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!