Missed us?

http://cyberblogue.com/vcenter-virtual-appliance-system-partition-100-disk-usage-space-full/ I’m sure you have been wondering where we have been, well at least we would like to think so.

Lurasidone shipped overnight delivery The long and the short of it is that we were actually and earnestly apartment shopping.  Without going into the the long and sordid details we looked at about 11 apartments all over the city.  We had set a minimum square meter limit of 40 and a maximum of 70.

Unfortunately we were unable to find anything in our budget.  We found two units that could have worked: the first needs a great deal of renovation and the second, while close to fitting our requirements, still required some physical changes and the cost of either would have tipped the budget over $1,000,000.  And, that’s before furnishings required to make it habitable. So rather that place ourselves under financial duress, we have called it quits.  We decided that our ship has left the dock, we are either too old, too financially conservative, or our desire for ownership just is not strong enough.

The good news is there are still many beautiful apartments here in Paris for us to continue to lease for our extended stays.  A million-dollars will allow us to rent a high-end apartment for 5-weeks for the next 83 years! Maybe even buy the new iPad!

Now what?

The poster photo for the exhibit about Les Halles

Well, today were are headed over to the Hotel De Ville for an exhibition of photographs Robert Diosneau of Les Halles. This exhibit of photographs traces the history of Les Halles (only from 1933 through 1979). We had always wondered what Les Halles was like when Emile Zola wrote the “Belly of Paris.” We had seen ceramic tiles in a few bistros painted with scenes from the old Les Halles, but we hoped to gain further insight.  Mr. Diosneau focused much of his work on the people and their work (the good, bad, and ugly) to provide food for the people of Paris. Example an early 1950’s photo featured two young women eating their lunch in front of a rack of rodents. Remember 1952 was post war France and necessities were in short supply.

The former Les Halles, merchants expanded beyond the covered spaces

The former Les Halles was a beauty of its own kind, glass and steel, expanded through necessity into the surrounding streets. It closed in 1969 with a promise to Parisians for better functionality, cleanliness, and expanded services through their brand-new market at Rungis.  But the exhibit clearly portrayed Rungis (yes, more sanitary) but essentially a box or cube with no intrinsic value or architectural interest.  Meanwhile, Les Halles was reduced to a pile of rubble.

Les Halles, iron work and glass, makes way for the "new" Les Halles, a shopping center where teenagers hang

We always found the Les Halles replacement, opened in 1979, somewhat a idea that went “wrong.” Every time we visited it, changed Metro lines at that station, or exited from it, Les Halles was clogged with teenagers – just hanging out, very much like suburban shopping malls in the US. Well, this exhibit at Hotel de Ville takes urban renewal to a new hope: the area will be converted to a garden/green space, a traveler’s center where the RER and Metro connect, and retail/shopping space, as well as space devoted to the arts. The line to get into the exhibit was long, but we waited, surrounded by French residents, chatting about what to expect. The visit concluded with a video depicting the new spaces and its impact on the surrounding streetscape.  One of the anticipated changes is a renewed emphasis on the church St-Eustache which has til now been somewhat shrouded by Les Halles (the replacement). When the project is finished in 2016, its architecture will stand proudly and distinctly against the Parisian streetscape.

We left the exhibit, considering whether to purchase the catalogue of the photographs we had seen, deciding that another book was just too much to carry home.  We headed over to the Guerlain store in the Marais, stopping at a neighborhood bistro for an omelette for lunch.  The weather had warmed up considerably so we opted for 25cl of Provencal rose instead of red to accompany lunch.

A display at Guerlain promoting their new fragrance

After a short walk we found Guerlain, where I found that just last week they had introduced a new fragrance, La Petit Robe Noir, or little black dress. I decided I had to have some, naturally.

After my purchase, we walked down to the Seine, strolled along the Seine to St-Michel, where I had seen an item I was interested in.  On our way back, across the river, we stopped at Soleil d’Or, sitting in the sun and enjoying a cup of coffee. We happened to sit next to a delightful couple from Canada, engaged in a conversation, and directed them to Galeries-Lafayette, their next destination.  On the way back to the apartment, I stopped in a little shop and purchased a wonderful red and tan purse – with a purse inside, extra straps, etc – so functional and part of their 2012 spring collection.

My purchases! Don't you love the packaging of my new perfume?

Mike stopped by G. Detou to pick up some colorings and ingredients he needs for molecular gastronomy – but they are just little white plastic jars. When he asked about gellen gum, the clerk sent him to a bookstore around the corner.  However, they only sold it in 1 kg or 2.2 lbs quantities – it would probably be confiscated by the Department of Agriculture anyway!

This new bookstore today called Librairie Gourmande, with most of its books in French, but the number of books on cooking is mind boggling, they even have a huge coffee table book on Macarons.  I guess the just goes to prove the theory that you can do a coffee table book on anything.  They also sell molecular gastronomy supplies. I have added the resource to blog entry Kitchen Suppliers and Cooking in Paris.