Lions and Tigers and Bears...

Warning to sensitive animal lovers.  The following post contains pictures of Taxidermied animals.  Most were done years ago, before it became politically unpopular.  Viewer Beware....

So, after visiting Serge yesterday, I went to Deyrolle a natural sciences store that has been around since 1831.

The taxidermy and the displays are unbelievable.  This place, though not a museum officially, is like a natural history museum.  It has been designated a Living Heritage Company.  Although it is very much like a museum, everything has a price tag for anyone interested in purchasing any of the works.  While I was there, a guy came in to buy some kind of an insect.  He was on the phone the whole time to whomever I think the real buyer was.  He talking in English on the phone and French to the person in the store....so I don't know exactly what the deal was, but I did hear him say to the person on the phone...."yes, it over 200 years old.." He walked out with it in a precious looking box, so who knows how much he paid.

I tried to get some pix, but the way the light was made is difficult.  Here are some pix I took and some I pulled off google images.

Every one of these drawers and hundreds more all full of insects, butterfly, larva, every little living thing you can think of.  And I'm sure the people who work there can find anyone you can mention.

There're having a party.....

                                         Oh, my God........................Unbelievable.

So THAT is Deyrolle.........did you ever.....

Serge Gainsbourg

For those of you, like me, who were actually around in the 60's...(now, whether you can remember them is another story...), you might remember Serge.  He was a songwriter, poet, director, general all around famous French womanize, alcoholic, man of many faces.  His most popular song in the states was "Je t'aime"....if you heard it, I'm sure you'll remember it.  He recorded it originally with Bridget Bardot (one of his great loves) but they would not play it in France because it was too racy.  He re-recorded later with Jane Birkin...his new love.  Jane was a British model and actress with whom he later had a child....Charlotte Gainsbourg, who is a pretty well-know actress now.  Anyway, the recording he did with Jane Birkin was released in the US and it was a huge hit.  If you recall, it is the one where pretty much all they say is "Je t'aime" with background sound track of a woman, obviously....well....having the same thing Sally had in "When Harry Met Sally".....know what I mean?

I always had a bit of a passion for Serge, and apparently millions of others do too.  I went to pay homage at his former home, on a narrow street not too far from the Musee d'Orsay.  The entire front of the wall which  faces the street is covered with grafitti and little love messages for Serge.   There was a very large van parked right in front, so I had trouble getting great photos, but here's what I got.

                                  This is a great photo, if I do say so............
                              Something along the lines of Life is not worth it, without real love......I think.
                              Those with better French than I, feel free to correct......

Here are some pictures of Serge.  I love his looks....even when he got old, his face still had so much character and showed every day of his life.  This one...when he was younger.

These next ones....as he aged.  He looked pretty ravaged at the end....I didn't included one of those pix.

La Laverie

Yesterday, Wednesday, I was feeling a little beat....after days of walking miles and miles a day....so I kind of took it easy.  I did wander the neighborhood a little....did a little food shopping.

I came across a Laundromat....with no one in it....so I went inside to see if I could figure out how it works.  That way, when I come back to do my actual laundry, I won't be standing around trying to figure out what to do while angry French housewives push me out of the way.  I did take some pictures so I could study further the instructions which were posted prominently on the walls.

I think it says....
INSTRUCTIONS FOR WASHING
-Select the Program (you do that on the machine with a little dial you turn...based on the temperature you want the water.
-Put in the washing powder - the little markings on the sign correspond to the markings on a drawer in top of the machine where you put the Pre-Wash (whatever that is), the Washing Powder, and the Softener
-Pay at the Central Payment machine
-Push the number corresponding to the machine
-GET THE HELL OUT.....no that can't be right....I think it's starts automatically
    The little red sign says No Hand Washing

This one is INSTRUCTIONS FOR DRYING
-Select the temperature
-Select the number of the machine
-Pay at the central payment station            Pretty straight forward.

Machines #20 and #19.  These particular machine are quite small....won't do a very big load.  There are bigger ones also.

