Not Quite Midnight in Paris
Yawn. Just another day in Paris. Here we are at Rodin’s house after spending the morning at Versailles.
The outside is gorgeous, but the inside appears to be a bit of a fixer-upper. I think they just wanted to make it all about the art. And there is plenty of that. No pictures of the inside; Scott had to check his backpack at the door.
The Thinker. The original. And some statue.
Finn was trying to photo bomb Scott for most of the trip, but he needs to take a few lessons from the master. He also needs to grow about five more inches.
I bought a few of these for the backyard.
In answer to your question, I don’t know what he’s doing.
The buttcrack of The Thinker.
I need to work on my photo bomb face.
Hey, this is pretty cool.
Look at all of these people acting like they love each other in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.
These people in particular. Jeesh.
Here we are right underneath.
And now we’re on the other side. We didn’t go up to the top. Too little time!
Photo bomb! Oh wait, we asked him to stand there.
And then the sun started to really shine. It was a beautiful afternoon in Paris. Magical. Okay, maybe not magical.
But it was pretty cool.
Even this guy thought so.
The Arc de Triomphe.
Oh yeah, we also went to the Louvre.
Do I look like I understand what I’m looking at?
There she is.
Grande Odalisque. They say the proportions are wrong. Speaking as a woman with particularly long arms, I find that offensive.
I prefer to enjoy my masterpieces while sitting.
Fancy.
Just some fish eye handiwork of medieval Louvre.
Probably not medieval.
Napoleon’s Apartments. He didn’t get the memo about downsizing.
Please pass the Grey Poupon.
The bed seems a little short.
The Throne Room.
For fans of The Da Vinci Code.
Proof we were there.
So that’s it! That was our last night in Paris. We finished off by having a lovely meal that Thursday evening and it was clear that Paris had spring fever. Everyone was out and about enjoying the warm weather.
If you haven’t seen Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris I highly recommend it. We watched it the night we returned from our trip and it was just wonderful. Of note, we never quite made it to midnight in Paris ourselves, since all the walking made us pass out by 10:30 pm. But the scenes of Paris in the movie are perfect and the story is just…magical.
There, I said it again. Magical. If a word fits, use it.
Source: izismile.com
Versailles
Our second day in Paris we went to The Palace of Versailles. Mike arranged for a private tour guide, and Manuel (who was a French speaking Spaniard) picked us up at our hotel in a passenger van. The five of us (Finn, Scott, Mike, Oren and myself) joined a young Canadian couple in the van who appeared clearly hungover (well at least the dude did). When we arrived at Versailles the Canadians were more interested in finding coffee and a roll rather than The Hall of Mirrors.
Manuel was a crazy fountain of information and a crazy driver. He was like a delightful sitcom character. I loved him.
Here’s me wearing my best raincoat. It’s purple like all the royals wear.
I might consider doing some ceiling art when I get home.
Finn smirking in front of The Canadians.
The Hall of Mirrors through the fish eye.
Proof we were there.
I could live here.
A brief rain shower didn’t dampen our enthusiasm.
Where is Groundskeeper Willie?
I haven’t seen a statue in, oh, five minutes. I was getting a little worried.
We got back from Versailles and made a trip to the Musee d’Orsay where we looked at a bunch of famous paintings and had a ridiculously expensive, but positively divine lunch. I’m pretty sure I paid at least 20 bucks for a glass (a glass!) of vichyssoise, but since I love potato leek soup, I thought I would give it a whirl. Best. Soup. Ever. And it was cold. So there.
At this point I was falling in love with Paris and was pretty certain I would totally be coming back again. Without blisters and wearing cuter shoes, of course.
Goodness Gracious
I took Finn to see Million Dollar Quartet, the musical about the famous 1956 recording session with Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins at Sun Records, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
It was kind of fluke how I got the tickets. I really wanted to take Finn and Scott to see the stage production of American Idiot, but in order to get tickets by Christmas for that show, I had to buy a small Paramount season ticket package. The entertainment industry is such a racket! But since I’m a total sucker, I got the stupid package and got three awesome third row tickets to American Idiot. I also got two tickets for Mamma Mia! and two tickets for Million Dollar Quartet.
And boy, I’m so glad I did. It was expensive, but hell, it was Christmas and I was bleeding money anyway. It has been the gift that keeps on giving. Last month I took my BFF Carla to see Mamma Mia! and we had a wonderful day.
And yesterday Finn and I had a lovely mother/son day in Seattle before seeing Million Dollar Quartet. We had an early lunch at The Cheesecake Factory downtown and then browsed at Barnes & Noble before heading to the 1:00 o’clock show.
We sat down in our most excellent seats only to see a flurry of activity take place all around us. It seems several people were sitting in the wrong sections, so ushers were called, hands were wrung, stubs were checked and bodies were moved. Finn leaned over and said, “Did you notice how all the people in the wrong seats were old? “Shhhh,” I scolded. “What,” he said, “they can’t hear me. They’re old.”
