Paris-Roubaix

Tom Boonen won Paris-Roubaix today for the third time. I was in Roubaix, too! Here he is as he leaves the velodrome:


I couldn't believe my luck. He came out right in front of me.

It was raining in Paris this morning:

but a little rain doesn't bother these guys, who spent the day going over cobblestones such as this one at the entrance to the velodrome:

Or, actually, like this:

a photo that I took at the start line in Compiègne the day before the race. Even at the start line, the cobbles are incredibly uneven and big, and they get worse after this. (Compiègne from Paris, btw, is a gorgeous route through the countryside and forest. Route).

Before the racers come through, the parade of vans and floats throwing free stuff out comes by:


Then comes 259 km of race, including 53 km of cobblestones.
The race ended at the velodrome in Roubaix:


Entrance of the fancy Roubaix velodrome:
Truckloads of beat-up bikes coming back, lots of which seemed to belong to the Garmin-Chipotle team:


Also some equally beat-up riders:




Here's an actual race report. Here's a video of the last few kilometers:

Visitors in Paris!

Mom and Dad made it to Paris! See the special feature in all of these photos, the sun! Spring is almost here.


On the banks of the Seine:
A sunny Pont Neuf:

Toy sailboats for rent in the Luxembourg Gardens reflecting pool:

The quilts visit Paris

The "quilt cupcake" at a Parisian pâtisserie. Click to zoom in on the image.

An airplane flying close over the pyramids at the Louvre.

The weather was excellent by Notre Dame. The sky is totally cloud-free.


And in front of Sacré-Coeur.

Things for Linda

Illuminated manuscript from the Musée National du Moyen Age. Mom says Linda will never leave!

A tile on the floor of the Ste. Chapelle featuring a greyhound.

A whole store full of teapots, "Arts de la Table," near the Luxembourg Gardens.

Eating Well

We are eating well. See the real French pastries!

Paris on Valentine's Day

We spent some time at the Louvre yesterday afternoon with two of Rolf's friends from Germany. They went home at midday and Rolf and I spent a nice Valentine's Day afternoon in and on the Champs-Élysées.

Here are Christian, Alexandra, and me at the Louvre.

This is an art installation from Richard Serra called Clara Clara (Rolf knew it).

Here is a neat building on the Champs-Élysées.

Here is the Arc de Triomphe.

Barcelona

Rolf and I flew to Barcelona on Ibera last weekend. It was over 50 degrees and sunny, which was better weather than in grey, damp France. A friend from high school is finishing his PhD there, so we hung out with him. The main tourist attraction, at least when it's too cold to swim, is La Sagrada Familia, a modern cathedral designed by Gaudi and still under construction.


The structure inside is designed to evoke nature and the columns branch like trees.

Here is a market, built in the past few years.

Here is the pleasure boat port on the Mediterranean.

There is a city bicycle program in Barcelona, as in Paris. The rear wheel is a mountain bike wheel and the front wheel is even smaller, like a clown car!

There are public water taps all over the city. This guy is giving his dog a drink. There are also a lot of big dogs in the city.

Chartres

Rolf and I went to Chartres on the train for a few hours. There is a cathedral here from the 13th century with one Gothic and one Romanesque spire. Inside, we saw the veil worn by the Virgin Mary when she gave birth to Jesus. It was in storage or something for 800 years, when it popped up as a gift to Charlemagne in AD 802. However old, it is still white after all those years!

That is all. Thanks to Rolf for taking most of the pictures!

Rue Rebeval

There are a diverse bunch of buildings on my short little street. There is an elementary school, two preschools, and a campus of the Paris school of architecture. There are also a lot of store fronts that are almost always boarded up, but sometimes open up (usually Saturdays) to reveal artist studios and little artisan shops.

There is an article about the food options here, where it describes our two wine specialty shops (one organic) and the soup restaurant (new fad in Paris):
http://gridskipper.com/65223/a-paris-rue-for-gastro-rebels

Rolf and I've been going out to eat a lot. Klaus's friend in Paris, Philippe, showed us a really cute French place with hand-written menus that have notes from the owner/server/cook's grandchildren stuck inside. The place is also just down the street, but didn't make the cut for that online article.

Here are some pictures. First of all, coming out of the metro, you will know which street goes home by looking for the one with this atonishing view of the Eiffel Tower:


We live on a big hill.

Then, you will see the organic wine shop. And another wine shop (Mon Oncle is the latter).

And Zoé Bouillon is a good place for lunchtime soup, says Rolf. They are fixing the facade above it.

Here is the architecture school:

Here is a café and theatre space. That's all for my street for now. Everything else was closed with one of those ugly pull-down covers. Opening hours around here are "whenever we feel like it."

Versailles

I went to Versailles last weekend. It was not as cold as it looks. You can see the Seine isn't frozen like the Charles River.

I found a cool steel bike. It is geared for some sort of manly Tour de France cyclist.