paris and a three in one day
4 november 2001

in spite of recent heinous airline events, we are determined to keep travelling. we actually considered going to istanbul because a great fare came up but on closer examination decided it wasn't a good time to be an american traipsing through a muslim country. sad but true. life has changed since september 11 but cowering in fear cannot be part of our daily routine and so we struggle to keep pace with our "pre terror" lifestyle. fortunately, there are options; not every trip requires getting on a plane. our good friends john and aaron are living in paris so we spontaneously invited ourselves over for the weekend. trying to leave this city on a friday afternoon is always a hectic process but that's how it was to be since gary was working on something that had to be finished before our departure. everything that could have gone wrong did.....we left late, the taxi was stuck in traffic, we didn't have train tickets and the train was leaving in about 14 minutes. bad combo. gary flew out of the taxi and i went to pick up a newspaper, our plan being to meet on the platform. this just happened to be the one day they had tightened security and i wasn't allowed up to the platform without a ticket. so i waited...and waited... and just assumed there was no way gary was able to get through the queue and score the tickets. i managed to leave my mobile phone at home so calling him was out of the question. the train came and went. ten minutes later, i saw him coming toward me shaking the tickets and saying, "i had the tickets, where were you?". i considered crying and just going home at that point. he went up a different stairway than the one i was waiting at and he didn't realize they wouldn't let me up without a ticket, blah blah, blah. after sulking and bickering, we hauled ourselves back to the ticket office and exchanged them for the next train, 2 hours later. the high speed train is about 4 hours to paris but on this night, it was more like 5. finally arriving, it was pretty late, almost midnight and we weren't able to get metro tickets as the office was already closed and the machine wouldn't take our credit card and we had no french coins and of course it didn't give change. was this really happening? taking a taxi was our last option and so we waited in the queue that was winding around for about 40 minutes. it was after 1am when we actually got to john and aaron's place. the guests from hell.

catching up and dishing took us into the middle of the night and needless to say we slept in. they have a grand apartment with a grand piano, a magnificent bosendorfer. that is one beautiful instrument. gary was certainly in hog heaven getting his hands on those beautiful keys. i didn't mind being serenaded while taking a shower and doing my hair. when in paris, one must eat croissants with nutella and other delectable spreads for breakfast; even more special in someone's home. we eventually emerged into daylight at about 1pm as our gracious hosts escorted us down a street where some ladies of the night were unfashionably on view in the day. we unanimously agreed the one sporting the pillbox hat was the most creatively dressed. in general, it wasn't pretty. however, the architecture was. paris is just a gorgeous city with its light colored stone and flower clad balconies. as in most european cities, being on foot is the ticket, allowing one to see all that's happening. and paris is definitely happening. we were heading to the theatre box office to see about getting tickets for alvin ailey american dance theatre, who were performing that very night. i was sure the concert would be completely sold out as they've been around for 40 years and are quite popular all over the world. we got lucky and managed to get tickets, although not together and behind some columns. we would take our chances. i had a feeling it would be worth it.

there's always time for a museum on a rainy afternoon; the problem is which one to go to. i had never been to the pompidou, creme de la creme of contemporary art. it certainly is. the outside design is most unique with giant rainbow colored pipes making up the central facade and the collection of art is extensive. i'm usually turned off by installments but i found quite a few to be more interesting than weird. there are masses of paintings by some of my favs such as matisse and picasso and i also discovered a couple of new, less well known names. as afternoon melded into evening, i was very excited about the performance we were going to. i hadn't seen the ailey company live for about 20 years. this is a company intent on making dance accessible to everyone. in fact, that was precisely ailey's life goal and although he died in 1988, his legacy successfully lives on. the company is really strong, primarily black, highly energetic, and really connected to the earth. how refreshing to see these dancers get down. it's been some time since we've seen anything this powerful. every moment of this performance was riveting and they happened to have chosen three exquisite pieces of choreography, the last being ailey's signature work called "revelations". it's based on the gospel and his church experiences as a young boy. it's a timeless piece that has the spirit and energy of a new work and it's wonderful. for an encore the company re danced the whole last section! we topped off the evening with a late dinner. john and aaron have exclusive taste in fine food and we love going to fine french restaurants with them. {please refer to previous log dated 24 november 2000 for details}. walking home at 2am, the streets were still bustling, not only with people but traffic as well. i can barely make it til midnight these days; i guess i'm more cosmo during the day.

weekends in paris are definitely too short, especially if you sleep late. making the most of our remaining time, we had a glorious brunch, something that doesn't exist in amsterdam. a huge plate of smoked salmon, various meats and cheeses, giant cappucinos, and a basket of croissants and breads got us going. then a quick stroll through the jewish section of town, one of the more lively places on sunday because the shops are open. using up every possible moment, having said a quick goodbye to our hosts, we had to rush to make the train. we got on with about 2 minutes to spare, sweating and panting our way into our seats. and then....hurry up and wait. we had to change trains due to some technical problem. here we go again, about an hour delay. at least we could just sit back and reflect on our fabulous visit to see our friends living in paris. we are eager to return the favor so we hope they come over soon.

