A Day in Paris

Saturday, May 15th, was our day to explore Paris. Refreshed by a good night's sleep and fortified with an excellent breakfast at our hotel, our first stop was the d'Orsay museum. As part of our "package" we were taken by bus to the museum and we had an excellent guide who was able to bring us into the group entrance just as the building was opening.

The rhino is one of the sculptures outside, but inside we were given a crash course on the history of impressionism. Housed in a former hotel and train station, this museum has a wonderful collection of art from 1848-1914. Additionally, the original ballroom and restaurant from the hotel are intact and very opulent.

Across from the d'Orsay, we were able to get on the Batobus, a water taxi that makes a continuous circular journey and allows you to hop on and off to get to various sites along the Seine. Since we had a limited time, this seemed like a good way to see quite a bit.

This is a view of Notre Dame Cathedral taken from the Batobus. We got off the boat to tour the inside of this magnificent structure. As an added bonus, in the courtyard in front of the church there was a festival tent set up that turned out to be a bakers' competition. We were able to walk through the area and see the competitors at work.

Here are some of the baguettes ready for judging!

While in the neighborhood, we did some shopping and also had lunch at a patisserie.

Back on the Batobus, we stopped at the Louvre. We didn't have time to tour the museum, but we got to peek into one of the sculpture galleries and walked around the courtyard. We strolled through Tuileries gardens.

Another stop brought us to the area by the Grand and Petit Palaces and for a walk on the Champs Elysees toward the Arc de Triomphe.

Our final stop was the Eiffel Tower and a lovely restaurant, Au Bon Accueil, where we had dinner reservations. Wined and dined, we emerged from the restaurant after dark to see the tower illuminated! What a sight!

Getting there...

I thought I would "blog" about our trip to France over the next few days. That way you can see some of our pictures and get some details of our adventures... and I can reminisce.

Waiting in the Charlotte airport for our Lufthansa flight on Thursday afternoon. Notice how fresh and happy he looks... just starting a new novel. The 9 hour flight to Munich is supposed to trick you into thinking that you actually had a full night's sleep. They start you out with a snack and then it's dinner time. "Lights out" for a restless few hours of sleep... or more likely watching several of the movies or TV shows offered. And then coffee and a light breakfast and you are there! We had another two hour airport wait and then a two hour flight to Paris, so by the time we settled into our hotel it was Friday afternoon and we had just a little time for exploring before it was time to go out looking for nourishment.

When in Maine, we like to go to the Maine Diner.

Imagine my surprise when we found the Maine Cafe just around the block from our hotel! Sorry, no cod cakes, clam cakes, crab cakes or lobster pie here, I'm afraid. It's named for it's location on Rue Maine.

We did enjoy our first meal in France at the Josselin Creperie.

Mothers Day

I have a new wireless printer and bee-u-ta-ful roses... thanks to two beautiful daughters!

Mica Mine

This Saturday we went to the site of a former mica mine in Burnsville. We did a 1/2 mile slightly uphill hike to an area where there is lots of debris from the mine. In addition to mica, there are

other interesting rocks, including tourmaline, garnet, beryl, feldspar, granite, among others. We were lead by a geologist from UNCA who showed us examples of each of the kinds of rocks and soon it became a treasure hunt. We would find interesting rocks and he would either confirm what we thought we found or tell us what it really was. Here are some examples of mica:

I also captured some images of some of the wildflowers we saw, including the showy orchis and the Jack-in-the-pulpit below:

A Tale of Two Nadiias

You might remember that I said I wasn't going to finish the Nadiia project that I started at the workshop a couple weeks ago. Well, my friend, who also went to the workshop, kept diligently working on her Nadiia and giving me progress reports. I had just rolled my project up and tucked it on a shelf. But she kept nagging at me. (Nadiia, not my friend.) I guess I felt as though I needed to at least give her some hair and some clothing. Here are the two Nadiias side by side. My Nadiia is on the right with the pink hair and optic background. My friend's Nadiia follows the pattern a little more closely. I left out the dark brown that gives some more depth between the face/neck and the hair. And I am not going to actually quilt and bind my Nadiia, but at least she is at a point where I can relax and put her away again.
Do you think they look like sisters?

Buckeye in Bloom!

Two years ago, on Mother's Day, we had this Buckeye tree planted in our front yard. I just wanted to share this photo that shows it in blossom this week.