France 2024 – Days12 and 13 – Home in Bergerac

I spent the last couple of days working at home, with small escapades to bike around town and stop by the bank. I suffered a couple of setbacks over the last four days because my stupid banks, CitiBank and Bank of America, independently  decided to freeze my credit cards when some AuI (artificial un-intelligence) realized that I was charging things in France! It used to be that you told the bank when you were going to travel, but a few years back they let me know that was no longer necessary (probably because they got my travel info from Expedia). In any case, I had placed the info for both my credit cards in Apple Pay and something went wrong.

CitiBank, which is the most retarded of the two, asked me to call them to discuss, which I cannot do because my American cell phone doesn’t allow me to call from overseas. I went to their website, logged in, and got told that they were sending a double-authentication number to said cell phone that doesn’t work overseas! Fabiola finally got them on the phone, and by putting her two phones side by side allowed me to talk with a very clueless and unhelpful person, who after asking all sorts of security questions informed me that she was going to send yet another double-authentication number to the cell phone that doesn’t work overseas! I stopped her and told her that was not going to work. “Oh, do you have another cell phone number?” “No”, I said. “Well, how about your work phone number?” “OK, but I am not at work, I am in Europe.” “Do you have another work phone number, because the one you game me is not answering?” “That is because I am not there!” There was no way to break her from her script, so that credit card is now useless to me until I get back home in two months.

Two days later I get the same circus with Bank of America! Same stupid insistence that they were going to send a double-authentication number to the cell phone number they had on record. This time Faby was able to talk to them, and again acting as an intermediary (this time over WhatsApp because I had gone to the Post Office to see if I could call the bank collect – no luck because the Post Office stopped offering phone calls as a service over 10 years ago) managed to clear the concern of the bank and presumably that card is now unfrozen, although I am scared to use it lest it will trigger another “We have sent you a security code to your cell phone ending in 6555”.

It is fortunate that Fabiola is Super Woman and is persistent enough to set the record straight, but what are the thousands of tourists that are planning to come to the Olympic Games in Paris are going to do? I can see banks freezing credit cards left and right because of this double-authentication nonsense, and tourists getting turned away from hotels, restaurants, rental car agencies, train stations, airports, and Parc Asterix. If the US banks don’t get their act together it is going to be major chaos. My advise to those of you who are planning to travel this summer is to contact your banks and have them place a travel notice in your record. Don’t take “no” for an answer!

Outside of being mega-annoyed I actually had two good productive days writing my book and going shopping. I go shopping every day, but I am glad to report that by now I have stocked enough food and wine to survive a minor natural catastrophe. My dear friend Giulia is arriving tomorrow for a four-day visit, so I want to make sure I have what I need to be a good host. Giulia is a wonderful cook, so the bar is set pretty high; I have fixed pollo cacciatore for tomorrow, which is good because it will have a chance to “mature and blend the flavors” overnight. Tomorrow I will also go buy some fruit to have at hand, and tidy out my tiny house. Since I have a tiny European refrigerator we will have to buy the cool stuff, such as meat and cheese, on a daily basis, as well as go to la boulangerie every morning to buy a baguette and some croissants for breakfast.

And what shall we do in four days? She will arrive in the afternoon on Day 1, so I think after dinner we will go walk through the old town. On Day 2 I will suggest to go to Lascaux, la Thot, Rouffignac, and whatever more get on our way. Giulia likes hiking, so for Day 3 I would like for us to walk the loop Les Eyzies – La Micoque, which goes past some of the other famous pre-historic sites, and maybe end at Les Eyzies with a visit to their fabulous museum. Day 4 we might spend walking through Périgueux, but it really depends on the time at which she will have to get back on the road to reach Cogoleto (near Genoa in northern Italy), in time to be hostess to the young Ashby family.

France 2024 – Day11 – Périgueux

As a proof of concept I decided to take the bus and go explore the other “capital” of the Périgord region, the old city of Périgueux. There is a sort of rivalry between Périgueux and Bergerac as to which city is the heart of the region, and since they have not been able to solve it the Perigord is now divided into quarts: Périgord Blanc to the west (main city Périgueux) and Périgord Noir to the east (main city Sarlat), which is where the main prehistoric sites are concentrated, Périgord Poupre to the south (main city Bergerac), which is where a lot of the agriculture happens, and Périgord Vert to the north, where there is nothing but beautiful forests. You could also divide the region as being in either the watershed of La Dordogne (Périgord Poupre and Périgord Noir), or in the watershed of La Vézère (Périgord Blanc and Périgord Vert). But enough of geography!

