Triumphal day

The delayed blog from Monday May 17:

Today there were several memorable moments. We decided to go to the Apple Store on Rue de Rivoli, in the new shopping center next to the Louvre. They don’t have the iPad but did have wifi and my iPad immediately connected. Several folks in the store were quite intrigued with it and I felt like the popular kid at a school for tinkerers. Then we walked up to the Place de la Concorde--so named because (and after) they were no longer beheading people there with the guillotine after the Revolution. We caught our first sight of the Eiffel Tower at that point, along with catching the metro to the Arc de Triomphe where we took the requisite pictures and I noted again the money & lives we spend on war and its glorification. In this light mood, we began our march down the Champs Elysees. Neither one being shoppers, we mainly window shopped, tho I was quite smitten by my first glimpse of an all-electric vehicle--a Citroen Zero. We got a picture. Not due out til December, no known price, no info on batteries nor estimated life time.

Back on the street Memorable Moment #2 (will tell about #1 in a bit) happened: two young women stopped me suddenly with this exclamation: OMYGOD, are you a Bearcat? from Northwest MO State? (I was wearing a NW jacket.) Yes, I said. They threw their arms around me with the enthusiasm usually reserved for winning a national championship. Katie took our pictures with the Arc de Triomphe in the background. One was named Katie and the other Nicole and they had been soccer players in 1998. Amazingly small world.

Memorable moment #1 was in the metro, a big stop with numerous transfer points. A musical octet of eastern European men were playing rousing songs and entertaining a crowd. Buskers beyond belief. There were 3 accordians, a bass, a violin, 2 guitars, a balalaika? and 1 trombone. We’ll upload the video to Katie’s Facebook page, which seems to be where we’re putting the photos that match this blog. (Facebook: Katie Bochum).

After our walk down the Champs Elysees, we decided to move off that busy street to the Rue St. Honoree. Now THAT was the street of wealthy shops, embassies, ritz and power! much less crowded than the Champs Elysees. Police everywhere. The ministry of the interior. The President’s house--Sarcozy. The great moment there was was wandering into Sotheby’s auction house which was preparing to auction from the collection of Vollard the bookseller. Astounding to see books illustrated by Miro, and St. Exupery, and a collection of the works of Augustine with annotations by a mystery scholar close to Martin Luther.

We wanted to eat dinner in a restaurant run by church ladies, in the basement of the Church of the Madeleine but by the time we got there, it was closed. (only open for lunch) We met the same failure at the next (and nearby) church restaurant: a Polish language church and a Polish restaurant that was only open Thurs. through Sat. Did catch the tail end of a Polish Mass tho. Hope that counts for attendance on a Monday, which I believe is an extra credit opportunity for Catholics. We journeyed home tired from walking 6.5 miles and ate a good meal at a restaurant a block from our apartment. There was yummy gazpacho and a main plate of salmon on what we thought was shredded zucchini and onion, and a light dessert of a fruit thing that I can’t describe. Home with the intention of going straight to bed (by then it was 8:30), but excitement still prevailed when we found my iPad connected to the wifi in our apartment. That meant several hours downloading updates.

Tomorrow: shopping, cleaning, figuring out the washing machine. Bon Nuit.