Lauren Bacall.  Betty.  I had such a fixation on her in my late teens and early twenties when I was, how shall I say, “maturing”.  I used to be told that I had a certain Bacall look when I was younger (no laughing).  It was more of an affect than a look.  I would turn my head down and at a slight angle and look up under my eyelashes.  I did get some free drinks that way, but, sadly, not much more.  I really did shed a tear when I heard the news.  I loved her.  Again, not completely unexpected.  I think the last time I saw her, I thought to myself, any day now.  Well, that day has come and I was saddened by it.

It was a rough day here at Scotsmere (our ancestral home in Vermont – joking, by the way).  David was a bit low and I started out the day not being able to get out of bed.  It has been like that on many mornings, so I wasn’t surprised, but I am a bit depressed.  David, who is usually a fountain of joy and positive light began crying at a certain point.  After regrouping, we decided to head off for a haircut (which didn’t happen, but we have an appointment for Thursday morning) and were hoping to make it to the movies, but there was construction on the road, so we had to give up and head back home.  I guess you could say that it was one of those days.
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Anyway, I am blue about it all.  Robin and Lauren.  Sad.  And let’s face it, I didn’t know either of them.  So what is that about?

Robin Williams.  I would say what a shock, but isn’t there always a darker side?  Sad anyway, and tomorrow I think I will find something to watch and remember him by.  For a very brief period, and I never really figured it out, people told me that I had a “Robin Williams” quality.  The first time was at an audition for something, I can’t remember where or for what, and the director said, “you must hear this all the time, but you look just like Robin Williams”.  I told him that this was the first time I had heard that one, I had heard Nathan Lane and Kenneth Branagh, but never Robin Williams.  Then, a few weeks later, at another audition, I was told the same thing.  This director added that he didn’t think I looked like him, but it was something about my monologue.  I did do the same monologue for both, so maybe that was it.  I took it as a compliment.

Today, Ally came by and read emails to David, which he loved, so keep them coming.  I think they may have even responded to some of them.  While they were doing that, I went to the farm stand and picked up some stuff and made a nice chopped greek salad.  Quite good, if I do say so myself.  Even better that the only not fresh ingredient was the olives.

We did some more quilting, and should be done with piecing it together by the end of the week, I think.  I also spoke to an exterminator, and it is expensive, but I am going to have him come and take a look.  If he can rid the house of mice, and we can come back in the spring to a mouse free house, it will be worth it.

As you all know, David loves his lists, and I have been keeping one, but read today something that I thought was interesting, and might work better for me.  Someone suggests that lists set you up for failure, and instead of just making lists, you should schedule all the items on a list and really understand how much time something will take.  Anyway, will try that, and see how it goes.  We are planning on going to the movies tomorrow and getting haircuts.  Also have two theatre outings this week – A Chorus Line at Weston and My Fair Lady at Oldcastle in Bennington.  I am curious about the My Fair Lady, because it is a reduced version with two pianos  I have always been a fan of pared down musicals.

Well, some of you may have noticed that my blog was down for a while this morning.  What a nightmare that was.  It started last night, and I have to admit that I was trying to fix something that wasn’t so terrible, and it turned into, well, it turned into nothing on the site.  After much angst and an online session with the hosting service, it was sort of fixed.  If by fixed you mean I could post stuff, but none of the old stuff was there and it wasn’t formatted.  I left the session and took a deep breath, and made it all work again.

Well, glad to be back.  David has been bugging me to ask people to write to him at his email.  He is feeling left out, and getting emails will make me read them to him.  Not a bad idea actually.  We did some more quilting today, and it is coming along.  I does make the room look very green

though, but, after all, it is green.  We also started sorting clothes into piles of stuff that will be shipped to Palm Springs, stuff that will stay here and stuff that we will bring with us to Spain.  Oh, yes, we leave in a little less than two weeks to go to Spain.

Well, I am pretty tired and I know there are things to tell, but honestly, I can’t think of any more.  Oh, yes, the garage roof is done.  More tomorrow.

We went to Saratoga this afternoon.  Not for the ponies neither.  We had a great visit and lunch with Betsy Downes and Pat Doyle.  They are at their house in the finger lakes, and we met half way.  Well, I say half way, but, I think we traveled about half the distance that they did.  It was great to catch up, and I told David on the way back that I thought he was very engaged verbally and he actually even agreed with me.  That is not a usual occurance.

Tomorrow, they are replacing the roof on the garage.  Well, replacing the shingles on the roof of the garage.  One of many projects that I wanted to get done this summer.  Unfortunately, it is the only one, and really was at the bottom of the list, but, he could do it, and why not?  Still have to get the house mouse-proofed – my patching didn’t seem to do the trick.  I saw a little visitor last night.  I am going to call a local exterminator and see what he thinks.  Our departure is starting to breathe down my neck, and I have to begin sorting through everything here and pack up what I can so it isn’t left for the last day.  I have the aide coming an extra day next week and that should help.

One of the topics of conversation today was our plan for next year, and I thought I would share that here.  We are planning on driving from Palm Springs to Vermont next year in April, I think.  We will take our time and stop at many places along the way, and end with a week or so in Washington before heading north to Vermont.  We will start planning out route, but if anyone has any suggestions for where we should go and where we should stop, that would be great.  Another adventure with David and Scott to look forward to!

