Happy Valentine's Day

with love

Paris, Day 2

We began our second day in Paris with fresh-baked breads and espresso in one of the many tiny sidewalk cafes.  I could very easily grow accustomed to this!



Sidewalk cafe

  

The Louvre





Sculpture garden, Louvre

And then to the subway to visit le Musee Louvre.



Louvre facade



Becky in front of the Louvre Pyramid



View from Louvre courtyard, showing Pyramid, Arc d'Triomphe, and Ferris wheel



Louvre facade with pyramid

 

Grand gallery with stairs leading to Winged Victory



Vaulted brick ceiling



Psyche and Cupid



Detail of Psyche and Cupid



Michelle's favorite sculpture



Gallery of Italian Paintings



Painted ceiling in Louvre



Venus de Milo

On to Notre Dame

Michelle, Notre Dame courtyard



Becky, Notre Dame Courtyard



The beautiful Rose Window



Michelle, Notre Dame Sanctuary



Becky in front of a church near Notre Dame



Pieta, Notre Dame





Paris street scene



Paris Allee



Very old half-timbered building

 

Louvre cherub

After a long and amazing day, we picked up our luggage at our hotel and boarded the train back to Landstuhl, tired but happy and ready for a good night's rest.

Monday was a resting day for me.  Michelle worked, and we finished the day with a simple meal at her apartment, followed by home made milk shakes and malts at the apartment of her commanding officer.

shhhhhhh......good night!

Sweet dreams!

I know a little place in Paris...



Becky at the Arc d'Triomph



My lovely ensemble

...and let me explain this lovely ensemble:
it was cold in Paris, colder than it has been at home this winter.  Cold enough that if it were indeed possible to freeze one's posterior OFF, mine would have been considerably smaller by the end of the weekend!

1. Very goofy hat.  There was no mirror. Michelle promised me that it looked 'cute'.  Lesson to be learned: never buy a hat without a mirror!

2. Warm but very puffy down jacket.
3. Scarf, essential for keeping the wind from sweeping down one's neck.
4. Purse with identification and essential Tools of Purchasing, safely tucked under coat (thereby adding bulk, but safe from Pickpockets and ForgetfulBecky.
5. Knitting Bag Of Death, or KBOD, so named because of the frequent protrusion of multiple sharp and pointy sticks.
6. Fingerless wool mittens over wool gloves, also essential.
7.Warm sweater over warm long-sleeved T-shirt, thereby adding even more bulk to an already BulkyBecky.
8. Serviceable but very unfashionable jeans.
9. Sturdy, unattractive, but comfortable walking shoes, very dusty by day's end.
Yes, I did indeed go out in public looking like this!

But...it was worth it.  What a lovely city Paris is, amazingly, unbelieveably quiet, as I had been forewarned.  I cannot imagine that I can find anything to say about it that has not already been said, and far better than could I, but I will make an effort to tell you how I found it. 
It is a city of beautiful women and handsome men and adorable, indulged, but well-behaved and happy children.  It is a city of black clothing, long, narrow wool coats and short skirts with tights or leggings and tall boots, and furs worn unapologetically, whether in full-length coats or as trim around a child's hood.  It is a city of hats of all descriptions, and yes they do wear berets, and of long scarves, knit or woven, wrapped twice around throats or doubled and looped to keep out the brisk, cold winds.
It is a city of musical language:"Bon jour!" "Bonsoir, madame!" "Merci beaucoups!" "Bonne nuit!" "Pardonnez moi..." and all seemingly sung rather than spoken.  I found the people to be uncharacteristically friendly and helpful, the streets well-kept, the avenues broad, the vistas unrivalled by any city I had seen before, and the melding of ancient and modern nearly seamless. 
It is a city of bakeries and confectioneries and tiny cafes that seat perhaps twenty diners, of wine and smiles and good, good food.


Michelle, Landstuhl station

 We arrived by train late Friday night, and taxied to our hotel, passing the great landmarks of Paris.  Our room was quite chilly! but we were warmly welcomed.  We slept a bit later than we'd planned on Saturday morning, made ready for the day, ate le petit dejeuner in the hotel dining room, then headed out afoot to explore. 



The Eiffel Tower, and it was a much-farther walk than it looks!



Michelle on the Tower, with Paris spread below her





View of Paris from the Eiffel Tower



Paris and the Seine



Grandma on the tower...I promised you, Robby!

 Our first destination was, of course, the Eiffel Tower.  We rode the elevator to the top, but walked the stairs from the second level to the ground...seven hundred stairs!



Ferris Wheel and Obelisk



Later in the day, we walked along the Champs Elysees, visited the Tuileries, rambled along the streets of the city.  We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at one of Paris's many tiny cafes, where the waiter sat with us to explain how to find our way to the Arc de'Triomph, and a waitress exclaimed at my knitting and showed me the lovely, long, long black garter-stitch scarf that was knit for her by her grandmother.