So I get to the train station at 8:30 am and there is the Route 330 bus, but I don’t see it has a bike rack on it. Hmm … I guess I could always leave my bike at the train station … but then the driver showed up, I asked, and he very kindly told me to just put in the cargo belly of the bus. No problem, but the cargo area is not very big so I need to make sure I arrive early enough so I am the first bike on la chenille (colloquial for queue in French, although it really means the caterpillar).

The drive to Périgueux took about an hour on a meandering road through beautiful hills covered with green forests, small vineyards, and lovely meadows. I am glad I didn’t try it with the bike, because there is not much of a shoulder and drivers go pretty fast.

Once in Périgueux I was in a half exploration mood. I wanted to identify the main worthy sights without really going into them, because I want to visit them first with Giulia, and then with Géraldine, Faby, DJ, and Ronnie … And when are the rest of you going to come and visit me?

The valley of La Dordogne and La Vézère have been occupied since the prehistory, and Périgueux itself has the remains of a fine Roman city, a Medieval city, and many Renaissance structures, so there will be plenty of things for us to do and see. As modern cities go, I like Bergerac more because it is not as bustling, but then again I might be a little biased in that regard. The hustle and bustle reminded me that I had to get a couple of things from a sports store (a water bottle and a bell for my bicycle) and thanks to Google Maps I found a Decathlon store and headed there along the banks of La Vézère. A narrower and gentler river than La Dordogne but with a perfect biking path with plenty of shade. There were a few fishermen there, although I didn’t see much action of any kind, a few dog walkers, and a goodly number of teenagers playing hooky and staring at their cell phones.

I took the bus back at 3 pm, was back home by 4 pm, and even managed to get a bit of shopping done before dinner time. I have fallen back in my regular American meals pattern, which I think is better suited to the life of an explorer. Why waste valuable tourist time sitting to a mid-day meal, when you can make due with a baguette sandwich and a beer sitting at one of the many plazas?

France 2024 – Days 9 and 10 – Bergerac

Hercule Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac (1619 to 1655) was a writer, playwright, libertine, and duelist, who in Rostand’s time was believed to have been born in Bergerac (recently some evidence has been unearthed that he was born in Paris and came to Bergerac as a 3-year old infant).  The character who we know and love was put together by Edmund Rostand in 1897, loosely based on this historic character. In any case, Cyrano is the beloved son of Bergerac, and is celebrated with a life-size statue in the center of town and in just about every corner by store names, special delicacies, or simply graphic representations of his magnificent nose.

Today was the second day of the theater festival, and I attended the farce by Molière (1622-1673) La Jalouise de Barbouillé, a funny children’s theater about this rabbit who does not want to be called “Mon Petit Lapin” but rather by his grown up name Jean Carotte and in seeking independence gets into all sorts of trouble, and a clever piece about a “hospital” where the spirits of those who are in comma come to wait and see if they will recover and take the elevator down, or not recover and take the elevator up to whatever type of eternal life awaits them. Enjoyable, but three plays is as much as I could handle, so I spent the rest of Sunday walking for a long walk along La Dordogne.

Zzzz …

Monday morning and a lot to do today. First of all, I have to walk to the outskirts of town to Decathlon, A European sports store where I intend to buy a bicycle. I had seen one in their website, but once I got there I realized that they have refurbished bikes for sale, and I found a great deal for a slightly frumpy bike (with white splash guards and a rear rack), to which I added a panier, a basket, and a helmet, and got the whole thing for 200 euros! Score! So, my quality of life just went up a few notches, and now I am fully mobile in Bergerac.

Then I went to the transit authority, and after talking with the lady in charge got two books of coupons (20 tickets grand total) that will enable to take 10 trips throughout the Perigord region. Apparently I can take my bike along, so all of a sudden I have increased my reach ten-fold 😊

I spent the afternoon by going to the cinema, to see the new film Furiosa. My kind of movie!

France 2024 – Days 7 and 8 – Bergerac

I have now reached my long-term destination in France, the village of Bergerac in the valley of the Dordogne river (hereafter referred to as La Dordogne), and I think I may go into an irregular schedule in writing this blog because I intend to burrow myself into French life, which may not be of great interest to friends and family.