On the blog front, I have been having a problem figuring out how to have parallel blogs on this site.  I have done some research, but the process of doing it seems very involved.  It may take some time, so those of you who have asked for access, don’t think I am ignoring you, it just may have to wait until I am back in CA and able to devote some time and brainpower to getting it figured out.

Today was very productive for me.  I did lots of work around the house, we did some quilting and the kitchen garden consultant came by and we staked out the garden for next year.  It is a pretty simple design, with some options and ideas for other parts of the yard.  A four square garden behind the garage and some more raised beds near the deck for herbs and flowers.  I think it will be very nice.  Lots of work for next spring!

My most time consuming project today was plugging up the holes where the mice might be getting into the house.  I think I might have made a dent, if not solved the problem.  Time will tell.  Not much else to report.  David is feeling better, and I should head to bed now.

Goodnight.

Yesterday we watched the Carol Channing documentary, Carol Channing: Larger Than Life.  If you haven’t seen it, you should.  She makes me very happy.  Critics may say that she is living an inauthentic life and never leaves that character that she plays, but I love her, and as I said when we saw her at the Kaye Ballard concert, she still has it!  I think the best part is the story of how she found her current husband after so many years.  Just like a Jerry Herman musical, she makes me float.

I have been trying to figure out a way to make the other blog work, and haven’t cracked it yet.  I have done some research, but it is taking time to crack how to make it work seamlessly.  Will keep you posted.  Hopefully tonight.  We had the different folks come on Saturday.  The tilers were both fine, but I liked the second one better.  The sale man who gave us the names mentioned that the first one was very opinionated about how things should be done, and I got the feeling that he would want to do things his way.  I just hope that the cost doesn’t get out of hand.  We need to do it though.  I think we will plan on doing both bathrooms as well.  We are still sleeping downstairs, and the first tiler said that he would suggest I plan on making sure the first floor bathroom is accessible as well.  Good point.  The roofer also came and I think that will be done in the next couple of weeks.  Finally the potential renter liked the house, and is flexible with his dates, so I think that will work out.  All in a days work.

Did some more quilting today and that is moving along.  I don’t think we will be done before we leave, but pretty darn close!  I also told David that I thought that when we got back to CA, I was going to seek out some volunteer work or find an interesting interning gig.  Something to keep me in the game and that might turn into something, without taking me away from helping David out.  He suggested that I ask here if anyone has a connection or can think of something to do, let me know.  I think it would be ideal to have some work that I can do remotely.

Tomorrow we have the consultation for the kitchen garden, which I am really looking forward to. The aide will be here, which is great, so David can participate, but if he needs anything, she can help him and I can continue.

I have decided, for good or ill, to begin keeping a secret blog.  Sort of the darker side of Scott.  If you ask very nicely, I may give you that password.  I promise though, that I will not write there until I have written here first.  Mostly, it will be my “bitch blog” where I will write the negative things that I don’t dare write on here, but need to get off my chest.  I will think of it as my other therapy.  I will also read it to a therapist when I find one.

Well, here is the positive news for the day – Ally came by and she and David got along great.  She lives in Dorset, doesn’t have a cell phone (really?  Congratulations!!  I wanted to add another “?” at the end, but thought, really – Congratulations!!), has a boyfriend who she lives with, doesn’t have a TV (here I will say – Congratulations??!! and how do you survive the winters?  Ah, Netflix, of course) and David shares his birthday with her Dad.  Him saying that to me wasn’t really difficult either, I just ran through her birthday, her boyfriends birthday and three’s the charm – her Dad’s birthday.

We also had a great chat with Alex, Claire and Theo this morning.  We heard Theo say Bye Bye and Claire has heard him say au revoir.  Bilingual!  After talking to them, we did as we promised, and exercised.  David also took a walk with Ally while I was gone.  He said the bugs were bad.  When I left, I did some marvelous things!  I wandered through Banana Republic and GAP and then went to my favorite place, the Kitchen Store in Dorset.  I swore I would buy something, so bought an apron and oven mitts – the mice started eating the ones I bought at the Dollar Store.  They can have them, they are ugly.  Maybe if I put the oven mitt in the mouse trap, they will DIE! DIE! DIE!  Maybe I should have saved that for the “Bitch Blog”.
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Well, I have not been feeling well (more about that later on the BB – maybe I should rethink that name and taking suggestions) with some flu like symptoms.  I usually get over these summer things in a day, so tomorrow, I will be bright as a daisy.  I also have a message at the top of th webpage saying that my connection has been lost, which happens all the time.  It better save all this or I will kill someone.  Copying now.

Tomorrow we have a busy day with two tilers, a roofer and the prospective June/July 2015 tenant coming to visit.  Will fill you in on that excitement tomorrow!

Now, anyone who gets that title, I am sure has seen the preview that was released today.  At least, I think it was today, I have been reeling a bit.  David’s fall has set him back a bit, and he is still a little sore and, while he disputed it when I told my Dad, he is a bit insecure about getting up and walking.  We also haven’t exercised, but we made a pact that we would do it tomorrow morning.  Also, I have an aide coming in for three hours tomorrow, and for Mondays and Wednesdays for the rest of our stay in Vermont.  Same as CA, companionship and some light cleaning, and I will have a few hours on my own.

