Topic 22 of 63: Paris and France
Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (17:28) |
Paul Terry Walhus (terry)
Never too late for a topic on Paris and France.
31 responses total.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 1 of 31: Autumn Moore (autumn) * Fri, Jul 24, 1998 (22:57) * 1 lines
Oolala--Paris is truly the 'moveable feast'. Definitely the greatest big city in the world. Oh, the rest of France is pretty terrific too.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 2 of 31: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (01:00) * 1 lines
Ah, to be in Paris in the Springtime.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 3 of 31: Riette Walton (riette) * Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (04:59) * 1 lines
Don't dream of it, just GO!
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 4 of 31: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (07:58) * 1 lines
Hey, I knew you might make the scene here. Tell us of your travels to Paris!
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 5 of 31: Riette Walton (riette) * Sat, Jul 25, 1998 (08:29) * 1 lines
Of which part? The reason why I go there? The journey? The food? There are so many things, and I don't want to bore you.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 6 of 31: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sun, Jul 26, 1998 (09:10) * 1 lines
Start with the reason you go there, s'il vous plait.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 7 of 31: Riette Walton (riette) * Sun, Jul 26, 1998 (10:55) * 5 lines
Right.
I go, because sometimes I need to be on my own, and to be as I was before getting married and having children. And, stupid as it may sound, to get inspiration for my art. Art is EVERYWHERE in Paris, and wandering the streets fills me with new ideas, and with appreciation for what I do . . . and humility, because there are SO many really really good artists there.
Boring, but true.
Have you ever been to Europe?
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 8 of 31: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Sun, Jul 26, 1998 (22:04) * 1 lines
Never been, how about talking about the Journey?
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 9 of 31: Riette Walton (riette) * Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (12:25) * 2 lines
Ah, the journey to Paris is almost as much fun as being there. Gillian and I always take the 7.30 train from here - gets us in just after 13.00. We always see to it we get there early, because that way we can grab a seat in the restaurant car. And then we try out all the different cheeses and teas and bread all the way there. It is wonderful. We just sit there, chatting over work and men - but not husbands or children - and stuff ourselves. By the time we get there, we feel quite sick from all the
cheese (not to mention the state her spastic intestines are in after such an orgy!!), but happy as a pair of larks! If ever you should come to Europe, you must visit me (ha-ha, how very likely!!); then I'll take 3 days off and take you to Paris - you'll have the time of your life!
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 10 of 31: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (14:11) * 2 lines
Can you tell us more about the food?
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 11 of 31: Riette Walton (riette) * Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (14:55) * 10 lines
Well, I don't know the names of all the dishes, so I can't sort of recommend or anything.
BUT:
For breakfeast we have plain croissants with cheese and chocolate croissants for dessert, with tea.
Lunchtime we always buy one long long long bread with cheese, tomatoes, salami, lettuce, and so on, and I eat from one end, Gillian from the other, and by the time we get to the middle, we're totally disgusted, 'cos we're so full, and decide there and then to go on a diet.
In the evenings we go to the Bastille area, where there are loads of art galleries and cafès. It's great, because we usually go in spring when it's still quite chilly in the evenings, and so they have these gas heating lamps outside the cafès, so you can still sit outside. I find that so charming. Anyway, so we visit a few art galleries (Gillian has a fine eye for art), and sometimes we'll even buy a painting together - which means it hangs in her house for 6 months, then I take it for 6 months, and so
on.
And then, by about 21:00, we're ready for dinner. We look for the most obscure place we can find, because this is normally where the most fantastic cuisine is to be found. One particular evening we went through this tiny blue door (even I had to bend my head as I walked in!), and inside it was just wonderful! Turned out to be a seafood restaurant! We had the most wonderful fish there I have EVER tasted. And there was a guy sitting at the piano, singing really nice French songs - Piaf, and so on. Eve
thing was just so warm and cosy and aromatic in there. And we had Créme Brulée for dessert - also the best I've ever tasted. Somehow they had managed to get the hard bits of caramel on top to stand up like a little spiderweb roof. That was very impressive.
If you go to the more commercial parts you also eat superb food, but the obscure places are absolutely fantastic.
Anyway, so when we've finished eating in the Bastille area, we always walk to the Eiffel, which is a long, long, long way away, mostly along the Seine, to make our stomaches feel a bit better; and we buy a beer on the way, to drink in the park there while admiring the tower. It is magnificent in those big lights after dark. Oh, I get sick for the place just thinking about it!
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 12 of 31: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Mon, Jul 27, 1998 (15:30) * 3 lines
Awesome, now that we've had that sumptuous verbal repast, tell us about
the romance of Paris, s'il vous plait.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 13 of 31: Riette Walton (riette) * Tue, Jul 28, 1998 (01:50) * 2 lines
Now, that's a difficult thing to describe. It is a feeling you can't quite lay your finger on, you can't work out why it is there, but it's there alright, lingering ever so subtly in the atmosphere like perfume. I think it is the result of centuries of culture, art, music, architecture and natural beauty existing, evolving and growing together until they all fitted together perfectly in one single mould. That's the thing that struck me hardest about the place when I first got there - every part of it,
however great or insignificant, just absolutely truly BELONGS there.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 14 of 31: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Tue, Jul 28, 1998 (10:04) * 3 lines
Would you ever consider living there? Or do you just like it as a place
to visit?