Anyway, I managed to oversleep and in panic gathered all my things and figuratively ran to the train station in Triel, only to find out that I was much earlier than I had intended. I was thus able to take the early commuter train, and arrived in Gare Montparnasse a good hour before the departure time of my TGV train (TGV – train de grand vitesse or bullet train) to Bordeaux … Swissh … in less than two hours I was in Bordeaux (the land of wine and honey), and an hour later a regular “slow” train delivered me at the train station in Bergerac, after traversing a green landscape of vineyards, wheat, fruit trees, and of course placid views of La Dordogne.

I quickly found my way to my new lodgings, a very modern studio open to the sunny inside court of what from the outside looks like a stern building. My landlady came to meet me here to welcome me to the town, and to show me the many brand new appliances at my disposal. It is a tiny house in the best and most modern form, but –there had to be a but—it is a bit overcrowded with cushions and baskets, so I have had to be very imaginative on how to stack said cushions out of the way.

Fist thing I had to do was to go shopping for the bare necessities of life. “Bare necessities” is a euphemism because I seem to have an endless list of what I need, and only two hands to carry them from the supermarket that is four blocks away. I did manage to buy a baguette, a bottle of wine, rice, veggies, and filets of duck, so I had myself a proper mediterranean dinér to celebrate my first afternoon in Bergerac.

The following morning I went exploring and found out that there is a Saturday marché in the streets of the old town, where everyone was shopping for fresh vegetables, fois gras (pretty pricey), cheese, honey, charcuterie, and the legendary black truffles (even pricier, with a truffle putting you back a 100 euros). I am not sure I will become a regular costumer, but I absolutely loved the ambiance and people watching.

I also found that the town was having the first of its summer festivals (France is famous for their village festivals, so it seems I arrived in the nick of time), in the form of two days of theater sprinkled through different venues throughout the town. Since I am intent on becoming a Bergeracoise I promptly bought my 20 euro bracelet that will let me into any of the events, and in the course of the day attended two performances. The first one I will have to discuss with DJ for use at his school, because it is based on running through a 5 minute “issue” (a guy hitting on a gal at the pub when she was clearly not interested), and then stopping to ask the audience where did they see the issue developing, and how could it be mitigated. People chimed in and after discussion were invited to come and take the place of the actress to “implement” their mitigation. The guy actor was pretty good and adapted his performance to the new conditions on the fly, and a new round of comment and suggestions followed. I think this might be a good way to handle conflict with teenagers.

The second performance was based on the life of Edmond Rostand (the author of Cyrano de Bergerac) and his wife Rosamond, who was also a writer. A more intense script, and at times I had a hard time understanding Edmond, but both actors did a great job representing the ups and downs of their relation as Edmond is simultaneously (?) working on Cyrano and Chantecler and goes from elation to depression, while Rosamond goes from elated to bitterly disappointed, until eventually Cyrano becomes a rousing success (but with the twist that Edmond became infatuated with Sarah Bernard, who I believe played the role of Roxanne in the early representations of the play). It was a great performance, and I am glad to report that I got a good 70% of what was being said.

Question: What was the full name of Cyrano?

France 2024 – Day 6 – La Cité des Sciences et de L’Industrie

Having blown a day yesterday in childish pursuits, I figured that today I should do something serious and went to visit the equivalent to the California Academy of Sciences, which is called La Cité des Sciences et de L’Industrie. This enormous complex includes all sorts of libraries and research facilities, but its main function is to function as a museum/Exploratorium to promote literacy in the natural sciences and engineering.

I started with a visit to the submarine Argonaute (terribly cramped spy submarine of the Cold War era) and the instrumentation that is currently being used for oceanographic research (for example, the Argos autonomous probes that have been deployed all over the global ocean). Perfect stuff for my Physical Oceanography course!

Then I went into the main hall, to see some of the other thematic areas, but was sorry to find out that the giant building was overheated and I had to carry my jacket in my arm and sweat for the next few hours ☹. Still, they had a very nice series of exhibits about exploration of the inner planets, and the crazy idea of establishing a base on the Moon, and the eventual travel of humans to Mars and the Jovian satellites. As much as I am very enthusiastic about exploration by rovers, I think the idea of spending gazillion dollars and just as many euros to bring humans to the Moon and Mars is senseless given the current social needs of our own world.

