Learned the Neighborhood; Leaving Tomorrow

After two weeks, I have finally managed to find my way around the neighborhood, just in time to leave. The past two days, I spent visiting two sites in Le Marais because since they're so close, I've been embarrassed that I haven't been to them.

Yesterday, I had to wait for a houseguest to arrive. One of the actor's girlfriends, Michelle, had made her plane reservation before the actors knew they would be in St. Die (close to Nancy)for two days. I agreed to host her. She came in jet-lagged so I told her to take a nap while I walked to Place des Vosges, the oldest (1605) planned square in Paris which became the model for the others. On the way, I passed by the theater but had forgotten there is always a week-end flea market. They say antique market, but there's a lot of junk. It was slow-going so I knew I couldn't return by that route.  I went to the square which was hopping with bikers and families. I did not go to Victor Hugo's house. I figured he wasn't in.

Place de Vosges

Then, I planned my route home but got distracted by shops and a creperie. Even though I know better, I always expect to find a creperie on every corner in Paris but since they aren't everywhere, I had to stop for a banana crepe and coffee. Then I made that mistake where I go into a store, come out, and turn the wrong way. Luckily, this apartment has a great map book that I carry everywhere so I was fine.

When I got back for my nap, Michelle decided to walk around a little. She ran into a street protest and got some of it on film. It was a pro-Palestinian march, complete with one float, flags, and marchers. Just a peaceful march but led by police cars and followed by police in riot gear. According to the actors' French "handler," there are many of those protests throughout the city on weekends.

Then I made  Michelle go to fancy dinner with me because I had found out about this highly-rated restaurant that's very close and hadn't yet eaten there and of course, it's not open on Sunday. I had the best foie gras I've had in Paris, followed by lamb chops with mashed potatoes and sauteed peppers. It's rare to get vegetables with many meals here; more often, you just get a salad. 

Today, on my quest to see (someday) the top 10 churches of Paris, I walked to St. Eustache, another 15 minute walk. This one made 5 for me. There are only 2 streets so I did that trip with little difficulty except for having to make sure where the streets continued when I got to a corner. Usually, "go straight" on the same street means the street will continue to the right or left across one of those "places." This church is right by the Forum des Halles which is the shopping center that was created when the real Les Halles was torn down. Hardly anything was open there but there is a cinema inside. I think most people were in the Forum because there's a Metro stop there.

Sainte Eustache

There is no charge to get into the church and only a few visitors today. Definitely the tallest vault I've ever seen (109 feet). Beautiful stained glass from 1632. The church was built over a 100-year period from the mid-1500s.

Sculpture outside Forum des Halles

So that's it for me.  I'm flying out tomorrow morning. I checked that same flight today and it was over an hour late leaving but I hope it will be on time tomorrow.

Back to the Eiffel Tower

On this trip, I decided to go to the other side of the Eiffel Tower, Trocadero. It's a long metro ride from where I am, about 11 stops. But I do better on subway systems than on streets, especially in these cities where streets just change names for no reason or go off in another direction. Also, there's just too many "places" here, those circular traffic areas with statues in the middle. Once all the streets converge at one of those places, they can resume in any direction.  It's confusing.

One of those Pesky Places--this one's Republique

On the way, I got a seat on the Metro right away. The trains going to the Eiffel Tower are old--no lights to tell you which stop you're going to and no announcements. This line had the "Franklin Roosevelt" stop which Lola said she would never ride on again since how they say "Franklin Roosevelt" is unintelligible; but she could have gone since they didn't say it at all.  Getting out of the Eiffel Tower stop is easy with an escalator and sign that says "Eiffel Tower."

Eiffel Tower from Trocadero

My first (and probably last) selfie; turns out
it's all about me, not that Tower

After wandering around for awhile, I decided to go to the Palais de Tokyo since I had never been there and it's just a short walk on Avenue du President Wilson. That street is right across from the Eiffel Tower; at the place, of course, it continues on the other side of the street. Still, it was fairly easy to find.

