I remember at some point reading about a festival in India where you can bath in the Ganges and end the endless cycle of reincarnation.
Now, I find this fascinating and if only I could remember when it is I would hop on a plane and ski-daddle over to India to jump in the Ganges.
Well, today's paper tells me that the festival is happening now. It began on January 14 and lasts for 55 days.
I suppose I could still make it for the last few days, but there are shots to get and air fare to book and I'd have to find a place to stay - which might be difficult since there are about 100 million other people looking for a room.
Now the article says there are 35,000 portable washrooms. This works out to about 29 thousand people per washroom, that is a lot of toilet paper not to mention long lines.
Which leads me to my next thought. The Ganges has an estimated 750 million gallons of sewage pumped into it daily (I would think this includes the output from the above mentioned washrooms for the masses), you bath in it to end the endless cycle of reincarnation. Perhaps you are just being rewarded for jumping into that swill?
Well, since the festival only happens every 12 years I have a while to plan my trip in 2025!
Anybody want to join me? Get your shots now avoid the rush.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
One more Paris post
In 1844 Charles Dickens said this:
"I cannot tell you what immense impression Paris made on me. It is the most extraordinary place in the world."
In 2013 M said this:
"Ditto"
"I cannot tell you what immense impression Paris made on me. It is the most extraordinary place in the world."
In 2013 M said this:
"Ditto"
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Paris, Paris, Paris
We left our little Parisian apartment at about 7:30 Monday morning. I was sad, yet so grateful to my beloved for our time there.
Paris (in my humble opinion) is one of those places that you either love or you hate.
It is a city and has everything that a city has to offer.
Yes, it smells like piss.
Yes, there are people begging all around you.
Yes, the traffic is awful.
Yes, sidewalk sharing is not popular here.
But,
It has some of the most beautiful buildings in the world. I could and have spent days just wandering looking at them. I am constantly finding something new. Always remember to look up.
It has works of art that you can see no place else in the world.
It has a river that is crossed by bridges and bridges and bridges.
It has more churches than you can shake a stick at.
It has cute little children that speak French.
I mean what more could a girl want?
I dream about living in Paris, maybe not forever but maybe for a little while. Beloved, could you hang for longer than two weeks?
Paris (in my humble opinion) is one of those places that you either love or you hate.
It is a city and has everything that a city has to offer.
Yes, it smells like piss.
Yes, there are people begging all around you.
Yes, the traffic is awful.
Yes, sidewalk sharing is not popular here.
But,
It has some of the most beautiful buildings in the world. I could and have spent days just wandering looking at them. I am constantly finding something new. Always remember to look up.
It has works of art that you can see no place else in the world.
It has a river that is crossed by bridges and bridges and bridges.
It has more churches than you can shake a stick at.
It has cute little children that speak French.
I mean what more could a girl want?
I dream about living in Paris, maybe not forever but maybe for a little while. Beloved, could you hang for longer than two weeks?
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Past Last Morning
And here it is the morning of our last day in Paris - this trip.
It is Sunday and it is bright and sunny and the church bells are ringing. I have checked us in for our flights and send a message to the car service that will be picking us up in the morning.
My heart is heavy. Today will be a day to walk and contemplate our next trip.
This vacation is different from the last few vacations we have taken. Just my beloved and I. One place. Our own time. Lovely.
Now off to say
Au revoir. jusqu'à la prochaine fois.
It is Sunday and it is bright and sunny and the church bells are ringing. I have checked us in for our flights and send a message to the car service that will be picking us up in the morning.
My heart is heavy. Today will be a day to walk and contemplate our next trip.
This vacation is different from the last few vacations we have taken. Just my beloved and I. One place. Our own time. Lovely.
Now off to say
Au revoir. jusqu'à la prochaine fois.
Paris Day 9
Today we went to the L'Orangerie where the fantastic Les Nympheas by Monet live. These paintings are huge, there are eight of them, four to a room. In the first room is one of my favorites. It is not the water lilies you see on the postcards. No, my favorite is the one in browns and yellows and dark greens. This was painted towards the end of Monet's life, ironic as it may be he became nearly blind towards the end. How sad.
The building was originally a place where fruit trees were grown for the royals. In the 1930's it became a museum and rooms were specially designed for the Monet's. The walls are curved and the paintings are attached in such a way that they cannot be removed from the walls. There was originally a glass ceiling on the building and the paintings were bathed in natural light.
