Claude Monet's house

Last week while a friend from Portland, OR was visiting we took a day-trip to Giverny where Claude Monet had lived and painted. It was about an hour train trip outside of Paris to Vernon then a short hop on a local bus. The bus dropped everyone in a parking area and then we walked about 10 minutes to get to his house. The town itself is very tiny so we packed a lunch and ate under some trees before going to the house. The gardens were in full bloom so it was spectacular to see but unfortunately, it was the day of a national holiday so the place was jammed with tourist. Our favorite part was the pond where he had painted his famous water lilies. In this photo you can see some of that but there were gorgeous reflections all around it with huge weeping willows and numerous flowering trees, bushes, and flowers. They even had a simple wooden boat sitting under the weeping willows showing the exact scene that he had painted. Although the house doesn't have any of his original works, there was a large collection of reproductions in one of the rooms with a listing of where the originals could be seen. I highly recommend the place on a day mid-week day during the off season so you could actually sit and idle away some time enjoying the beauty of the landscape.

Busy week of performances

On Tuesday night we joined two South African friends to go to a dance performance by Gregory Maqom at Theatre de la Ville near Montmartre. I really had no idea what to expect so was thrilled when he turned out to be one of the most movingly beautiful contemporary dancers I've ever seen. He was accompanied by 4 musicians who were each equally excellent. Together they produced a magical performance that explored several topics including the effects of apartheid.

Wednesday night we attended a classical music concert at the Theatre des Champs-Élysées to hear the Rotterdam Philharmonic. I was truly amazed, as was the entire audience, when conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducted the first half, Mozart, without any written music before him. In the second half, flutist Emmanuel Pahud joined the musician, performing exquisitely. The Theatre itself is well known, located on Avenue Montaigne one of Paris' chic-ist streets. This street is located between the Seine and the Arc de Triomphe and is lined with name brand stores like In my French class we are currently watching the French comedy, Fauteuils d'Orchestre, which takes place on this street.

A friend on mine from the States arrived on Thursday so last night we all went to a jazz concert at the famous Duc des Lombards club. We were treated to the great sounds of Jacques Schwarz-Bart (sax) and his group. The club has two sessions per night and since the weather is great at the moment and it doesn't get dark until after 10pm, we went for the 10pm concert which didn't let out until close to midnight. The streets outside were so lively that one would have thought it was 9pm. We went home by metro, which was as rowdy as the streets. By the time we got home it was around 1am, kind of late for these old gals, but we thoroughly enjoyed the evening. Ah, Paris!

Buying an apartment in Paris: Part I

So, this is a subject I have avoided writing about for months since we're in the process of buying and I wasn't sure what the process was...well I'm still not sure but thought I'd attempt it! For us the process is still on-going through the purchase date of 28 May so there will be more info to come after that happens. First, of course, one has to locate a place. This in itself is a monstrous feat of willpower and time commitment. Unlike in the States where you work with one realtor who does all the legwork to identify the choices within your price-range and physical requests, in France each piece of property is listed with one or more real estate agencies, or independently by owner. Among all of these, the buyer must locate the places she wants to see then call or visit the various agencies that handle each of the properties. Within those agencies, often there is one specific person who can show a particular piece of property so one may have to wait for her/him to come back from vacation or where ever. Within some of the larger companies, other colleagues may show an apartment but at times they hand a client off to the another person when they reach the location. I have purchased several houses in the US through the years without any trouble but the system here is beyond comprehension. I bet we visited over 50 places over the course of the last year and I couldn't keep any of the realtors straight. There's also a very relaxed attitude among many of the realtors and they may or may not even act like they are interested in selling you something, much like the wait-staff in the cafés and restaurants! There were numerous times when we found something we liked so called the realtor and left a message requesting a visit but didn't even receive a call back. If we really wanted to see a place we would persist by calling back until we got ahold of someone. I often wondered if they really cared if they sold a place or not! Prices in Paris are outrageous to say the least and with each additional desirable characteristic you want in a place the price goes up. Age of the building including its charm factor, size, neighborhood, noise level of the street, sun exposure, steps verses elevator, and outdoor balcony are all figured into the price of an apartment. They price a place per square meter and each neighborhood has a bottom and top range. Of course, we wanted a large apt. in an old, charming building with an elevator near where we live now, south facing with a balcony! Naturally, this is what everyone looks for but only a few can actually afford so we changed our standards and kept hoping for a miracle. By mid November 2009, we were worn out from looking, the market had dropped some in the fall but was showing signs of going up again so we decided we needed to actually place a bid on a place soon.

This is the next complicated step since one must deal with the realtor to reach a price agreement and then put a certain percentage down and sign a very detailed contract of intent to buy. The buyer has 7 days to back out without penalty and then 30 days to secure a loan. Within the 7 days, the buyer must look at everything in the place to make sure if there aren't major structural problems, etc. In France, the real estate company is required to have a thorough inspection done but one is only allowed to see this after the intent to buy contract has been signed. If the buyer changes her/his mind after the 7 days the real estate company can keep the downpayment. If the buyer doesn't get a loan, s/he does get the downpayment back but I think that's the only circumstance they will accept.