Sunset behind the Tower, from the Tuileries

We walked, and walked, and we walked some more, and found around every corner a new and lovely view.   In late afternoon, we rode the subway to within a short walk of the hotel, and prepared for our evening.

Paris at Night from the Seine

Michelle had planned a river-boat tour of the Seine for that evening, and it was so relaxing and beautiful that I have no words to describe it.  I wish that my photos had turned out better so that I could show it.  The one really good picture we got is here. 



The Traveling Socks visited the Tower, too!




We were this high from the ground



Back to our hotel, weary and ready for a good night's rest afterward.  More to come soon.



A partial view from our hotel room.  Click to make the image larger,
and to see the lovely etched window in the building behind.



Michelle at the tower



I am in Germany!

Severely jet-lagged, but safe and sound. So far, Germany looks pretty much the same as home, except for the language on all the signs and the fact that there are no junky cars amongst the vehicles hurtling down the autobahn at incredible speeds!  The little town where Michelle lives is quite lovely, and I'm hoping to have the chance to do some walking and exploring, maybe next week when I've caught up on my sleep. :) 



In-Flight Knitting



My flights were blessedly uneventful and smooth. On my flight from Detroit to Dallas, a flight attendant noticed my socks-in-progress and stopped to visit for a few minutes about knitting...she is a new knitter. I had a congenial row-mate on the long flight from Dallas to Frankfurt, a young mother, married to a US soldier stationed in Germany but soon to be deployed to Afghanistan.  She had been back in the states for her grandmother's funeral, and was returning to her husband and three children.  There was a family with six children, including four-month-old twins, in the center section of the plane, and I have never seen any better-behaved children anywhere!    

My German room



Shelly has a very nice apartment and I have my own room with a comfortable bed. The weather has been colder here than it's been at home, but very much the same as what we'd usually have in winter there. There isn't much snow on the ground, although we got some fresh last evening.

Our first adventure was stopping at the base to get me registered and have my identification card made. This is a military area, with three US military bases within a fairly short radius.   

I've had the chance to meet some of Michelle's co-workers. We went to a Spanish-style 'tapas' bar last night for dinner. Tapas means appetizers, and we had some wonderful food there, including bacon-wrapped dates, caramelized goat cheese, stuffed mushrooms, spinach balls with cheese (feta, I think).  The joke is that I was pretty embarrassed when they told me 'It's TAPAS not TOPLESS...now go put your shirt back on!'

Here, if you order water in a restaurant, you must specify with or without 'gas' (carbonation), and a large water is truly LARGE! Dinner is relaxed and unhurried, and it was cool to hear the surrounding diners speaking to one another in German.

 

Danish Eggs



I had scrambled eggs that came from Denmark for lunch. Danish eggs are rather unsurprisingly the same as American eggs, even though their chickens say "klukke-klukke" instead of "cluck-cluck".  : D  There is Hungarian goulash simmering in the slow cooker in Michelle's kitchen today, and I made some fresh apple sauce. We'll have supper after she gets home from work this afternoon, and then board the train for Paris this evening.

 

One More Sleep!

...and I'll be on my way to Europe

Very sleepy boy!

(that's my grandson, asleep on the loveseat...look how BIG he's grown! He stretches all the way from one end to the other now)

I am all packed, with the exception of my in-flight knitting and my laptop. Early tomorrow morning we will head for the airport. I will fly from Detroit to Dallas, with a short layover there, then non-stop to Frankfort, Germany!
My first weekend, we will visit Paris. I've been warned that I should get as much sleep as I can on the plane, as we have a very busy first four days planned. : ) 

I have to say here once again how very lucky and how very grateful I am to have such a kind and loving and generous friend...Michelle, I can never, ever repay you for this wonderful trip!

There has been a flurry of knitting. I've completed two pair of socks for myself, and a pair of hats, one for me and one for Michelle.



Blathnat (blaw-nit) socks for me...It means 'little flower

 These socks were knit from a pattern that I found in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group on Ravelry. The pattern was a Mystery Pattern, with one part of the pattern released each week. They're very pretty in person! I used Louet Gems Opal yarn in black. One knitter in the group described the beautiful lace pattern on the heel as "dead sexy" !  I agree.  

Ogiku hats top


These hats were knit from the "Ogiku" pattern at Knitty.  Instead of using multiple yarns in many colors, I used Kroy Socks FX, which is a long-striping yarn.  The colors change slowly, giving the look of traditional stranded colorwork without all the loose ends to work in.  "Ogiku" means chrysanthemum, and the top of the hat is supposed to look like a giant mum in bloom, with budding blooms on the sides.


Ogiku hats, bottom





Pretty striped Opal socks

 Lots of yarn companies create self-striping yarns, but there is no yarn company that does it as well as Opal.  These are from the old "Elements" collection, and the colors are just lovely!  I am SO excited to be visiting the Opal yarn factory next week.
Plain vanilla socks, no pattern except the one in my head.  6x3 ribbing, eye-of-partridge heel flap, and Dutch heel.

The next time I blog will probably be from across the big pond. 