The art is ultra-modern in this museum. Currently, there's an exhibit called "Inside" which promises to take you inside the art. You walk through room by room, not knowing how many rooms they'll be. It was a little creepy because I didn't know how anyone could get out if they decided they didn't like the exhibit. There were lots of different types of art and also film installations. Inside the rooms where the films were playing were two kinds of floors--some had concrete floors which I could see and some had black floors which I couldn't see. There were a few chairs in each room. I experienced a new "old age" phenomenon of being afraid to walk across the black floor because I couldn't see if the floor was flat or there were steps. I tried to let my eyes adjust but they never did...so I just followed in another person's footsteps. It occurred to me that it was unlikely that I'd fall into an abyss...but you can't be sure.

 To the left is one of the art installations. You think it represents urban decay but it really represents urban decay AND renewal.

One of the interesting displays--these
white figures are based on the images
mental patients drew when asked to draw
a tree (I read that in English)

At one point walking through the maze of rooms, you round a corner and are confronted with a strobe light which, as we all know, can cause a grand mal seizure. No warning, no nothing. It occurred to me that anyone so afflicted would be stuck there, since it was almost impossible to retrace your steps.

After I finished my tour and I will say, there was a lot I liked in that exhibit, I overheard a great conversation between a nice-looking, young American and a museum attendant. As a preface, in Nicole's theater group is a man from Bosnia who immigrated to the US after years in Germany. He speaks about 5 languages. He is always complaining that all the French can speak some English; they're just stubborn when they don't. I have noticed that a little but it has never bothered me. Here's the conversation:

Young American:  Do you speak English?
Museum Dude:  No.
YA, somewhat sarcastically:  What? You work in a museum. Aren't you trying to promote tourism?
MD: It is a choice.
After YA started to walk off in a huff,  Museum Dude got out of his chair and asked him what he wanted and helped him find the rest of the museum. He seemed apologetic, unlike the Museum Dude I talked to in the Pompidou.

I've noticed that the restaurants and touristy stores seem to hire young people who speak a little in several languages while the museums seem staffed with older French guys who just don't want to try. It doesn't bother me since I rarely try my limited French. But, in YA's defense, I will say, if you don't want to cater to English speakers, why are all exhibits and tourist places explained in both French and English?

On the way to that museum, I realized I had walked to the Metro stop just prior to the Eiffel Tower stop. So I got on there, figuring it wouldn't be as crowded. That turned out to be wrong. I didn't get a seat for about 5 stops. The romance of riding the Metro wore off after the first day here but as I sat on that train for 20 minutes, I appreciated how really quick and efficient it is and for me, much less confusing than walking and reading a map.

Happy Thanksgiving

It doesn't seem these French care about Thanksgiving. I made Nicole go to lunch at a closeby restaurant. It was ok; not great. We started with oysters:

No, we are not with those people who ordered what you should order at an Alsatian restaurant--sauerkraut and sausages.

I found out that just a block from this apartment is a famous French restaurant. The Clintons ate here; Brad and Angelina, and other assorted Hollywood celebs.

It might not look fancy from the outside but looking in the window, you can see how ritzy it is. There is nothing on the menu under 60 euros; even the appetizer foie gras is 60 euro. If you look it up, you will see that Americans love to go there and have the 100 euro chicken, the specialty of the house, and then say either it's terrific or that they could make better chicken themselves. They also say you might see a famous American there because Americans are the only people who eat there. I am not planning to go.

I just went to the boulangerie to get a sandwich. I got one and some macarons, agreed with whatever the woman was saying to me and left. Walking down the street, I looked in the bag. No sandwich. I guess she had asked me whether I wanted it hot and it still wasn't ready when I went back in. But now I have it--it's just like leftover turkey except, of course, this is ham and cheese.

Late Nights and Museums

All this staying out late with Nicole and drinking heavily (for me, that means TWO glasses of wine) is making my sightseeing begin later and later.  

Yesterday, I went to the newly renovated Picasso Museum. It's within walking distance, so with the help of Nicole's iphone instructions, I walked there. To be most efficient, you should use a million little streets, but I chose the larger ones and figured then I'd see signs. I did and got there with no problem. The line outside was huge but I figured I should go since I had managed to find it. The wait was about a half hour.