I am taking suggestions for what we might do next year in June/July.  I had an inquiry for renting the house here in Vermont, and the potential tenant is coming on Saturday to look.  I thought it would be a good idea to break up our summer stay in Vermont with a month somewhere else.  So, what will it be?  Alaskan Cruise?  Napa again?  We are also planning on coming back east much earlier than we did this year.  I have decided that next year is going to be my summer of cultivating.  On Monday, we have a consultation with a kitchen garden designer which was given to us as a wedding gift from Nancy, and are finally getting around to scheduling it.  If we get here earlier in the spring, I will be able to plant and make our garden grow – yet another musical reference.  I have visions of canning and pickling.  Maybe it will really be my summer of Martha Stewart.  Minus the prison stay.

I have been having some very strange dreams.  Normally, my dreams are in some way related to my life, but these are filled with people and places that I have never seen.  Needless to say, in the dreams, I know everyone and where I am, but when I wake, I don’t know who or where.  Not sure what that is about, but as long as the people are nice and places are pleasant, I am not complaining!

Well, enough for tonight, and I will get to respond to some emails that I have neglected.  You know who you are, and if you don’t hear from me tonight, but expected me to respond to something, please bug me!  I love to be bugged.

Well, it has been a rough couple of days.  Well, yesterday and today.  Yesterday, David had a fall and he is still a bit sore.  In his eagerness to help clear the table after dinner, he fell as he was getting up from the table.  I had walked into the kitchen, so I couldn’t see what happened, I just heard it.  As always, it was a bit frightening.  He laid on the floor for a while and had to settle down a bit.  I didn’t want him to try getting up until he had some more color in his face.  Getting up is always quite difficult.  He can’t really help much, and I am grateful that I have lost weight and am, as David used to say, “strong, like bull”, to quote Natasha from Bullwinkle.

Since the fall, he has been having trouble getting comfortable sitting anywhere and needs help getting up and sitting down.  It seems like every five minutes, he wants to move or have his pillows fluffed up or rearranged.  I got a chair with arms that we had stored in the garage.  I hope that will help avoid any more falls.  The hardest part is, he doesn’t want to get into the car, and I don’t want to leave him for too long now.  On top of all that, my allergies are in full gear, so I am a bit drugged and it has been raining (the two things may be related).

On Saturday afternoon, we went to see Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Weston Playhouse.  We both enjoyed it, but I don’t think all the performances were great – particularly Vanya and Spike.  Vanya’s timing wasn’t great and Spike, while the character is pretty broad, was played a little too much like a spoiled 15 year old.  Anyway, we enjoyed it.  We are going to see All in the Timing next week in Dorset, which should be fun.

Just like the song, today was one of those defining moments.  We had a great visit to Nantucket, with lots of relax, some soccer (that, by the way, I am too old for, but I survived), oysters (fresh and delicious) but most importantly, lots of love (that is always returned and much appreciated!)

I did have the opportunity to take a run while on the Island, and while running, you know how your mind starts to wander? I had the  brief thought – why don’t I just keep running?  Sort of a Forest Gump thing, without the shrimp, of course.  I cold just leave all my cares behind and run away.  Why not?  It could be fun!  Or not.  Then, like the Ziegfeld Girls did for Fanny, the voices in my head got me to turn around at the lighthouse.  Of course, I knew David would be well taken care of, but then I thought, who would take care of me?  Who would challenge me?  Who would love me?

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So, the tipping point today was just a bit of exasperation.  It began last night when the drain in the sink was broken, and I hadn’t fixed it, and when I ask David to wait before brushing his teeth, he didn’t and when I got upstairs, the sink was full of water.  Then, today, I was in a bad mood, you know, just feeling very sorry for myself, and David wanted to do some quilting.  I took a deep breath and thought, OK, here we go.  He will sew a panel, I will have to pull all the stitches out, and he will do it again.  Maybe this time it will be OK, or I will just have to repeat the process, over and over and over again.  This did happen, the first time.  And then, as if the cosmos were trying to slap me across the face (which is a pretty popular pastime for the cosmos), David whizzed through about 8 panels without a missed stitch.  Very nice work, and I am sorry for my irritability.  I am sure he can sense it, and when I read this to him tomorrow, I will catch it, I am sure.

I actually went back to the blog to check the date, but on Saturday at 12:30am is the two year anniversary of David’s stroke.  Now, don’t get scared, but for a brief moment, I thought about maybe ending this blog there, but I think it has become too much of a therapy for me.  I am sure that David would have preferred am more traditional therapy for me.  Well, if not traditional, certainly more severe.  I did meet Murray once, and that just scared me.  Anyway, I will continue, but if I don’t write before then, please raise a glass on Friday night (I won’t suggest you stay up until after midnight, we are all too old for that) for all the hard work David has done and the progress he has made in the past two years.  And kiss someone you love.  I will be doing the same.

I am sad tonight. Elaine Stritch is dead. Everybody should run and watch Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me. In other news, we are on our way to Nantucket, and had a great dinner with Lois in Concord. More tomorrow.

