Thursday I woke up feeling much better, although not yet eating normally, and we went to the Jardin des plants and shopped for new jeans for me. We also went to the Jardin du Luxembourg, which I especially loved. There was a type of bell-organ being played that was pretty curious to listen to. we also went to the restaurant there at the park and I got a dessert for meal: strawberry-ginger soup with a lemon sorbet… so delicious and healthy!! after that, we went to this play that Doug, Eric’s advisor, strongly suggested called La Ballade de Simone, about the philosopher and feminist Simone de Beauvoir. Despite not understanding almost any French, it was well done and moving. the 2 actresses were great also as musicians (accordion and singing).

Friday was my day to be by my self, while Eric met another friend and worked a little more in his Doctorate thesis. I tried to use the bicycles that have in Paris that you rent and return it in another station, like the zip- cars in NUS, but neither mine of Eric’s credit cards worked… Anyway, I went to the museum L’Orangerie, where they have a selection of 6 of Monet masterpieces: the Waterlillies were huge and long curved paints that I enjoyed a lot! I also was very impressed with the variety of paintings in the museum collection, part of a famous merchant of the beginning mid-century. After seeing the impressionist paintings, especially Renoir and one Picasso, I regretted not having bought the combined museum pass with Musee d’Orsay. Anyway, the plan was to do contrasting museums in the same day, so I went to the , which I did not enjoy as much, although I also like modern & contemporary art. I was mostly happy to see a little more of Picasso, Kandinsky, etc.
Unfortunately my mood was not great and I wished I stayed with the beautiful and peaceful impressionist paintings…. Other things also contributed for a less exciting and peaceful day, such as: still unsure and afraid of eating; getting lost some times in the museums neighborhoods; spending long time inside the metro going from a place to another; pouring rain while I was trying to find another Brazilian restaurant in Montmatre (the 3 umbrellas Eric had, were, of course, left at his house); the restaurant didn’t exist anymore; I was hungry and wet….

In the evening things turned out to be better. We met Cinthia (Brazilian who was studying in Bton and now is doing a doctorate in Paris) and her friend Marcelo (who brought a French friend – Marie). It was very fun to speak some Portuguese, hear her stories, and find a surprisingly beautiful garden and courtyard hidden inside the Palais Royal, through this narrow alley!
I finally got a Croque Monsier (without the ham and with a tomato) which ensured I wasn’t getting poisoned again…
Saturday was particularly fun and relaxing. Eric and I went to the Chateau de Fontainebleu, the royal palace for 800 years, favorite by the kings and queens in hunting season. I delighted my self seeing the decoration and the beautiful ceilings, and felt great comparing that moment to the one 9 years ago when I barely walked in the sumptuous Versailles Palace with my appendicitis pain, while this time I was healing, and relieved by not having to go to the hospital!
the gardens were nice (despite half of then closed…. in a Saturday…. can you believe these French weirdos?) although pouring rain again!
We had great food and some very beautiful and delicious sweets. So, I finally got to try some of the very attractive patisserie wonders, only found in France.
Now, at the plane I write this, with a smile in my lips. it was a great time but I am sooooooooo happy to go back home, to my beautiful and peaceful Bloomington, to my home-sweet-home and to my dear David.

Paris IV

Adeus, Paris!

After almost a whole day at home, recovering, we decided to go to the Louvre, since Wednesdays it has a late closure (10pm). We got there right around 6pm, and walked a lot! I was feeling much better and specially when I aw all the exciting sculptures and paintings, I basically forgot I was sick! I wasn’t THAT impressed with the infamous Mona Lisa, but liked a lot to see other not so famous sculptures, but what really impressed me was the Egypcian collection. I was realy moved to get inside the Chapel of the Tomb de Akhethotep.

Fascinating!

On Thursday we woke up early to go play the pian in the pian shop. It was very fun! (one of our favorite activities together is play and sing different types/styles of songs). It was a success! Then went to the Jardin the Plantes, which was ok, but there was a very interesting Labirinth, where we could rest and let the sun warm us up! Afer it we went jeans sopping! We both ended up buying nice jeans. Then, Jardin the Luxembourg, which was much more inviting  to me than the other one. There I felt like eating something, and got a very nice strawberry-ginger soup with lemon sorbet. It was delicious!!! We then went to the play “La ballade de Simone”, which i could tell the actresses were really good, but unfortunately I coulnd’t understand almost anything, despite my great effort (before falling asleep…)

AFter that I was still energtic somehow and wanted to walk to downtown, and we found the Shakespeare & Co book shop by chance. It was very nice, and there was a piano there, which Eric played, and we found out they also had a “French-English Table” on Thursdays. I finnally got my so desired hot chocolate afterwards, and then it was time to go ot bed.