Line at the Picasso; the museum is not in the picture;
it's just a small portion of this complex

 The museum is small so they limit how many people enter. I understood what the reviewers who don't like it were saying about the renovation. You're almost forced to go in the order they want you to--about 10 small rooms, go up a floor, 10 more small rooms, repeat for four floors. The smart thing would be to try to get the elevator (unlikely) and work your way back down. There are over 400 works of Picasso in this museum, arranged in chronological order,  so if you like Picasso, it's the place to be. Limiting entry seems like a good idea because it didn't feel crowded. There were lots of tourists but no Asian tour groups. Also, since it just reopened in October, a lot of French people were there.

Picasso's Notre Dame

On the way home, I did that thing where I see the street I want but don't know which way to turn on it. Luckily, I carry two maps. Let's just say, I took the long way home. I never care too much--I just say "I'm walking in Paris."

Last night, I met up with a young lady I taught with in Poland in 2007 and her husband for dinner and to see the play. The husband is from Paris and my friend is from St. Louis. She is working on two Ph.D.s at once--one here in Paris and one at Northwestern in Chicago. They just moved back here after two years in Chicago. We ate dinner at the restaurant at the theatre. I asked them to meet me at 6:15 but of course, the restaurant doesn't start serving until 7. The food was excellent and they did get us out by 8 in time for the show. My friends loved the show. Lucky for them, I have connections and got us all free tickets because the cost is 28 Euros. It's not so much in the suburbs and small towns but then, this is Paris.

I still do not understand when these French people eat. That restaurant's website says they serve food all the time. By that they mean they don't. I've gathered that dinner begins at 7 but I'm still unclear about lunch. I'm guessing noon until 2 because I tried to get late lunch today at 2:45 and no go. I finally ate at a cafe that really does serve all the time. However, I ordered an omelette and I could have waited for chickens to lay the eggs, bought them and made it myself in the time it took for them to serve me.

Last night after the show which, after autographs, ends around 10:30, the actors wanted to get a beer. They found a place but the rule is you can't have drinks that late without someone (just one person) ordering food. The problem is, the kitchen is closed, so what they could order was some bread, cheese, and pate. They were eager to kick everyone out by 12:30. So the city of lights isn't always lit. 

Today I decided to go to the Rodin Museum which was being renovated the last time I was here. Those gardens are beautiful and The Thinker is still there as well as a lot of other sculptures. I was going to add Invalides to this trip but decided against it. However, as I was out in the Rodin garden, I couldn't help noticing it's right across the street.

The Thinker--the large version

Rodin Museum garden; looky there--Invalides

So I went. I was wondering why Napoleon's Tomb is on everyone's "must do" list until I walked into that building. It is magnificent. Then I managed to find the Metro and actually get back home without getting lost. It was a banner day.

One small part of the room that houses Napoleon's tomb

Hanging Out in My 'Hood

Yesterday, I did nothing. It was Sunday and nothing in the hood was open--not the pharmacie, not the Monop' (like a 7/11), not the grocery store Carrefour. What was open was the paint store. There are some stores open on Sunday in various parts of Paris, but not in my immediate neighborhood. Plus, Nicole had to do a sound check at the new theater where they open tonight. It's only a few minutes walk from here. So later, we went out to dinner with a few of the theater folk. I had picked out an oyster bar about a 10 minute walk away. It has excellent reviews and is open until 2:30 every morning. After sitting down, we saw the the price of the oysters was "2,70 Euro/pc. I was sure that didn't mean a piece but the fluent one with us double-checked and it was the real price so we left. It was the warmest day we've had, 61 degrees, so we ate outside at one of the few restaurants that were open. The outside heaters were so hot, we had to take our coats off. We had Croque Madames.

There are two museums I plan to visit in Le Marais--one is the Pompidou and the other the Picasso Museum which just reopened last month. Reviewers tend not to like the layout of the Picasso but I'm going anyway. The problem with Paris museums is that they're all closed on a different day. The Picasso is closed today so I went to the Pompidou. I like the Pompidou because there is only one set of stairs to walk up; there are escalators running through tubes for the rest of the museum. Great views of the city as you ride them.

One side of the massive Pompidou

The Pompidou is less than a 15 minute walk from where I am. But it takes much longer when you turn the wrong way on the street and yes, I did that both going and coming back. In both cases, I realized my error fairly quickly, so it added only a few miles to my walk. The problem with my navigating skills is that I can never figure out how I ended up on the wrong street. Luckily, I am carrying two maps or I'd still be somewhere in Paris trying to find my way home.

