PARIS - EVENTUALLY

Wednesday - Thursday - 10/8 - 10/9

We managed to get our tickets to Paris several months ago using air miles.  We had to fly through Chicago to get there.  Last week, some disgruntled airport control guy tried to burn down the control tower and managed to dismantle the Chicago's O'Hare flights for several days.  Fortunately, by the time  it was our turn to fly, all had been restored.  The flight was delightfully uncomplicated, and we arrived and could idle before we caught our next flight to Paris.  That flight was also painless.  Geoff had suggested we take a taxi from De Gaulle airport to his house.  Excellent plan.  Getting the train from the airport to the city is a bit of a pain in the neck, and not necessarily cheaper.  We arrived at Geoff's and managed to relax the rest of the day.  Our time is obviously not the time that is operating here.  We had a Vietnamese dinner.  There's a Vietnamese restaurant a few doors away from Geoff's flat.  We chatted then, more or less, slept.

Friday - 10/10

Charlie was to meet Harsha at the IPG (Institute de Global du Monde).  After coffee and croissants at a nearby cafe, we left Geoff to work at home and walked to the IPG.  Geoff's house is in the Marais District of Paris (right bank near the Pompidieu Center).  The IPG is on the left bank near the Jadin des Plantes.  A few photos of our walk

A view of Notre Dame from Ile St Louis (next island over from Ile du Cite where Notre Dame sits)

A look up river toward Tour Jacques

We waited for a bit for Harsha.  Once he showed up I left Charlie and walked to the Cluny Museum.  It's a wonderful, small, medieval museum famous for "The lady and the Unicorn" tapestries.  There are also some interesting medieval arts, weaponry, and church artifacts.

There are six Lady and the Unicorn tapestries.  One each for vision, taste, smell, touch, sound, and a peculiar last one for desire - the one seen above.

There were several panes of stained glass. This one of St. Martin really appealed to me.

After my museum trip I wandered back toward IPG and went into the Jardin des Plantes - a botanical garden.  Lots of joggers and several interesting plants.  There is a zoo as well, but I didn't really want to see it.  After a bit more wandering I had a jambon-fromage (ham and cheese) on a baguette sandwich.  

After lunch I decided to wander to see the Pantheon.  During lunch I discovered that it had been built just before the French revolution, and was completed the year the revolution began.  It ended up becoming a mausoleum.  There are several interesting people buried in there - Monsieur and Madame Curie (she's the only woman in the place at the moment) - Voltaire - Rousseau - Victor Hugo  to name a few.  Most of the people in there were French heros of the revolution who's names don't mean a lot to me.   Here's a view of the ceiling from the inside (the outside was being refurbished.)

The most interesting thing about the building was that it doesn't seem all that big from the outside.  I had envisioned a small place.  I was really surprised by how large it is on the inside.  I couldn't help but think about Dr. Who's Tardis.  

The view from the front of the place was also quite nice

I got back to Geoff's about 3.  This lion/dragon piece of a fountain was the best view on the way home.

Charlie showed up with Harsha around 6 pm.  Geoff and Charlie went out and found some Greek food for dinner.  We ate take-out (very nice Greek take-out) at Geoff's.  

SOME OTHER TRIPS NORTHWARD

We flew to Portland, Oregon around the middle of July. Charlie and I rented a car and drove north.  Our first stop - Joyce and Frank Cerimele's house in Beaverton.  Joyce and Frank took us to the Saturday market - a craft fair in downtown Portland. 

Joyce, Charlie, and Frank having lunch at the Saturday market.

Here's me, at the market.

Less than a block away from the Saturday market was a Voodoo Donuts.  They offer a huge number of odd donut types - bacon topped, cheerio topped, and odder than that.  We thought we might try one, but the line to get in to buy donuts was amazingly long.  So I just took a photo.

On Monday we took a river cruise on the Wilamette river.  The accent is on the second syllable - I'd been mispronouncing it for years. 

Our boat - the Portland Spirit

Portland is known as the city of bridges - a view from the boat.

These houses looked normal - but they were sitting on floating rafts - lots of the houses were floating - a kind of house boat

Our last stop before we left was a look at Powell's books.  an amazingly large bookstore.  It's three stories high, and was in two buildings.  New and used books, and every title I could think of and, of course, a lot more.  I loved this place.

After our Portland stop, we drove up to Seattle, Washington.  Our first meal was at the Hurricane Cafe near the hotel.  Really a funky cafe

Hurricane Cafe from the inside.

We walked all over Seattle to see the sights.  Below is a photo from  Pike's market.  We didn't buy any fish, so we didn't see fish tossing.  At least we got photos of the fish.

Our next stop north was Glenn and Krysty's house in Vancouver.  Kayley was about to turn 5, and we got there just in time for the party.

