The Flood

Our prayers are with everyone back in Minnesota and North Dakota.

Here is the latest from the Fargo Forum:

FARGO – The city remains on high alert as it battles historic Red River levels, as crews and officials slip into “watch and respond” mode with quick response teams and developing strategies for the worst case scenario.
With 48 miles of levees bracing the city against the Red, leaders from the city, county and state want residents to take the ongo-ing threat seriously.
To address the heightened threat:
- City leaders asked non-essential businesses to remain closed
- Residents are asked to restrict all unnecessary travel
- Gov. John Hoeven waived the state’s “blue laws,” which restrict business hours on Sundays. The move allows stores selling flood-fighting supplies to remain open throughout the night.

Here are some interesting photos:

Paris day 5

We started this day with a trip to Montparnasse cemetery to see the graves of Samuel Beckett, Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvior.

The rather plain grave of Samuel Beckett.

An overview of the cemetery.

Here I am at the grave of de Beauvior and Sartre. It was covered with metro passes with notes written on them and held in place with a small stone.


Our next stop was the fly-fishing shop I located, but first we had to cross the Seine. Here is a shot of me crossing the Seine on our way to the shop. It was just across the bridge and the water below is not a bad spot to fish.

The la Masion de la Mouche fly-fishing shop. It was a great place to look around and talk fishing with the owner. Speaking of the owner he is the son of the guy who started it in the 1920s and Hemingway was a frequent customer and storyteller at this shop. I bought a set of flies called the "Hemingway set" as they were the flies he typically used when fishing the Seine. A very fun stop.
Below, a shot of Hemingway fly-fishing.

Cindy on the street with a great orange bag of French chocolate!

On the Left Bank we found the hotel where Oscar Wilde died and Jorge Luis Borges frequently stayed while in Paris.We saw this puppy out for a walk on the Left Bank and Christy loved it!We made a stop by Cafe Deux Magots. It was the cafe that Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus frequented.The square across from the cafe Maggot was somewhat appropriately named. I was surprised that Camus is somewhat low-profile in Paris and Sartre and Beauvoir are high-profile. I think it may be the fact that Camus was Algerian born and supported their independence.In the afternoon we strolled the Luxembourg Gardens. Here is a shot of a cool statue in the gardens.We stopped to watch a competitive game of Bocce Ball.More interesting street art captured on our way to home.

Paris day 4

Day 4 was a big day.....Pablo Picasso Museum, Montmartre District and a sunset trip to the Eiffel Tower.
Below, the Picasso museum. An artist had a show at the museum. He divided the building in two with scaffolding and the center piece is a huge mirror. I am not sure what it means, I will have to ask Khara to read the piece and comment here.

Eric at the Picasso Museum.Cindy at the Picasso Museum.

After the Picasso museum we rode the Metro to the Montmartre district...we exited from another great Art Deco Metro stop.

I should not forget to note that we had lunch at a great cafe that serves savory crepes. They were great!

We started our Monmarte walk at the top of the hill that Sacre-Coeur Basilica sits on. It is an impressive sight.

Up and up the stairs....closer and closer to the Church.Cindy, ready for the climb.A much closer view. The view of Paris from the top.
Christy and Cindy in front of a old nightclub that Edith Piaf frequently sang at.
Some street scenes from the Montmartre district.Some great random street art.More random street art.
Another great cafe scene from Montmartre.
Many things are covered with graffiti in Paris, including this delivery van.A statue of Saint Denis the patron saint of Paris.
Christy buying scarves on the street.At the end of the Montmartre walk we came across Moulin Rouge.

Getting our moneys worth from Bob Steves. He was telling us all about how the Eiffel Tower was built during the time of the Protestant Reformation by George Washington in Ohio and brought over to France on the Titanic piece by piece by Martin Luther himself right after the Vietnam conflict. You get what you pay for.

Christy took a great shot of the Tower from the bottom. I think cat-sitter Marie requested this shot.


Another interesting shot below the tower at sunset.

Cindy at the Eiffel Tower.



Christy took a great detail shot of the iron work.

The three of us at the top of the Eiffel Tower at night. It was spectacular!

Paris day 3

Day 3. Rain,rain and rain with wind in the morning. The day started with rain and wind and we had outside plans that had to be changed. We started at the Arc de Triomphe and then went to the Orsay Museum. It turned out to be a great day!

Below, a view from underneath the Arc.

The eternal flame burning for all French soldiers that lost their lives in battle.

A view from the top.A view of the Eiffel Tower from the Arc de Triomphe.

On our way to the Orsay we stopped by a cafe and had the best cup of hot chocolate in the world! One of the great things to do in Paris is to just stop by a cafe and try what they have. I took this shot for Yancy. If you have ever read his blog you will recognize this type of photo.Inside view of the Orsay. It was originally built as a train station and has this wonderful center section where the passenger trains ran at one time.An artist working inside the Orsay.Christy taking her time checking out the art.Cindy checking out the map of the Orsay.Part of the collection at the Orsay is a large van Gogh collection. As was the case with the Mona Lisa the van Gogh paintings are absolutely stunning in person. You just can't capture the color and brush strokes with a camera. This is one of my favorites as it reminds me of Minnesota farming. Title: Midday.This was Christy's favorite, a Monet. The colors were incredible. My favorite van Gogh paintings are the self-portraits. The one below is an early self-portrait.Here is the second self-portrait. Christy pointed out the swirling blue background......interesting.Finally his great religious piece The Church at Auvers-sur-Oise. The Orsay also had a temporary display of Art Deco objects including a great collection of furniture.

A super cool screen that Christy wanted to take home.We ended the day on the Champs-Elysees and caught this great photo of some French Military cadets marching to the Arc de Triomphe to light the eternal flame at 6:30pm. A bit of advice, in my view you can skip the Champ-Elysees, it was not much of a downtown district compared to Montmartre or the Left Bank.