This past weekend Leonie and Nic came to Paris for a few days. You may know Leonie from her eclectic blog Chocolate Covered Musings. She and Nic are New Zealanders, currently living in London. What a lively, fun couple they are! Luckily, they intend to stick around London for awhile, so we shall be seeing more of each other.
Scaffolding props up the facade of a 19th-century building on Oxford Street, London. Behind the facade, construction is underway on a new space, which will retain the historical facade. In the building at left, a flag is reflected in the window's glass.
A jumble of cooking wares caught in a fisherman's net at Divertimenti in Knightsbridge, London. The Brompton Oratory is reflected in the glass.
The spring-themed window in an upscale charity shop on Brompton Road.
A giant lipstick tube - Heatherette for M.A.C. Cosmetics - in a window display at Selfridges on Oxford Street.
Banners advertising an ongoing exhibition at the Natural History Museum on Cromwell Road.
Children and their parents line up for tickets to the giant maze and butterfly house at the Natural History Museum.
Boxed plants suspended from iron railings outside buildings on Cromwell Road.
In keeping with the shipwreck-themed window displays at Selfridges, the London department store, lighting designer Stuart Haygarth created these unique light sculptures. Black barnacle (above).
White barnacle.
Harpon 321 by Stuart Haygarth.
An unusual shrub near Cromwell Road, London. Anyone know what kind it is?
On Monday I received this delightful message:
Hi Tara,My name is xxxxx xxxxx, an xxxxx currently living in xxxxx (another country). I hope you don´t mind using xxxxx to contact you hoping that maybe I could get some advice from a local perspective for a special evening that has been on my mind for the last few weeks.
As it turns out, I will be visiting Paris for xxxxx days at the end of xxxxx in order to meet some potential clients my company wants to develop. My girlfriend xxxxx, who currently works in xxxxx (yet another country) will join me for the weekend and the idea is that we can spend some time together, as well as get to know this charming city.
What she doesn´t know is that I would like to take advantage of the fact that we are in such a romantic town to plan the perfect day that ends up with me asking her to marry me. This will hopefully catch her breath away :-) The problem is that I have never been to Paris so far, so here is where I would need your advice. I would really appreciate if you can recommend me some romantic spots and places that can help me build up a nice atmosphere towards the evening. I am thinking maybe a walk in a beautiful street, some gardens or parks, a nice restaurant or a traditional serenade around the river, but please, you are the expert and that is why I came to you. The keyword as you already notice: Romantic.
As you can surely imagine, I am very excited and cannot wait for this day to finally come. So, if you decide to help me in my quest you will make this romantic xxxxx the happiest man of the world.
Merci et au revoir,
(Name)
Ah, a charming man with a romantic soul... And what a lucky woman to win his heart! Practically every woman I know wishes men would make more of an effort to be thoughtful and sweet. Today I was having lunch with my friend Susan of Soozphotoz and her lovely daughter Sara on Ile Saint Louis. When I told them the story, they simultaneously exlaimed, "Aaaawwwww - how sweet!" Yes, you can bet I sent the writer a list of some of the city's most romantic rendezvous spots. And the Eiffel Tower was not on the list!
Here's another wonderful story, just in case you missed it----or need a tiny glimmer of hope.
For the Writers Island prompt "outrageous:"
One of the most fascinating encounters I had during my last trip to London was talking with an Iraqi mini-cab driver. The minute I saw him, I knew he was an Iraqi refugee. He was wearing the usual three-piece brown suit, white shirt and tie made of cheap fabric; had carefully combed hair and a heavy douse of scent. I say this not to disparage this gentleman, but to explain that I have seen a version of him in nearly every country in the Middle East, in Europe and - more rarely - in the United States: someone who has lost nearly everything. A desperate person trying to make his way in a foreign country, with very little, while working hard to make ends meet. This particular man drives a car seven days a week to support his family.
While moving slowly through London traffic to St. Pancras International, we chatted about war in Iraq and the American presidential election:
"The situation is so bad that most teachers, doctors and anyone who can afford it have left Iraq," the man said. "We knew when the Americans arrived that they would not be leaving anytime soon and no one was happy about that. But we worry that if American troops pull out now, Iran will seize the opening. They are always looking for a way in (and he referenced the eight-year Iran-Iraq war)...We are threatened by Turkey from the North, Iran from the South and Al-Qaida taking advantage of the chaos."