Kayley likes to dance.  Charlie could do this dance.

Nathan at play with me.

Kayley had a birthday party at a local beach.  Here's a few photos.

Nathan had a great time.

Kayley on the sand.

Vancouver beaches are spectacularly beautiful.

Nathan's great game!

We had a cake at home.

Kayley's below showing off her birthday Frozen outfit.

After Kayley's birthday, we drove south.  We were going to fly home from Portland.  To go over the Canadian border we drove through the Peace Arch.  One had to stay peaceful, it took an hour to go over the border.  

Once we got back into Washington, we spent the night in Olympia, Washington.  We arrived in the evening, and had some beautiful views of the capital building and Olympia waterfront.

The next day out of town we drove through Mount Rainier National Park.  Gorgeous.

The mountain is so big I thought it was close to Seattle.  Very wrong.  It's miles away.

The view above is an outwash from melting glaciers.

Lunch at the park.

Ian and Sarah had talked about a great Red Lion Inn in Portland.  We spent the night before we flew back to LA at the inn.  They were right - it's a wonderful place.  The photo below is the view from our room.

 Since we had spent some time celebrating Kayley's birthday in Vancouver, we thought it would be fun to celebrate Sean, Sarah, and Harriet's birthdays.  Sean's birthday is Aug 20, Sarah's Aug 27, and Harriet Sept 5.

On the drive up we stopped at the Tule Elk reserve.  We had driven past the reserve for years, and this was the first time we stopped.  I was shocked 1.) because the reserve was very close to the highway  2.) because these creatures were huge!  Here's some photos I managed to get.

Everyone was really pooped after the first full week of school and work for everyone in Hayward.  We kept activities on the quiet.  We did drive to a lovely park - Quarry park - for a picnic lunch.  There are gorgeous local parks in the East bay area.

Setting up our picnic.

View of the lake formed in the quarry.

Pelicans on the lake.

A HOME TOWN TOUR - SRIRACHA CHILE FACTORY

On Saturday morning, I read in the LA Times that the Sriracha Chile sauce factory was conducting tours.  They apparently have had tours for a while, but the tours on Friday and Saturday were special.  It was the factory's 34th anniversary, it was the height of the chile harvesting season, and, even better, the city of Irwindale had stopped demanding that they leave town.  They had been under attack for the smell from the factory.

Charlie and I called, made an appointment to join the 3 pm tour, downloaded a parking lot pass, and set off to see the factory.  The only snag was the traffic on the 210 Fwy.  What a mess.  Apparently there were several crashes on the 57 Fwy which then clogged up the 210.  Gak.  The rest of the tour was great!

Everyone on the tour - in the factory had to wear nets on hair

These piles of boxes were shipped all over - Canada, Shanghai, Korea, and, of course, all over the US

One of many trucks filled with chilies 

A chili waterfall

Once ground up, with the spices added, the sauce is put into barrels - lots of barrels.

The plastic bottles begin as a squat, test-tube looking plastic screw topped bottle.  They are then vacuum formed into the more typical bottle shaped, and filled with the sauce.  A bit hard to see, but the filling is going on behind the glass.

Filled bottles on their way to being boxed.

My favorite robot machine.  It put down palates and stacked boxes

Huge piles of boxes being wrapped in plastic to get ready for shipping all over.

The cardboard owner of the plant (on the left by the way)

The rooster room was a shop with T shirts, tote bags, chili chocolate (quite good).  Because this was a special tour, we got a free T shirt and a bottle of chili.  Fun thing to do.

JULY SOUTH PASADENA GATHERING OF THE CLAN

While Charlie and I were in New Mexico, Krysty, Kayley, and Nathan showed up in South Pasadena.  We got home and had a great chance to visit.
Unfortunately, I didn't get enough photos - I'll have to mooch them from Krysty who's more on her toes about  photo taking than I am.  Here's one that I managed to take

Krysty, Kayley, and Nathan pool-side

 Last weekend (July 11-13) Ian, Sarah, Sean, and Harriet drove down from the Bay area - so we had a chance to have all the sons/daughters-in-law/grandchildren together for the week end.  Saturday afternoon/evening we had a bar B Q and pool party.  I took some photos of the event - this time I managed to grab a few more.

Cousins Harriet and Kayley really got along well!

Ian could take an attack by pool toys

More attacks of Ian by children.  Glenn had found the power squirter while cleaning out his old stuff from the closet. It became a great pool hit.

Glenn and Kayley prepare for the swim.

Nathan was kept to the shallow (and calmer) waters.  Glenn and Krysty watching him.

Nathan swims!

The squirter in action.  Kick boards were used as shields.  They kept the water away, but they also prevented photos.

Sarah modeling the latest in pool hats.

Sean has become a great swimmer!