Still cleaning, and seeming to get nowhere.  Well, not nowhere, but not getting to the end fast enough.  Maybe I just have to deal with the fact that there is no end.  At the risk of sounding like a housewife, is the laundry ever “done”?  I just finished folding two loads, and there is a pile of dirty clothes upstairs.  Maybe naturists have the idea.

We went to see Maleficent today.  Almost missed seeing it in a theatre, which would have been disappointing.  I was already bummed that it wasn’t around in 3D anywhere.  We both liked the movie very much.  I am sure that this idea came to the writer while they were watching a performance of Wicked.  Who am I to question where inspiration comes from, right?  I enjoyed it.  Oh, and by the way, the blog title has nothing to do with Wicked.

We worked some more on the quilt today.  David is doing pretty well with the sewing machine.  I do need to figure out a way to keep the pedal from going to full speed though.  He can’t seem to be able to moderate the speed – it goes from 0 to 60 in a millisecond!  I will devise some sort of stop for the pedal.

Next week we will hit the two year anniversary of David’s stroke, and I am feeling a little nervous about that.  The therapists all gave us milestones to look toward to check progress, and one year and two years were big ones.  Progress is still happening, but it is very slow in coming, but every once in a while, David will say something that surprises me.  Almost as important, I was reminded today when we did some exercises, that he doesn’t say the wrong words as much any more.  Sometimes when reading, he will say a different word, but it normally means the same thing, and I will take that.  Phone – Telephone, Television – TV, etc.  He is also still very much himself – today he got quite angry because I hadn’t started a list of movies that we want to see.  I started a list of movies we want to see.  None of them open until Christmas, so I am glad I jumped right on that!

I feel like I am boring when I write here because nothing is really happening.  Vermont has been difficult for me because we are so isolated in so many ways, and I don’t have the support that I do in CA.  I get tired of having to come up with things to do or say to keep David engaged, and I am sure he would say that I am not doing a very good job of it.  I would have to agree.  That might be the answer to one of those cliche interview questions – “What is you biggest weakness?” – I have trouble coming up with things to keep people occupied.  I would make a really bad kindergarten teacher!  David would certainly agree with that, and if memory serves me, I think he has told me that before.

Joy left us today after a three day visit.  We didn’t do too much, just enjoyed her company, went to the movies on Saturday (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), relaxing days and good food.  We are so lucky to have such great friends.  We leave on Thursday for Nantucket, and are looking forward to a little diversion from the day to day here in Vermont.  We also looked at a house that we found intriguing in Bennington.  It was very nice, and a beautiful historic building, but at the end of the day, Scotsmere has more benefits than this house does.  I am always looking at places that have the potential to be easier for us to get around, and this house had space to spare, but higher ceilings, which means more steps to the second floor.  It did have a great open concept design for the living areas.  The other drawback was the access to the outdoor space was really limited to the front door, unless we were to build a deck off the back.  Who needs more projects, right?

We returned the rental car on Thursday and are now borrowing my Dad’s car, which is a great savings for us.  I also wasn’t really fond of the car we had – there wasn’t much space for the wheelchair, which made getting it in and out a little more difficult.  My Dad’s car is much more spacious.

We had some great weather while Joy was here, but it was muggy this morning and then started raining in the afternoon.  This will give us time to do some more quilting.  David has started sewing with the machine.  It is difficult with one hand, but he seems to be doing well.  Good therapy too!

You know how memories sometimes come streaming back to you?  Well, today, as we drove up to the house, I remembered Fred whenever we arrived in Vermont.  He would jump out of the car and dash up the driveway and around the corner only to come careening back around the corner bounding up to the front door.  I always worried, for just a moment, that he wouldn’t come back around that corner and would be gone forever, but that never happened, and why would it?  We were a happy trio.

Well, now it is just a duo, but happy we are.  Tonight we went out to dinner with Hatam and his family and were joined by my Dad and Judy.  Dinner was great, as was the company.  After dinner we headed back to the house for dessert.  David was in very good spirits and was able to contribute more to the conversation than he has in the past.  It was great to see, and I think he felt very good about it as well.
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We checked a few things off “The List” today, which always makes me feel better.  Unfortunately, or possibly fortunately, we are having to get a new stove for Vermont.  Now that we have a new propane tank, I was looking forward to getting rid of this electric stove that we have in the kitchen, but thought we could hold off for a bit.  The other night though, the stove started acting up and rather than call in a repairman, we are thinking we will just replace it.  I will be happier cooking on the gas.

Well, that was supposed to be the title for Independence Day, but I guess I missed that!  I have missed a lot.  We did get our hair cuts.  Both of us. Donovan’s visit was very nice, and we did a bunch sightseeing, but also some relaxing.  Hatam and his family are here now, and they are out for most of the day enjoying all that Vermont has to offer.  Continue to get the house in order, but also have to relax with the fact that there will always be work to be done.

So, the other bit of news that has something to do with the title is, that an old friend, who had a run in with the law is now free.  It is a long story and some of you may know it, and the rest will just have to use your imaginations.  I just got an email from her, and with visions of Orange is the New Black in my head, I was happy to hear that she was out.  Am looking forward with catching up with her, and finding out what her next steps are.  All in all, a very sad case, and completely unwarranted, as far as I am concerned.  Hoping she survived emotionally.