This is the scary looking Central Pay Station.
The red numbers at the top indicated the kinds of coins it takes.  The Red ANNULER means hit the star or the pound sign to cancel.  And then it shows that it takes 5 Euro and 10 Euro notes.
INSTRUCTIONS OF USE
-Load the machine and close the porthole
-Select the number of your machine
-Introduce the sum indicated
-The machine starts up automatically

So that's it!  I can handle that.....she says with confidence.  I just need to get some, Pre-Wash, Washing Powder and Softener and a bunch of coins and some 5 and 10 Euro notes.  Wish me luck!

Angelina Tea Room & Le Flaneur

Today, thank goodness, the sun was shining again and there seems to be a warming trend.  Makes for much more comfortable walking around.

I didn't get out of  Rue Truffaut until around 11am today.  I wanted to find a guide book, since I foolishly did not bring one with me........duh......  Just down from the Opera is the famous Brentano's Bookstore...former purveyor of English Language books....Formerly!!  Apparently they went through a bankruptcy, opened under new management and now sell mostly touristy stuff with one corner devoted to English language books.  So, after that disappointment, I kept on walking down to Rue de Rivoli.  I decided to go to the also famous (isn't everything in Paris...and rightfully so) Angelina's Tea Room.  They are well known for their Chocolate Chaud (hot chocolate), but I was hungry and decided to have lunch instead.  The Chocolate Chaud, would have been a meal in itself.  It will give me a good excuse to go back on another occasion.

Here is a picture of the Chocolate Chaud....which I did not have.

This fantastic place is another of those places that frown on people taking pictures...and who can blame them.  No one really wants a camera in their face while they are in an elegant place having lunch.  I could have taken some pictures.....some people very rudely were.....but, in the words of Eliza Doolittle "I'm a good girl, I am."  ....OK, you people who might have evidence to the contrary.....

So here are some pictures I pulled off Google Images, just so you can see what it looks like.

The place is full of mirrors everywhere.  Almost anywhere you sit you can see both a beautiful mural and a reflection of yourself...or a reflection of someone you want to watch...but not stare at directly.  Coco Chanel used to come here often, her shop is just a few doors down and around the corner.  I didn't go there today.  I'm saving it for a sacred pilgrimage all it's own.

For lunch I had a salad with duck fois gras, a glass of wine, and a pastry that was.....unbelievable.  The waiter said it was one of their specialties (I'm sure all their pastries are pretty special..!), with chestnut flavor.   On the inside, under the sweet exterior was whipped cream...or something light and not too sweet....on a delicate cookie.  Here's what it looked like.

They have a pastry shop right as you enter the tea room.

The one picture I did manage to take, since I was all alone, was in the ladies room.  It's not a great picture, but a place I would like to remember.  Now some of you probably won't find this fact too interesting, but for me the best part about this ladies room was the mirrors.  There was actually a full length, three way mirror.  You know, one of those ones where the two sides can swing in any direction....well these could swing all the way if you wanted them to....not like at Nordstroms where they only move a little bit.  But then I guess you wouldn't expect any less from a mirror that Madam Chanel might have actually stood in front of.

In this photo, the full length mirrors are on the wall opposite the wall I took the picture of.  Too much information?...?   Oh, well....

After leaving Angelina, I wandered.  I became Le Flaneur.  Flaneur is a French word meaning...a sort of wander....One who wanders around aimlessly,  enjoying whatever comes along.  Sometimes defined at one who saunters, strolls, or loiters.  Here are a few images.....  Unfortunately, because of the light, it was hard to get pictures of shop windows without lots of reflections...

With all the reflections, it's kind of hard to tell what this is...it is a kids clothing store.  I just liked the outfit and the display.

While wandering around, I went to a quite well-know Kitchen Supply store...Dehillerin.  It's amazing.  Apparently it's been there for like a hundred years or more.  It was hard to get pictures inside because it was cramped and kind of dark...but I did get some good ones from the outside.  I bought myself a really good corkscrew.....what else.....

The place was just full of every kitchen implement ever conceived.  Lots of beautiful copper pots and pans...fantastic, fine knives of every description.  And in the basement, huge pots and huge utensils for commercial kitchens.