In the 70's some smart person redesigned the museum, they put a second floor in covering the room where the paintings were. You just gotta ask why?
In the late 90's another renovation was done, the second floor was removed. I was told that the rooms where the Monet's are was hydraulically lifted up a millimeter at a time, alarms would sound if it could out of square, work would be stopped and the room set back on the right course and again up it would go. Another floor was dug out below the original first floor and now the Les Nympheas were back on top with special light filtering stacks that allow natural light in without damaging them. Amazing!
The L'Orangerie is in the Tuileries Garden which is the location of a place started by Catherine de' Medici in 1564. In 1871 it was set on fire - on purpose! It was totally destroyed except for the exterior stone facade. It seems many other buildings in Paris also met this fate during this time, but were selected to be restored, including the Louvre which thankfully was selected to be restored. The Tuileries was considered too much of a symbol of the royals and was eventually torn down. I can only imagine what it must have looked like. I can imagine the Louvre and Tuileries museum - perhaps with all that room they could display their entire collection?
Then it was a walk down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. The Champs Elysees was crowed with people, it was a lovely day for a walk. I have never been to the top of the Arc and probably never will - 300 steps up I'm thinking not. But it is amazing to look at and watch the traffic go round and round.
A quick metro ride back to the hood and a little rest before dinner. As a vegetarian Paris is not the easiest city to get a good meal in. I found a book before we left called "Vegan in Paris" and it helped. We were able to find a good place right around the corner from us. Lebanese. Yum.
Tavern du Nil at 16 Rue le Regrattier right here on the little island. The best hummus I have ever had. Lots of little plates.
There were not very many people in the place and we got a table right away. Sitting at one table were two old men and two young women. It reminded me of the old white guys you see in Asia with the really young Asian girls. Creepy.
After we were there for a little while we heard a cat and the cat did not sound happy. We wondered where it was coming from, afraid that when we left we would walk out the door to a cat war by the sounds of things. But no, it was the cat of the house and it just wanted out of its cage. It is not unusual to see a cat in a restaurant here in Paris, you see them soaking up the sun in the windows during the day. At night they earn their keep by, well I will let you think about that.
Then back to our little apartment. In all a great day in Paris.
The building was originally a place where fruit trees were grown for the royals. In the 1930's it became a museum and rooms were specially designed for the Monet's. The walls are curved and the paintings are attached in such a way that they cannot be removed from the walls. There was originally a glass ceiling on the building and the paintings were bathed in natural light.
In the 70's some smart person redesigned the museum, they put a second floor in covering the room where the paintings were. You just gotta ask why?
In the late 90's another renovation was done, the second floor was removed. I was told that the rooms where the Monet's are was hydraulically lifted up a millimeter at a time, alarms would sound if it could out of square, work would be stopped and the room set back on the right course and again up it would go. Another floor was dug out below the original first floor and now the Les Nympheas were back on top with special light filtering stacks that allow natural light in without damaging them. Amazing!
The L'Orangerie is in the Tuileries Garden which is the location of a place started by Catherine de' Medici in 1564. In 1871 it was set on fire - on purpose! It was totally destroyed except for the exterior stone facade. It seems many other buildings in Paris also met this fate during this time, but were selected to be restored, including the Louvre which thankfully was selected to be restored. The Tuileries was considered too much of a symbol of the royals and was eventually torn down. I can only imagine what it must have looked like. I can imagine the Louvre and Tuileries museum - perhaps with all that room they could display their entire collection?
Then it was a walk down the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. The Champs Elysees was crowed with people, it was a lovely day for a walk. I have never been to the top of the Arc and probably never will - 300 steps up I'm thinking not. But it is amazing to look at and watch the traffic go round and round.
A quick metro ride back to the hood and a little rest before dinner. As a vegetarian Paris is not the easiest city to get a good meal in. I found a book before we left called "Vegan in Paris" and it helped. We were able to find a good place right around the corner from us. Lebanese. Yum.
Tavern du Nil at 16 Rue le Regrattier right here on the little island. The best hummus I have ever had. Lots of little plates.
There were not very many people in the place and we got a table right away. Sitting at one table were two old men and two young women. It reminded me of the old white guys you see in Asia with the really young Asian girls. Creepy.
