For us the luxury of time gave us a chance to slowly savor the simple things like slipping down a tiny side street and finding an amazing old house and garden tucked away that has been there for hundreds years.
As with any city it’s better if you know someone. We met Bill and Nancy shortly after arriving. I think they know more about Paris than most Parisians. Besides tips and directions, they organized a group for two special events.
One: Boat tour: “Canal Saint-Martin from Marina Arsenal to Parc de la Villette”. A night time cruise. Why not just go in our own boat? The singer! Just a few weekends a summer this tiny little woman dressed in black rides along with us through the tunnel to the narrow canal that passes through neighborhoods. We all listen to the live commentary of the sights in both French and English. There are two locks to go through. Each takes about 20 minutes. Many people know “the singer” will be on board so will sit on their balconies or sit along the side with wine and a picnic to wait. Once at the lock she stands up to perform old French romantic songs and sings her heart out. I hope she wouldn’t be insulted if I say she sounded very much like Edith Piaf with the quiver and rolled r’s. At night, with that voice, wine, the city people, us on the boat, we are all one big happy group. When the boat started moving again there was a burst of applause, we raised our glasses to the crowd and they returned it or gave a wave. There were eight very happy Americans included in that night. It gives me goose bumps to remember it.
Two: Bastille Day. Like a bunch of groupies we headed to a small café where “our singer”, along with a very handsome young singer, were to be. Rob and I arrived a little late. As we came to the door “our singer” came to me and danced me through to where our table was. I think most of the costumers were regulars. They didn’t seem to mind our intrusion on their day at all. In fact they encouraged us to join the dancing and singing. Even our dinner was good. Hopefully you can see in the photo that it was a mad happy group who partied. Even Rosie got to dance while we played “ring-around-the Rosie”. Nancy thought of that.
There is a song, “The Flower of Paris” and the tall man was asked to wear the hat with a big red flower in the front, flag cape and carry the sunflower for the tune. He loved the attention and didn’t want to take it off. I danced with him and he spoke English. Told me I was a “superb” dancer. Charmer. The best part, again, were the singers and old tunes.
Patricia (Patti while in SLO) Kohlen came to visit at the beginning of our stay. At the moment she is back in SLO organizing the garden wedding celebration for her daughter Corinne and 100 people. Let’s all hope they have fantastic weather. Knowing Patti, it will be beautiful affair and Corinne will look stunning as she looks great in jeans!
At the end of our stay we had a very special visit from Caroline
(Hope) Linfitt and family. Caroline, Phil, Rebecca (Becca, Becs) age 16 and Annie age 13.We suggested dinner at a restaurnat where we had a wonderful meal. Unfortunately our cook must have left for vacation and a bus boy was cooking. It was bad. They kindly didn’t mention it.
The Hope / Davidson connection goes back to the early 1950’s and now spans three generation. Phil and Caroline also have two pretty daughters. They are as different as chalk and cheese, just as Skye and Tess. You would all love listening to their charming English accents and to hear them tell of living back home. They all have a very full life. Cool family and it meant a lot to us that they made the effort to see us.
Before I leave you in Paris I must mention Anna Davidson Trotter, no relation that we know of. American, soft southern accent, funny and very cute. She had a good friend on board, Nigel, a charming long time canal devotee originally from the UK who helped her bring the boat through a rather difficult bit to arrive in Paris. But other than that she has captained her barge, alone, for 11 years. Amazing isn’t it.
You can have money, be beautiful, the world on the string, but without friends and the people you meet life would be pretty lonely wouldn’t it? Never underestimate your value in a persons life.
PS. Rosie is finally getting over the loss of Noodle. We are trying to put some weight back on her and make her feel more comfortable with us, not having the go between she so depended on. Here she is after we were caught in the rain while out walking – she hates the rain.
Side note: Rob went to the farmers market for fruit and vegies. The bag that the apricots came in have a cute print of vegetables on front and two recipes, Ratatouille Nicoise and Crème de Brocolis, on the back. Great idea and we’ll try them.
No comments:
Post a Comment