The special exhibits now are Duchamps and Frank Gehry. Jeff Koons' exhibit is opening in two days but I am glad to miss it. No tour group was standing in front of moustached Mona Lisa. The highlight for me of this museum is going to the top to the sculpture gardens outside. The sculptures are interesting and you have the best views of Paris, both for viewing and picture-taking. There's about 5 gardens. When I got up there, I noticed a chain on the first door. Naturally, I checked all the gardens and sure enough, no entry.  The restaurant at the top is open air but it doesn't have good views of the city.

The Other Mona Lisa

I was so angry, I decided to try to communicate with one of the people verifying tickets. He told me the only view was from the restaurant but couldn't communicate why the garden doors were locked. 

The "scuplture" at the restaurant at the top of the museum.

When I went downstairs to leave, I tried again. This French dude was really rude. He "pffted" and said they are open only in the summer. I didn't point out that it is 60 degrees. At least the other guy said "sorry."

Now I'm off to watch the Trapdoor folks open in Paris...if I can find the theatre again.

Resting in Paris

Yesterday, I went to Herblay, a small town outside of Paris, where Nicole and the other actors are living at the theater. Even though they have only one performance there, they are being housed for the duration of the Paris run. The trip is like going to any of the suburbs; a metro ride and a train. I did that successfully all by myself, without Lola. Well, there was the part where I accidentally went out of the station instead of going from the metro to the train section but luckily, I just walked back in. 

 They had an audience of about 150 people, including a high school group. High school groups come to every performance because this play is an adaptation of Camus' "Les Justes" and they all have to read it.
The play is about a group of revolutionaries who also have a rock band so there's some singing and rocking out. The play is based on a true story but I don't think the original revolutionaries had a rock band. Nicole is fantastic in this play; I put it in her top 3 shows ever. She plays two characters and the first move of the second character is her falling on stage. Unfortunately last night, she did it a tad too hard and has skinned her knee. It looks bad.

The high school kids sat in front and there were a few who were obnoxious, playing on their phones, laughing inappropriately. I was in the middle of the audience and didn't really notice anything but the actors were annoyed. Afterwards, the kids stayed around, asking for autographs and asking questions about acting. They are especially enamored with the youngest band member; they told him he has "swag."

Before the performance, I went to one of the town's 3 restaurants, Le Creperie and had a crepe with duck, potatoes, and cheese. It was great. They open at 7 and I got there early. As I was sitting there, I think the entire town came in for dinner, including two dogs. Dogs are fine in restaurants there but you can't wear a hat. You will be yelled at if you don't take it off as you enter the restaurant.

After the play, we went to a bar. The owner and his wife came to the show and he asked everyone to come for champagne. We drank beer instead but the owners were very nice. When someone asked the younger business partner why his English is so good, he said "I grew up in South Carolina," with the accent to match the words. He is French but his father traveled around for business so he was in South Carolina until he was 10.

Today we came back to Paris, bought some groceries and just rested because Nicole begins rehearsals here tomorrow. It's a total coincidence that I rented an apartment 5 minutes from this theater. But they're doing the show just a couple of times, going to a town 3 hours away for two days and then coming back. Unfortunately, I'll be coming home so Nicole won't have this convenient apartment.

Lola's Last Day

and she made me walk the entire Champs Elysees. Seriously; from the Arc de Triomphe all the way to Concorde. That was not the plan, but the Christmas market has opened. The Christmas market is hundreds of booths on both sides of the street for maybe a half mile. They have even added restaurants. Everything is for sale there. Including crepes which we indulged in.

That Arc

We Walked all of Paris

Well, over 7 miles of it. We started by walking to Notre Dame. Much more crowded than what we expected. The Japanese must be on vacation; we've seen them in England and now France. They take a lot of pictures.  After Notre Dame, we visited Sainte Chapelle. I wasn't sure whether I had been there before, but once we got there, I realized I would never have found it on my own.