Comment on photos come later. But they are here:

Paris III

On Sunday we went to the Musee Rodin. It was very nice, and I loved t the see the originals of one of my favorite sculptures – “The hand of God”. Photos of this day and next days are here:

Paris II

We also went to the famous Moulin Rouge. I LOVED the amazing costumes, and the specialty shows: an acrobat couple, a ventriloquist, a woman swimming with snakes… It was very FUN! But I was really impressed by the quality of the costumes.

Photos are in the same album as last post, or here:

Paris II

Entao…. Deu meu dois minutos no domingo a noite e resolvi pesquisar algum lugar na costa onde eu pudesse ir visitar sozinha, como nos velhos tempos! Eric recomendou Mont Saint Michel. Pra chegar lá peguei trem e onibus, chegando na segunda por volta das 2 da tarde e deu pra fazer e ver tudo.
Fiz um tour in the abbey after I rested and ate a Sandwich in the cloister. Very beautiful view from there!
Amazing 3 layers of churchs in there, constructed in different centuries.
Fiquei em duvida se ia embora no mesmo dia ou dormir por la e voltar na Terça como planejado. Quando falei com o motorista do ônibus e ele disse que talvez eu não encontrasse lugar no trem, e eu não gostei de arriscar… Então resolvi ficar e foi a melhor coisa!!!!
Resolvi ir caçar o por do sol, mesmo que a moca do guiche de informação tivesse me falado que não dava pra ver. Achei uma passagem pra parte de trás da abadia e andei pelas pedras. depois de uma hora mais ou menos (nossa…. o sol esta demorando demais pra baixar! agora são 8:30 e ainda ta claro!!!!) vi um casal andando pela areia e fiquei observando por onde eles estavam passando, já que esta parte e’ famosa por areia movediça… não me pareceu nem um pouco perigoso. Então também fui, curiosa pra ver o que tinha mais pra lá! encontrei uma igrejinha e na porta tinha uma família com 2 crianças pequenas e um guia da baia!!! hum! se eles estavam andando na areia e’ porque não tinha muito problema. falei um pouquinho com o guia e peguei informação sobre o tal tour em volta da abadia. Toda tarde tem um tour andando ate uma ilhota próxima de onde estávamos, a aventura de andar enquanto a maré tava baixa.
Não ia dar pra eu fazer porque teria que usar uma bota de borracha, que nem a que a Donna me deu.
Fiquei feliz assim mesmo de ter me comunicado um pouquinho em francês.
Observamos a maré subindo muito rapidamente e após um certo ponto decidi entrar na cidadezinha e escolher o restaurante pro meu jantar. Depois de muito escolher, me sentei aqui com esta lindíssima vista! Mas o menu não servia os tais crepes salgados da Bretanha, e acabei jantando crepe doce de macas flambadas com sorvete : delicioso!!! Na mesa ao lado no restaurante tinha uma família de portugueses, mais a vista, e tive esta sensação engraçada de achar que eu estava em Portugal!!
Agora mais aventura… vou andar 2km ate o hotel, pelo fiozinho que e’ a estrada que liga a cidadezinha mais próxima a ilha.
Quando comecei a andar e percebi que minha barriga começou a doer…. fui me sentindo pior ao longo do trajeto e agora estou no quarto que peguei, descansansando depois de ter vomitado e tido a maior diarréia.
será que e’ sina que meu quarto dia em Paris tenho que ficar doente??
que chato… foi a noite toda passando muito mal.
Resolvi voltar mais cedo pra Paris e agora estou no TGV (trem super veloz).
neste exato momento não consigo parar de pensar na minha cama, lá em Bloomington. meu estômago ainda dói – tomei comprimidos pra fazer parar a diarréia, e apesar de eu não estar tão mal quanto durante a noite, me sinto fraca…
será que vou ter que ir revisitar o hospital em Paris?
Agora estou de volta a casa do Eric e ele saiu pra comprar gatorade.

Termino a estoria com esperanca de que eu esteja ja em processo de cura. Se eu piorar, tenho os remedios necessarios, que o Eric foi comprar pra mim. Agora, um bom banho e cama vao me ajudar bastante.

Hi, this is Eric! Today we started with breakfast followed by a combination walk/jog in the Bois de Vincennes and the Château de Vincennes (Pri: it’s a castle in a park!). After a while I started jogging and Pri continued walking. I did my traditional run-around-the-castle but was surprised to see Pri inside the castle courtyard, where I had never been because I thought you had to pay an entrance fee. (*Pri: poor Eric!)

