Guess where we are now ?

Just for the end of the year, we made it back to get over our jet lag before we are ready for the next adventure. The last years we always had a very calm end and beginning in Maine at the sea to say good bye with the sunset and then good morning to the sunrise from Europe.

Seldom we were here in the days between Christmas and New Year. Now we realize that Paris is the preferred town to visit in these days and the citizens of all Europe seem to meet here to welcome the New Year 2012.

WE WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR!

Lucia celebration in Sweden

To fully appreciate the celebration of the Saint Lucia day on December 13 one has to be in Sweden where the daylight is down to about 6 hours (if it is a clear day). Even if it is not the shortest day, it is a good date: still 11 days to Christmas and the First Advent was 12 days ago.

In the circle of the family, ideally one has a daughter who comes early in the morning, dressed in something long and white with one or more lit candles, serving hot coffee, saffron buns and ginger snaps...... For me it was such a good feeling to be back and live in this well known tradition and not having to explain what 'gloegg' is and how old/young this swedish custom is. I felt 'at home'.

If you have the time and inclination, then you can click on this post's title and watch the actual 7 AM TV Lucia celebration as it is seen by thousands of Swedes. A modern substitute for

those who have no "Lucia" in the house and have to make their own coffee and eat the store bought saffron bun - as I did quiet contently.

In the afternoon - 4.30 PM the Stockholm Stadsmuseum had their own Lucia with her singing group, all from a music school. Despite a cold wind, we all were warmed and moved by the beautiful children's voices and well known songs. In the darkness the music and the many light sources give strength and hope for the next dark and freezing months.

.....As the sun departs from earth, shadows are brooding, there in our dark house, walking with lit candles - Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!.......

Christmas tree?

Is it already the 6th of December? The large fir tree on Boston College reminds us that Christmas is soon despite the mild weather with green grass. Shall we buy a tree?

At Russo's the best is to walk through the rows of cut fir trees and inhale the smell of Christmas trees. One tree more beautiful then the other. Which one should we get?

But I am away for a week and when I come back it is only 6 days until Christmas Eve.

We have to find a different solution this year. ........

Wellesley College

We live in Newton which is the 'Garden city' but sometimes we like to drive west to come to more open space. Wellesley College has a beautiful museum with a collection including unexpected masterpieces. The special exhibitions give new insights and surprises and after the museum visit the large wooded campus invites to a stroll around the lake.

Do the students know what a privilege it is to study in this environment?

Before and after

Days before Thanksgiving the freezers are filled with 'birds'. From between 4 kg to more then 12 kg specimens. A better way (for the food connoisseur) is to reserve a freshly killed former 'happy' free range bird at the organic food market.

Thankfully - we could eat a lovingly prepared meal with the family and can report that happy birds make happy eating.

Thankful we were again, when we saw during the next day's walk the remnants of somebody else's Thanksgiving meal. (Ronald McDonald in person you can meet if you click on the title of this post)

Sea side weekend

The last weeks were hectic and to come away and just enjoy being together and close to nature we drove up to the coast of Maine. There we could take long walks along the shore and taking deep breaths to fill our lungs with the salty air. The breaking waves giving us a 'sense of eternity'.....

It is low season, the beach is empty and the lonely seagull watching us is thinking:

"What are you doing here?"

Fall foliage

Every Fall the beauty of the change of colors from green to all shades of red and yellow is surprising us. In New England we are lucky with the right mixture of many deciduous trees and bushes, strong sunlight and often a clear blue sky.

Nobody can resist to look up with admiration!

How strange that these leaves, when on the ground

are perceived as 'ugly' and have to be remove with gusto (and high decibels).

From quiet contemplation we flee and with us the birds, squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits......

PS. If you click on the title it links you to more info on the Fall foliage in the US.

Inside and outside of the Museum of Science

The most popular museum for children in the Boston area is the Museum of Science. Contrary to other museums where the rule is 'Don't touch', here the visitors are invited to touch and push buttons and interact with different exhibitions. Many different things can be discovered and are explained by educational texts or patient volunteers. The excitement is high and the noise level of happy voices is even higher.

From the large Cafeteria windows the view is calming. Heavy rain clouds are hiding the top floors of Hancock and Prudential towers. From Boston's Back bay to the left to Cambridge to the right spans the Longfellow Bridge over the Charles river. With barely a ripple on the water surface it is a picture of calm and quietness. Perfect 'museum weather'!

Remembrance Day

More then 20 Million soldiers died in World War I and if you ask anybody in Germany or France they have lost one or more family members in this war.

On the Boston College campus at their Veterans Memorial site the Taps was played in remembrance of the American Veterans from all wars fought since. They played the "Echo Taps" with two buglers (not a part of Army tradition) - very movingly.

Daylight Saving Time

First in Europe last weekend and now in the US, the one hour 'fall back' gave me twice 25 hours to the day.