Asked why Iraqis are listening to Iran, a non-Arab country and longtime enemy, the man replied: "Only a few are listening, but they have influence with others." He said Moqtada al Sadr "gets all his weapons and support" from Iran.
We talked about the dilemma for the US, as 68 percent of Americans believe we never should have gone into Iraq and want our troops home, but have sympathy for the Iraqis' plight. Then we discussed the double-edged sword for the Iraqis, who badly need help, but resent the foreign troops' presence. He said he believes it will take "50 years" to rebuild Iraq. "The situation is so perilous that Iraqis now living outside Iraq talk about it only at dinner and when questioned by people like you," he noted. Otherwise, "we try to forget about it," he said. "It's just too horrible to think about."
He expressed concern about Iraqi deaths that often go unreported by the media. "There have been hundreds of Iraqis killed this week alone and nobody talks about it or does anything about it," he said.
He said Iraqis are watching the American election with a mixture of interest and fear. "We're worried that the next president might pull all the troops out too soon, leaving Iraq to fend for itself," he said. "The Iraqi government isn't strong enough and can't fight powerful influences of people like Moqtada al Sadr, without help from outside."
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band singing Worlds Apart in Barcelona, Spain. I had the privilege of seeing Springsteen on this same "The Rising" tour in Paris. In memoriam: Danny Federici of the E Street Band.
Outrageous battles for those who live to tell
Meanwhile, more than 120 veteran soldiers of Iraq and Afghanistan commit suicide every week, while the Bush administration delays mental health treatment and benefits to which returning troops are entitled, veterans advocates told a federal judge in San Francisco.
The rights of hundreds of thousands of veterans are being violated by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), "an agency that is in denial" and by a government health care system and appeals process for patients that is "broken down," Gordon Erspamer, attorney for two advocacy groups, said in his opening statement at trial. Erspamer said veterans are committing suicide at the rate of 18 a day - a number acknowledged by a VA official in a Dec. 15 e-mail. The agency's backlog of disability claims exceeds 650,000.
Continue reading "Worlds apart, bound together by Bush's folly" »
These photos from the London department store Selfridges "shipwreck" series remind me of one of my favourite films, Wings of Desire. The Wim Wenders film features Bruno Ganz, the late Solveig Dommartin and Peter Falk. In 1987-88, the film won numerous prizes in festivals in France, Germany and Europe, including Best Director at Cannes. The film's premise involves angels surveying the war-scarred city of Berlin. The angels listen to tortured thoughts of mortals going about their daily lives and try to comfort them. One angel desires nothing more than to become mortal, after falling in love with Marian, a beautiful trapeze artist.
My poem in homage to Wings of Desire:
The heart knows nothing
until that fateful encounter:
a seemingly chance meeting
at the right place and time
and something inside stirs.
From that first moment
the stars and planets align.
Anxiety gives way to certainty,
saying yes to all the questions
too long unasked and unanswered.
No matter that the distance
of time and space is long
and the journey ahead
fraught with challenges and obstacles
that may alter the route.
The picture in your mind's eye steady;
the path to your beloved clear.
No maps needed to find the way
to the one who understands
before a single word is spoken.
A connection forged long ago
in another lifetime
so distant from this modern realm
etched into memory's core;
written indelibly across your heart.
Check back Tuesday for photos of shipwreck-themed sculptures created especially for Selfridges, London by artist Stuart Haygarth, as well as pictures from today's Marches des Puces at Vanves, Paris.
This is the second of a three-part series of shipwreck-themed window fashion displays at Selfridges on Oxford Street, London. Check back Sunday for photos of angels amidst the rotted hull of a ship, as well as pictures of some amazing sea-themed sculptures created especially for Selfridges by artist Stuart Haygarth. For Part I, go here.
The famous London department store Selfridges on Oxford Street has the most imaginative window displays I've ever seen, outside of Paris. Currently, they're displaying fashion in elaborate and imaginative scenes of shipwreck. If anyone knows who designed these fantastic windows at Selfridges, please email me. Check back Saturday and Sunday for more London vitrine photos.
Creating a collage at DKNY Jeans, Knightsbridge, London. Check back Wednesday for photos of some very creative department store window displays.
By the way, the euro vs. the dollar is at $1.60 today - the two currencies once were about level. That means the dollar has lost 60 percent of its value in world currency markets. And the price of oil is nearly $120 a barrel! What next??!!
