Some observations at the risk of lumping all the French together in one big heap. I love the language. It's so lilting, especially when the women say "bonjour Madam" "Merci Monsieur." They are very polite with formal greetings and goodbyes. The women dress very well with lots of them wearing scarves and they are very trim. I even see men wearing scarves tied in different ways, even those puffy scarves made out of light material.Sometimes I think we are offensive even though we don't mean to be. David and I stopped at a sidewalk cafe late today. I had tea and David had Irish coffee(s). My feet were sore and my legs all swollen so David helped me lift them up and put them on a chair. Then our server brought me a stool. It felt great. But then a man walking by said something really loud about "madame" and I don't know what it was but apparently it was very derogatory because I said "what did he say" and a gentleman at a nearby table said "you don't want to know."
We went to Versailles today and I noticed how very competent all nine of us were getting onto the right train, exiting when we needed to and then getting on the next train without having to look at maps of the subway system for long periods of time. We got to Versailles pretty early but it soon got very crowded. I enjoyed seeing all the thrones, canopied beds with huge beds with feathers on top and marble walls, marble fireplace mantles, etc. etc. David and I ate lunch in a very nice restaurant there (hope you don't mind if I talk about food, we haven't had a bad meal yet). I had quiche lorraine with salad and David had grilled scallops with rice. We each had dessert - he had a melt-in-your-mouth creme puff almond thing that was to die for and I had a macaroon only not like ours, more like a wafer with some cream in it. Not surprisingly, we aren't having any dinner tonight because we're not hungry and that meal blew the budget!
On the way back from Versailles, we stopped at the Muse' Dorsay. We didn't have to wait in a line at 3:00 p.m. but the place inside was so crowded. There was one show-stopping masterpiece after another plus what a gorgeous building. I could just picture it in the 1930s with bunches of trains linining up, entering and exiting, with their whistles blowing and people scurrying to catch their trains. David provided me with an art history lesson on many of the paintings and most were familiar to me from all those art history papers I typed for him when he was at TU. Definitely more of a thrill than the Louvre.
I couldn't help but think at Versailles about how we cycle through the same types of times over and over again. The King didn't like Paris so he had his Dad's hunting lodge made over into this massive castle with over-the-top gilding of real gold all over everywhere, then had to pay the members of his court to come out there and be with him thereby spending all the money while his people - the everyday folks - went hungry. Then the poor people rebelled. The only thing that's different is that very few are rebelling at this time.
Not sure what we're doing tomorrow except I know that David and the students will be out photographing. I may go to the Rodin gardens, not sure. Tomorrow is our last day here and then Sunday we fly out very early and head for Sweden. Nicole N. was kind of enough to comment about how she landed in a surprised gentleman's lap in London on the tube when she was backpacking around Europe. Keep the comments coming - thanks Wendy, Matthew, Nicole, and Jeremy!
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