By late November, there was an apartment that I liked in a building for 1990. It was in a nice location and on a closed off side street so no traffic noise...a major factor for me since we now live on a commercial street that has non-stop noise 24 hrs per day. Gabriella wasn't thrilled about the place but thought that she could live there without any trouble. The first I notice mold in the corners of the ceilings in the closet and bedroom. This was an alert sign for me even though the owner stated there was no problem that she knew of. She was asking 375,000Euros for about 57 sq. meters, high for that part of town, space, etc. So, we waited a few days and went to the agency, looked at the place a second time and offered 325,000E. The real estate agent had a fit and said he wouldn't ever propose that amount to the woman so we said that we could go as high as 335,000E, our target, but that was it. He said No to that as well so we left disappointed but low and behold 3 days later he called with a story about having seen the owner and her having accepted our bid. Thus, began a 3 week roller coaster ride that ended when we still had no official paper signed from the realtor and had visited another place that came through an email advertisement that we liked.

To be continued......

Lucian Freud L'Atelier Exhibit at the Centre Pompidou

Yesterday I walked from our apartment to the Centre Pompidou, France's national museum of modern art. This very contemporary structure located in the heart of the Marais, one of the oldest parts of Paris, takes up an entire city block including its outdoor amphitheater. I generally don't care for the exhibits presented there because they're usually be bit too abstract for my tastes but the Lucian Freud L'Atelier was one that I thoroughly enjoyed. All of the paintings were done inside or outside in the garden of his London studio. Many of these were nudes, lots were self-portraits, but not in the sensual classical sense of nudes. He actually preferred to use the word "naked" to describe his nudes which is understandable considering his intent. These paintings show more the wear of time on the body and his use of paints to illustrate skin tones is really amazing. At the end of the exhibit was a film of his workshop with some still photos of the space in a small attached room. These too were interesting since the studio was already familiar because the paintings reveals its walls and props. Check out the exhibit at the Pompidou's website http://www.centrepompidou.fr/Pompidou/Manifs.nsf/AllExpositions/57C293CB2BD5E0CFC12576E3003A4771?OpenDocument&sessionM=2.2.1&L=1

Bois de Boulogne

Paris is one of the green-ist of the large cities in the world. It not only has tons of small parks hidden throughout its neighborhoods but also it boasts of numerous large, expansive parks. On Sunday we visited the city's largest, Bois de Boulogne, situated on the western edge of Paris. In ancient times this was one of the hunting areas for the kings, thus the surrounding residential neighborhoods are upscale. The park is now a smorgasbord for outdoor/nature activities and contains several specialty parks within its boundaries. For example, the southern edge of the Bois has Roland Garros where the annual French Open takes place. We took the Metro Line 1 to the Sabion exit then walked to entrance nearest to the Jardin d'Acclimatation. From there we headed to the Parc de Bagatelle, one of Paris' botanic gardens. It was absolutely gorgeous with tulips, clematis, apple and pear trees, wisteria, and tons more in full bloom. The gardens even have a very attractive restaurant that we want to someday go back to someday. There were also several pairs of peacocks wondering the grounds, providing lots of picture-taking opportunities. One of the males spread his full plumage as spectators oooed and awed, myself included. At the end of day, we had clocked in more than 10 miles of walking, every step of the way worth the effort.

Tractors take to the Streets of Paris

The French are known for taking to the streets to protest anything and everything that dissatisfies them. I consider this a function of any democracy, if something doesn't work for the people then the people publicly, and en mass, show their point of view. La grève, the strike, is a French institution used almost weekly, although it seems more like daily, in Paris. Transportation, medical services, educators, garbage workers, and more have all had strikes since I've been in France. Today, over 2000 tractors descended on the country's capital driven by grain farmers from all French regions. They tied up traffic for over 12 hours as they drove slowly through the city, flying flags and shooting off fireworks to bring attention to their cause.

Saint-Germain-en-Laye

The weather in Paris has been great for over 2 weeks so yesterday we decided to put a bunch of stuff into the day pack and to head out of Paris for the countryside. The RER is a system of trains that runs through Paris' subway, connecting the suburbs to the city. We walked over to Gare du Lyon from our apartment, bought 2 R/T tickets for less than 10 euros each, and went out to the small town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye 19 km from the heart of Paris. The town is known for its château and attached gardens that were particular favorites of King Louis XIV. We actually exited the RER below ground and came up right across the street from the castle which creates a dramatic entrance to the town. By the time we arrived we were ready for lunch so immediately found a terrace restaurant where we ate a salad before heading back to the grounds of the castle. It was really too pretty to be indoors so we postponed the visit to the château for another time and went straight into the gardens. The castle and grounds sit along a high plateau overlooking a long valley stretching all the way to Paris. As a matter of fact, from there we could see the Eiffel Tower with the towering contemporary buildings of La Defense in the foreground. We first walked through the château's large gardens and then continued into a connecting forest for a long walk. Afterwards, we sat at a café in the gardens and had a drink while we played cards in the sunshine. It was really so easy to get away from the city to enjoy nature and a lovely historic setting.