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 15 of 31: Riette Walton (riette) * Tue, Jul 28, 1998 (11:34) * 2 lines
I'd like to just say, yes, I'd love to live there. But I wouldn't, because I'm afraid to. I always wanted to come to Europe, and if somebody told me 10 years ago, that I would be living in Switzerland 10 years from then, I'd think myself the luckiest person alive. But that's not the way it works. I was very much disillusioned once the luxury of being abroad wore off, and reality took its place.
And so I am afraid to go live in a place I find exotic, because I know at some point it will become just another city, just an ordinary life with an ordinary routine. It is inevitable. And so, no, I would not like to go live in Paris, because I never want to think of it without the longing, or the wanting to be there.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 16 of 31: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Tue, Jul 28, 1998 (13:46) * 8 lines
That's kind of like the way it is in Austin. This may be the ultimate
place to live on the planet, but you get jaded to all of it by living
here. But somehow I still remain in "beginners mind" about Austin, and
I'm constantly blown away by my good fortune to get to live in this place.
Have you been to the Eifel tower? If so, can you describe it?
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 17 of 31: Autumn Moore (autumn) * Tue, Jul 28, 1998 (13:46) * 4 lines
The Eiffel Tower is like a magnet for every walk of life there is: tourists, locals, freaks, whatever. When we were there in '91 there were actually people hunger-striking around the base for better wages, benefits, etc. Who was this politically oppressed group? Driving school instructors. Socialized countries can be weird.
The tower itself is ascended by elevator, and the top is mostly enclosed, with a platform surrounding it. Inside there is a fabulous panorama of Paris--there's the Trocadero, over there's the Marais district, and so on with all kinds of dramatic buildings everywhere (even the lowliest rat-infested building in usually constructed of, say, white marble). There's lots of interesting information inside, like the amount of miles/kilometres to zillions of cities in the world. We spent 5 hours up there for a
cost of $10 each; what a bargain! There's nothing like it when the sun sets on Paris and you have the best seat in town.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 18 of 31: Riette Walton (riette) * Tue, Jul 28, 1998 (13:46) * 1 lines
Yes, when I first saw it, sort of from a distance, I thought: so what's the big deal here? It isn't that big or impressive. But we went there anyway. And it was absolutely huge. And when you stand underneath it and look up, you see the most beautifully structured, highest sculpture imaginable. It is just stunning.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 19 of 31: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Wed, Jul 29, 1998 (09:54) * 1 lines
How high up in it did you go? What's the elevator system like?
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 20 of 31: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Oct 29, 1998 (10:18) * 6 lines
Check out my friend Bob Nagy's cool Paris France website that he just put
together:
http://www.botany.utexas.edu/Facstaff/stfpages/bnagy/France/France.htm
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 21 of 31: Bob Nagy (bob) * Thu, Oct 29, 1998 (10:20) * 15 lines
We took off for France on September 17th. We spent four days at the
Concordia hotel in Paris. Among the places visited were, the Louvre,
Fountainbleu, Palace Royale, Eiffel tower, Luxembourg gardens, Pere
LaChaise Cemetery, George Pompideau Center, The Pantheon, Sacre Couer Cathedral and over 100 metro stations. We also visited our old "Honeymoon Hotel" which we stayed at during our 1990 visit. After four perfect days, we traveled south to Montpelier via TGV. There we were to meet two family friends ... Protestant missionaries..who were to help us get a hotel.
They drove us out to Carcassone and also to a friend's vineyard. From there, we went to Avignon. From the swell walled city of Avignon, we took a day trip to Arles. In Arles, we took in the Roman Amphitheater and a great food market. In Avignon, we took the lengthy tour of the Papal Palace. From Avignon, we trained it to Nice. The coastal ride was magnificent. In Nice, I swam in the Mediterranean sea, and we visited the Marc Chagall Museum. We then to
k the Private Chemin De Fer de Provence railway up into the High French Alps to the town of Digne Les Bains.
Although we were unable to take in the baths lacking the required doctor's note , we did get to visit the wonderful Alexander David Neel Bhuddist museum. We spent three quiet days in "deen" as the natives call it. We then crossed the country back to Paris and spent another day there visiting the Catacombs and having our final night out. That consisted of dinner in a small cafe on the left bank...and
a blissful concert of Chopin on a large Steinway in Paris' oldest church..a 12th century eastern orthodox church.