A vitrine at Selfridges, Oxford Street, London - talk about eyelashes to bat - as opposed to Bat for Lashes!
Just back from a fabulous time in London with some stories and photos to share. Check back later for more. If you live in Pennsylvania, don't forget to vote in Tuesday's Democratic primary. Before you cast your ballot, consider this - it's a very big deal - and certainly not presidential behaviour. I'm happy that Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, two of my favourite musicians and activists, have thrown their support behind Barack Obama.
For the Writers Island prompt "flight," there was a time in my life when I was on a plane practically every week...a hectic, thrilling and unpredictable time when it sometimes seemed I took planes almost like other people took taxis.
Most of those flights were thankfully, rather uneventful. But there was one trip when the police wouldn't let me out of the airport in Kuwait. Seems the consul at the Kuwait Embassy in Amman, Jordan had deliberately left an essential stamp off my visa, because I politely spurned his advances. As I was wearing a dress and high heels, the police jumped to the conclusion that I must be some rich man's personal plaything. Luckily, an executive for Kuwait Airways was meeting me at the airport and raised a ruckus until they let me pass.
Another time I got on a plane in an Arab country and prayed for it to hurry and take off, before guards tried to arrest me for something I wrote that angered the government - to the point the magazine in which my article appeared was confiscated! When the plane finally lifted off the ground, I breathed a huge sign of relief, certain I'd escaped hours of questioning - and perhaps worse - about my confidential sources.
In those days airport officials were very suspicious of a young woman traveling on her own, even if one did carry proper international press credentials. In one Middle Eastern airport, the customs officers searching my bags - and me - were so intrusive, I cursed them in Arabic (I was young) and threatened to phone their foreign minister. They were shocked that an American girl was speaking Arabic to them - never mind what I'd said - and immediately apologised and became very solicitious.
Once flying from London to Amman, I was bringing back extra luggage for my friend Lindsay, who worked at an international school. Her brother had met me in London with two suitcases jammed with clothes, videos, books and treats from home. So the airline confiscated my passport, told me I couldn't leave the airport until I paid the excess baggage fee and informed me they were seizing the luggage. Of course, I was more than a little annoyed - this was my thanks for doing a favour for a friend - but I decided the airline really couldn't do much to me.
Near the end of the flight, I persuaded a male flight attendant to give me my passport. He said, "OK, but you'll have to leave those extra suitcases at the airport." As the baggage carousel came around, there were no guards to be seen. So I grabbed my bags and Lindsay's and sailed into a waiting taxi. The next day, the airline created quite the kerfuffle about me "absconding" with the extra bags, but a Jordanian friend who worked for the airline resolved the problem so Lindsay didn't have to pay a fine.
Flying from Amman to New York, I was seated in business class and a group of tourists kept asking for my autograph. Seems they had me confused with a Canadian actress. I was so ill with food poisoning, I'd barely been able to board the plane. I didn't feel like repeatedly explaining, "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not her!" Finally a flight attendant took pity on me and moved me to a quiet corner in first class.
Then there were all those flights when I was giddy with excitement, flying into the arms of a man I loved - or tearful farewells, as each of us boarded planes going in opposite directions. I have many, many travel stories which I will save for an upcoming book.
These days I hate flying, particularly the trans-Atlantic flights. I do everything possible to distract myself from the fact that I'm on a plane - reading, writing, watching a film, listening to music, chatting with my fellow passengers - anything to make the time pass without thinking about being in a plane. Beginning in May, I have nine flights coming up - and as much as I'm looking forward to seeing my daughter and friends at the other end of the flights, I regard the actual travel part as something that must be endured.
What about you? What's your best or worst air travel story?
Lehnert and Landrock photo, Tunis, early 20th-century
In Britain today, the High Court has stood up for the rule of law. The court issued a scathing indictment against the government for its refusal to cooperate with an investigation into alleged bribery in a BAE Systems-Saudi Arabia arms deal. The ruling is a clear victory for Corner House and the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT). The anti-bribery campaigners had argued that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) decision to stop the investigation was influenced by Blair government concerns about diplomacy and trade with Saudi Arabia.
The groups accused British authorities of caving in to blackmail. They said former Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to drop the probe was illegal under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD's) Anti-Bribery Convention.
In issuing their decision, the judges said the man behind the threats was Prince Bandar, the head of the Saudi national security council and son of the crown prince. US President George W. Bush refers to Bandar as "Bandar Bush," so close are the Bush family's political ties with the Saudi royal family.
