Pleasant surprise

We are all sad when another bookstore is folding and Amazon is getting bigger every day.

A large University bookstore in Munich was forced to close two years ago to be missed by many.

Last year we saw the still unoccupied store and wondered quietly who the new tenant would be. 

This year then we are pleased to see the successfull combination of bookstore and coffee house occupied from morning to evening.  The classic Reclam pocketbooks are popular as ever and displayed in a decorative way.

http://www.spottedbylocals.com/munich/lost-weekend/

Then and Now ( III )

One of the paintings in the Lyon collection donated to the Louvre in 1961 is this Impressionist painting by Alfred Sisley (1839-1899).  The title "Saint-Cloud" made me curious because I could recognize the church.  We live in Boulogne-Billancourt, the town which is on the other side of the Seine from where we always see the steeple of the church.  I decided to take a walk along the river to try to find Sisley's viewpoint.

The pastoral setting is now lost because of the many houseboats anchored at the banks and the wide bridge and motorway A 13 (Paris-Rouen) are criss crossing the river.

The panorama from the bridge in the direction Paris with the Bois de Boulogne to the right is now much more appealing and "impressionistic".     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_de_Saint-Cloud

Then and Now ( II )

Walking along the rue Lepic on Montmartre, building number 54 has a small plaque which reminds us that Vincent van Gogh lived here from 1886 to 1888.  He arrived in March, just this time of the year and left two years later for Arles in the South of France.  

 Reading the letters between the Van Gogh brothers and to family and friends, we are painfully reminded of the numerous difficulties which surrounded them both.

                                        http://www.webexhibits.org/vangogh/browse.html

In the last 100 years Vincent's influence as a "post-Impressionist" on subsequent artists is recognized and his paintings which at his time did not find buyers are now sold in auctions for astronomical amounts......Then and Now!

Then and Now ( I )

Henri Gervex (1852-1929) painted this 'Evening at the Pre-Catelan' in 1909 and for his contemporaries it was easy to recognize known society figures standing outside and sitting inside this well known restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne near Paris.

Here le Marquis de Dion and friend, for example, are finishing a nice meal.  Not much has changed because Le Pre-Catelan restaurant still exist in the same peaceful bucolic setting.  Reservations and plenty of time for a festive lunch or supper are recommended.

http://www.elizabethonfood.com/content/1415/2/Le_Pr%26eacute%3B_Catelan,_Paris_-_3_Michelin_stars.html

This time we were too early to see the guests and we took a promenade in the park close by to work up an appetite while admiring the daffodils.

Baroque castles

How I enjoyed walking in the garden of Drottningholm castle and Versailles castle! Glad to live now and not then - especially as a women.  The parks are free to enter and to observe the changes of the seasons.  Here in Drottningholm it is a smaller area then in Versailles but enough for a long morning walk.  

This castle is like a miniature of Versailles but the King and his Queen are still living in the Western wing. the Eastern wing is open for visitors.  Swedes do not mind the Royalty as long as they do not get politically involved.  http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/559/

In the Royal Theater they have always their reserved seats available. 

Not for allergy sufferers

Just time enough to buy some birch twigs for the Easter decoration in the home.  Brought inside the branches with water and warmth will grow small leaves, while outside it is still too cold and one has to wait until end of April.  'Paskris' is the name for it and the custom goes back to the 17th century when birch twigs were used for Long Friday's flagellation symbolic of Jesus Christ's suffering. 

Not too many are thinking about that but more of the birch twigs used in the sauna baths - flagellation year round! 

 One can choose to buy plain twigs or the decorative ones with attached feathers in many different colors.  We saw that the prefered feathers are soft down feathers and yellow.

Yellow like daffodils, spring chickens and the SUN which is now rising at 6 am and going down at 6 pm.  The long days and short nights will come back.

IKEA elevated

I

IKEA and Sweden are closely connected because this firm was founded in Sweden. During the last fifty years it has become an institution and each Swede owns some items of this firm. Two generations later the young customers are tired of having Grandmother's style of IKEA basic design.  Help is coming with a clever business idea of manufacturing expensive handles and legs which can be attached.  With new doors in various colors and patterns, the basic IKEA kitchen is hard to recognize.

Judge for yourself:  http://www.superfront.com/eu/wardrobes.html