There were fascinating areas for mathematics, classical physics, sound, quantum physics, on the crucial role the oceans play in determining climate patterns – as I have contended for many years), and … but by that time I was badly overheated and I am ashamed to acknowledge that I fell asleep in the planetarium (but I argue half of it was due to an inane presentation about constellations, which may be fascinating to the hordes of school children that were to be seen everywhere but are nonetheless scientific nonsense). Time to call it a day.

I took the metro back to La Défense (the very impressive financial and corporate heart of Paris that is a veritable tour de force of modern architectural design), where I joined Géraldine to accompany her to a rehearsal of the choral concert she is a part of. There most be a good 100 people in the choir, and they are having weekly rehearsals for their January 2025 concert (I am surprised at the very long rehearsal period). I was very impressed by the conductor, who could hear the slightest hesitations and variations in emphasis, and who relentlessly guided the choir into the path of perfection. After three hours of hard work, Géraldine and the other 99 singers were exhausted but very satisfied with the progress made.

This is the end of my days in Paris, for tomorrow I head for my permanent residence in Bergerac. Géraldine is hoping to visit me there for a few days in the third week of June (at the same time Faby, DJ, and Ronnie will be there), so we were able to say au revoir with a light heart. I love this girl!

France 2024 – Day 5 – Parc Asterix

I am a bit long in the tooth to go spend a day at an amusement park, particularly without the company of my grandson Ronnie, but for years I have been curious what an amusement park based on the fabulous characters of the comic book series (nowadays you might call them graphic novels) of Asterix le Galois. Most of you are too young to remember, but in the 60’s and 70’s there were two Belgian comics that became very popular, Tintin by Hergé (actually spanning the 40’s to 70’s) and Asterix by Goscinny and Uderzo (actually spanning the 60’s to 80’s). I was fascinated by both series, probably because in their different ways the main characters traveled all over the world, and in imagination I traveled with them.

The action in the Asterix band dessinée (BD) takes place in the time of Julius Ceasar, where a small Gaul town in northern France has managed to keep the Roman legions at bay thanks to the courage of its inhabitants and a magic potion brewed by their druid. Prime among the characters are Asterix, a brave a clever warrior, Obelix, a gentle giant of a man with superhuman strength (as an infant he fell in the marmite where the magic potion was being brewed), and Obelix’s little dog Idéfix. They were joined by an amazing number of characters created by the imagination of the scriptwriter R. Goscinny, and brought to life in the most hilarious form by the graphic artist A. Uderzo (who imbued his characters with the features of political and artistic celebrities that were particularly meaningful to Goscinny’s script). It is this magic universe of place and characters that the park designers used to create Parc Asterix, not unlike the way Walt Disney used his own characters to create Disneyland.

The day was overcast and with the imminent promise of rain, which was a blessing in disguise because when I got there, after an hour bus ride from Paris, what could have been hordes of people had been reduced to die hard teenagers, visiting school groups, and a few families that had likely traveled a long distance to treat themselves to a visit. I had an umbrella and a rain jacket, so the rain that soon ensued was little more than a bother.

The artistry of the park was all I could have expected and more. Characters I had forgotten, both good and evil, appeared in the framework of clever rides, thematic playgrounds, and shopping centers reminiscent of the vast Roman empire. Many of the rides were above what my heart could handle, and some were for little kids, but I got on a few of the middle-strength ones and had a good time being tossed around. They also had a few shows that illustrated the eternal struggle between the Gauls and the Romans, or the inevitable encounters between Asterix and Obelix and the pirates of the North Sea.

The only thing is that the bus that took me there, right at opening time at 10 am, didn’t come pick us up until an hour after closing time at 7 pm. That made for a very long day, so by the time I got from Paris to Triel it was already 10 pm. Tourisums muss Weh tun!

France 2024 – Day 4 – Notre Dame

Géraldine had a surprise for me: A ticket to the virtual tour of the Notre Dame cathedral, which meant I had to get to the city and navigate my way to the Île de la Cité. With it also came a chaperoned train trip from Triel to Gare Saint Lazare, during which she gave me very precise instructions on how to take line 14 of the metro and go down precisely three stations, and from there take line 4 to the Notre Dame station. Finally, with much trepidation, warnings, and a lot of bon conseil she figuratively let go of my hand and cast me adrift (even figuratively, the grip of a French maman is particularly tenacious). Dutifully I took line 14, but once I got to line 4 I figured it was too early to just go hang out near Notre Dame, so I changed the plan and kept going on line 4 for about twelve stations, and then jumped into line 10 for another eleven stations, until I alighted in the 16^th arrondissement, where I walked a few blocks to the Laboratoire Aerodynamique Eiffel, which I had wanted to visit for a couple of years now. This is a working laboratory and they don’t take visitors for tours, so I had to content myself with walking around it and peering through the windows, feeling that I was sharing on an important monument to engineering.

