Ruth and John

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01.01.2020

Happy New Year, Bonne année!

"Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake." -Francis Bacon Sr.

A couple of articles from "The Connection",a local French newspaper in English, made me smile and moved me to share them with you (especially if you are in France).

French vet students treat homeless pets in free clinic in Lyon. More than 200 dogs and cats have now been vaccinated or looked after by the students, including for conditions that could have been passed onto humans if they had not been treated. People who are homeless (or "sans domicile fixe", SDF) are invited to use the service, as are people who are unemployed, or otherwise unable to pay for normal veterinary treatment for their pets.

05.01.2020

(John wrote this section)
On Sunday I went to an exhibition of Armand Félix Marie Jobbé-Duval at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rennes (our fine arts museum).

Jobbé-Duval was a politically active Breton painter who painted in the classical style. He was a contemporary of Van Gogh and Gauguin who painted a portion of the ceiling in the Parlement building in Rennes. The exhibit had only one painting, but many of his sketches or studies for other paintings. Most of his works can be found in the churches and public buildings of Paris.

After listening to some of a lecture on Jobbé-Duval and viewing his painting and sketches, I wandered through the museum taking photos of some of my favorite paintings. And, of course, of the archaeological section.


"Study of a woman sitting" Félix Jobbé-Duval	"Study of hair in the wind" Félix Jobbé-Duval	"La Finanée de Corinthe" Félix Jobbé-Duval

A detail of the "La Finanée de Corinthe"	Another detail of the "La Finanée de Corinthe"	Study of hands by Félix Jobbé-Duval

Study of the Back of a Man by Félix Jobbé-Duval	A lecture given on Félix Jobbé-Duval .	"Perseus freeing Andromeda" (1577) by Paolo Veronese

Detail from "The Massacre of the Innocents" (1824) by Léon Cogniet.	"The Newborn" (1647) by Georges de La Tour	"The Tiger Hunt" (1616) by Peter Paul Ruebens

Rue Blanche in Paris, taken December 1887. From left to right: Arnold Koning, Emile Bernard, Vincent van Gogh, André Antoine, Félix Jobbé-Duval, Paul Gauguin.	The ceiling of the Parlement of Brittany painted by Jobbé-Duval.	Grecian vase (400 B.C.E.)

Portrait of the mummified man on his sarcophagus. (980 B.C.E.)	A mummified cat from Egypt (330 B.C.E.)	Egyptian stele (330 B.C.E.)

09.01.2020

Again from "The Connection", this objective has been reached but the event is still interesting. Help baby roos orphaned by wildfires by sewing Joey pockets. A zoo in southwest France with an Australian theme (Australian Park, Carcassonne ) called on "nimble-fingered people with a spare moment or two to make pouches for baby kangaroos that have been orphaned by the wildfires ravaging Australia." The Australian Park, Carcassonne, put out the call for handmade pockets for the orphaned joeys and other animals, in partnership with Australia's Animal Rescue Collective Craft Guild.

You can use this email address leparcaustralien@gmail.com to contact the Animal Rescue Collective in Australia directly.

10.01.2020

John and I made plans a few months ago with our friends in Nice, Doc and Marion, to see the Leonardo Da Vinci exhibit at the Louvre on January 15. Our friends were to meet us there but because of the transportation strikes and because they were taking their little dog, Sparky, with them they decided not to risk being in the middle of the likely chaos.

11.01.2020

Once again the French government has changed my last name to John's last name. Of course they never change John's name to my name. So now I need to contact the federal tax bureau to make that correction. Previously it was my health card and some resistance from La Post bank. I contacted the ministry of equality between men and women to alert them to the incidents. I emailed a second time but no response. When I first got to Oregon I had similar troubles but it stopped a couple of years after we arrived. The US IRS also did the same thing (and acted like I didn't exist) but they eventually stopped doing that.

12.01.2020

Our trip to Paris is in fewer than 3 days so John's been doing prep for our Paris trip. Look how many Mexican restaurants there are in this one small area of Paris!

John's also been monitoring the transportation strikes' impact on the trains to and from Paris and buses and metros in Paris.

15.01.2020 - 17.01.2020
Our trip to Paris

15.01.2020

While we waited in Rennes for our train to Paris John and I saw a local train that had Brittany flag markings. . We have a small Brittany flag hanging off the ping pong table in our living room because we are proud Bretagne Frenchies. Or Breton or Breizh, It's a little confusing.

Our first day in Paris was the second day of the major 3 day strike (we made our plans several weeks before this strike was announced). John and I arrived in Paris without incident although we previously had to reschedule our train twice because of the strike.

The first thing we did in Paris (after we dropped off our luggage at the hotel) was visit the Catacombs. It was close to the hotel so we took a leisurely walk over, and then we walked and walked and walked in the Catacombs. Here is a video of the catacombs we found on Youtube from a couple of years ago.

The Catacombs takes forever times 5 to get through: forever going down a long, long, long, very tight spiral staircase; forever walking on uneven cobblestones with walls that varied from rough stones to smooth concrete; forever times 2 walking through diverging corridors with walls embedded with skulls and the thick femurs and tibias. I'm not sure where other bones are but occasionally we would see piles of leg bones and some arm bones and parts of skulls that looked like a bonfire pile of wood. The tunnel height ranged from less than 6 feet to nearly 8 feet. The catacombs were built in 1787 and open to the public since 1874. People at that time were a few inches shorter than they are today. The Catacombs are cool (55F/11C) year round so a jacket or sweater is advised. I read that smells were a concern but not when we visited. Well, it was a wee bit musty, that's all. Finally, we exited up another never ending spiral staircase that took forever.

As usual John's love of history made the journey very interesting for me. Did you know that the French resistance during WW II was headquartered in the catacombs? We passed many markers designating which graves the bones were moved from and important edicts and other information of that era. Even though we walked forever (times 5) and saw thousands of bones, many of the catacombs' corridors were closed to visitors. The place is huge.

Our train station is about a block from our hotel in Montparnasse. On the side of the Montparnasse train station building we saw a cartoon-style mural of a train crashing through the wall. It's based on a real event in 1895 when a train crashed through the wall of this same train station. A dramatization of that that train crash is in a dream sequence in the movie Hugo (fun film, btw). You can read about the movie Hugo via Wikipedia if you'd like.


This local train had Brittany flag markings.	This is a map of the Paris Catacombs at the entrance.	We walked for a kilometer before we came to the bones.

There were many "streets" as part of the catacombs.	Some of the ceilings were head-bumping low.	The sign above Ruth reads "Stop. This is the Empire of the Dead."

Our first view of the bones.	Similar bones were stacked together with skulls added for variety.	They placed these skulls in the shape of a heart.

Signs were posted that told of which cemetery the bones were moved from.	Each section had skulls displayed.	The bones were used to create walls.

The catacombs have been open to the public since 1874.	Ruth at the Fountain of Lethe.	Many designs were created using skulls.

We head for the exit with walls of bones.	I loved these ornate buildings in Paris.	We found this comic mural on the side of the train station on our way back to the hotel.

This is the event in 1895 when a train crashed through this same train station.

Our trip to Paris
16.01.2020

We went to the Louvre today to see the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit and some other art. On the way to the Louvre we heard many sirens -- many more than we had ever heard in Paris. Today was the 3rd and final day of the massive strike throughout France so we assumed the sirens were related to the strike but we didn't know specifically what was happening.

To commemorate the 500-year anniversary of the death of Leonardo Da Vinci in France, the Musée du Louvre held this major retrospective of his works including several donated from around the world.

We saw many of Da Vinci's unfinished paintings and drawings including St John the Baptist and the Virgin and Child with St Anne which is a drawing that he never finished as a painting and is John's favorite da Vinci work.

Da Vinci never finished hundreds of drawings because he had an image in his head that he felt he couldn't bring to life due to inadequate skills. So he would go back to "school" teaching himself or being tutored in drapery, perspective, lighting, anatomy and more. He intended to finish his prior works but found it more efficacious to just start anew.

John was very excited to see Da Vinci's notebooks and larger studies. The collection of notebooks included very small ones that Da Vinci had carried around with him which served as a kind of diary for him. In them he would take notes about his daily life or write a shopping list, sketch an idea for an invention and do rough sketches for drawings and paintings he would later develop. A few of his notebooks displayed his "mirror writing". Some experts think he did that because he was trying to prevent smudging because writing left handed from left to right was messy, the ink just put down would smear as his hand moved across it. He was fluent in Italian as it is spoken today and semi-fluent in Latin as is shown in his notebooks.

Many of Da Vinci's sketches, studies and paintings were of human and animal anatomy, biblical and other mystical creatures, drapery, architectural structures, his inventions, botany, physics and math (including perspective, a new artistic concept of the time) and more. Also on display were base sketches for paintings of people, animals and other nature.

We saw many of his finished sketches, portraits (including several self portraits through the years) and other paintings. There were also a few wooden sculptures. As always John took many photos.

There were several protest activities in the lobby area of the Louvre including speeches and music. The protesters chanted in French something like "We won't quit until the retirement changes are defeated". Everything was well organized and calm. Louvre employees were supportive of the strikers since many of the strikers were fellow employees.

After viewing the Da Vinci exhibit we casually wandered around the Louvre and paused for a while in the sculpture gardens. Gorgeous.

After the Louvre we went to our favorite Mexican restaurant in Paris - Fajitas. The food was great as always and the wait staff was so very pleasant.

We walked back to the Louvre to catch our bus home. Almost halfway to our hotel the bus driver stopped and told everyone to get off the bus because service from that bus was halted due to the strike. This interruption in service was not on the bus website when we checked shortly before we left our hotel to go to the Louvre, but it was posted about an hour later (and we didn't see it). The bus driver added that all buses and all other transportation serving that area of town would not be running for the rest of the day. After the catacombs the day before and walking a lot at the Louvre today we weren't looking forward to a long walk to the hotel. As we walked to the hotel we saw that many blocks of many streets were closed.

Too late we saw the info from the RATF bus metro site posted Thursday January 16 from 9 a.m. (which we didn't see this morning). "On Thursday, January 16, due to a demonstration on public roads, certain bus lines and stops will be closed from 9:00 am, on the orders of the Police Prefecture. Some bus lines will be diverted. The procession will assemble and leave around 1:30 p.m. from Place du 18 Juin 1940, then take boulevard du Montparnasse, boulevard de Port-Royal, boulevard Saint-Marcel, boulevard de l'Hôpital and finish at place d'Italie." (NOTE - this is very close to our hotel).

After John oriented us to the path to our hotel we passed a bunch of cool shops as we walked from St Germaine, through Luxembourg and to our hotel in Montparnasse. Christmas decorations are still up. It doesn't feel like Christmas but the lights gave a fairy tale-like effect to our 7th visit to the City of Lights. So, that was nice.

Here's a good AP article about the strike - "New street protests in France amid pension strikes January 16, 2020 PARIS (AP) - Opponents of President Emmanuel Macron's proposed overhaul of France's pension system marched in Paris and other French cities Thursday on what is the 43rd day of strike action that has hobbled trains and public transport."

As we walked closer to our hotel we saw more and more national police, "do not cross" tape blocking streets and very few vehicles except police vehicles, bicycles and electric scooters (the ones like the foot propelled ones that kids use, except these were electric. The sirens we had been hearing off and on all day were constant now and young soldiers were everywhere. We heard drums and chanting that was non-stop.

The closer we drew to the hotel the louder everything became until we reached the major protest areas. It was a little unnerving because the streets were packed and we weren't sure how to proceed. John took my hand and we weaved our way through the crowd together until at one point I saw a guy handing out interesting looking fliers so I went to get one. He smiled at me when I asked if I could have one. Then I hurried back to John so he wouldn't be worried about me.

The Paris public bike-sharing system, Vélib, has come under major pressure during the transport strike, which is now in its 34th day. More info about the bike rentals is in FRANCE 24 English.

After we made it through the protest area we found a public toilet that was the weirdest thing. For starters it looked like a very large tin can. A woman was waiting outside so I thought someone was in there but after a few minutes a green light came on and she pushed a button to open the door and then she entered. when she came out I started to go in. She stopped me and explained that the toilet had to go though a wash cycle and I wouldn't want to be in there during that. So I waited a few minutes and when the green light came on I pushed the button, the door opened and I went in. Much of the interior was like a regular toilet except that it talked to me non-stop. My reading French has improved a lot but listening and speaking, not so much. I understood that the female voice told me to wash my hands but that was all I could decipher. I tried to wash my hands but I couldn't get the water or soap dispenser to work. Or the dryer. Or the fourth function which remains a mystery to me. That was a small adventure. Plus the toilet doesn't flush until after you leave (during the wash cycle - I saw a video of the wash cycle).

John took photos of the striker groups which seemed to be predominately Communist but also several individual unions. See photos below.

There is a cemetery (Montparnasse Cemetery) filled with famous dead people very close to our hotel and after we returned to our room this afternoon John went there to talk to the dead (not really - there was no communing with ghosts this trip). John took many beautiful photos of the sculptures and statues in the cemetary. Look at the images below and read the captions if you want a 'You Were There' type of history adventure. The amazing images below resemble a picture book of important French history and art.

(John wrote this section):
I love history and art so a trip to the Montparnasse Cemetery just a block from our hotel was a perfect fit. For a couple of hours I wandered through the cemetery taking pictures of unusual sculptures and reading a map while trying to find famous graves. Here are a couple of videos in French that will give a sense of what it was like to go through the cemetery.
Video 1
Video 2


View of the Louvre while crossing the Pont Royal.	These two runners crossed each other just as I took this picture on the Pont Royal.	Passing through the Jardin de Tuileries on our way to the Louvre.

Carrousel Arc de Triomphe	Detail of the Carrousel Arc de Triomphe	Side view st the base of the Carrousel Arc de Triomphe

Another accidental selfie by John	Louis XIV in the guise of Marcus Curtius	Louvre employees supporting the strikers.

Underneath the Louvre Pyramid.	Another view from under the Louvre Pyramid.	Wooden sculpture designed by Leonardo da Vinci

Drapery study (1475) by by Leonardo da Vinci	Another drapery study (1475) by Leonardo da Vinci	Study of the head of a Young Man (1472) by Andrea del Verrocchio, believed to be a portrait of Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo da Vinci, as a student, painted the dog in Tobias and the Angel (1475).	A sketch by Leonardo of the Madonna and Child	The Hanging of Bernardo Bandini sketch by Leonardo da Vinci

Study of Saint Sebastian (1476) by Leonardo da Vinci	Sketches by Leonardo for the Virgin of the Rocks	"The Benois Madonna" (1480) by Leonardo da Vinci

A Study in Perspective for the Adoration of the Magi (1480) by Leonardo da Vinci	Saint Jerome (1480) by Leonardo da Vinci (unfinished)	Portrait of a Man (1475) by Antonello da Messina

La Belle Ferronnière (1480) by Leonardo da Vinci	Portrait of a Young Man (1483) by Leonardo da Vinci	"The Virgin of the Rocks" (1508) by Leonardo da Vinci

Composition studies for The Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci	An example of Leonardo's mirror writing in his notebooks.	Astronomy study from one of Leonardo's notebooks.

A pocket sized notebook that Leonardo used to carry in his belt to record his thoughts and observations.	A side view of that same notebook.	A sketch of drafting tools in one of the little notebooks.

Bontanical study by Leonardo da Vinci.	Anatomical study by Leonardo da Vinci.	Architectural study of fortifications (1483) by Leonardo da Vinci.

Study of the apostle Bartholomew (1483) by Leonardo da Vinci.	The Virgin and the Infant (1501) by Leonardo da Vinci.	A Study of the Heads of Two Soldiers (1505) by Leonardo da Vinci.

La Scapigliata (1500) by Leonardo da Vinci.	Saint Anne, the Virgin and the Infant Jesus (1500) (unfinished) by Leonardo da Vinci.	The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (1503) by Leonardo da Vinci.

St. John the Baptist (1513) by Leonardo da Vinci. Although John says it's a portrait of Weird Al Yankovic.	A portrait of Leonardo by Francesco Melzi (1515)	After Leonardo, we rested in the Puget and Marly courtyards and appreciated the sculptures.

Neptune (1703) by Antoine Coysevox	Detail from Neptune (1703) by Antoine Coysevox	La Seine (1704) by Antoine Coysevox

Detail of La Seine	A glass roof covered the sculpture garden.	The Four Captives (1680) by Martin Van den Bogaert

Detail from The Four Captives	Winter by Jean-Baptiste Thédon	Milo of Crotona (1675) by Pierre Puget

The Louvre Museum has a very convenient free self-service locker system for visitors to store their bags.	Walking home we crossed this demonstration against Macron's pensions reforms.	John likes the history and the sculpture of old cemeteries. These are from his visit to Montparnasse Cemetery.

Tomb of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi who designed the Statue of Liberty.	Some of the sculptures were images from another time.	Some were works of art.

Some were just unexplained, like this wooden pelican.	The grave of Jacques Chirac still has many visitors.	Many of these larger stones were from French businessmen.

This one was a portrait of the deceased.	There were a few more modern memorials like this modern art goose.	The graves of Jean Paul Sarte and Simone de Beauvoir

One of the most famous graves is of Charles Pigeon and his wife lying in bed.	This appears to be a mother and her child.	The grave of Alfred Dreyfus and family.

Another very ornate tombstone from the 1880's.	There was very little spare space left in Montparnasse Cemetery.	This memorial reminded me of sculptures that we saw in Nice by Niki de Saint Phalle.

Our trip to Paris
17.01.2020

A few hours before we left Paris we visited the Luxembourg Gardens. In the spring and summer the gardens are overflowing with beautiful flowers and other plants. Since it is winter there were many fewer plants but it was beautiful with fountains, ponds, sculpture, statues, gorgeous architecture and some flowers and wildlife. Look at the photos below. It's all very pretty. Also check out this video of the Luxembourg Gardens.

We walked around a bit sitting near ponds, statuary and fountains just enjoying the beauty and serenity. We became a little cold so we popped into a small restaurant for lunch. The food was great. The food prices were reasonable but colas and other drinks were somewhat higher than usual. After lunch we checked out the puppet stage but no shows were playing that day. A future adventure in Paris for us, overall we had a pleasant experience.

While trying to get to the train station we missed a couple of buses because they had no room for us, We finally boarded a loaded bus in which we were squished against the front window base. It reminded me of the videos I've seen of people being packed into subways in Tokyo. In CA and OR bus drivers wouldn't let that many people get on because of serious safety concerns. The time of day was early afternoon. Although it was a Friday I think the crush was primarily due to the strike.

Today, the day after we visited the Da Vinci exhibit, strikers blocked all entrances at the Louvre closing the entire museum (including the Da Vinci exhibit). One of our friends who canceled his trip to Paris was originally scheduled to see the exhibit today. His was a wise decision not to go.

The Gare Montparnasse (train station) was very crowded on Friday afternoon as we headed home to Rennes. We had an amazing visit but we were happy that we would soon be home.


Fontaine de l'Observatoire	Ruth liked the spitting turtles.	Behind the fountain there was a waterfall to recycle the water.

One of the many public toilets in Paris.	A view of the pool and the palace.	There were many statues from the 1800's that overlooked the walkways of the Jardin du Luxembourg.

The Medici Fountain built in 1630.	Even in a city as large as Paris you can still find some ducks.	We had a nice peaceful time resting at the Medici Fountain.

We'll have to come back in the summer to see the full splendor of this fountain.	The palace is used for offices for the French Senate.	We have a wonderful meal of veal stew at La Terrasse De Madame in the heart of Jardin du Luxembourg.

The Greek Actor (1880) by Arthur Bourgeois with the Panthéon in the background.	The puppet theater had no shows the day we were there.	Near the puppet theater were modern tennis courts and a playground for kids.

A copy of the Statue of Liberty by Frédéric Bartholdi	We could see the Montparnasse Tower from the Jardin du Luxembourg.	There were many dozens of statues throughout the Jardin du Luxembourg.

The Gare Montparnasse (train station) was very crowded on Friday afternoon as we headed home to Rennes.

30.01.2020

Paris commuters will enjoy the first strike-free day in 2 months Thursday January 30th as the walk out by transport workers comes to a grinding halt. It's the news everyone has been waiting for as public transport operator RATP announce a total "return to normal" across the network: the metro, RER and Transiline Thursday.

31.01.2020

France 24 produced a video detailing how Brexit is impacting France (and it is impacting France a great deal). You can view that video here France: The price of Brexit:

In another video that France 24 produced gave details of Leonardo's sojourn from Italy into France to live in a castle the King of France had given him. To get there Leonardo rode a donkey over the Alps while he carried the Mona Lisa and other major works. This happened 2 years before he died.

Today I learned that, although our 3 days in Paris occurred during the last 2 days of the 3 day major strike, the number of strike participants was very small compared to when the strikes began in early Dec. Only 10% of the number of original strikers turned out for the major 3 day strike. Although the impact seemed great to us, it was small compared to the strike's beginning. It's hard for me to image the strike's impact being 10 times what we experienced. We were lucky.