Hotel de Ville

Notre Dame

Pope John Paul II outside Notre Dame--he follows us everywhere

Sainte Chappelle

Then we walked to the Musee d'Orsay. So, we walked that entire Ile. We stopped for lunch prior to visiting the museum. We had quiche lorraine and were surprised that it was not really firm. It was delicious. We seem to have a lot of ham for lunch, both in England and here. We've had ham sandwiches, ham and cheese grilled croissants, ham and cheese paninis. Luckily, the European ham is very good.

  After that, we decided to find the nearest Metro to go home but ended up walking through the Tuillieres, stopping for coffee and macarons and ended up at the Place de la Concorde. There is a ferris wheel in the gardens but we can't figure out whether it's temporary.

Snack in the Tuileries

View of Montmarte from Window in d'Orsay

Finally, we did find a Metro station, managed to buy tickets and get on a train. We had to make a change and probably walked a mile underground to get to our next train.

We ate dinner at L'Absinthe, outside. It has a lot of good reviews. It's chilly here but they have outdoor heaters which actually make it toasty. Also, very cozy--very few tables so we were sitting close to other people. The French waiter was charming; he assumed we didn't know any French and explained hamburger, duck, and chicken to us. He actually said the English words for the salt, pepper, and bread he brought, in case we didn't recognize it. 

Got to Paris

Did some laundry. Actually, still doing laundry. This machine is one of those old fashioned drum kinds; I have broken about 3 of these in the past. This one has a dryer in it. As usual, washed and dried; needs more drying.

The trip from Oxford was just a little harrowing. Our hotel had ordered a taxi the night before but it didn't arrive. It was raining but we were lucky to hail a cab and get to the train station on time. Our cab driver was British and talked nonstop, mostly about how Bush and Tony Blair screwed up both countries and now, there's no turning back. 

 We took the train to Paddington, got a taxi to St. Pancras and got the Eurostar and got to Paris in under 2 and a half hours. Then we took a cab to the apartment. We have had it with dragging these suitcases on these narrow streets. The Eurostar was a little more comfortable than the trains we've taken before. It was packed. We kinda knew we had to go through security and passport check but forgot so of course, Lola beeped because she was wearing a fitbit. She had to be frisked. 

This apartment is adorable. We're on the ground floor of a 5 story apartment building in a courtyard. There's a bedroom loft but you don't have to climb a ladder to get there; it has a round staircase with a pole in the middle to hang onto. There's a new pullout couch in the living room, and a nice kitchen and bathroom. Very nice. We're in Le Marais.

Many restaurants are closed on Mondays but we found a brasserie close to us and ate there. The Polish wait staff were French. 

Excursion to Blenheim

Today we went to Blenheim because yesterday we bought reduced price tickets in the Information Center here in Oxford. It's a very easy 20 minute bus ride and it's a UNESCO World Heritage site. We've picked up quite a few of those from the World Heritage list; for one, the whole city of Bath which is the only city on that list.

It was a damp, but not rainy, foggy day; just the sort you imagine England to have all the time. Riding the double-decker bus gave us a chance to see some typical English cottages, even with thatched roofs.

Blenheim is spectacular. What you see of the house is just a few rooms on the first floor but they contain ancient tapestries, furniture, a Winston Churchill exhibit. Upstairs, in a 40 minute tour that you can't run away from, is supposed to be an interactive history of the palace. It is dreadful and not very educational.

It's a half-mile walk from the road to the palace

The Blenheim has started to have special art exhibits, probably because they sell yearly passes and want people to come back. Currently, there is an exhibit of Ai WeiWei. I've seen some of his exhibits in other cities; and he is always controversial. This exhibit is very controversial because visitors believe it is disrespectful to the grandeur of the palace. There is no explanation of his work or any descriptions which could be why people are shocked when they see it. There are 209 ceramic crabs in one room, but the main part of the exhibit is the series of photographs which show him giving the finger to government buildings, famous landmarks, etc. The photographs hang in the gorgeous library room which also has an organ that rivals any in the cathedrals. But it's not necessarily the WeiWei exhibit that detracts from this room; there are a million Christmas trees and other decorations. 