After Dehillerin I went to a place called Comptoir de la Gastronomie.  They had a fantastic selection of all kinds of cured meats, pate, wine, oils....all kinds of attractive stuff.  I bought a small piece of garlic sausage.  I haven't tasted it yet....but it looks really good.

.
More sauntering.....I came across a Christian Louboutin shop.   The window wasn't really set up well for picture taking.  I tried....  I do love shoes with ankle straps....if only I could wear heels....

These shoes had more sparkle than any shoes I've ever seen.  The picture doesn't really show it, but it's like they were made of diamonds.

I thought of my Joe.....  Windows full of stringed instruments and a craftsman inside repairing the well-used ones.

Don't know exactly what this was other than art....but they were long tubes full of colored powder.  I think it might have been powdered pigment....because I think...but not sure....it was an artists workshop...although no actual pieces of art were on display.  Again, the picture does not really do this display justice, with all the reflections....

Musee d'Orsay and Grand Palais (Part I)

Yesterday, Sunday, I went to the Musee d'Orsay for a few hours.  It's hard to believe that I was there for about four hours and probably only saw about 1/4 of what there is to see. It will take me weeks to see the Louvre.   Several more trips are in order.  Say, here's a tip, in case anyone plans to go there sometime.  When I got there, the  line was hundreds of people deep....no exaggeration.  When I saw that, I thought, surely there must be a shorter line somewhere that I can buy a ticket , not for today, but for a future date and then I'll come back.  I went to the entrance that was for people with a reservation, i.e., prepaid ticket that they bought online.  I ask the guard if I could go in and just buy a ticket for a future date....and he said no, I'd have to either get in line (the big line) or do it online.  BUT, he said, if you go over there to that newsstand kiosk on the corner you can buy a ticket and use it on a future date, or even today.  Unbelievable.  All those people in line - and I walked right up...no line...got the ticket, went back to the "people-with-online-reservations" line and walked right in.  Boy, did I feel smart!  Thanks to that really cool guard!

Unfortunately, they would not allow picture taking in the d'Orsay.  I did manage to get a few shots in the common areas, before someone came up and made me stop doing even that.  No pictures, anywhere in the Museum.  The Museum was a former Train Depot.  It is a huge building and they have done a fantastic job of turning it into a Museum.  The huge clocks that were once part of the train depot are one of the main attractions of the building.  I did manage to get some interesting shots of the clocks. The pictures are looking through the clock, out towards the river, and the buildings across the river.  Notice in one of them you can see the Montmartre hill with the Sacra Coeur on top.

                                  Here are three pictures of the main central part of the Museum.

Today, Monday, was a really cold day....at least the first part of the day was.  It finally warmed up a bit by about 3pm, but before that the wind was blowing and it was really cold.  I decided I wanted to see the Grand Palais.  I had seen it from the d'Orsay and it looked so gand.  So before I left the house I went on their website to see how to get there, the hours, etc.  It did say that there had been some renovations going on, but no mention of the fact the entire place was closed down, in preparation for a huge celebration beginning next week!

Even with the cold, I saw some lovely things and took some pictures, before the battery on my camera gave out.  Another lesson learned....carry an extra....charged!...battery with me.

This is a very oddly decorated entrance to a metro station near The Louvra and the Palais Royal.

                    

Paris really does do a nice job of landscaping in their public areas.  Here's a nice example.

This, believe it or not is the entrance to a passage way leading back to the Abacrombie and Finch store on the Champs Elysees.

Here's a picture of the  Petit Palais (I think) from the outside....since it was also closed!

The sky was starting to clear up a bit....but it was still really cold.  Windy because it's right next to the river.  So here's the Grand Palais.  It's probably nice and warm in there under that big glass dome!

The Grand Palais is just across the Boulevard from the river and the Pont (that's bridge)  Alexander III.  Quite an ornate bridge.  Very decorative lamp posts and lots of statues and decorations.

All up and down the river there are barges which people live on and other boats that people use to take groups on river excursions.

I would have had pictures of Place de la Concorde, the Jardin des Tuileries, and the big underground shopping area under the Louvre.....but my battery gave out.  I will go back there....I want to anyway...once the trees are all green and there are lots of flowers in the Tuileries, it should be beautiful.