"Everything is Illuminated..."
I just watched the most splendid movie, starring Elijah Wood, and based on a novel of the Holocaust by Jonathan Safran Froer.
At the end of the movie, there is this, as closely as I can remember it:


'Everything is illuminated by our past...You will always be alongside of my life, and I will always be alongside of yours...'


And isn't that a lovely thing?

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening


A snowy road

Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.



My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.



He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.



My favorite bridge



The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,

But I have promises to keep, 

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.



Amish buggy in the snow

I've begun another project. Two warm winter hats, knit at the same time on two circular knitting needles, using the same technique I use for socks.  I haven't had a lot of experience with color work, and so this project is a bit of a challenge for me!  I hope to have finished them by the time I leave for Germany, which will be in just a couple of weeks.   

Ogiku hats begun



Ogiku hats on the needles



Snowy me

Have I mentioned that I love winter?

When my cousin, Beth, saw this post on Facebook, she told the following story: " One of my favorite poems......when I taught third grade....I always presented a unit on Robert Frost. Whe Eric and I visited Vermont, we went up early for a Vermont Symphony Concert. It was being set up at Robert Frost's home. I was taking pictures of the house. When one of the men who was setting up noticed, he asked why I was taking pictures. I told him about my third graders. He asked if I would like to go inside....generally not allowed.....I said yes...very surprised. When I asked him why, he said, "If Mr. Frost knew you were teaching his poetry to third graders he would be thrilled." I still have those pictures. What an honor it was!
And, Becky, please add that after intially presenting the unit, one of my students....would walk in each morning and ask, "Can we please read one of Mr. Frost's poems today." Still brings a smile."


There are several books that I loved and always read in the winter to 'my' children when I ran our elementary-school library. I hope that you will share them with the children in your lives!

The Mitten, adapted and illustrated by Jan Brett

One of the teachers with whom I worked made and donated to the library a HUGE fleece mitten, big enough for several children to climb into, with a matching normal-sized mitten.  I would use it when I read the story.  I left it behind when I left the library to take another job. I hope it is still there and still being used!

Katy and the Big Snow, written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton

Especially good to read aloud on a very snowy day!

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, written by Robert Frost and illustrated by Susan Jeffers

Ms. Jeffers used black-and-white illustrations with just the perfect touches of color, exactly the way a very snowy winter looks.

I love these socks :)

I already posted them, but here are some better pictures.

Opal Unicolor yarn in forest green and cocoa brown. I don't think I've ever been happier with a finished project.

 I'll be visiting the factory where the yarn was produced in just a few weeks!

pretty socks,  beautiful new hardwood floor!

my green socks

Michelle's brown socks

 Small Moments of Happiness

Often during my day I see small events and vignettes that make me smile for no tangible reason. They pass so quickly that I rarely have time to save them with a camera.  Instead,  I save them up in my mind, take them out in idle moments, and thumb through them like photographs.  
A pair of beagle pups, joyful, with ears flying, noses to the ground, and tails in the air, do what beagles do best.

Bicycles and buggies line up neatly beside the little one-room Amish schoolhouse I pass on my way to work.

Two young Amish girls ride in a pony cart in a snowstorm, a scarlet blanket wrapped snugly around their legs and vivid against the gray/black/white world, snowflakes gathering on their shoulders and laps.

Three white-tail does in a cornfield raise their heads and watch as I pass.
A man jogs alongside the road with two white dogs on leashes.
A vee of geese fly south against the winter sky.
The sun sinks behind the hills surrounding a local lake, and the last rays set the opposing shore afire.

Old chairs and bits and bobs of odd household items lined up on the grass in front of a great red barn to be sold to passersby.

The shepherd dog tied in a farmyard who runs back and forth at the end of his rope in an ecstasy of territorial protection every time I drive past.

Bright red cardinals in the trees behind my house.

Small moments of happiness.

It is a good season for knitting.  I've been doing a lot of it.  Here is another pair of socks, finished last week.  The yarn is Fortissima and the diagonal rib pattern is from a knitting stitch dictionary I own.  I used my favorite Eye-of-Partridge heel flap stitch, and a Dutch heel.



On my needles: an experiment in toe-up sock-knitting.

A Mystery Sock pattern from one of my Ravelry groups

A test of a fingerless-mitten pattern for another designer.

I'm  becoming very excited about my upcoming trip to Germany!

It's less than a month away now.

I still can hardly believe that it's really going to happen...I'm betting on a three-day blizzard, beginning on February 7th, and preventing my plane from leaving Detroit.

Another adventure at work...

I performed my own scientific test in the store the other day.

Two ceramic salad plates, one persimmon in color and the other vanilla.

My question was apparently to find which color of glaze makes a stronger plate.

Here is the result:

When dropped at the same time from a height of approximately seven-point-five feet upon the head of a five-point-five-foot person,

persimmon-glazed plates are harder than the person's head AND the floor.

Vanilla-glazed plates are harder than the person's head but NOT the floor.

The person's head, however, will be bruised equally by both colors.

This experiment will not be repeated.

I hope.