Gustave Eiffel became quite interested on the interaction between his famous tower and the wind that buffeted it from time to time, so shortly after finishing construction of the tower in 1889 he started dropping all sorts of objects from it, presumably to try to understand the frictional forces that acted upon them (in truth, he was probably just being a little hooligan). Pretty soon dropping objects from the tower grew old, so in 1909 he built a first air tunnel at the foot of the tower to test the same bodies he had dropped, and by 1912 he had transferred his research operations to the current location of the Laboratoire Aerodynamique, where he kept building bigger and bigger tunnels (the invention of the wind tunnel is generally attributed to the Englishman Frank H. Wenham in 1871, and the Wright Brothers built a little one in 1901 to test their airplane models). The 1912 wind tunnel featured an open jet of air with a closed test chamber and introduced a downstream diffuser to improve the efficiency of the air flow, an innovation that put modern aeronautical engineering on a solid footing.

Having satisfied my curiosity I decided to see the city, and following the advice of Géraldine I decided to take the bus, rather than the metro, and had a delightful hour riding along the Seine, past the Eiffel Tower, the Orthodox Cathedral, ending in the Latin Quarter, where I admired the famous University of La Sorbonne and strolled across its Medieval Garden. Oops, look at the time! Better to head for Notre Dame and my virtual tour.

I had no idea what to expect from a “virtual tour”, but I will start by telling you it is the most fantastic thing I have ever seen. If there is any chance you might be able to get to Paris in the next six months feel free to skip the rest of this blog entry so I don’t spoil the magnificent surprise. … Are you sure you want to keep reading? … OK, so be it. First you go into the basement, where there is a very nice exhibition describing the devastating fire of April 15, 2019, and the labor of the many architects, civil engineers, and armies of gifted artisans who undertook the stabilization, cleaning, and restoration of the damaged structure. They are almost done, and the team has announced that the cathedral will open its doors to the public on December 8, 2024. Then you go into the launch room, where you are equipped with a backpack loaded with batteries and electronics, and a helmet that completely cuts out your vision. I came right behind a couple and their teenage daughter, so throughout the experience I had to make sure I didn’t bump into them; eventually I learned to look for their glowing avatars surrounding me, which allowed me to keep a respectful distance. They give you a bit of practice about how to walk with the helmet so you don’t crash into the walls and then the adventure begins. You are guided by one of the medieval masons, who walks ahead of you into a narrow medieval street to show you the place where the new cathedral will be built. Now and then he makes a sudden turn and walks through you, which is very disturbing, but eventually you learn to keep him at arm’s length. You keep walking along the crews of working men (carpenters, masons, and artists), moving aside to avoid a stone block, or ducking under a buttress to go in and out of the construction zone. The nave of the church becomes taller and taller, so you have to crane your neck to see some of the details until you are invited to climb on a beam being lifted by ropes, and you soar up into the air feeling a little noxious. Cannot avoid peering anxiously down, or toward the approaching roof, but pretty soon you relax and let your view wander over the enormous nave, the glorious colored glass windows, and the tiny people below.

The scene goes blurry and all of a sudden you are staring at Saint Louis consecrating the main altar with a golden crown of spines, and the Princes of the Church walking past you to take their places in the choir, as the first notes of the monumental organ are heard. As you are admiring the grandeur of the medieval cathedral the scene once again goes blurry and the crown of spines in the altar is replaced by La Pietà sculpted by Coustou in 1723 to satisfy a vow of Louis XIII.

Like magic you are transported to the roof of Notre Dame, to admire the wood structure and its bells, the spire covered by lead foil, the stone buttresses, the gargoyles, and all the amazing detail of this amazing cathedral. The scene gets then fills with smoke and all of a sudden you are in the midst of the 2019 fire, watching in anguish as the roof of the name collapses and the spire comes tumbling down. From your high vantage point, the burnt nave looks like a charred corpse with open arms. It is hard to hold the tears seeing this masterpiece of devotion and hard work turn into a massive ruin.

