Arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport feels like arriving anywhere else. You know you are in France, but your taxi is long (personally, I think planes land in Normandy and taxi to Rouissy) and the terrain is boring. I mean, it's a runway. How fascinating can it be?As the shuttle van heads for Paris, the landscape remains bland. The suburban sprawl you see outside the taxi window could be anywhere. The gleaming white towers of Sacre Coeur are your first indication, that, yes, this is Paris.
So it was on my first entrance to Paris.
My second indication was the Place de La Bastille. The Colonne de Juillet was the second landmark I recognized on the initial visit to Paris. Then, I knew that we were finally in Paris.
This landmark commemorates the French Revolution of July 1830. But because it is placed near the location of the Bastille, which was stormed on July 14, 1789, we often connect it with that earlier revolution.
Doesn't matter to me. July is my birthday month, and you might say it is France's birthday, too. So I feel a special connection with this monument.
I'm celebrating Bastille Day by spending time in my kitchen, something I've not had much time for lately.
Vive la France!
12 comments:
Happy Bastille Day, and happy birthday month, too. Hope you are enjoying summer and that your new job is off to a good start.
Well, Lydia, it has been an interesting week. My comfort level grows daily.
Now to the kitchen...
Well, let's have a party! I like that comfort level growing. Enjoy the kitchen. I'm sure onto that this weekend.
And Happy Birthday!
Thanks, Tanna. I wish there were more time for cooking...
Happy Bastille Day! It's too hot to cook here so I'll have to enjoy your cooking vicariously.
Andrea, it's been rather cool here the last five days. I would like a happier medium!
Happy Birthday! I miss seeing your blog posts as often but I know you must be SO busy with the new job. And spending your spare time in the kitchen. :) I hope the job is going well.
Belated Happy Bastille Day, Mimi. And happy birthday month, too! Your posts always make me long to go back to Paris....
Glad to hear you are getting comfy at the new job. Summer is mostly for grillin' anyway. If I do any cooking in the kitchen, it is generally with the crock pot!
Have a happy July birthday Mimi. Its my daughters birthday today. Oh, you cancer the crabs! LOL
Happy Bastille Day/birthday month, Mimi! For me, the Eiffel Tower is my touchstone from my first Paris visit, as cliché as it sounds. When my brother and I arrived in Paris, having driven from England [taking the ferry from Dover to Calais], we found rooms in a little hotel near the Eiffel Tower. After checking in, we walked to the park around the tower and stretched out on the lawn in the sun. We had been up for most of the last 24 hours, and my brother promptly dozed off. I was far too jazzed to sleep and sat there looking at everything and just reveling in being in Paris.
Laura, I am busy, but I will try after this week to pace myself a bit. The job calls for me to be very visible and very much everywhere. Whew! I'll try to post more, I promise. I miss it.
Toni, I am longing to return, too. Not a day goes by that I do not plot and plan the next getaway...
Cyn, I do my crockpotting in winter! But it's a great idea for summer, too.
LadyJicky, I am on the cusp, which explains my split personality. Part of me craves time alone at home while the other wants the spotlight.
TerryB, the tower is my personal homing device, I swear. Ah, to graze in the sunny grass beneath it...
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