Today we also went to see the lovely and talented Julie Halston in a play at Powerhouse Theatre at Vassar in Poughkeepsie.  A lovely drive, and well worth the trip.  The play was The Babylon Line by Richard Greenberg, and we both really enjoyed it.  Great play and terrific performances all around.  I will add, as an aside, I had to get up and find the tickets to get the title of the play – I was thinking, Jericho Line? Bethlehem Line? Sodom Line?  It is terrible getting old, right?  So wonderful to see Julie and Ralph too.  She begins rehearsals in a few weeks for You Can’t Take it With You on Broadway, which opens in September.

I am now going to go back in time a bit.  On one of our evenings in London, we had a UNIS reunion of sorts.  Alexandra arranged for a group to meet at a great spot on the Thames near the Tate Modern.  It was a wonderful evening with a great group of folks.  As always, I end up being envious of what a great time these folks had in their High School years.  Mine were so awful, except for the year I escaped NJ, that whenever I hear what great learning environments other folks enjoyed, I get a bit angry, but mostly jealous.  I could go on, but, it would bore you.  I Was going to go on a rant, but will spare you all.

I touched on this a little, but I am finding it very difficult to get my routine going here in Vermont.  In Palm Springs, and even to a certain extent in Paris, I was able to find time to write and do everything that I wanted to do, but here, it is much more difficult.  It may be that I feel less comfortable with leaving David alone here.  Add to that the fact that to get anywhere takes 15 minutes, minimum.  Also, David has wanted to go with me almost everywhere, which makes shopping take about twice the time and effort.  Have you ever tried to push a shopping cart and a wheelchair at the same time?  Fortunately, Aldi’s has a wheelchair with a cart attached, so that makes that store a little easier.  I am hoping that before too long I get my groove back, and begin writing every night.  Every other night?  Once a week at this point would be an improvement!!

There have been all these random things running through my head, but I can never remember them with I sit down to write, and I am sure in the middle of the night something will jolt me awake.  Maybe I will write it tomorrow.

We both need haircuts.  We arrived in Vermont, and since opening the door to the house, I have been doing laundry, cleaning, and generally getting things straightened out, but the house still looks like some giant picked it up and rattled it around a bit.  I see a light, but it seems rather distant. Yesterday, Kathleen helped David plant the window boxes and I planted some herbs and flowers in the yard.  The outside of the house is looking pretty great.  Thanks Kathleen!

The last days of our European jaunt were very nice.  It was a whirlwind for Joy and Michael, but I think they saw a lot in a few days.  In Paris, spent the first day with Joy going to Jardin du Luxembourg, Notre Dame and the Marais.  Lots of walking, but a nice day.  Then we did some shopping on the Champs Elysées and lunch in the Tuileries on Wednesday.  We took the Eurostar to London on Thursday, and I thought we had given ourselves plenty of time, but between the train strike, a broken escalator and a security problem because of a suspicious package, the elevator was mobbed and it took forever to get to the train.  Once we were seated on the train, it was nice and easy.  It amazes me that you can get from Paris to London in a little over two hours!

Once in London, we headed to the flat, but it took a while to find where we needed to go to get a cab.  Everything was listed – buses, tube – but no sign for taxis.  Once we were settled, Joy, David and I took a stroll to Covent Garden and a bit around the West End.  Took a tour of London and also a cruise on the Thames.  David and I had lunch with John, who I worked with many years ago in NY.  He is looking great and it was great to catch up with him.  We also went to the theatre to see The 39 Steps, which we have seen before, but thought it would be nice for Joy and Michael.  We also walked down and saw the beginning of the changing of the guard, but decided move away from the mob that was following and seeing the entire changing.  I don’t remember London being as crowded as it was this visit.  Of course, I said the same thing about New York last year.  I just don’t know where all the people are coming from!

Our last night in London, we were meeting Debbie for dinner, and I looked up some restaurants, and we headed out.  One of the restaurants was closed, so we decided to go to an eastern European place that was nearby.  Well, it was probably the weirdest place I have ever been to, and believe me, I have been to some strange places.  There were huge silver (painted, of course) chairs that were supposed to be throne-like.  And booths around the room, each having its own special decor.  One was gold records (Elvis, Sinatra, etc), another had thimbles and my personal favorite had carved plaques with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, but also included a plaque with a naked lady wearing a red hat.  Very bizarre.  The waiter warned us when we sat that if David needed to use the restroom, he would have to go downstairs to the nightclub.  That probably should have been our cue to flee, but we stayed.  Apparently, there is a Russian youth hostel upstairs.  Very odd.  The food was OK, but very odd.

Anyway, it is nice to be settling back into a routine, of sorts.  As I mentioned, Kathleen visited for a few days from DC, and it is a welcome break for me.  Tomorrow Donovan arrives, and then later this week, we have a visit from Hatam and his family from UNIS.

Well, sorry it has been such a lapse, but our last week in Paris was a whirlwind, and we are now safe and happy and exhausted in London.  I will back up and tell a bit about our days in Paris before Joy and Michael arrived and then the trip to London and our first day in London.

