Yes, Santa isn’t bad. He’s pretty high on my list, but my heart belongs here:

These are traditional Christmas cakes called Buche de Noel, shaped like little frosted logs.

These chocolate ones look even better to me. I especially like how they are decorated.

Love the red for Christmas. If I should have a party I will have to go buy one of these. Would you believe that I can’t remember where I saw these?

I was walking along a street of Paris near Place de la Republique with some friends when we suddenly stopped in our tracks and looked at each other with something near rapture and said, “Butter!” The delicious fragrance wafted through the air from the nearby boulangerie and tempted us inside where we indulged in some delicious baked goods. It’s too hard to pass up some of those offerings found in Paris and, usually, it doesn’t matter which shop you happen to wander into, although there are a few much better than others. I don’t usually like the sweet things in our boulangerie down the street but their bread is always good.

These old signs are often seen on boulangeries from the last century.

This was on the back wall. I like the family feel.

One of my first memories of living is France is walking into our neighborhood boulangerie and seeing the bread sticking up behind the lady behind the counter.

It isn’t really winter yet but there still is that feel of a winter sun on a cold day and it is always a pleasure to see it when the weather has mostly been gray and there hasn’t been a hint of blue sky anywhere.

Some sun shining on a light in Place des Vosges.

A view through a stained glass form in the Marais.

These gold tipped spears in Palais Royal look so much better when they glisten in the sun.

A view I always love-two rows of trees in a Paris garden done in that military fashion you always see there.

There are parts of the Louvre Museum that I seldom get to. When people want to have a tour of the Louvre they almost always request the “Big Three”-Mona Lisa, Winged Victory and Venus de Milo. There’s a reason of course. There’s hardly anyone who hasn’t either heard of them or seen a photo or two in a book somewhere. They are even seen in movies: Remember Audrey Hepburn in the movie, Funny Face? She is running down the stairs in front of the Winged Victory saying, “Take the picture, take the picture!” If you haven’t seen it, it’s a good way to look at Paris in 1957. There are differences.
I do get clients, however, who want to see something not as popular. Some want to see the Dutch painters and just recently I had a request for the Egyptian wing. It has been so long since I have walked through there that I went the other day to refresh my memory.

This sculpture greets you as you enter one of the many rooms devoted to Egyptian art.

Isn’t this dramatic? I went to Egypt many years ago and saw temples with objects like this.

Colorful sarcaphagus.

Isn’t this sweet? The Egyptians had cats as pets all of those thousands of years ago.

Finally, what fascinates most people most: the mummy. I think that many were wrapped in a circular fashion but look at the mitered corners on the face here. They also put all of the vital organs inside separate containers. They went to such great lengths to preserve the body because they thought you took it with you into the after life. That’s why there were so many objects as well as food in the tombs as well.

One good thing about the early evenings in Paris is how everything changes with the lights on and the sky dark. I love the pyramid at the Louvre during the day but it becomes magical at night when it is lit up from inside.

Day

Night

I hate jet lag. It seems to have gotten worse for me than it used to be. When I first moved here and returned from a trip to the States all I needed was one good night of sleep and I was pretty much back to normal. I’ve read that you should never take a nap on the day of arrival either but I always did that and did just fine. Now it seems to take at least five days to get back to a normal schedule of sleep. We are into the fourth day from our arrival back in Paris. The first night I got up at 4 AM, went back to bed at 6 AM and slept until 10:30. The next morning I made it until 5 AM. Last night we made the mistake of watching a football game on TV in our bedroom. I fell asleep around 11 PM and awoke at 2 AM to find Maurice still awake watching the TV. When he got up at 3 AM for a trip to the bathroom the bed side light woke me up shining in my eyes. At times like this I wish we hadn’t knocked down that wall to the second bedroom. I finally got up at 5:30 while Maurice slept until 11. I’m hoping tonight is the night it all becomes regular again but I don’t see how. I know it will all pass and return to normal soon.

I’m not sure what this means but I saw it in a window and thought it was rather funny.