209 crabs in the "Green Room" of Blenheim

Pipe Organ in the Library

The grounds are magnificent. It was just a little too chilly to take one of the 2 mile hikes. It looks like the village people bring their dogs there. In the summer, I'm sure the place is packed; even today, it was more crowded than one would think. We did walk around the outside gardens, including going to the secret garden.

The Secret Garden

To warm up for our long trip to Paris tomorrow, we ate at the French restaurant in Oxford. It was too busy to get us in last night but tonight, it wasn't very crowded. Real French food at about the same price we're paying for lunches. The wait staff was British.

And off to France.

Shopping in Oxford

Not so much us, but all of Oxford. When we first went out this morning, there didn't seem to be many people but later in the day, the place was jumping, probably because there's only 2 major shopping streets. It's surprising because the population is about 165,000 and an additional 22,000 students. Not huge.

 We went to the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, the first university museum in the country, so named because it was started with the collection of some guy named Ashmole. The building was finished in 1678. There is an excellent exhibit of ancient tapestries and musical instruments that was set up because tapestries typically hung in the music room. There is a case of Amati violins and violas. The ancient textile exhibit contains an Arab ceremonial dress of Lawrence of Arabia. 

Ashmolean Museum

Henry Moore sculpture in front of the museum

After the museum, we went to St. Mary the Virgin church which has been the official church of Oxford University since the 1200s. You can pay to climb the tower but we didn't have any money...yes, that's the reason.

St. Mary's Altar

The Organ in St. Mary's

 After the touring, we took a walk through the covered market. The pedestrian and other major streets were full of people. We saw a few people in academic garb and found out later there was a graduation ceremony today.  The covered market has a lot of different shops and is much like an uncovered market. It's always fun to see the food. Big sale on pheasants today.








We went to the Bodlian library which houses every book published in England. You can't go in unless you're on a tour. Everyone likes to tell you the books are housed underground on 110 miles of shelves. Getting a book often takes 6 hours.

Radclif Square; where Bodlian Library is

Then we walked around and crossed a bridge where one of the colleges is. Oxford has 35 colleges, so it's difficult to remember them all. My favorite is Magdalen because it's pronounced "Maudlin."

On the river, Oxford's "answer to the gondola" are punt boats. You navigate with a long pole but most outsiders get the pole stuck at the bottom of the river and we didn't want to fall in. 

Not a great picture because punt guy is bent over

After the walk, we hopped on a Hop-on bus and got the last two seats in the open air; it was freezing.  This one had a live guide. The driver was Polish but the guides are Brits. He said many of the same things the audio guide says but added some stories. He mostly told us what famous people went to each of the colleges. He showed us where Bill Clinton lived and said "Some Americans told me there are probably a lot of signs on buildings that say 'Bill Clinton slept here.'" Everyone likes to tell you that Richard Burton was kicked out of Exeter after a year and that he and also Churchill drank at the White Horse. We saw that pub; it dates back to 1600. Another pub is famous for being the meeting place of C.S. Lewis and Tolkien who met often and read whatever they were working on at the time.

We went to Blackwell's, a real bookstore 10 minutes before it closed and then had dinner at a highly-rated Indian restaurant. We had tried to get into the French restaurant but it was packed, as was every burger (have a "proper burger") place. We've had good Indian food in England but this one is now in my top 1. It was excellent and not too crowded. Our Polish waitress asked us where we're from and said she has been here for two weeks. We asked her where she's from even though we knew--Krakow. 

On to Oxford

Today, we left Bath on what was supposed to be an easy one hour train ride. When you're old and have a suitcase, however, getting on and off the trains is never easy, what with having to mind the gigantic gap and all.

But before we went to the train station, we had the best eavesdropping experience at breakfast. A woman was explaining to her friends about how she used to visit a friend in Texas whenever she went to the US. (At this point, a friend remarked how strange it is that many people have never visited the US). The Texan is a member of "a prominent Texas family," she reported; but unfortunately, he is a born-again Christian.  What caused their "terrible falling out" was that one day, when they were all visiting mutual friends, the guy's daughter remarked about one the male friends that it was a shame he never married. The British woman told the daughter the man is gay. The prominent Texan had never spoken to his daughter about that which led to the demise of the friendship. The British lady said "apparently, if you're born-again, you must be anti-gay." She went on to say, "The Europeans who settled the US were religious fanatics; perhaps there is a religious fanatic gene."