Well, he had me there. There were quite a few blue hairs in attendance. And they were dressed so sharply! I can’t wait to reach 80 and attend concerts and plays in my free time wearing my snazziest blazer, my best clip on earrings and perhaps a lovely lapel pin. I shall also complain how no one dresses up for the theater any longer and gripe that the sound is too loud. But I won’t walk out of the theater before the encore to beat the rush. That would be a waste of good money!
I warned Finn that I might cry during the performance, so he shouldn’t be alarmed. He wanted to know if the play was sad, and I told him probably not, but I tend to get emotional when I see really great musical performances. You know, like last month when I bawled through “Dancing Queen.” He thought this was very weird, and I told him to wait until he was 42 with questionable hormone levels.
Actually, what I told him is that I deeply appreciate musical talent, since I wanted to have it so badly, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me. So when I see people with a gift, and a particular song touches me the right way, I cry. It’s a combination of nostalgia and admiration and being old. I think I’m just happy to be alive in that very moment. Hell, I’m tearing up right now thinking about it, and I’m not even remotely sad.
So, yes, I cried through “See You Later Alligator.” Or maybe it was “Whole Lotta Shakin’.”
You know, the classic love songs.
Finn and I saw Million Dollar Quartet at The Paramount yesterday. The music was wonderful and the company was even better.
Welcome to Paris
We woke up early Tuesday morning and took the Eurostar to Paris. I loved the train ride. It was quiet, comfortable and a lovely French gentleman told me to have a pleasant day.
We had lunch as soon as we arrived and then checked into the Hotel Castex, which is in the heart of the Marais. The hotel was quiet, comfortable and there were lovely French gentlemen running the front desk. Are you sensing a theme here?
Scott stands outside our room and tries to look pensive and artsy.
The staircase up to our room. The French have a lot of windy staircases to stuff. Particularly the bathrooms.
We took a short four mile walk before dinner. You know, to make sure my blisters could remind me who was running the show here.
We walked by The July Column, a monument to the Revolution of 1830. A little overcast and gray.
Then off to see Notre Dame and some French Gothic Architecture.
Despite the cloudy day, still quite dramatic and beautiful.
Finn’s take? “Another church?”
Here I am checking out the Seine.
Finn was fascinated by these love locks on some of the bridges over the Seine. Lovers write their names on the lock, secure it to the bridge and throw away the key into the Seine. And no, Scott and I didn’t participate. That’s vandalism and littering!
Finn makes his way through the narrow Parisian streets.
We stopped by Luxembourg Gardens and the sun decided to make an appearance.
So we rested our feet for a bit. The photographer decided to break the camera out in honor of Paris.
Oren and Mike, our tour guides. Okay, clearly I took this picture. You can see where my iPad cover blurred the corner of the picture. No wonder Scott fired me.
The Medici Fountain…
A view of the Pantheon Paris…
Finn liked the graffiti more than the statues. Kids are stupid.
Rue Cloche Perce.
I bought a couple of these in case I get married again.
Francois Hollande was elected the new President of France, defeating the incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, two days prior to our arrival.
Had to get home and rest up, because tomorrow we check out Versailles!
Dan Harmon Poops: HEY, DID I MISS ANYTHING?
Kids:
A few hours ago, I landed in Los Angeles, turned on my phone, and confirmed what you already know. Sony Pictures Television is replacing me as showrunner on Community, with two seasoned fellows that I’m sure are quite nice - actually, I have it on good authority they’re quite nice, because…
Source: danharmon
Powerful
Good morning everyone.
The lovely view this morning from the deck of my new house.
This view only gives me a slight R. Crumb vibe.
But I can live with it.
Random London Observations
I already mentioned that I thought London was the Land of the Low Talkers. Here are a few other random observations:
1) A lot of unleashed dogs (or dogs without a lead as the Brits would say) running around various parks without identified owners. Normally, this would concern me, but these were British dogs, so they were quite civilized, witty and charming—like a bunch of Hugh Grants with fur.
2) No washcloths in the hotel rooms.
3) I didn’t get the memo before I left that British chicks are all wearing black nylons or leggings, short skirts or shorts, and ankle boots.
This is probably what they were going for (hello Pippa):
This is mostly what I saw:
Well, it wasn’t all that bad. Some were closer to this:
4) We took a lovely country drive out to see Stonehenge, and it was surprisingly serene. Just beautiful countryside with an occasional sheep or pig farm. How strange. If Stonehenge was in the United States I’m pretty sure there would be several Stonehenge restaurants (eat an entire Druid Burger and get a free t-shirt), a smattering of Stonehenge hotels, a Stonehenge water park and numerous makeshift roadside “craftspeople” selling Stonehenge memorabilia. Bummer, because I could have really used a velvet Stonehenge painting.
5) Six 13-year-old girls singing their favorite songs by heart on a crowded tube is annoying in any country.
6) I love a free museum!
I used to like to run things. Now I prefer talking about what I would do if I ran things. It's a whole lot easier.
