Heart in Provence

More fun- lots more fun- the Fondation Louis Vuitton. A short walk from a Metro (or you can take a shuttle directly from the Arc de Triomphe- which will also return you to said Arc later in the day should you so desire),located - ironically for me, anyway- on Mahatma Gandhi Avenue, 75116 Paris is a shimmering cloud of a building. Frank Gehry. Amazing. No matter what the featured collection of the moment, it is worth the trip there- spend some time walking up and down and gra...b a bite at Frank- the café there. It truly defies description. And if you happen to get bored, there is the "Jardin d'Acclimatation " smack next door: a 47 acre amusement park ostensibly for children. Not so Fun Fact, there was a human zoo there until 1912. In mid-colonialism, the curiosity of Parisians was attracted to the customs and lifestyles of foreign peoples. Nubians, Bushmen, Zulus and many other African peoples were "exhibited" in a human zoo. OOF. See more

And speaking of cavernous malls, here is Les Halles. Once apparently the place in Paris to buy food, it was sadly demolished in 1971 and replaced with this modern monstrosity. No more food or market or charm, it is at the very least air conditioned. You can say I really didn't like it. Yup that about sums it up. Just another mall. Skip it, or just cut through it on your way to St Eustache.

167 of 365 Provence ST Eustache. Every heard of him? I know a great coffee place in Rome- the St Eustache and a gloriously gory painting in the Vatican Museum of St Eustache's disembowelment -I'm pretty sure that was one- there were so many.... anyway. We staggered out of the immense cavern that is Les Halles now(really just another mall) and into the glory of St Eustache Church. Rarely am I wordless, but just a few steps into this cavernous spectacle and I had to catch my breath. The tiny side door was trickery plain and simple: there was no way to know what treasures were inside. Skip the bloody long lines of Notre Dame (seriously, over an hour?) and just walk in respectful, peaceful silence. It is magnificent. Shhhh. Don't tell anyone.

166 of 365 Provence So, this is happening right now. Recent trip from CDG to YVR- you now have to tag your own bags and then load, weigh and send off your bags. No more counter service agents. Kind of like the self checkout line at the grocery store. How much fun is that! The poor bastard at CDG who was directing people from a line of easily 100 people (a large group of Americans heading home) to go to the 3 free standing automatic check in thingies (in French it is a borne- ...I really cant find the right word) to print their "Tag Bags". You have to now print your own baggage tags. So wait in line for to access the printer thingy. So you scan your boarding pass (print that before you arrive or have it on your phone) tap here, tap there, insert your passport and tap some more crap and out comes your baggage tag. Now, you really want to get out of the way to let the next person do their thing, but you cant because there are too many people all around you. So you fiddle with your hand bag, your carry on and your mammoth suitcase to peel and stick your tag, not forgetting to add the little address label size sticker to the side of the bag in case the big one falls off and keeping the other little sticker with the bar code with your passport, again, in case the bag goes walkies. You will need two hands to stick this sucker on properly- loop it around the handle of the suitcase being very careful not to screw it up. The tags are super sticky and if it goes south, MR Tag Bags will have to come and help you- not his forte, I can tell you. You will have to start all over, much to the delight of the sighing, moaning passengers behind you. Say you successfully tag your bag and head to the next line. There you are directed to a self serve counter where you place your bag. Again scan boarding pass or passport: If it is the correct weight, off it goes. If overweight, the conveyor belt spits it back at you and you start to offload. Weigh and reweigh until the weight is correct. Toss all the magazines and chocolates you have off loaded: too bad they didn't make the weight. By now you are in a lather- literally. Cause it is hot and there are seemingly 600 people heading for the same gate as you. And there are over 600 people headed to security (I asked- there are 4 international flights heading out on Friday morning around the same time). So the moral of this story is: get to the airport earlier than previously planned. 3 hours of pre flight fun just doesn't seem like enough any more. And if you see one of these things on your way through the airport before the great hall, use it. It will be a time saver. You are welcome See more