PARIS, PARTY TIME!

ALWAYS A FEAST - JUNE 2004

For some special reason Hemingway named his book about Paris "A Moveable Feast"!

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FOOD FEAST


"CHEZ LA VIEILLE (ADRIENNE) - A dinner at the restaurant of the corner of rue Bailleul with rue de L'Arbre Sec is always a feast. Sometimes, late on a Thursday evening (the only one in the week when the restaurant opens), after a long meeting, we went there just for the hors-d'oeuvre and dessert. What a treat!"


"BIRD'S PARTY after a nice lunch at one of the many restaurants in the new Cour Saint Emilion"


"CHEZ MARIANNE - A must at rue des Rosiers, in the heart of the Paris Jewish quarter. Chez Marianne is a Jewish-Lebanese delicatessen with tables, which encourages diners to compose an assiette of four to six items from some 20 different salads and hot snacks. The food is superb, notwithstanding the service..."

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FOOTBALL PARTY




"EURO 2004, PORTUGAL - June 20th, Lisbon: Spain 0 Portugal 1 (Nuno Gomes)! The Champs-Elysées were the home for a magnificent Portuguese party..."

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FÊTE DE LA MUSIQUE


"FÊTE at the Cour Saint Emilion"


"PIANIST - On the night of June 21st, 1982, an initiative from Jack Lang and Maurice Fleuret gave birth to the Fête de la Musique, where musicians were invited to go out in the streets and perform there from 8:30 to 9:00 p.m.! They took much more than half an hour and many years later it's a huge success, with repercussions in more than one hundred countries..."



"MEDICAL PHILARMONIC at the Opera Garnier..."

PARIS - "A MOVEABLE FEAST" - PART I

JUNE 2004 - JUST VIEWS - CIVIL BUILDINGS - AND A FABULOUS DINNER

In May 2004, I made a short trip to Rome and the Vatican, where I got some photos with VIPs. Such photos will probably be shown only some years from now, if ever...
In June 2004, however, I went once again to Paris, and that is always a feast, as the photos, mostly from Rita, show...!


"EIFFEL TOWER - The most well-known monument in Europe, according to the publicity..."


"EIFFEL TOWER - Going up in style..."


"EIFFEL TOWER - TROCADERO"



"EIFFEL TOWER - LE CHAMP DE MARS"


"EIFFEL TOWER - TRIUMPH ARCH"


"TRIUMPH ARCH - Unknown soldier and tourists..."


"CHAMPS ELYSÉES - TRIUMPH ARCH"



"CHAMPS ELYSÉES - Louis Vuitton building..."


"ÉLYSÉE - Entrance of the rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré to the official residence of the President of France"


"OPERA GARNIER - A fabulous building, both outside and inside!"


"LA TOUR D'ARGENT - Join the successors of the Three Emperors Dinner - Alexander II, Czar of All the Russias, his son, the King of Prussia, Wilhelm I and the Prince of Bismarck had a dinner at the Tour on June 7th, 1867 - not for the «Poulets à la portugaise» but for the world famous duck!"


"ARAB WORLD INSTITUT - An impressive building, dedicated to making known the Arab culture"


"NATIONAL LIBRARY FRANÇOIS MITTERAND - Designed by Dominique Perrault, opened in 1998. It is one of the oldest in the world, as France's first royal library - the Bibliothèque du Roi (“King's Library”) - was established under Charles V - 1364–80"



"COUR SAINT EMILION - Bercy village, the old Bercy goods station, a new commercial area near the Bercy Park..."



"OPERA BASTILLE - Another impressive building; and the ladies"


"PLACE DES VOSGES - One of the most beautiful squares in Europe"




"BEAUBOURG AND STRAVINSKY FOUNTAIN - A «crazy» building and a «crazy» fountain..."


"LES HALLES - Façade"


"PLACE VENDOME"


"PALAIS ROYAL"


"MUSÉE D'ORSAY - One of the best - if not the best - impressionist painting collection in Europe"




"MUSÉE DU LOUVRE and the Pei Pyramid"


"SAMARITAINE - View towards Beaubourg"


CHEZ LA VIEILLE (ADRIENNE) - rue Bailleul/rue de l'Arbre Sec - ALWAYS A FABULOUS DINNER



"AFTER DINNER - Lights at the Concorde and Eiffel Tower"


"OBELISC"


"RELAIS CHRISTINE - A very nice place to stay in the Latin Quarter"

IN THE LAND OF VLAD DRACULEA...

ROMANIA - OCTOBER 2003






"LODGING - It seems that Nicolae and his wife Elena lived in this house, slept in this same room, used the gilded bathroom and swam in the pool..."


"PESCARUS RESTAURANT - After hours and folklore..."


"HUNT MUSEUM - Stop on the way to Sinaia"


"SINAIA - Located at 120km from Bucharest, it was named after Sinaia Monastery, built by a Romanian nobleman after a visiting Mount Sinai. It is one of the most beautiful mountain resorts, often referred to as «The Pearl of the Carpathians". It was named after the holy Mount Sinai in Egypt. It used to be the summer residence of the royal family. , often referred to as "The Pearl of the Carpathians». It used to be the summer residence of the royal family"


"POIANA RESTAURANT - Nice lunch"


"CHURCH near the first school in Romania, after visiting the Black Church in Brasov (Kronstadt)"




"BRASOV had many different names during its history: Corona, Brasco, Brasso, Kronstadt, Brassovia Citadel and Stalin. The Council Square (Piata Sfatului) is the heart of the old medieval Brasov, and one of the finest in Romania. The Council House was built in 1420, and the Trumpets Tower is much older"



"LODGING in a Palace in Sinaia"




"PELES CASTLE - Located just around the corner from the Palace where the night was spent in Sinaia, it is one of Romania's most important museums, since it was the final resting place for several Romanian monarchs including King Carol I, who died here in 1914"


"COTA 2000"



"BRAN CASTLE - Now said to be Count Dracula's castle..."

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"CHEZ LA VIEILLE ADRIENNE - Return through Paris and lunch at one of the best restaurants in Paris, furthermore with a photo on the wall, just above Mrs. Chirac..."