Last Friday we went to see Le Roi et Moi, which was sadly in English.  If you haven’t caught it, this was R&H’s The King and I.  To begin our trip to the theatre, we headed out the door and were surprised to not see a single cab, Autolib’ or Uber to be had.  Quite unusual and shocking, so after seeing that if we waited in the line for a cab at the cabstand we would miss the first act, we started walking.  As we headed down the Champs Elysées I checked on my phone for Autolib’ and a car was available by the Petit Palais, so I reserved it and we headed that way.  As you might guess, the traffic was horrendous and I thought we would still miss the beginning of the show as we were crawling by the Louvre.  I had noticed earlier and then as we headed along, that there were lots of firemen out in both dress and normal uniforms, which seemed odd, but I thought there must be a firemen’s ball or something.  Once we passed the Louvre, the traffic began to move a bit more, and we made it to the theatre just in time.  At the theatre, there were firemen opening doors for people and helping us into the lobby.  My best guess was that it was the firemen’s community service night.  I still don’t know exactly what was happening, but, always nice to see the firemen out.

The show started, and our seats were not great, but for €10 each, I couldn’t complain, and at the end of the show, I was glad that we hadn’t paid for better seats.  When we bought them the box office agents said we could get better seats for more money, but I opted for the handicapped seats.  The show was disappointing in general, but I have to say that it is wonderful to hear a show like that with a full orchestra, and I mean a full orchestra.  Not just a pit band.  I blame the director for the poor quality of the show.  That and they seemed not so well rehearsed.  Anyway, at the end of the day, we were glad we went, but it wasn’t fabulous.

On Saturday, we went out with Alex and Claire to The Bristol for drinks, which was lovely, and something nice to do, but, expensive.  €26 for a cocktail, but, they do give you a free pre-cocktail drink and kept filling up our snacks.  Also, the mirror over the bar that turned into a huge TV screen was pretty cool.  Watched a bit of the World Cup and then we headed off for dinner.  A local restaurant that looked very nice, but, honestly and sorry to say, it was the first bad restaurant experience we have had in Paris.  Inattentive staff, eurotrash fellow customers and the food wasn’t so good.  Needless to say, all this came at quite a price.  Have crossed this one off the list.  Le Boeuf Sur Toit.  Not worth the time or the money, and it was recommended.  Maybe it was a bad night, but life is too short.

Sunday we had Alex, Claire, Theo, Ed and Alexis over for dinner.  I was planning on making chicken and had done some preliminary shopping on Saturday, but was looking forward to going to a local street market to pick up some last minute things.  On the morning, I checked online to see what types of merchants would be at this market, and I had made what I like to refer to as a Scott mistake.  The market was open on Saturday, not Sunday.  I immediately checked to see what time the Franprix was open until, and they were closing in an hour.  Claire was on her way to help me out, so I ran to the store to get chicken and the few remaining items.  They didn’t have butchered chickens, so I had to buy whole and wasn’t looking forward to the job of cutting them up.  I got home, and Claire arrived, and I explained that we weren’t going to the market as planned.  Butchered the chicken and began cooking.  Made chicken with a white wine and mustard sauce with roasted broccoli and mushrooms and onions.  A wonderful evening!  Or at least I thought so.
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Then, on Monday, Joy and Michael arrived.  Their flight was delayed by about two hours, but they arrived safe and sound.  So great to see them.  Michael went to sleep immediately, and Joy, David and I headed out for a walk.  Not too long, but nice, and a good introduction to Paris.

Then a nap, and off to our dinner cruise.  It was very nice, and glad that we did it.  The dinner was nice, but the views along the Seine were great.  The one glitch was that at about 10pm the captain had slowed down near the Eiffel Tower so we could have a good view of the light show.  At 10:10pm, I asked the waiter if he knew why the tower didn’t do its thing, and he said that tonight was the first night that they didn’t light the tower until 11pm.  Otherwise a great night.

I am going to end this post now, and publish, because otherwise, I won’t get it done until mid-July!  We are beginning our last day in London today, and having a great time.  We all fly out tomorrow morning and David and I will be in Vermont tomorrow night.

Well, time has certainly flown by.  We have a week left in Paris, and I am feeling a little blue about that.  We have done a lot during our time here.  Blade and Ralph visited, my pal Anthony was here over the weekend and we have Joy and Michael to look forward to.  We also have a few days in London before we head back across the pond.

We have been reading How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City which is very interesting, and a perfect companion to the book we read before, Paris Reborn: Napoléon III, Baron Haussmann, and the Quest to Build a Modern City.  In the current book, it becomes clear that Napoléon III and Haussmann were really only carrying out existing ideas.  Neither book is to heavy with history, but rather, talks about the character of the city, and its push to be modern and always looking to the future.  All this is very true.  I have also always found Paris a very walkable city, and it is reassuring that that is indeed what the idea was as early as the sixteenth century.  Also the relationship between walking and fashion.  I love this stuff.

