Chanda mama

Song - Chada mama by Song Around the World - Playing for Change

Chada mama is moon in India

Goodnight Moon - Day 21

Song - Instant Karma by John Lennon

This post is taken from my French travel journal and my trip through Southern France in April 2018.  For some reason my iPad and Blog were not communicating at the time so I was unable to write any posts. At home I am able to blog "post" travel! Thanks for joining me on the journey!

Au revoir Avignon!  Time to head to the TGV station and head on back to Paris.  But not before a little drama........you know how they say that there are two kinds of people.........those that fill up their gas tank when they are a quarter of a tank down and that would be me......Mr. B is the other kind.......

.......those that fill up their tank when they are running on fumes......yup!  So quickly I Googled the nearest gas station and the tank wouldn't accept any of our credit cards.  We even had a French family trying to help us.  So we go to plan B......and barely eeek into the next gas station.  Success as we had to 1) get to the train on time 2) return the rental car full of gas and 3) keep your wife happy!

 The TGV platform in Avignon.  I have to say that I do love riding the trains in Europe.  They are smooth, fast, clean and on time.  And they have a decent dining car.

 So after a glass of wine and two Croque Monsieus, we were quite content to sit back and watch the countryside unfold around us.

 Passing little villages......

 ......fields of mustard, cows and sheep............and before we knew it........

.........we were at the Gare de Lyon in Paria waiting for an Uber.

 And back to the hustle and bustle of everything that is uniquely Paris!

 We had made reservations at Hotel des Saints-Peres in the 6th.  We love staying at Hotel de l'Abbaye but their prices have gotten so high that we decided to try somewhere new. 

 They have both an indoor and outdoor sitting area. And serve a wonderful breakfast buffet. Very nice and helpful staff as well as a great location.  But it's not our beloved Hotel de l'Abbaye!

 Upon the suggestion of our hotel, we dined at the Brasserie Vagenende on the Boulevard St. Germain. It was a little too fussy for our taste but it was a decent meal.

 Mr. B enjoying his oysters and wine.

And a rack of lamb for his main course.

 And I can't believe how much duck I have enjoyed on this trip!

 Walking home we passed by Les Deux Magots and stopped for a glass of wine so I could take some photos of the waiters to paint from at a future date.  It's always fun to people watch from our little outdoor table and soon we were playing a private game of "I'm more French than you".....as the people passing our table were getting more and more fun!  Who should win?  The lady with the six inch heels that has a little doggy in her arms and bright red lipstick or the older man with riding boots, loud plaid sports coat and a big cigar or the young man in a fur coat and studs??? But all good evenings must come to an end.......

Goodnight moon.........

"Yeah we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars and the sun."

--John Lennon

Returning to France - Day 13

Song - Moon River by Clapton & Beck

The morning began with the death of a croissant! 

It wasn't pretty but it was delicious.  

Then we were off to see the gardens of Villandry.

Beautiful as ever but they were kind of in between......the bulbs were mostly finished and they had just done some new plantings that hadn't begun to bloom. The "bones" of this amazing garden are still intact and beautiful.

As I walked around the greenhouse to take a peek inside I stumbled upon these little beauties growing wild along a stone wall.

We had lunch in the courtyard near the entrance to Villandry under large umbrellas.

Quiche and a salad for me and salad with prosciutto for Mr. B. 

We both decided that we were a little too tired to go to Chateau d'Usse (the sleeping beauty castle) and returned to our hotel in Chinon to rest.  I had been up coughing for the last five nights and had laryngitis. It's always best if the navigator on the trip and can't speak above a whisper! 

Later that night we dined outside at L'Entrepotes in Chinon.

While the service and food were delicious, they had AstroTurf on the ground and bright fuchsia colored pots scattered about as well as plastic table lamps.  But as night descended and several glasses of wine later.......I mellowed out!

Here is their wine list that they bring to your table!

I'm thinking I'll get over the fuchsia glasses as well.

Mr. B had a huge platter of salmon as a first course.

And prawns in a Provencal sauce for his main.

While I had a humongous plate of duck!

And an amazing chocolate cake.

The light from the moon guided us back home along the rivers edge.....

"I've never seen a moon in the sky that, 

if it didn't take my breath away, 

at least misplaced it for a moment."

-- Colin Farrell 

Mr. Moon

Song - Moon Shadow by Cat Stevens


 Just in case you were not up early on Wednesday morning.....

5:02 am

.....I took these for you!

 

5:24 am

6:12 am

Unfortunately I forgot to set up my tripod the night before so the photos are a little wonkey but you get the idea of this spectacular moon event!

"The world is full of magic things 

patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper."

--attributed to W.B. Yeats

Luna

Song - Moon Shadow by Cat Stevens

So on Monday morning, I awoke early and got my solar eclipse supplies ready.....two pinhole cards, a cheese grater (because I read somewhere that multiple holes look really cool) and my ever ready camera.

But it was overcast and not expected to clear until noon - the eclipse was happening between 9:30-11am.  So I headed over to my mother's house and we sat on her back deck and waited.

And then we saw it between breaks in the clouds.....

We had fun waiting for the sun-moon to peek out from the clouds and it sure did.

Mr. B stopped by for awhile and tried to be my mom's eclipse glasses when it got bright. He is a conscientious son-in-law and loves mom.

Now my brother on the other hand headed up to Oregon and got to experience the total eclipse with his family.  He said it got very cool and the street lights came on. There was also the look of a 360 degree sunrise around them. Now they are stuck in traffic.....

"Yeah, we all shine on.  

Like the moon, and the stars, and the sun."

--John Lennon

Practicing

Song - I Live For the Sun by The Sunrays

In May of 2012 we had a partial eclipse and I remember how eerie everything looked outside.  Above is a photo of Mr. B with a pin hole piece of paper showing the crescent shape onto the deck railing.

I happened to have two pin holes and reflected them onto a garden sculpture of a bird.

 

Shadows were exaggerated. 

And the backyard had a very strange color along with extra long shadows.

So many of my friends and family are heading north to Oregon to experience the "total eclipse".  I hope it's amazing for them!!!

"Dear God, If you want us to 

impeach Trump, give us a sign.  

Like, blot out the sun...anytime in the next week.  

Thanks, Americans"  -- Pinterest

The Boys Are Back in Town




Acrylic - 48" x 60"
by Jeanette Baird

  Completed a large & special painting yesterday. It is of my oldest son and three of his friends who all needed money for the summer of 2002. We offered them the job of digging out our hillside for a spa.  They did an incredible job and took a moment to pose for the camera.  I began this 4 x 5 painting at home about 6 months ago.  Three weeks ago I took it to Lafayette Studio to finish.  Getting it there and back was quite a process.  Woke at 4am and watched the sliver of a moon rise.  Beautiful!

Don't stop believing. Thank you Giants!

One day, while Renoir was being fitted for new eyeglasses, he threw 
them to the floor, crying, "Good God, I see like Bouguereau!"  - Paul 
Soderberg