After we were there for a little while we heard a cat and the cat did not sound happy. We wondered where it was coming from, afraid that when we left we would walk out the door to a cat war by the sounds of things. But no, it was the cat of the house and it just wanted out of its cage. It is not unusual to see a cat in a restaurant here in Paris, you see them soaking up the sun in the windows during the day. At night they earn their keep by, well I will let you think about that.
Then back to our little apartment. In all a great day in Paris.
Friday, February 15, 2013
Do Ducks get cold?
OK, this is still Paris stuff, but not what we have done, just some observations that I did not think belonged in my regular blog postings of Paris.
First of all girls, not many of us look really good from any angle in those tight leggings as pants. Stop wearing them.
Next the shorts and stocking craze that we have noticed here, is stupid. Looks really bad and it is fucking cold out. Put some pants on and not the legging kind mentioned above.
Who knew Buddy Hackett is worshipped here?
People, people, people - look up from your phones. Not only are the sidewalks here narrow and full of dips and loose pieces, there are other people in the world that are sick of bumping into you.
Hey all you people taking pictures with your iPad, get the connector for your camera. You look really dopey.
Do ducks get cold?
Sometimes I just have to say things out loud.
First of all girls, not many of us look really good from any angle in those tight leggings as pants. Stop wearing them.
Next the shorts and stocking craze that we have noticed here, is stupid. Looks really bad and it is fucking cold out. Put some pants on and not the legging kind mentioned above.
Who knew Buddy Hackett is worshipped here?
People, people, people - look up from your phones. Not only are the sidewalks here narrow and full of dips and loose pieces, there are other people in the world that are sick of bumping into you.
Hey all you people taking pictures with your iPad, get the connector for your camera. You look really dopey.
Do ducks get cold?
Sometimes I just have to say things out loud.
Paris Day 8
Today we visited what I think is one of the most beautiful churches in the world. St. Chappel. The mother load for a glass girl like me. They are in the process of restoring some of the glass in this wonderful place. I could go on and on and on about the process and about the glass in general, but I will save you that and just show you some pictures of the place Louie the 9th built to house his relics on his way to becoming a saint.
If I had a comfy chair I could sit in this magical place for hours and watch glass change as the sun moves around the building.
We also did a little wandering, the best thing to do in Paris and noticed the water level in the Seine is falling.
Then off to a piano concert in a little tiny theatre just a few doorways down from us. I had looked on line to see what was going on and found mention of this place, the time worked and we were treated to some lovely music. The theatre was done in all red, except the curtain behind the stage which was black. Otherwise red walls, red seats, red carpet. Even the girl that sold the tickets was dressed in red. It had about 45 seats and about 15 people in the audience. I did mention to my beloved that I half expected to see Antonio Banderas walk out on stage. Yes, she looked at me just the way you are right now. Interview with a Vampire??? Paris???
Anyway, the girl that sells the tickets is also the one to tell you to make sure that your cell phones are turned off. Why is there always one....
My beloved got me a new camera prior to this trip. My last one that I got in Asia was taking blue pictures and not because I wanted it to. Anyway, this new one has a lot of bells and whistles and a zoom that it great. One of the features is that you can select to shoot your picture as a painting or a watercolor or an illustration among others. I share a couple of them below. Same scene, just a different settings. Crazy I tell you.
Thanks beloved.
If I had a comfy chair I could sit in this magical place for hours and watch glass change as the sun moves around the building.
We also did a little wandering, the best thing to do in Paris and noticed the water level in the Seine is falling.
Then off to a piano concert in a little tiny theatre just a few doorways down from us. I had looked on line to see what was going on and found mention of this place, the time worked and we were treated to some lovely music. The theatre was done in all red, except the curtain behind the stage which was black. Otherwise red walls, red seats, red carpet. Even the girl that sold the tickets was dressed in red. It had about 45 seats and about 15 people in the audience. I did mention to my beloved that I half expected to see Antonio Banderas walk out on stage. Yes, she looked at me just the way you are right now. Interview with a Vampire??? Paris???
Anyway, the girl that sells the tickets is also the one to tell you to make sure that your cell phones are turned off. Why is there always one....
My beloved got me a new camera prior to this trip. My last one that I got in Asia was taking blue pictures and not because I wanted it to. Anyway, this new one has a lot of bells and whistles and a zoom that it great. One of the features is that you can select to shoot your picture as a painting or a watercolor or an illustration among others. I share a couple of them below. Same scene, just a different settings. Crazy I tell you.
Thanks beloved.
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