We arrived at CDG safely, after being in the plane 11.5 hours. Extra time was needed for picking up passengers at Calgary, and we were not allowed to leave the plane. We were so thankful we had purchased seats with extra room in all directions, though sleep was impossible. We arrived in Paris at about 10:45 p.m. Vancouver time/7:45 Paris time. The lady at customs looked ever so stern, but asked us nothing and simply stamped our passports, so we were "in". When getting a taxi, we sought assurance that he accepted credit cards (we got stung last year), only to discover that I neglected to write down my new code for my US credit card (Janice's works). The taxi ride was at the very height of rush hour, but we got an excellent driver who knew how to move from lane to lane smoothly and calmly. I complimented him on his driving. The Bloughs were here to welcome us most warmly. Since we have lived here one month/year for seven years, we know exactly where to put everything in the small room by now. We went shopping, at times almost falling over from being disoriented while negotiating the uneven pavement, but we made it, got by with our French, and had a nice light lunch.
On Friday evening, even though we were in a haze, we took a brief walk to our of our favourite streets on the edge of St Maurice, the Rue du Docteur Decorse (he had been the mayor of Saint Maurice from 1876-1886 and the chief surgeon at the hospital). The street begins just off the small but attractive Square du Val d'Osne and runs parallel to the Saint-Maurice Hospital and the Avenue de Gravelle, which runs along the edge of the Bois de Vincennes (Woods of Vincennes, former royal hunting ground). The houses are in a somewhat older style, likely mostly from the late 1800s and early 1900s. They were built for people of some substance. By now, some are a bit rundown, some are clearly renovated, and there are quite a few that I would enjoy seeing--and using for my own!
This first shot sums up how we feel, even today (our second full day is always the hardest).
As we walk uphill on Rue du Val d'Osne, on which the Centre is located, I always enjoy seeing the tall block of apartments on the corner. Its roof line of slate is so French, and it looks like the builder hoped that other buildings would adjoin this one and continue the lines, but it was not to be. You can just barely see that the building then goes back into the deep lot, with room for quite a few residents.
People are always looking for work. One old ad, pasted on this descending spout for rain water from a roof, indicates that a woman is looking for some cleaning, another indicates that a man is able to fix just about everything imaginable in your flat, etc.
It doesn't take long to find places that ought to be contacting handymen.
This (below) is a bit of the Square du Val d'Osne. It has a small fountain in a sort of roundabout, surrounded by nice flowers and a wide path for pedestrians, typically made of fine stones well-packed and firm. The Rue du Docteur Decorse begins at the left of the house with two colours of bricks and great plantings.
The house's wisteria is in full bloom, with a wonderful spring-like perfume. The sidewalk is the typical red smooth paving that children love because their small scooters can really move along swiftly, to and from most anywhere, especially school.
These purple flowers were creeping out of the space between the iron fence and its supporting stone wall.
I assume that the new lock on the left works and the slot for a small crank (?) on the right no longer proves useful, but what do I know.
They say that if we were to leave our cities alone, empty, vegetation would soon take over. That gives me hope.
Janice wanted me to show you these truly uncomfortable chairs, a two-seater, which might have been elegant in a previous era. Apparently it is too valuable to toss and too worthless to fix.
Saint Maurice, "City of Flowers", a designation that towns and villages crave, both in the hope of their residents taking pride in their homes and window boxes, and in the hope that people will visit.
I can't resist a nice graffito, if indeed that is what it even is.
No comments:
Post a Comment