How amazing that all worked out with departure and arrival time of the plane despite the time change. Thinking about all the logistics, it is a wonderful example of the cooperation between humans. It should give us hope in our world filled with conflicts and crises. If there is good will and positive attitude of everybody, we can not only change the time of day but change the world for the better.

Scary - all year round

Impossible to avoid the large posters all along the hallways of the Metro. Seldom witty, they are colorful and sometimes pretty images can grab attention.

The dark 'halloweenish' publications were something different and we stopped to decipher the words forming these ghosts:

VIOLENCE, SOLITUDE, SUICIDE, HUMILIATIONS, DISCRIMINATION.....

It was the ad of a help line for troubled children and young adults!

Can that be possible in "Paris, the city of love"? - Sad fact is, that this service gets about 14.000 calls per year and 60 % of them are girls 18 years old.

Then we look at these posters and wonder about the mechanism of advertisement firms.

(for more info in French: double click on the title)

The Musee d'Orsay (2)

A pleasant way to spend time at a museum - admit it - is to sit down and have some lunch.

The cafeteria on the fifth floor is now the 'Cafe Campana' which was designed by the Brazilian designers........ Frederico and Umberto Campana.

How nice to find the 'old' restaurant still at the same place on the first floor and there are no obvious changes.

The new Musee d'Orsay (1)

A week delayed because of a strike by the guards, the museum is now open as usual after two years of renovation of the famous upper floor. Very curious to see this written and talked about renovated fifth floor with its boldly painted walls, we rushed up and WAOU (as they say with a French accent):

A new experience to see this famous collection of Impressionist paintings and we could not get enough of wandering around. Many well known master pieces want to be rediscovered.

The important role of a good guide becomes evident when you observe these visitors hit by a severe case of museum fatigue.


Renoir, Manet, Monet, who cares when you see this soft round settee.

Halloween

There are some adventurous souls here who try to copy the American idea of Halloween. The children love receiving 'treats' but getting them is difficult because of the codes to the house doors. The very reason to have codes is to avoid getting 'tricked' this evening and all the other days of the year!
The other difficulty is to get a pumpkin for the carving of a Jack-o'-lantern. No problem at Russo's in Newton:



Searching here for something similar, one realizes perplexed that the pumpkin (potiron) is sold in slices! Not for carving, but for cubing, cooking, pureeing and instead of a lantern you will have a delicious soup.



And the black cat - the preferred pet of all the Halloween witches -



is still hissing on the half moon in the original street sign of the famous Montmartre cabaret "Le Chat Noir" (1881-97). Now it is in the collection of Museum Carnavalet.

Visit to the Louvre

What do you see? Two men carrying a way too large grape.....
This idea about over sized vegetables by Patrick Laroche seems not so new.


Patrick probably saw this painting in the Louvre and perhaps the meaning is that big vegetables are to be found in the promised land? France, the promised land? What do you think?
What do you see that makes you say that?.......

( to learn more about VTS, click on the title)

An unclassifiable artist

What happened? The result of too much obsessing about the interior decoration of our home? Choosing colors: blue, yellow, red, green? Choosing texture: satin, brilliant, mat?

Not at all! Decisions were made, the painters left and it was time to visit the Centre Pompidou to get away from it all. There they have just now the first French retrospective dedicated to the Japanese artist




Hard to classify her works - 150 are exhibited - and fascinating to learn about this multifaceted artist. Yayoi Kusama is a painter, sculptor, performer, writer and much more. She did and still does influence the contemporary art scene both in the US and in Japan.
1977 she checked herself into a private psychiatric hospital in Japan. 81 years young, she continues to paint in her own large studio there.

Her statement "My life is a dot lost in millions of other dots...." made sense to us when looking down on the Louvre court yard.

Vegetables you can't avoid

At the Sevres-Babylon Metro station we walked by this sculpture reflecting the light and catching everybody's attention.



You can use the three questions of the Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS) and then Google this 'Best worker of France' on www.patricklaroche.com.



Using your own Thinking Strategy, you can draw some conclusions about the art market in Paris.

Organic food

Paris 6e
Marché Bio du Boulevard Raspail
rue de Rennes à Sèvres Babylone
Le dimanche matin de 8h à 13h
Marché 100% biologique
C’est le marché le plus chic et le plus cher de Paris, mais on y croise des stars et ça, ça n’a pas de prix !




For many years this organic food market was a well kept secret where the offered vegetables, meat, cheeses etc are remarkable better then in the other markets. At the same time it was a fashion show for 'casual Sunday morning at the market' clothes. Then this was mentioned in the NYT and since then the prices are still high..... The most elegant people of Paris? Perhaps we are there at the wrong time or perhaps we belong to them without knowing?


Did you notice that the stand above offers food from "Lot et Garonne" which is about 600 km away. Who cares about the carbon footprint?

PS. Click on the title of this post to get more info!