The concert was by candlelight and beautiful Icons and paintings lined the walls in back of the pianist. We then took the metro over to say goodbye to the Eiffel tower...in the cool evening mist...and while walking back..happened upon the bridge where Princess Di left us. People were there late in the night..and flowers were all over. Next morning we flew back on Air France to Houston..hitchless
s..
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 22 of 31: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Oct 29, 1998 (10:38) * 2 lines
Great stuff! And folks should realize that your website is truly a "work
in progress"; but the linsk that work contain some gorgeous shots.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 23 of 31: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Oct 29, 1998 (10:46) * 2 lines
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 24 of 31: Ginny (vibrown) * Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (02:29) * 11 lines
I visited France last summer. I was on a two week bus tour around France, visiting Paris, Beaune, Lyon, Avignon, Nice, Monaco, St. Paul de Vence, Eze, Grasse, Nimes, Carcassonne, Lourdes, Biarritz, Bordeaux, St. Emilion, Dordogne Valley, Perigueux, Loire Valley, Limoges, Tours, Mont St. Michel, Normandy, Bayeux, Giverny, and back to Paris (on Bastille Day, which was exciting). We spent a few extra in Paris, after the bus tour.
Provence is gorgeous, and I loved the hilltop villages and walled cities (Eze, St. Paul De Vence, Carcassonne, Mont St. Michel). I could have spent an entire day wandering around Monet's house in Giverny...the gardens and lily pond were amazing!
Paris was a lot of fun. The gardens are lovely, and the architecture is very impressive. We went on a little Monet quest, visiting the Musee D'Orsay, the L'Orangerie, and the Musee Marmottan. It was fascinating to watch the artists at work in Montmartre.
The food was wonderful, even though we ate in the hotels most of the time. I really wish I was able to remember more of my High School French (languages aren't my forte).
I have to say that a bus tour is not my ideal way to travel, since you don't get much time in any one place. Then again, it was the only way to see so many things in a short time, and we met some wonderful people on the tour.
Pictures from my trip can been viewed at http://world.std.com/~vbrown/p_fran99.htm
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 25 of 31: Marcia (MarciaH) * Tue, Jul 11, 2000 (14:21) * 1 lines
Carcasson! Did you dig for the Templar treasure? Sounds like you had a dream trip. I have all sorts of images in my head and have no idea how accurate they are. Probably not at all!
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 26 of 31: Ginny (vibrown) * Wed, Jul 12, 2000 (12:53) * 3 lines
It was a wonderful trip, but we were exhausted by the time we got back to Paris. I went with my mom, our cousin Maria, and Polly. We all ended up getting colds at some point. Poor Polly threw her back out the day after the bus trip ended (probably from all the coughing), but she still managed to get out and do a few things in Paris.
No, I didn't find the Templar treasure, but I really liked Carcassonne. Was that one of the places the Templars built? Funny, I didn't hear about that when we were there.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 27 of 31: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sat, Jul 15, 2000 (20:36) * 1 lines
Oh yeah.....never read "Holy Blood Holy Grail"....huh?! Polly went to Paris??? I had no idea. I am delighted you all got to go, but not about her back! Sorry about that.
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 28 of 31: Wolf (wolf) * Sun, Sep 4, 2005 (14:24) * 1 lines
back when my dad was still in the army, we went to a ceremony in france and all i can remember is it was at a cemetary (world war, i think)
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 29 of 31: traveler (cfadm) * Mon, Jun 30, 2008 (07:30) * 2 lines
Bonjour. C'est Paul à Austin, au Texas. Nous avons eu une très légère pluie aujourd'hui. Je suis juste de manger le petit-déjeuner, granola maison yogourt à la mangue. Je travaille sur spring.net, mon site et en ajoutant les réseaux sociaux à celui-ci. J'espère que vous avez un beau jour, où que vous soyez aujourd'hui. Msiou, est que la façon dont vous dire votre nom?
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 30 of 31: traveler (cfadm) * Mon, Jun 30, 2008 (07:32) * 2 lines
En France, qu'est-ce que vous utilisez pour la création de réseaux sociaux? Social Bookmarking? Social Media? Quels sont vos sites Web préférés que vous visitez tous les jours? Mon nom est Paul. Mon site est http://spring.net et je suis en train de trouver des sites de réseaux sociaux d'autres pays qui sont très populaires. Do you speak English?
Topic 22 of 63 [travel]: Paris and France
Response 31 of 31: traveler (cfadm) * Mon, Jun 30, 2008 (10:29) * 2 lines
Bonjour Siley Amstram pur cyber goujaterie. Je parle français plus facile que je ne l'écoute de français afin s’il vous plaît pourriez-vous traduire ce que vous avez dit à l'anglais. Pourquoi est-ce vous les Français sont toujours entourés de livres. Quels livres sont dans votre bibliothèque. pourriez-vous nous donner une visite guidée, en anglais? S’il vous plaît. Je suis Paul terry Walhus et vous pouvez en savoir plus sur moi sur Spring.net qui est mon site et blog. Êtes-vous à la création de réseaux sociaux, par hasard?
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