After that we headed to a Brazilian restaurant Pri picked out called Gabriela, where I had the traditional feijoada, Pri ate pastel and we tried some Brazilian beer (Bohemia and Brahma). For desert, quindim and pastel com goiabada (excelente!) The food was great and the walls were covered with Brazil-themed collages and other decorations that made Pri understandably homesick.

The restaurant was in the foothills of Montmartre, and we found Sacré Coeur simply by walking up the steepest streets. It was beautiful but full of loud tourists and who bothered us. We climbed the steps to Sacré Coeur, and the church was very peaceful and beautiful inside. We also climbed the tiny spiral staircase to the top of the tower for an amazing (but windy) view of Paris!

Next we were amazed to see a bunch of people running up the hill. No, it wasn’t a bunch of people running from the bulls! This is France, not Spain! It was actually the end of a marathon. We walked around the square full of painters and caricature/portrait artists, and were impressed by the quality of the work. (*Pri: better than in Florence) Then we followed signs to a Dali exhibit and saw lots of sculptures of melting clocks and long-legs and drawer-women. A nice surprise!

Later, we saw the flower market near Notre-Dame (*Pri: I was very impressed and homesick again. There were even palm trees and cactus and lots of strange shapes and small colored flowers), and then went for ice cream behind Notre-Dame, and shopping in Le Marais in shops full of cute, tiny, colorful, interesting (*Pri: useless?) objects.

Finally, we were hungry and decided to buy a baguette and cheeses to take back home. After all, we had to experience a real French meal! (bread, wine, cheese, fruit!)

All photos  are going to be added to this same album:

Paris

Bye!

During the flights and running between connections was not the most interesting thing. Maybe aging makes me feel less tolerant with such things, and i caught my self many times thinking how comfortable and peaceful my life is back in Bloomington, already melancholic…. But, at the first sight of the prairies from the sky (around my real time 3am) that old feeling of excitement for being in Europe started to come back. Maybe the movie I watched in the evening on the plane also made me feel good about following my youth traveling passion. Amelia Earhart was the movie, and I loved it very much! What a touching storie, and what a strong woman!

Eric was there waiting for me at the airport, and it was very fun to talk and get the metro back to his apartment, regardless how tired I was. His neighborhood is really cute, full of shops, very conveniently locted and since I was really hungry we ended up in a restaurant where I got a very flavorful pasta with white and pesto sauce. I couldn’t think about dessert (after all, it was lunch time in Paris, but early morning in Bton, and my stomach couldn’t bear mor than a pasta dish!

A nap was very welcome, and after feeling more awake we promenaded in a very very prety place: Promenade Plantée, specially for plant and architecture lovers like me!!!So many beautiful little flowers and leaves starting to grow/bloom!! But also very interesting were the buildings! Photos here!

We walked the whole way, almost 3 hours, and then went to eat near Notre Dame, Saint Michel. it was good, we got both french onion soup, and then chicken and a weird crepe with a hamburger inside. It was bizzarre, but well done. The dessert was the champion this time: apple tart.

Tired we were again, and decided to go back home, when I took my beloved shower, and prepared this short blog for you.

Good night!

Here you have pictures!

Saturday I received a letter from the immigration services saying that in 2 months I should have my PERMANENT Greencard at home! So, I’m already considered permanent resident!!

Sábado recebi uma carta confirmando que agora sou residente permanente dos EUA. Viva!! Chega de documentos pra lá e pra cá!

I saw this biking home, fter having cut my fingers when I was trimming the MAC banner (I don’t remember seeing that amount of blood… It was making a “lake” in my two hands while I ran to the bathroom… ).

cold Wind frees my mind of superfluous thoughts

birds returning with the cycle of Nature

snow Shimmering sparkles my colorful imagination

working muscles remind me of how Alive and capable I am

bus driver says Hi! Oh… the love for this Community!

deep Connection with my breath – this is Me, over and over

the solitude of Happiness, the happiness of Solitude

the Experience of life

the unexpected and continuous love of Nature

the Present

the Freedom

.

Today,  when I woke up I saw my little friends making me company!
Meus amiguinhos estavam comigo hoje, quando acordei.
Today, for the first time, I saw the snow shimmering!!What a beautiful gift! (no pictures)
Hoje, pela primeira vez na minha vida, vi o que eles falam da neve brilhando com os raios de sol. Que presente!

Today while I was talking with Eric (my friend who I will visit in Paris in the end of March), I received my super fun socks that I bought Thursday!!

Aren’t they fun? It’s the first time I wear toe socks!!! And a Da Vinci sock! And the other 2 are super-warm wool socks, one, is full body(up till my waist), the other is up in my thigh.

Now I’m ready for more winter!!!!