Prince Bandar, former Saudi Ambassador to the US, has been accused of accepting more than £1 billion in secret payments from BAE. Read all about it here and here.
Vintage French dress forms at the recent brocante at Chatou.
The French word chantepleure means to sing and weep simultaneously - something most women completely understand. What the article doesn't discuss is how French women often adopt an air of bravado to mask deep insecurities, including uncertain situations in their marriages. French inheritance laws provide for the children, not the wife. In the event of divorce, it usually proves difficult for the wife to assert her rights and achieve any sort of financial parity with her husband. So it would seem that French women can never get too "relaxed" when it comes to their assets, physical or otherwise. They typically have more at stake than their British or North American counterparts.
On a completely unrelated note, watch this very clever video!
And here's a scary video about a serious subject that directly or indirectly affects us all.
This is the bag I'll be carrying the next time I travel through US airports. I also sent one to my daughter.
Wherever I go, I carry Cath Kidston oilcloth bags or canvas book bags for groceries and shopping purchases. As they are stronger than paper or plastic bags, there's no worry about the bags breaking and purchases rolling across the sidewalk or the Paris Metro floor.
Beginning May 6, the UK-based Marks & Spencer will charge food customers five pence per plastic bag. The company hopes declining usage of plastic bags will aid the environment. M&S will spend proceeds from the 5p bag charge for helping improve parks and play areas across the country. During the month of April, M&S stores will give their customers free canvas bags.
San Francisco supermarkets have stopped using plastic bags. Do your local stores offer alternatives to plastic bags? Check out Danny Seo's website for daily tips about living "green."
The Independent in London has an interesting story about jeans and garments produced for companies like H&M, the Gap and Wal-Mart. Read Fred Pearce's excerpt from his book Confessions of an Eco Sinner – Travels to Find Where My Stuff Comes From, published by Eden Project Books.
This overhead light in a London cafe is bigger than a hula hoop. Sitting at the cafe earlier this week, I wanted to be anywhere with a hula hoop, rather than dreading surgery later that afternoon. After a tense day - with my husband trying to distract me by running errands and going to a bookshop to buy a friend's new book - we arrived at the hospital in Chelsea. I expressed my concerns to the doctor, who examined me, then recommended we postpone the surgery. He performed a biopsy to determine if the pre-cancerous area (identified in December) may have spread. So we're awaiting lab results to reschedule my third surgery in four years, trying to keep "pre" from turning into cancer. The key is vigilance, so schedule regular checkups with your gynecologist, ladies!
Sorry to disappoint, but I took only four photos the entire trip. The Moulin Rouge-inspired lamp was in a hardware store window on High Street Kensington. The photo below is at the Eurostar terminal at St. Pancras Station, with the sign upside down - a bit like my week has been!
On the train home, I read Elizabeth Berg's The Pull of the Moon, which is about Nan, a 50ish woman taking a road trip, while trying to make sense of her life. Every day she writes letters to her husband. Some of the character's observations ring true for many women:
"It is a case of you (men) feeling that you deserve things; that they are there for you and it is something women seem to struggle with, almost without exception and I don't know why. I don't know where your sense of entitlement comes from. Well, yes I do. It comes from the way you were raised, from everyone telling you, one way or another, that yours is the earth to inherit. That's true... and you know it...I'm not angry. I'm just wondering and wondering and wondering. All our lives we hand it over... Well maybe I am a little angry. But it's not at you. It's more of a class action suit type thing."
That "class action" idea made me smile. Then Nan buys all the fixings for a huge turkey dinner, only to get to her rented cottage and discover the turkey won't fit in the oven. For a moment, she feels sorry for herself. Then she goes elsewhere and buys food that "tasted wonderful and it occurred to me that that's what I wanted in the first place, I was just too shy to tell myself and so the universe had to sigh and shake its head and help me out, which it always will do, provided we let it. This is something I have such a hard time remembering how to believe."
And another passage: "...When you learn to turn from the mirror, when you look up from your hands, you have a chance to see a garden truly, because you are not in your own way."
Meanwhile, seated opposite me on the train is a slender, elegant woman, maybe ten years younger than I. I have brought white chocolate chip cookies, which taste homemade. David had breakfast, but I hadn't eaten, as we had been busy checking out of the hotel, getting the tube to the train, etc. Of course, the woman starts eating a banana - no fattening cookies for her. I console myself that though she may have chosen fruit over a cookie, her skin looks considerably older than mine. As we approach Paris, she goes to the train's snack bar and returns with a huge bag of junk food, which she devours! Memo to self: Give up cookies and pre-conceived notions.
