European Experience -- "We'll Always Have Paris"

After spending three days in London, our tour group went to the train station in Kent and boarded a high-speed Eurostar headed to Paris. 

I don't recall much about the Chunnel -- the tunnel beneath the English Channel that connects England and France -- other than we were viewing the French countryside dotted with church steeples in no time as the train zipped along at 185 mph. 

And then Paris -- a city that is a feast for the eyes. So much to see and do, and like London, so little time to take it all in.

Basilica of Parve du Sacre-Coeur

After Mary and I got settled in our hotel, we had dinner and then climbed a hill -- Montmartre (the highest point in Paris) -- overlooking the city to the Basilica of Parve du Sacre-Coeur. The cathedral was completed in 1914.


The following day a local guide took us through Gardens of Luxembourg and Notre-Dame Cathedral as well as giving us a feel for how some Parisians live in this city of 2.2 million. Notre-Dame, which took nearly 200 years to build before completion in 1345, is an architectural marvel of French Gothic design. 

One of the many places in the Gardens of Luxembourg

The western side of Notre-Dame.

The next day we took a bus tour of some of the sights, which gave us a feel for the lay of the city. Mary and I then ventured out on foot to take in some other places.

The Arc de Triomphe

While walking down the Champs-Elysees, after viewing the magnificent Arc de Triomphe, Mary wanted a milkshake so we stopped at McDonald's. She went to the counter and placed her order, and came back with a warm cup of milk and a packet of chocolate mix -- for hot chocolate. I ended up drinking it. (I did go out later that day at a McDonald's near our hotel and bought her a chocolate sundae).

The Grand Palais, home of French presidents

We saw the Grand Palais and The Louvre as well as other stunning architecture along the way. We didn't go inside The Louvre -- it's huge, lines of tourists, and a place we'd want to spend more than a few hours. It will be on our list, along with a lot of other places when we return.

The Louvre

Our accordion player

On our final night we had a nice dinner at Noces de Jeannette, where we were serenaded by a delightful accordion player ("I'll be back!" she said sweetly after playing a few tunes and going to another dining area). It was at the restaurant where I tried to scoot my chair over, but it didn't move because of the carpet. I did, however, nearly tumbling into the next table. 

Night cruise on the Seine

That was followed by  an unforgettable boat ride on the Seine, taking in the more sights and watching the locals partying and relaxing on the banks. And then we were all dazzled by the brilliant and glittering  Eiffel Tower lighting up the clear night sky.

A glittering Eiffel Tower

One guide was upset about the Tour Montparnasse skyscraper (689 feet) as well as other tall buildings being planned as being distractions for the cityscape that has been dominated for so long (since 1889) by the iconic Eiffel Tower. I agree. The Eiffel Tower is a signature structure, one of the most recognizable in the world that helps define the elegance and grandeur of this breathtaking city.

The Eiffel Tower as seen from The Louvre's grounds

Here are a few more images:

A young couple having wedding photos
taken at the Basilica of Parve du Sacre-Coeur

National Academy of Music

Church of St. Augustine

A garden area shared by apartment dwellers

French philosopher and statesmen JulesSimon

Notre-Dame Cathedral

Rear of Paris Opera Building

One of the many impressive buildings

As novelist Ernest Hemingway once wrote: "If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."

I'm glad I was able to experience three days in Paris as an old man for I know it will stay with me until the day I die.

And finally, that famous line in the movie, "Casablanca," when Rick Blaine said to Ilsa Lund, "We'll always have Paris."

Yes, thankfully, we will. 

Until the next time...

Yesterday and Today for Writers

Sometimes I wonder if literary giants such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and John Steinbeck could survive as novelists in today's publishing world.

No doubt Hemingway could find some war to cover; Fitzgerald might get lucky and land a position as a screenwriter; and Steinbeck wouldn't have to look far to find downtrodden folks for subject matter.

But it's the other side of being a writer that could pose problems for them -- such as promotion, blogging, twittering, and social networking. Perhaps even the most basic elements such as getting their foot in the door of a publishing house -- or harder yet -- with an agent.

Can you imagine Hemingway sending a query letter to a publishing house and trying to sell this idea in one sentence? "It's about a fisherman who goes out and catches a big fish but sharks eat it on his way back to the port."

Or Fitzgerald describing a story "about a mysterious rich man who falls for a rich married woman and they are involved in an automobile accident that impacts a lot of people."

Or maybe Steinbeck querying a publisher about a "story  of a down-and-out family from Oklahoma that faces hardships as they seek work in California."

Okay, perhaps I'm simplifying this a bit but I wonder if queries, by today's standards, would have doomed many of the authors? Or if their manuscripts would have been lost in slush piles, or worse yet, rejected by some green editorial assistant?  

Fortunately for them, and for us, they came around at a time when they could devote their time to writing and not everything else involved in the publishing business. 

Until the next time...

Just a Quote

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "I hate quotations. Tell me what you know."

While doing some research on Emerson on the Internet, I found a site that contained 692 quotes from the famous Transcendental poet. essayist and philosopher. From my point of view, he's great for quotes.

And others are great for quotes about life and death -- and everything in between.

What I enjoy about quotes is that they contain nuggets of truth (or falsehood) that a person can ponder one at a time. Instead of being bombarded with numerous ideas and insights in one reading, we can take that one quote and concentrate on its meaning. It's not nearly as confusing.

I generally leave a quote on my Facebook page every morning that I find humorous, enlightening, wise, or simply stupid. My latest novel, Shooting Star, contains quotes from the legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.

Since this blog primarily focuses on reading and writing, here are a few quotes I'd like to share:

"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them." -- Mark Twain

"You don't write because you want to say something; you write because you've got something to say." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

"The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe." -- Gustave Flaubert

 

 

"The two most engaging powers of a good author are to make new things familiar and familiar things new." -- William M. Thackeray

 

 

"Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity." -- William Zinsser

 

 

"They can't yank novelist like they can pitcher. Novelist has to go the full nine, even if it kills him." -- Ernest Hemingway

 

 

And to close with Mr. Emerson, "People do not deserve to have good writing, they are so pleased with the bad."

Until the next time...