We’re in La Rochelle now, but before I leave the subject of Paris for a while, I wanted to tell you about a couple of the people we met. I’ve been shy about photographing people and have tended to comment mostly on the photos I’m sending you, but David has suggested that I’m leaving out a large part of the experience.

Okay, I did not actually speak to any of these people, but Thursday after checking into our hotel, we wandered across the street to this park, the Jardin des Tuileries to enjoy le printemps (spring) and take a few photos. Since we’d been in France only about an hour, I was still in American mode and made eye contact (and probably even smiled) at an older gentleman walking toward me (neither is generally done in France). Then I started taking a few photographs. Next thing I knew he was right next to me giving me photography tips (in French). David had been about 20 feet away, but disappeared as soon as I had someone to talk to, because he’s VERY committed to me practicing my French and didn’t want to scare the man away. I didn’t understand everything this man was saying , but he was really very friendly–maybe a little lonely–and it was a great jump-start for my French conversation practice (and David was keeping an eye on us from a distance).  Bet monsieur would have let me take his photo, too! Must remember to ask.

If you’ve ever been to Paris you’ve probably seen the classic “gold” ring scam attempted about every block. We don’t understand exactly how it works–and there may be several versions–but we do know enough to say no and keep moving. David, again insisting that I practice my French, had me ask the desk clerk at the hotel to explain, which he was apparently ecstatic to do.  Unfortunately my French was too weak to understand the complexities of the scam in his super-quick French, only catching phrases like, “C’est une ruse!” (which we had already figured out) and “pickpocket” (which even with a French accent is pretty clear). Still I loved that we’d made him so happy, and I must have nodded in all the right places because he didn’t once switch to English, and as a hotel clerk in Paris, he most certainly speaks English.

That’s just two of the six or eight conversations with strangers I had in Paris, aided and abetted by David, and I / we have had a few more here in La Rochelle. Stories for another day, perhaps. Meanwhile, you can picture us chatting, listening, nodding and even smiling, although we’re trying on the French style of waiting for a reason to smile. I can assure you there are plenty.

Here’s a jonquille for you, in case they’re not quite blooming yet where you are:

Last night in Paris for a while, so we took a walk to see what we could see:

TGV to La Rochelle tomorrow!

Bonne nuit! 

Today, we spent the morning touring the Louvre. Although it’s my fourth trip to Paris, I had not yet been inside. I thought it was going to be too expensive and too crowded, but neither proved to be true. Yes, it’s 12 euros to get in, but that’s not outrageous for such an amazing museum. I loved the bright, peaceful covered sculpture courtyards.

And I have always loved mille-fleurs style tapestry from the middle ages, and there were rooms filled with tapestry, nearly empty of people:

In fact the only really crowded place in the whole museum was in front of the Mona Lisa, which — with all due respect — is mostly famous for being famous, in my opinion. Maybe it’s amazing if you can actually see it, but it’s certainly not my favorite painting. It’s small and dark and behind glass, and the area in front of the painting is mobbed. People shove you from all sides just so they can hold their smartphone up to snap a photo. Yeesh. No thanks. We went. We looked. We tried to admire (while defending our space from elbows and our belongings from pickpockets). We did not bother to snap a photo, and got out of that room as quickly as possible.

Later we crossed the Seine and found an open door to a beautiful courtyard:

Paris is full of beauty, no doubt, but not this guy:

Seriously? It’s maybe 55 degrees!

We made it to Paris around noon today (Thursday), rather travel worn, but happy to be here. We do keep dozing off even with an after dinner espresso. It will take a few days to reset the internal clock, but at least it looks like spring here.

Our hotel is housed in one of the buildings you see in the background below.

Looks sort of posh, but check out the elevator. A little sign warns that it can hold 5 people, max. I’d be stunned if three fit inside.

We tend to take the stairs, even though we’re on the 4th floor, which is equivalent to the American 5th floor, the ground floor not having a number, being called instead rez-de-chausée. Not so bad going down, but a bit of a workout going up!