But then the work of consolidation and cleanup starts, and you have to avoid the tethered workers flying through the air as scaffoldings are erected and charred beams are removed. Suddenly every space is filled with febrile activity. Stone masons are chipping each block to the perfect dimension, carpenters are fitting enormous beams to form trusses that are raised into the air, glaciers are cleaning the glass panels and rebuilding the circular rosette windows, and artisans of all kinds are sculpting, hammering metal foils, and painting frescos, each and everyone of them adding step by step to the magnificent reconstruction of Notre Dame. The final scene is a glimpse of the near future, where the Archbishop receives from the construction team the key of the main gates, which after blessing it he uses to open the enormously massive gates, and we all enter the most glorious cathedral of modern times.   

France 2024 – Day 3 – Saint-Germain-en-Laye

The highlight of the day was an outing to Saint Germain, a small and very charming city between Triel and Paris. The grand city of Paris sits in a big topographic bowl, crossed by the river Seine, and is surrounded by a number of hills, one of which the fortress of Saint Germain was built, around which the city of Saint-Germain-en-Laye grew. The fortress was started in the Middle Ages, by Louis XI (aka Saint Louis), and went through several stages of destruction and reconstruction until in the mid 1500’s the first draft of the château was started, famous because a 100 years later it welcomed to the world the future Lous XIV. You would think the little ingrate would have cherished the place of his birth, but no, as soon as he came into power he ordered the construction of Versailles and moved the court there. He did use Saint Germain as an Air B&B for deposed monarchs (such as his English cousin James I), but ultimately it fell into disrepair. Finally, in 1862 Napoleon III reconstructed the château to serve as the seat of the French Museum of Antiquities, and so it remains to date.

When Géraldine and I got there it was approaching 2 pm, and our tummies were grumbling, so the first order of business was to walk into the center of town, looking for a place to have déjeuner. Since to most of us the idea of having breakfast at 2 pm would seem very odd, let me tell you that there is a large difference between petit déjeuner (the equivalent of our breakfast, and normally a light meal of croissant and coffee) and déjeuner (which one could call lunch but is more the equivalent to our dinner, with soup, salad, main course, and dessert). If you are feeling peckish at 7 or 8 pm you would have a light dîner, and if you go out carousing and get back home at 11 pm you might warm something up for souper. Géraldine tells me that to make friends in Bergerac I need to add a visit to the bar around 11:30 am and take the apéritif with the other old men that go there every day (I fully intend to be there and see if I can convince someone to take me along to play pétanque).

Anyway, we went for déjeuner in the Old Market Square (delicious!) and afterward had a nice stroll through the center of town, which is quintessentially French with its small shops and meandering streets. From there we went to see the château from the outside, and from the edge of the esplanade we enjoyed a magnificent view of Paris. As I said, we were on top of a hill, and the city extended forever at our feet, with its many parks and forests surrounding La Defense (the cluster of skyscrapers where every major corporation has its headquarters) and the beautiful neighborhoods of the city. We also took the opportunity of walking through the gardens, which are magnificent if not as extensive as those in Versailles.

Life goes back to normal tomorrow, so I need to be able to move independently while Géraldine is at work, so we stopped at the tram station to buy a week pass for all the transport venues in Paris. I had to buy the 5 euros hard card, which in very French fashion has my picture and signature, and add to that the 30 euros weekly fee (a good deal because the 1-day fee is 14 euros). I now feel fully Parisian!

France 2024 – Day 2 – Joyeuse fête des mères

Nothing like a good night sleep to restore the spirits of a tired traveler 😊

Today, the last Sunday of May, is Mother’s Day here in France, so I will take the opportunity to wish you all moms a joyeuse fête des mères! As a present to you all, here is Ronnie’s poem to his Mom:

Mommy dear, you are the best!

With you my days are full of zest.

As baseball mom you are full of cheer,

Even though sometimes the team is in the rear.

 

You’re the best doctor for our pets!

Their lives are as good as it gets.

I love it when you make me mac-and-cheese,

And of your yummy bread I always want another piece

 

Mommy dear, you are the best,

But the endless reading is a pest.

Could you please let me play my videogames?

“Not until you read another chapter in The Big Book of Trains”.  ☹

                                 Love,

                                                Ronnie

 On other news, I woke up early in the morning, had a much needed shower, and then went for a long walk along the Seine. Triel is a beautiful community about 30 km out of Paris, where some of the old aristocracy had their summer residences (I believe the physician of king Louis XI was given the community as his fief), so there are beautiful old mansions along the Seine, with vast gardens that extend down into the river. Géraldine’s own house is one such mansions (although originally it might have been simply the carriage house of the nanny of the brother of Louis XVI), and as I sit writing these words I can see through the vast garden a glimpse of the river.

