Comments on: Vacation snaps, part deux

By: Historiann

Historiann — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 13:35:21 +0000

We had a great time, and the weather was warm, clear, and sunny the whole week. We didn’t see a drop of rain until the morning we left. This was very different from my first experience of Paris, also in March over spring break, when it rained the entire time. So it was nice to be able to sit outdoors in cafes and in parks and enjoy the spring.

Katherine: I think those placemats are definitely to be mourned! About a decade ago I made a few trips to Britain within a few years, and each time brought back more stiff cork placemats and coasters than I know what to do with. (And they’re still at work in my dining room and living room.)

By: Katherine

Katherine — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:45:19 +0000

ah yes, all the fabulous perfect presents we don’t buy for our friends because they are just a bit too expensive to be a punch line. I seem to recall some economic price theory about that. And I am morning the French monarchy place mats I didn’t buy in a French gas station for that very reason.

By: tony grafton

tony grafton — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:18:24 +0000

Wonderful snaps.

Somehow this all reminds me of the time a distinguished colleague came back from a stay in Paris and told me about the spectacularly ugly rubber necktie she hadn’t bought for me at the Pompidou Center shop.

By: MsMcD

MsMcD — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 06:16:15 +0000

I love the Cluny and the Musee D’Orsay, but I have to say my long time favorite is Sainte-Chapelle. Nothing quite compares to those windows on a sunny day.

Hope you had a great trip!

By: Indyanna

Indyanna — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:51:38 +0000

The Cluny is cool. Although it was fantastically hot on the day some years ago when I stumbled in on it, and what I most remember was being dehydrated while there. That feeling didn’t last long, though. I left the Musee and headed over toward that little chapel in pic. 2 and almost drowned standing up on the bridge across the Seine in the most spectacular and spontaneous thunderstorm I’ve ever seen. First trip to Paris. Ah!

By: Comrade PhysioProf

Comrade PhysioProf — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 01:56:37 +0000

That Wonder Woman doll sucks. It does zero justice to the real Wonder Woman.

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:10:59 +0000

I have a price limit on joke gifts, so if it goes about about $10, a picture is all you’ll get. And I love the Cluny and the Rodin, and the Musee D’Orsay, though that is so big… The garden at the Rodin is lovely.

By: Historiann

Historiann — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:40:03 +0000

What can I say? I’m a world-famous cheapskate. I didn’t buy any souvenirs worth 230 euros for myself or anyone else. (Does that make you feel better?)

I did get a very pretty blouse, but I’m disappointed that for 100 or 120 euros, it doesn’t have matched seams. I would think that for that kind of money it should have matched seams. (It was made in Italy.)

By: GayProf

GayProf — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:54:15 +0000

Are you saying I am not worth 230 euros? (Imagine GayProf with sad eyes).

By: Perpetua

Perpetua — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:09:41 +0000

I love the Cluny as well, though I have to say my favorite museum in Paris is the Rodin museum. I never realized how extraordinary sculpture is before I went there.

In Carcassonne (near Toulouse) you can get a three pack of museum tickets: The Museum of the Albigensian crusades (massacre, massacre, massacre; the Museum of the Inquisition (mannequins in various torture devices, no lie); and ending up at the Museum of Animation (yes, as in Disney, etc.) – I’m guessing so you don’t jump off the walls?