In the past few days, while I have been MIA, we went to the Shoah Memorial to see an exhibit of photos from the ghettos of Europe during WWII.  Such depressing stuff.  Even more depressing is the need for such intense security at the memorial.  It is painful to think that anti-semitism is still such a force in otherwise enlightened parts of the world.  Granted, it goes way beyond just anti-semitism, and really can be chalked up to anti-otherism.  It also isn’t restricted to any country or continent.  While going through the exhibit, the French weren’t coming out looking so great with the Vichy government gladly handing over Jews to the Nazis, and I could only feel sad at the thought that given the chance, Americans would have done the same at the time.  Thank God for FDR.  Yes, he could have done more, and maybe I should really be grateful for Eleanor! Sometimes history is so depressing.

David at Dinner with Anthony

Anthony in Sainte-Chapelle

Who’s pouring tea today at Nissim de Comondo

Again, where is Mrs. Patmore?

Anthony’s escargot

Anthony in Paris

Window in Sainte-Chapelle

The windows at Sainte-Chapelle

Where’s Mrs. Patmore? Not at Nissim de Comondo!

We had two great days, one with Alex and Theo and yesterday with Claire.  With Claire we went to the Musée Nissim de Comondo, which was a beautiful house on Parc Monceau.  The house was pretty spectacular and backed up to the park.  I found the kitchen and servants dining and working quarters the most interesting.  I kept expecting Daisy or Mr. Bates to appear at any moment.  With Alex and Theo, we just stayed at home because it rained in the morning.  Today we are planning on going to the D’Orsay to see an exhibit on Van Gogh based on a book Van Gogh, the Man Suicided by Society by Artaud.  Won’t be too depressing, right??!!

We set out today on the first day we have had in Paris with not a chance of rain and over 80°.  Not that we haven’t had some pretty nice days, and always a good time, but today was spectacular.  I suggested that we take a walk through the Tuileries, and we headed off.  I had forgotten that this weekend is the Jardins Jardin show at the Tuileries.  A nice garden show in the park.  We paid our 11 euros and walked though the show.  As we walked through, one of the reps of the show stopped to let us know that when we wanted to go up to the upper area, we should speak to one of the security folks, and they would show us the way.  After looking around, we wanted to go up to the upper level, and asked the guard at the front, who didn’t speak English, and didn’t really get what I was asking.  Fortunately, another guard came by, and he didn’t speak English either, but understood what I was asking, and told us he would meet us on the other side of the Orangerie and unlock the gate.  We walked up the ramp to the Orangerie, and met the guy, and he let us in.  When we were ready to leave, I walked down to the lower level to find the guy to let us out, and asked the same guy at the front who didn’t know what I was asking the first time, but now he understood, and told me to wait on the upper level.  We were soon on our way.  Pictures of our day are below!

Wouldn’t this be a nice guest room in Vermont?

Interesting planting idea using plastic filing boxes

Like this idea too.

I want this! Love the books and the Candide reference just adds to the charm

View to the Orangerie through the garden

A view from the upper level of the garden show

Relaxing in our large beach chair. Like this for Vermont too.

David at lunch in the Tuileries.

Another view to the Orangerie.

We stopped for lunch at the same place we did a few weeks ago in the garden, which was again, very good.  It was at this point that I should have left perfect alone.  I decided that we should to and investigate the dinner cruise that I was thinking of booking for us to take when Joy and Michael get here.  It was on the left bank, near St Germain, and I was worried about the access with the wheelchair.  We made it down, but the cobblestones where just like Versailles.  The boat looked good and it will be OK for us to get on and off, which was good.  I then thought that we should take the BateauBus back to the Eiffel Tower, because I knew from my run, that the embankment there was paved and easier for us to walk on.  We got on the boat with no problem, but David began to get anxious and maybe a little hot, which was unusual, because he has been cold most of the time.  He wanted to get off the boat at the stop by the Louvre, and I said that the guy who sold me the tickets said that that stop and the Eiffel Tower were the only other stops that were accessible, so we got off.  Unfortunately, it was quite a rutted hike to the access to the street, and David was not happy about it.  He actually got out of the wheelchair for a while so he wouldn’t be bumped around any more.  Once up on the main streets, we made out way back to the apartment.

David blames me for the bumpy ride, but I claim that if we had followed my original plan, we wouldn’t have had to deal with the bumpy ride.  We agreed to disagree.  As we were walking through the park across the street, the police told us that the park was closed, which lets me know that the dignitaries are still around.  And I thought that they had all left Paris to go to Normandy, but I guess they came back this evening.

We started reading another book about Paris and its design.  Some great insights into the development and the character of the city.  It is also giving us more history that leads up to the redesign of Paris in the 19th Century.  Work that started with the building of the Pont Neuf long before Napoleon III.

Over the past week, we have noticed that all these British and French flags have been going up all over Paris.  First it started on the Champs Elysées and last night on our way to Alex and Claire’s they were erecting flag poles on the way to Les Invalides.  Now, the cab driver who took us to Versailles said that David Cameron was coming to town, but I was beginning to think that it seemed like a lot of work for a Prime Minister.  I then thought, well, it is the anniversary of D-Day, but it seemed odd that there were just British and French flags.  I started thinking that the queen must be coming to town, and tried to look that up online, but nothing. So, I forgot about it.