As part of my walk I stopped at the boulangerie to buy a baguette and a small tarte a fruits to wish Géraldine a joyeuse fête. 

On the way back I was greeted by Nazú, Géraldine’s Maine Coon cat. He is a very friendly large cat, ginger striped, with tufts at the end of his lynx-like ears, and a very long feathery tail. A beautiful example of the feline tribe, who inexplicably likes to climb along the side of the house to the gabled roof, and there sit for hours at a time meowing at the passersby.

The boys celebrated their Mom with a grilled lunch on the terrace, which unfortunately we had to move indoors in a hurry because of an unexpected shower. The weather had been “unsettled” this spring, with the barometer going up and down, and the sky changing from sunny to cloudy to sunny again in a matter of minutes. Generally wet in Paris for this time of the year, and last year very dry during the fall. Climate change?

I was bitten by a tsetse fly immediately after lunch, and spent the best part of the afternoon in an extended nap. Jet lag is finally getting to me!   

France 2024 – Day 1 – San Francisco to Lisbon to Paris

A travel day, which means I normally have very little to say about it. Fabiola picked me up early at my house, drove me to Modesto, and from there I took the bus to Pleasanton (1 hour travel), hopped into the BART metro (1.5 hours), and arrived at San Francisco Airport by 12:30 pm, with plenty of time for my 4 pm departure to Lisbon. I already mentioned that my flight from Lisbon to Paris had been cancelled and TAP Portugal had rescheduled me for another flight a couple of days from now. They thus insisted on booking my luggage all the way to Paris, even though I told them I had made other arrangements and needed to pick my small suitcase in Lisbon. “Don’t worry, it will be at the carousel in Lisbon for you to pick up.” Ha!

I was lucky and was put in the first seat of the Economy class, so I had plenty of leg room and the 11 hours flight was better than most. I landed in Lisbon at 11:30 am, and of course my luggage was nowhere to be seen. So I had to go to the luggage office, where they assured me the suitcase would go direct to Paris Orly. Long explanations followed and finally someone was sent to fetch my suitcase. A bit miffed I headed to the TAP Portugal office, to put a formal request for compensation on the extra money I had to shell to buy a separate ticket for Air France to take me to Paris Charles De Gaulle. It was all very polite and the young woman at the counter told me that they had to cancel the flight because of a strike of air controllers at Paris Orly, an on such cases the airline had no responsibility. Still, she gave an email address to lodge my request for compensation, which I did sitting at the Burger King at the airport, hoping that TAP will come up with some sort of offer to assuage my hostile feelings against them. Time will tell.

Air France was pretty crowded, and the flight took off with nearly an hour delay, but I finally landed in CDG, where my dear friend Géraldine and her two sons, Theo and Lucas, came to pick me up. I was so glad to see them 😊 I met Géraldine in Germany in 1988 and over the last 20 years we have kept in punctuated friendly contact. I have seen the boys grow into two strapping young men. Theo is one year away from completing his studies in Computer Science in the north of France, and is now in a 7-week experiential stint in Paris working with a metal recycling company. He thought he was going to concentrate in cybersecurity, but like most computer scientists he is now up to his neck in AI. Lucas just finished high school and wants to pursue Business Administration and Economics.  He is getting ready to follow a 2-year pre-MBA course of study, and then apply to the Harvard-version of an MBA school here in France.

Géraldine, one the of the loveliest people I know, is an Investment Management specialist at one of the big firms in the city, and is now tackling a new specialty in using AI to analyze financial performance data and prepare 200-page financial reports for some of her big, big clients. Fairly complex tasks, but once she figures out how to do it will be a major help in her work.

On the long drive home (she lives in Triel sur Seine, west of Paris) we talked about the strike that derailed my flight to Orly, and other signs of social discontent in France. Of course, with the Olympic Games taking place here between July 26 to August 11, the government has decreed that any strike during that period will be considered illegal, in my eyes an even greater encouragement for disgruntled workers to call in sick over that period. My flight back to San Francisco is on August 17, from Orly, so I am going to go back at the same time that a lot of tourists are trying to get out of Paris. I don’t think I planned this part of the trip all that well.