Monday

I didn't have to wait until Tuesday. I saw Dominique today. Yes, that's the name of the new mystery man in my life. He lives in the suburbs west of Paris, and today I went west to meet him closer to his place. We met at the Chateau de Saint Germain en Laye.


We didn't bother to go inside, and instead took a walk in the gardens nearby.


As you can see from the photos, it's cold here, and we warmed up with a hot drink and a pain au chocolat following our walk.

I'll see him again tomorrow. And Thursday. And . . .

Paris panorama

A friend sent me this link to an amazing interactive panoramic photo of Paris. It's made of 2346 single photos of the city all taken on a single day from a single location in September 2009. The photos were then stitched together to create a very high resolution tour. Check it out!

Holiday decorations

Christmas seems less commercial in Paris than in most American cities. And you don't even hear much Christmas music on the radio or in the stores.

Nevertheless, I thought you might like to see the holiday decorations in my neighborhood. Here's the view looking "down" la rue Saint Charles.


And looking "up" the rue Saint Charles.

Yes! I can see the Eiffel Tower from the front door of my apartment building. Unfortunately my large windows face west rather than northeast, so I can't see the tower without going outside . . .

Here are the decorations in the lobby of my apartment building.


I'll be staying in Paris for Christmas. I'll be spending Christmas eve with my landlord/neighbors René & Sophie and their daughter Nathalie. Not sure yet about Christmas day.

Although I'll be meeting someone new this afternoon. We "met" through eDarling on December 4th and have exchanged over 40 emails since then - but we haven't yet met face to face. And not a single phone call. However, I like his photos and I really like the way he writes. I wonder what he'll be like . . .

Another snowy day in Paris

Sunday in Paris

It's been snowing again so I went to the Tuileries Garden today along with hundreds of other photographers.

There's nothing special about snowmen if you live in Colorado, but you don't often see them near the Louvre.


The gulls (goelands) didn't seem to mind the mostly frozen fountain.


There were cameras of all shapes and sizes.


One guy brought pieces of croissant for the gulls - probably not recommended.


This couple seemed completely oblivious.

An excellent Thursday

Another delicious oyster lunch with René and Sophie. This time we shared a table with Monsieur Pons. He celebrated his 96th birthday at the Cabane on November 25th. Despite being hard-of-hearing, he is really quite "with it". Yesterday he expressed his wish to celebrate his 100th birthday at the Cabane. He'll invite the local TV stations - which will be good publicity for Francis!


Thursday evening I met Charles from Switzerland for an early dinner. He had a three hour layover in Paris while changing trains traveling from Switzerland to Brussels for business.

No, it wasn't a date - Charles is Sonia's cousin, and he is already spoken for. Sara is waiting for him back in Switzerland. You can read more about my visit to Switzerland last June here and here. By the way, Charles, also known as Karl Hausmann, is the author of a hiking and climbing guidebook to the Jungfrau Region. The current edition is written in Swiss German. Maybe he'll translate it into English or French? He speaks both languages perfectly.

A good week

Monday - book group at the American Library . .


Tuesday - a guided tour of the Ministère de Finance . .

Fascinating for its architectecture and art work.

Wednesday - birdwatching in Paris . .

To learn more about the little yellow birds that are regular visitors to my balcony.

So if my Christmas cards are late in reaching you, it's because I am out exploring every day!