The rest of the conversation centered on how Americans are isolationists as well as provincial. One person said "You know there's a London everywhere, so if you say you're from London, they assume you're from the closest one. They can't imagine you came all the way from England." Another one said he was 100 miles from the Grand Canyon once and someone asked him where he was going (as though if you're in the vicinity, that must be your destination).

I'm not sure whether these people realized where we're from since if we could hear them, they could hear us and we haven't yet mastered that British accent.

Goodbye Bath

To get to Oxford, you must change trains. The first train takes 45 minutes; the second train takes 12. When we got off the train for the switch, we were happy to see we were on the platform for our second train. But that train didn't come. We found out it had been canceled because a passenger had gotten ill. We thought maybe they would later tell us how he is, but they didn't. They told us the next train, which was only 20 minutes later, would now be on a different platform. We found a lift, went down, crossed over, took a lift up and waited. About 4 minutes before the next train was to arrive, there was an announcement that now the train was coming on the original track. We had to reverse the lift process but quickly.  That train ride was short and there wasn't too large a gap to mind (on the other trains, some nice guys helped us) so we got off and started the "10 minute walk."

For some reason, I didn't think the sidewalks would be so narrow here. Walking with the suitcases was a nightmare; not only because of the condition of the sidewalks, but this city is crowded. Also,it is multi-multi-multi-cultural; we hardly hear any English on the streets. When we got to our guest house, we discovered it has a long, windy staircase to get to Reception. I left Lola on the steps and went upstairs to demand someone carry our bags. They got someone fairly quickly.

This "hotel" is actually a 16 room b & b. We are on the third floor, in the garret. It's a nice big room but there's a lot of steps to get to it. It's actually no worse than many of the apartments Nicole's had in Chicago, but I whined like a baby because we've just had too many stairs on this trip.

We didn't take a hop on-hop off bus anywhere else but the Oxford one is cheap (10 GBP for seniors) and since it was afternoon, we rode around on one for an hour and saw lots of the campuses of the university and other historic sites. Tomorrow, before our 24 hour pass is up, we can use it as regular bus service.

Every service person in England is from Poland. The wait staff in restaurants, all the hotel personnel, clerks in stores, the bus driver. In London I expected that but for some reason, I thought Bath and Oxford would have old British gentleman who would want to tell us all about their cities.  As it turns out, those guys work in the museums and cathedrals. In Bath at the Holburne, an old guy whose job is to stand in one of the rooms all day, told us all about the new director and the Board of Trustees. And no, we did not ask.

For dinner, we went to Jamie Oliver's Italian for the following reasons: (a) it's right down the street; and (b) we could get in with just a half hour wait. According to the guidebook, the queue can be out the door on any night of the week.  I wanted calves' liver but they were out, so we both had the truffle pasta. Unfortunately, the noodles were undercooked and I'm not just saying that because I'm American. The rocket salad, on the other hand, was superb. Great service, most of it by Polish young people.

There are lots of students here in Oxford; not all of them are intellectuals. The good news is, food is cheaper here with lots of restaurants offering student discounts. Jamie's Italian has a separate entrance for its basement pizzeria. 

Finally, in the cities of England comparison, street musicians in London and Bath tend to be folk singers with guitars. In Oxford, they are classical guitarists and we've even seen a classical tuba player.

Relaxing in Bath

Since we did almost everything there is to do in Bath yesterday, today was a slow day. We had one museum left to visit and then random shopping and chocolate buying.  We walked along the river again and saw this great park:

 Then we went to the Holburne Museum which is the first public art museum in Bath. It houses Holburne's collection of art, holds a lot of events, and is a popular venue for weddings. The rich guy whose collection the museum contains, Sir William Holburne, collected art from all over the world. There are Gainsborough paintings, portrait miniatures, Chinese porcelain, furniture and dishes. One of the special exhibits showing now is by a modern artist, Paul Scott, who creates traditional blue patterned tableware with modern additions--for example, a typical English countryside scene has jet planes flying overhead; a picture of cows shows a nuclear power plant in the background.  