Today was a beautiful day, and after taking a nice long walk along the Seine with David, we wandered through town, and headed back home, had a great lunch, and then I headed off to the gym for a little while.  I was walking back, and suddenly found it very difficult to find my way home.  I wasn’t lost, but just came across a lot of closed streets as I came closer to the apartment.  Most of the activity was centered around the British Embassy, which is next door to the Palais Elysées (the home of the French President).  We are a block away in the other direction.  When I reached a point where I could no longer walk any further, I made a loop around and thought I might be able to circle around.  Certainly I would be able to cross the street at Ave. Matignon, I thought.  As I approached Rue du Faubourg St Honoré, I found myself walking in step with a gentleman who was walking with the same determination that I was, and as we both approached the corner, I though we would not be able to cross here either, but there it was.  The motorcycles escorting a large limousine carrying the Queen of England!  Yes, Elizabeth II in all her pink splendor – hat and all.  Didn’t see the purse, but I am sure there was one.  I didn’t see Phillip, but understand that he was with her.  It was at this point that my French friend turned to me and just said “Incroyable!” and I just said “oui!”  He said a lot more, and I caught “Elizabeth” and “rose” but nothing else.

Fortunately, the road opened after the car passed, and we were able to cross.  As I looked head towards the Champs Elysées, I saw that the barricades were up and the roads crossing were all closed, so I figured that the royal procession would be heading back soon.  I got back and David wanted to take a walk, so we headed out, but no sight of the Queen, just the crowds, so we headed home.  I was making dinner and needed to head to the store to shop, so I grabbed my cart and went.  Here is what I encountered on my way:

Anyway, the whole evening has been pretty busy outside the apartment.  Sirens and police.  Poor President Hollande!  It must be a diplomatic nightmare.  The Queen of England, Obama and Putin!  And Obama and Putin won’t have dinner together, so it is dinner with Obama and “supper” with Putin.  I think the commotion I just heard was Putin leaving supper a the Palais.

Things have been crazy for us too.  Not The Queen, but with two of our favorite queens, we have been quite busy.  Yesterday, we slept most of the day away.  It was rainy, so that was not a bad thing.  On Sunday, I forgot to mention that we had a visit from Mitty and her grand-daughter who is about the same age as Theo, and we all had a great afternoon in the park.  So great to see her and reconnect.  She is impressed by David’s progress as well.

The other bit of catching up, and the main reason we were both exhausted yesterday was our full day of Versailles and Roland Garros.  We got up early and headed out to Versailles and after doing some research, we decided to take a cab out, because I was worried about the wheelchair and the train.  I walked to the station the day before, and while there was an elevator, you had to have someone come and open it, and I always hate having to rely on the kindness of strangers.  Particularly when my French is so bad.  It took a while to find a cab, but we did, and he was great.  Mostly because I could sort of understand him.  I was sitting up in front and we actually had, sort of a conversation.  I told him that I drove a Smartcar in Santorini, or that is what I think I told him.  Who really knows.

We got out to Versailles in time, and joined our group.  Rolling over the cobblestones was not easy on me, and even worse on David.  I said that I felt like I had been using a jackhammer and that David must have felt like he was inside.  The short garden tour was nice, but once inside the palace, the crowds were so overwhelming and navigating with the wheelchair was a challenge.  There were a few moments that I thought I would like to ram the chair into a few folks shins.  Ralph and Blade actually bailed on the tour about half way through, and I didn’t blame them.  If I could have found my way out, I might have done the same.  The guide was great, with lots of information, but in the end, it just wasn’t pleasant with all the people.  We got out, and I made David suffer some more jackhammering as we made out way to a cafe for lunch.  Then we walk to the train to head to Roland Garros.  It wasn’t the Metro, but and RER train, and from my research, they were supposed to be accessible.  We were OK, but they were not what we would call accessible.  A few steps up to the train and then a few more to seats.  Then when we got to the station, there was a full flight of stairs to get out of the station.  David handled them nicely and he was pretty proud of himself.

He said he had to use a bathroom and we were a bit worried because we often found that bathrooms in cafes were down stairs or difficult to use for people with limited mobility.  Blade checked out a cafe on the corner, and they actually had a handicapped bathroom.  Then, we took a car to the tennis center, and went in.  Blade and I went into the stadium to check out the seats and figure out what our approach would be to get David in.  Sadly, there was no way he was going to get into the stadium.  The seats were up three flights of stairs and there was no elevator.  We asked, and nobody seemed to have any idea where the elevator was, but they thought that there was one.  There wasn’t.

David and I watched on the big screen, and then went to have a glass of champagne.  I knew there was an elevator to the lounge, but when we got there, there was a plastic chain blocking the way with a sign that the best I could figure out said that you needed to call a number they listed to get help with the elevator.  I called, and they were confused and gave me another number to call, which I did.  They were also confused, but called someone who was less confused, and said that the elevator worked, and I should just remove the chain and use it.  I did.  It just seemed very odd and unhelpful to put a useless obstacle in the way of people who were already dealing with so many other obstacles.  Weird.  I do have to say, I miss the US and the ADA requirements.  Paris is so great in so many other ways, but in this particular way, they are way behind the times.  There is an elevator in the stadium, by the way, but the best I could make out was that it was either for the press boxes or some VIP boxes.

Well, that was a lot, wasn’t it??