May 31, 2017 at 5:37 pm (Artists and Writers, Family, Holidays, Niece, Places, postaday, Relatives, Surprises, Traveling)
Tags: England, happiness, Paris, postaday, postaweek, Wordpress
Self’s favorite travel buddy: her niece! A week ago, at the Arc de Triomphe (lots of other people in the background, when self asked a stranger to snap the picture, he waited for the worst possible moment):

Self with her niece Irene: This was our second adventure. The first was Florence, November 2015.
And here the two of us are, on the bridge between the Tuileries and the Musée de Orsay, which is Irene’s favorite Paris museum:

Heading from the Tuileries towards the Musée d’Orsay, Irene’s favorite Paris Museum.
The last thing self expected to see in Bath, England was a teddy bear. But there it was, waiting for her in her room. Instant BFF!

Tasburgh House, Bath, England, May 2017
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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May 31, 2017 at 2:40 pm (Links, Movies, Recommended, Traveling)
Tags: French movies, Paris, photography, websites
Self chose to go with HOT.
Here’s a poster from Mac Mahon Cinema on Avenue Mac Mahon in Paris (The Avenue, according to Google, was named AFTER the cinema. Only the French!). It celebrates the current film festival: 70 YEARS OF CANNES.
All the films they’ve been showing the past few weeks are Palm D’Or winning movies: The Leopard, Blow-Up, Taxi Driver, and all the French ones self doesn’t have time to look up right now.
That is one hot hot hot poster (Self would like to say that the actress is . . . French. That’s about all she knows):

Currently Showing at Mac Mahon Cinema, Paris: 70 Years of Palm D’Or Winners from the Cannes Film Festival
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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May 30, 2017 at 7:13 pm (Artists and Writers, destinations, Eavesdropping, Explorers, Traveling, Women Writers)
Tags: essay, nonfiction
You need to turn off the road taking you to your destination, watching out for elusive signposts while hugging the white beaches, to realize that this Pacific Caledonia shares more than verdant mountains and damp spells with Scotland: a certain predilection for solitude, for creating deserts.
— Léa Outier, “Conversations from the Other Side”
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May 28, 2017 at 1:06 pm (Artists and Writers, Books, destinations, Family, Holidays, Niece, Personal Bookshelf, Places, postaday, Relatives, Sundays, Traveling)
Tags: happiness, memories, novel, Paris, postaday, postaweek, Wordpress

Self with her usual gear: The book she’s reading is the novel THIS IS YOUR LIFE, HARRIET CHANCE!

A Woman stares out into the gardens of the Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte. Woman stood there so long that self got tired of waiting for her to move and made her a part of the picture.

Mementos of a Trip, Never To Be Forgotten: Paris, May 2017
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May 26, 2017 at 4:51 pm (destinations, Niece, Places, postaday, Recommended, Surprises, Traveling)
Tags: discoveries, Fridays, history, Paris, postaday, postaweek, Wordpress
Today self and her niece Irene went on a one-day tour to Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte and Chateau de Fontainebleau. The guide’s name was Laurence: she was great.
Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte came first. OMG, that estate is just fabulous. It’s privately owned. The main buildings are open to the public; no sign of the family that owns the place, but hey, imagine giving birthday parties there! Must be soooo fun!
At some time in its fabulous past, the estate was in the hands of the same family for eight generations. The last heir murdered his wife so he could be with his mistress, was convicted and imprisoned, and committed suicide in his cell, a year later. Payback’s a bitch!
His chef invented the praline.

A Photo Shoot Was Happening at the 17th Century Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte! Self was so woke!

Windows, Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte

More Windows at Chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte: Self took so many pictures there that by the time the tour arrived at Fontainebleau, her camera battery was exhausted. Ugh!!!
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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May 25, 2017 at 8:47 pm (Eavesdropping, Links, Lists, Places, postaday, Recommended, Traveling, Weather)
Tags: England, Flowers, London, New York, postaday, postaweek, websites, Wordpress
“One day they’ll be painted over, completely erased . . . “
— Krista Stevens, explaining this week’s Photo Challenge on The Daily Post
The evanescent is powerful: whether it’s a fleeting moment of sunshine in London, or the moment just before the seeds of a dandelion are scattered by the wind, or the delicacy of woodland fungi, or a collection of bird shots, or a moment when sun pierces the cloud cover around Aoraki/Mount Cook, or a 10-year-old photo of New York’s Grand Central, one never forgets the moment that is captured.
Hats off to these six bloggers:
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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May 24, 2017 at 9:10 pm (Artists and Writers, Eavesdropping, Links, Places, postaday, Traveling)
Tags: art, memories, museums, Paris, postaday, postaweek, Wordpress
This week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge is EVANESCENT.
What is fleeting, what is most evanescent.
Look at the pictures she chose to take at the Musee de l’Orangerie. Instead of waiting for people to clear out of her photograph, they became part of the moment. And that was even before she found out what this week’s Photo Challenge was.
Moments. That’s all she was interested in capturing this afternoon. Apparently.



Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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May 24, 2017 at 4:22 pm (destinations, Places, postaday, Traveling)
Tags: Gardens, happiness, Paris, postaday, postaweek, Wordpress
- This week, show us a moment in time that holds meaning for you.
— Krista Stevens, The Daily Post

Self’s Favorite Paris Hangout: The Tuileries Gardens

Bus Stop In Front of Notre Dames Cathedral

From the Eiffel Tower
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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May 22, 2017 at 1:46 pm (Artists and Writers, destinations, Food and Drink, Places, postaday, Traveling)
Tags: art, happiness, Mondays, museums, Paris, postaday, postaweek, Wordpress
It was a gorgeous day!
Self strolled down the Champs-Elysees. She saw a shrine on the sidewalk, draped with French flags and flowers. Oh. So that’s where the policeman was shot.
She bought a salad from a brasserie and decided to eat in the Tuileries, right in front of the Musee L’Orangerie (where the Monets are) but she did not bother lining up for a ticket. She hates lines.
Instead, she sat outside, watching people:

The Tuileries, Monday Afternoon: Is that a Brancusi? Or a Picasso? Or a Henry Moore?
The wide avenues were alive with strollers, and the trees were so green:

And guess what she saw, over on the other side of the Place de la Concorde:

Iconic: 22 May 2017
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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