Isabella Moon by Laura Benedict at a London bookstore.
Recently, I had the great pleasure of "meeting" Laura Benedict through our mutual friend Patry Francis. When Laura said her book Isabella Moon was being released in the UK, I told her I'd look for it in London. On Wednesday, I went into Waterstone's Kensington and asked the sales assistant if he had a copy of Laura's book. While the clerk was checking the stock on his computer, my husband went to the fiction section and came back with a copy of Isabella Moon. I was so excited! Noting my enthusiasm, the sales assistant said, "There's a stack of her books on that table." So of course I asked for permission to photograph them, so Laura could see her books in London. From Laura's lovely writing on her blog Notes from a Handbasket and from the bookjacket's promise of revealing "long-buried secrets and lies" as "murder shatters a small town," I can hardly wait to read Isabella Moon!
Here's a paragraph from the book jacket:
"Without streetlamps, the road is black at their feet. But Kate can see well enough; the silver in the girl's hair is its own light and Kate follows her easily. As kate approaches her, the wind picks up around them and the smell of rotting leaves intensifies. Unafraid, Kate reaches out to tough the girl, but her fingers touch nothing and Kate is alone in the clearing..."
In the US, you can find Isabella Moon at most bookstores, or order it online through the usual booksellers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Am in London and unfortunately, missing Kari's birthday celebration. But why don't you visit Kari and Kijsa and join the fun? I am sending a handsome Frenchman on his scooter with a bottle of champagne and these sweet treats. Kari, hope you enjoy the goodies and your birthday is filled with delightful surprises!
Decorated scooter in the Bois du Boulogne, Paris.
I am off to London; back at the end of the week. All being well, timed posts will appear in my absence. A photo of the exterior of a 15th-century church in York, England.
The well-worn interior of the ancient church features original stained-glass windows.
A memorial chapel honouring British soldiers.
A stone statue on the chapel's exterior wall.
A stained-glass arched window in a small church in York.
Three shop buildings in The Shambles area of York.
Tudor architecture is found throughout the city.
Tourists flock to York's streets of shops.
Gert and Henry's Cafe is a local institution, most recently known for its burgers.
A bridge leads to an old warehouse.
An industrial building is being converted into apartments and shops.
York Minster Cathedral glimpsed through a side street.
Twilight by Randall LaGro, oil on wood panel. Photo courtesy of the Blue Rain Gallery, Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In the news:
Sarkozy's bling-bling lifestyle annoys the French.
The Australian government finally says "sorry" to the Aborigines.
The Bush administration's "kangaroo court" draws international criticism.
Military and spy agencies share blame in producing false information for media.
Scientists trace fake anti-malaria drugs to southern China.
Bush redux
On Tuesday, John McCain told reporters in Richmond, Va. that "anyone who worries about how long we’re in Iraq does not understand the military and does not understand war.” Defying the opinions of military experts, McCain said it is “really almost insulting to one’s intelligence” to question “how long we’re in Iraq.” He said he believes the current “strategy” is “succeeding.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, have voiced concern that “a protracted deployment of U.S. troops”in Iraq would not benefit the military. In October, Casey said it will take "three or four years and a substantial amount of resources to put” the Army “back in balance” and that the time frame depends on when “the conflict ends.” Mullen testified last July before the Senate Armed Services Committee that failing political and economic progress in Iraq, “no amount of troops and no amount of time will make much of a difference.” He said “a protracted deployment of U.S. troops to Iraq…risks further emboldening Iranian hegemonic ambitions.”
But McCain denounces questions about how long US troops will remain in Iraq as "naive." In McCain’s stated views, neither the Army Chief of Staff nor the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff “understand the military” as well as he does. In a recent presidential debate, McCain claimed he is "the expert” on Iraq.
Let's see: Ignoring the military experts actually involved in the war and spinning his own reality. Sounds remarkably like George "I'm the decider" Bush.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration is pouring $2.35 million per week of our tax dollars into an Iraqi group of concerned citizens/former insurgents. Yet this money is accomplishing "nothing," the group leader says.
Obama takes the lead
I stayed up past 4 a.m. Paris time to watch the Potamac Primary results. I was thrilled to see Sen. