Greetings From France - Part 3

Well, our third day in France started out well.

The Marriott continues to amaze me as a bastion of America on the Champs Elysees. I really did not come to France to have USA Today in front of my door in the morning! At least it's the International Edition which means that the weather page covers European and Asian locales instead of US cities. Oh well . . .

We started out another atypically beautiful day by visiting the Picasso Museum in Le Marais with Sabine and Claude. It is a great museum that truly gives one a sense for the scope of his work through the years and in all different mediums. As mentioned previously, there was a special exhibit comparing the work of Francis Bacon with his inspirations in Picasso's work. It was a special treat to visit with Claude who is an artist and art educator. She pointed out things about both content and technique that I might have missed otherwise and was a good companion with which to discuss my observations.

Claude left us there and Sabine, Betsy and I met my cousin Marc for lunch at Le Souffle. Betsy had found a write-up of the restaurant which specializes in - can you guess it - souffles! We had a souffle tasting menu which consisted of an appetizer souffle (we all had morrels), a salad, a main course souffle (I had seafood, Betsy had foie gras), and a dessert souffle (I had mandarine orange, Betsy had apples with Calvados). The meal must have had 73 egg whites per person.

Sabine left us after lunch and we wandered East with Marc with our original intention to get to the flower stalls near Chatelet. We were almost there when we ran into people we know.

Now Paris is not such a huge city, but it isn't small by any means. We were walking near the Seine just East of the Louvre when we literally bumped into Alon and Betsy Kasha. Alon went to college with Betsy's brother Mark and he and his wife Betsy later ended up living on the same floor of the same apartment building as Mark in the mid-90s. They have been friends for a long time and we had forgotten that they recently moved to Paris. They were on their way to pick up their children Sarah (6) and Simon (5) from school, and so we joined them. It was a treat to do something as ordinary as picking up kids from school, and Sarah and Simon are sweet, bright, funny and adorable. They spoke almost no French when they moved here in September and are now as fluent as their classmates. It is always amazing to me how easily kids can learn foreign languages.

We accompanied the Kasha family back to their beautiful apartment on the Left Bank (Interior design is one of Alon's many talents) for a visit and to embarass my brother-in-law Mark. Alon called Mark in his office in NY regarding another matter. Mark told Alon that Betsy and I were visiting Paris and Alon asked why Mark had not had us look them up. Mark responded that "It wasn't necessary" and Alon then placed his sister Betsy on the phone.

'Tis a small world.

Cousin Marc left us to meet his boyfriend Stephane and Betsy and I walked back towards our hotel through the Tuilleries. There was a beautiful late afternoon sun and plenty of people enjoying it as we walked through this gorgeous urban oasis. Before stopping at the hotel, we went to visit Samuel, Sabine's son who works at one of the family's art house movie theaters on the Champs Elysees. We got a tour of the theater including my first ever visit to a projectionist's booth. Now, I was a geek on the AV squad in school, setting up old Bell & Howell 16mm movie projectors in classrooms. This was geek's wet dream and I was like a kid in a candy store. I have a new found respect for those in the business as the process of showing films requires a skill of which I was not aware.

It was then off to meet Marc and Stephane for dinner about as far South in Paris as you can go without crossing the city line. The restaurant, La Regulade, was another treat (Betsy was 2 for 2 yesterday!) - a small but bustling and homey restaurant where you were close enough to other tables to join in their conversation. A good meal was had by all.

The day, unfortunately, ended on a very sad note. While at dinner, I received an e-mail on my Blackberry from my uncle Gary. My aunt Judy had passed away that morning. As noted in previous posts, my aunt had been diagnosed with cancer about 2 and a half months ago with a terminal prognosis. She was moved into hospice care with a prediction that she would live for approximately 3 to 6 months. We all knew from seeing her that it would likely be even less and she proved us right. Consequently, we were emotionally prepared. I had visited with my aunt every week since her diagnosis and saw that she was quietly slipping away. She is now at peace and hopefully keeping my father and her parents company in a better place.

More later . . .