our most recent spontaneous excursion took place via rental car; a toyota painted a strange color of gold. we headed south through some of those charming ubiquitous dutch towns. ever since we were in the states a couple of months ago, i've had this burning desire to go to the country and breathe the air. we had planned to do that while in philly but of course nothing went as planned after the terrorist attacks. sometimes living in the city with the ever present hordes of people really gets to us and requires a short escape. maastricht is about a 2 hour drive from amsterdam. it lies at the very tip of holland north of belgium and west of germany in the limburg region. it also was filled with crowds but at least it was a change of scenery. the river maas runs through the town and it's one of the oldest settlements in holland, first inhabited by the romans. here you find three languages and currencies happily coexisting. we still intended to settle for the night in a more rustic setting but first enjoyed wandering around the huge open square flanked by restaurants on three sides, with everyone lounging in the warm afternoon air drinking coffee. we happened by the beautiful st. servaaskerk much more impressive than the austere cathedrals in amsterdam. this was both romanesque with rounded dome over the altar and gothic with it's pointed windows and criss crosses making up the rest of the ceiling. the dome was painted in striking blues and pinks, colors reminiscent of the 15th century italian frescoes. it was actually built in the 10th century, with the original crypt still intact. on to the tourist office. we still intended to find that quiet setting to stay the night. they were able to book us in a town not far away just over the border in belgium. you wouldn't know you were in a different country as no sign was posted. the hotel was simple, but adequate and we had a lovely dinner at what appeared to be the only restaurant in town. during dinner, we noticed a marching band parading around the block a few times. when we asked our waitress what they were doing or practicing for she said she didn't know and that "these people here are crazy". she emphasized that she was dutch. we didn't really get it but laughed with her politely. we took a glorious after dinner stroll by the river, the only sounds being the ducks, an occasional splash of fish, some faraway voices drifting out from a bar. the air was clean and a quiet hush enveloped us.

it was raining sunday morning with the pervasive smell of wet leaves hanging around. deelish! we drove through some tree lined windy roads stopping periodically to take a picture of the small hills of this part of belgium. destination: luxembourg. the skies gradually cleared as we journeyed south towards that tiny country. we took the super highway and then as we crossed into luxembourg, got back onto smaller roads. we came to a town called wiltz and stopped to take a look at a memorial erected to honor the u.s. troops who liberated the area in 1945. there was an interesting map depicting their route; it took a month to for them to get to the next town not very far away. on the ledge of the memorial was placed a ceramic planter with greens, a hand written note attached to it. it was to honor the victims of the sept. 11 tragedy in the united states. no words, just tears. here in this tiny part of the world, people feeling the pull of what's happened and making a connection. i couldn't really imagine what the area must have looked like in the throes of war, it being so pristine as i stood there looking around. continuing, we arrived in another town and took the high road overlooking the pastel colored houses lined up very neatly. luxembourg is a very tidy country; nothing out of place and very quiet on a sunday. we got out and walked for a few minutes through trees resplendent with real autumn reds and golds. not a real "hike" but satisfying enough for the time being. back in the toyota, our goal was to find a nice place for lunch. not so easy as we learned. most places were closed as we blasted through town after town. at last, a possibility. but we had no reservation and they had no available tables. it became apparent that we wouldn't be eating in luxembourg-we were just about in belgium again. as i said, it's a pretty small country. some time later in the german speaking part of belgium, we sat down to a lovely view of a lake and in my broken dutch and gary's limited german, we ordered lunch. the food was impressive and we were relaxed. as it should be. before heading out, we walked around the lake, the afternoon waning. we could sense the change in the light, this being the first day after daylight savings time. winter's coming. as it grew darker, we drove north back into holland witnessing a splendid pink and misty sunset. determined to squeeze out the final rays, we glided through several lovely towns, vowing to return in the near future, perhaps the following weekend.

back in busy, bustling amsterdam, other news is looming. we are in the process of buying an apartment! our expat package ended a few months ago and so we are taking the plunge to be homeowners. we found a charming place overlooking a canal- the very same one the anne frank house is situated on. it's one floor but the rooms all have adequate space. we looked at many places with large living areas and tiny claustrophic bedrooms so we were excited to find this layout. it's being renovated and we will get to choose our own kitchen design. we are now obsessed with looking at home decorator magazines. there is a very nice deck, what they call a roof terrace here. there is also a cat door for mr. tuxedo! it reminds us of our house in boulder, the one we were renting on 13th st. a country feel. i'm speaking prematurely because we haven't gotten the mortgage yet. hopefully that will happen this coming week. keep your fingers crossed......

hope to hear from all of you soon,

with love,

deb