Paris Album

I left Paris feeling kind of worn out, like I'd done a lot of walking but not much inspired art-making. It was a lot like my first time in Venice: for the most part, I never really broke through that surface layer. (I wrote a bit about that experience in this post) I don't know why it's taken me so long to realize this, but if I want a more quiet, daydreamy time to photograph, I need to get up early--jet lag be damned!--and go wandering before the throngs hit the streets. That said, despite being out and about at peak times of day, I was happy to discover I'd made a few images that evoke the Paris I dreamed of finding. Here are a few first drafts.

** Here are my other Paris posts:  A Day in Paris, and Paris Album, Part 2

A Day in Paris

John and I took his youngest daughter, Katherine, to Paris in early April. She said it was on her bucket list (an 11 year-old with a bucket list, go figure) to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and John's sister-in-law, who'd been living in Paris for the last few years, was moving back to the States.  Anyone who wanted to visit needed to do so pronto.  Off we went! 

I'm still sorting through photographs from the trip, so there are more posts on the way, but I wanted to share a photo-an-hour diary of our last day there. (Why not work backwards?) Here goes:

7am - Waking up to the trees in the courtyard...

8am - Out the door and through the gate, passing all the perfect spring flowers along the way.

Our route to the Metro bordered the woods of Bois de Boulogne.

We'd stop every day at the boulangerie near the Metro for donuts and ham and cheese baguettes to take with us for lunch. It was my favorite place to practice French... the ladies there were so nice.

9am - The Metro! Today we planned to start out in Montmartre.

10am - La Cimetière de Montmartre. Old and beautiful and quiet... I loved it here. Previous days had been spent in crowded places and I just felt so peopled-out. I could have spent the entire day here just sitting on a bench.

11 am - We wandered through quiet neighborhoods near Sacré-Coeur...

12pm - Sacré-Coeur was as beautiful as all the photos I'd seen. Behind it, a quiet street ended at a park, which is where we found the La Vie Est Une Aventure! graffiti written on a stone bench.

1pm - We took the far west steps below the church to get down to the main street again.  I couldn't help stopping to photograph this tree.  Paris in spring!  

2:30pm -  We stood in line for a good long while to get into Angelina's for their famous hot chocolate (recommended to us by Maureen, our flight attendant on the way over). Yum!

3:30pm - Walking the Coulée Verte, which is an old elevated railroad bed that has been transformed into a walking path. Apparently the first of its kind, it inspired New York City's Highline, which I've also walked. It had started drizzling earlier in the day, so everything was lush-green and bright.

4:30pm - Made some friends along the way. 

5pm - A view from one of the bridges.

By the time we got to the end, it was POURING. Katherine's umbrella was turning inside-out from the wind, my shoes had puddles in them, and we underestimated how long it would take to get to the Metro station we were looking for. Of course!

6pm - We stopped in the Marais to hunt for a shop I'd read about in my favorite online sewing magazine. My winter coat needs some new buttons, and Le Mercerie Parisienne apparently specializes in all kinds of unique buttons.

I found two sets that I really liked.  We'll see which one works out the best...

7:30pm - Back to Neuilly for dinner at Piccolo Mondo, the restaurant we went to on our first night.  The server remembered us, which was fun.  I know I know, we should have ended our trip with traditional French fare, but why, when this place was sooo good?

It was a long day --- and a rainy one! --- but we had fun and I am happy we didn't abandon our plans just because of the weather.

** Here are my other two Paris posts... Paris Album 2 and Paris Album

Thank you, Christine, for the raincoat, umbrella, and, most and best of all, for sharing your home, stories, and Paris travel tips with us :-)

Last Fall's Flying Adventures

Part of the fun of going through last year's photos at this time of year is reliving warm-weather adventures in the middle of winter. It's making me look forward to spring! I thought I'd share two of the Starfighter trips John and I made last fall...

SWANK AIRFIELD in Butler, Ohio.

This grass strip (see it right behind the wing there?) is one of my FAVORITE places to go as it's got everything you could possibly want. You can camp right next to the river, go swimming in the summer, there's a shady gazebo for picnicking, it's right on one of Ohio's major bike trails, and there's an amazing diner right in town. It also has an old-skool water pump and a bathroom. The Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) is working hard to get places like this spiffed up and put on aeronautical charts. For a long time, Swank Field was a bit of a secret and not everyone knew where it was. (Hopefully it still kinda stays that way.)  From our neck of the woods, just fly north-northeast, pass the south end of Delaware lake, keep on going until you pass in between two small-ish lakes. When you see the three radio towers in a row off to your left,  look for the river and the town and swoop in over the valley. No GPS required!

Butler is perfect for scootering, and we went straight down the bike path toward The Whiffletree.

The Whiffletree, famous for its John Wayne decor, is closed on Wednesdays, and the last time we flew in I got so excited dreaming of their amazing home fries, only to have my hopes dashed by the CLOSED sign. (I think our airport home base needs to create a restaurant reference list of what's open when. Maybe a fun summer to-do list item...?) This was not a Wednesday, though, so all was well. Breakfast accomplished!  

NORTH BASS ISLAND in Lake Erie.

First stop: Port Clinton for lunch at the Tin Goose Diner (there always seems to be food involved in these trips).  It was our original intention to head to Kelly's Island, but we got a late start and really wanted to save that for a day when there was more time to ride around the island.  The Tin Goose NEVER disappoints, and their soups are the best I've had ever.

I always love looking at this part of the Ohio chart.  Just past the Cedar Point roller coasters... all these little tiny islands with airstrips on them.

We've gone to Kelley's and to Put-in-Bay, but not the others, so I asked John if we could try a different one, and we chose North Bass.  We bought some cookies and hot cocoa to go at the Tin Goose, and took off. It was a perfect day for a cookie picnic.

Most of the island was bought by the state in and is now North Bass Island State Park. People still live there, but not very many. It's beautiful from the air! I want to go back again when we have more time to go exploring.

This little building is the post office and airport of the community, Isle Saint George. Somewhere on the island there's a museum in an old schoolhouse, and next time I'd like to go & find out more about the island's history.

This was our picnic view. The beach was rocky, but there were enough flat spots to put down a blanket and have a nap.

Even without the salt, Lake Erie feels just like the sea, which makes me feel not so far away from New England where I grew up. I wonder sometimes about living someplace like this, isolated and remote, even just for a season.  Winter with all its snow and ice, or summer with storms and fireflies...