The Bridge at the Weir

Then, we spent the afternoon reading and napping and afterwards, went shopping and buying nothing. Since we were bored and it was almost 5:30, we decided to go to church. We have seen announcements for 5:30 Evensong services in every cathedral that we've seen in England. We knew there are 2 songs they always sing so we were under the impression that the service consisted of just two songs. That turned out to be wrong. There were Bible readings, prayers, and other songs, although, thankfully, we were never invited to sing along. The choir was a chamber choir from a boys' school from another town. They were typical high school students--wonderful performers, bored out of their minds for the rest of the service.  The priest was female, though, and there was no sermon. The service lasted around 45 minutes. We decided it's a great way to see these cathedrals without anyone asking you for money since they are "free" to get in but there's a suggested donation to keep them free. The same is true of all the "free" museums--suggested donations and pleas for more money to restore them.

In most places we go, like the Roman Baths here and the museums in London, we often run into school groups. I just love seeing the children in their uniforms--the boys in their suits and ties that identify their schools. I am sure those uniforms make them learn better. They often don't behave better but I'm sure they're saying smart things.

Bathing in Bath

Many streets in Bath were closed today to accommodate the hanging of Christmas lights, but we weren't driving anyway. First, we walked to the Royal Crescent which was built in the late 1700s--high class houses overlooking a park. There are 8 houses and a number of apartments in this structure today.

The Royal Crescent

Then we went to the clothing museum which is definitely worth a visit. Their special display this month is the Georgian period. They own over 30,000 costumes but just display a fraction so it doesn't take long to go through it and they give you an excellent audio guide.

We stood outside the Jane Austen Museum trying to decide whether to go in. It has a lot of negative reviews on Tripadvisor and other places. But we're here so we decided to go. It is a total bust. First, you can't tour without a guide and we missed the on-the-hour tour by one minute so we had to wait 19 minutes more. During that time, we watched a movie of the last Jane Austen festival which showed a lot of current people dressing up and trying to learn how to do parlor dances. Then, our guide took us into a room and explained a little about Jane Austen's life. She called her "Jane" as though they were best friends. The rest of the exhibit was mostly about what life was like in Jane's time.

We also walked into the Assembly Rooms which are in a different location from the museum. They were meeting places for mixed company; dances were held on many evenings but mostly people went to be seen in their fine clothing. Jane Austen did participate in some of these meetings and descriptions appear in many of her novels.

The Assembly Rooms

The Roman Baths

Then, we toured the Roman Baths which is why most people come here. There is evidence of Romans coming here in the 1st century and the entire complex, complete with houses, the baths,and temples to the goddess Minerva, by the 4th century. The original baths weren't discovered until around 1870 and they've gradually restored them. One of the highlights of the artifacts are small pieces of metals where people wrote curses about people who wronged them in some way and then gave them to Minerva. They said things like "curses on George who stole my robe. Don't let him ever have children."

After all the grueling touring, we had tea at the Pump Room. We also made them give us some warm water to drink from the hot springs. It has 43 minerals in it; it also tastes like it has 43 minerals in it. The tea was lovely but cost about twice as much as our average dinner. We cannot understand why it's so expensive to serve some finger sandwiches and scones.

Tea for Two--21 GBP per person

We finished all this touring, rested for awhile and then went off to the modern baths. This experience is also expensive but then, there's 43 minerals in the water. I think it cured my gout.  We bought the two hour package which includes 2 pools and a sauna. The indoor Minerva pool is the most popular. There were plastic noodles sitting around which we thought were just for fun but when we got in, we noticed the water is chin-level so we grabbed a noodle. At various times, there are jets that make a current so you can float in a gigantic circle as the jets propel you. We did that 100 times, like little kids. At other times, there is a whirlpool section to the pool.  We walked up 5 flights of stairs to get to the rooftop pool which is probably more popular in the summer. Beautiful views of the Abbey but cold when you stand up.  Then, we discovered there is an elevator so we took that down and back into the Minerva pool.

We had so much sugar at the high tea, that we went to Wagamamas noodle joint for dinner. You can find these all over the UK; very reasonable, good food. So feeling good about our nutrition, we allowed ourselves one chocolate afterwards.

Here is one of the pigs from the Bath pig event a few years ago. The pig is the symbol of the mythical founder of Bath, whoever that is.