week, the owner, Francis, welcomed me back with a handshake as soon as I arrived. There is no menu and no wine list, so as soon as you are seated they bring over a bottle of white wine and start opening oysters. Of course, they know the habits of the regulars, with some immediately starting with red wine as an aperitif. Here is the inside of the restaurant:


Here is Francis, the owner, and Ségolène. At first I thought Ségolène might be a family member, but no, "I'm just the server" she insisted:


This week, after my 14 oysters and two (small) glasses of white wine, I had a smoked magret de canard (duck breast) with red wine instead of the foie gras. It was delicious! Here's what it looked like: (oops, I took a couple of bites before I remembered to take a picture!)


p.s. To all my oyster loving friends - I'm sorry you aren't here to enjoy them with me!

Normandy

I spent the long Easter weekend in Normandy with my friend Odette and her cousin Simone. Both women are well read, well traveled, and well informed. Discussions were lively and wide ranging - especially since they are quite far apart politically; Odette votes with the Socialists and Simone votes with the conservatives. Their political debates were very insightful and they gently agree to disagree. It was also good practice for my French - both language and way of life. Every meal except breakfast started with an aperitif, then first course, then main course, then salad, cheese, and fresh fruit for dessert. We used linen tablecloths with linen napkins - and it was just a casual weekend in the country for the three of us!

Here is Odette's house in the country:


Simone travels a lot to visit her four children who live in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Paris. Oh, did I mention that Simone is 80 years old and Odette is 78? That is not necessarily important although interesting to learn that Simone will be traveling alone to Taiwan to meet up with three of her children next week. It may also partially explain why I was so nervous with Odette at the wheel of a tiny French car driving 70 miles an hour on narrow roads without her glasses - despite rain, traffic conditions, or large trucks 20 times larger than us. Anyway, I made it back to Paris in one piece, and my white knuckles are gradually returning to normal.

Here is a picture of Simone (in grey jacket and skirt) and Odette (in white jacket) shopping for lunch in the nearby small town.


We visited a couple of minor castles nearby. This is a small one with a couple of different styles stuck together:


This is the chateau Beaumesnil. They call it the "Versailles of Normandy"

Montmartre

My stay at the Passage d'Enfer will be a temporary one. I'll be traveling a lot in April so this is just a place to leave some things while I'm gone. I'll leave this afternoon to spend a long Easter weekend at Odette's country house in Normandy. I will most likely not have internet access there, so I'll be offline for a few days. Check back on Tuesday - I should have lots of new photos from the Normandy countryside.

In the meantime, yesterday I hopped on a bus and went exploring in a touristy part of Paris that I had not yet revisited: Montmartre. This site is located in the north of Paris and sits high on a hill overlooking the city. There are several ways to get here. You can walk up the Rue Lepic where you'll pass the Moulin de la Gallette:


Or you can take the funicular:


Or climb the steps next to the funicular:


The most recognizable attraction of Montmartre is the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, a fairly recent church built between 1875 and 1919:


The nearby Place du Tertre is always packed with tourists, even on a cold Thursday morning. Nevertheless, it is a great place to have your portrait or caricature drawn by one of the many artists in the square: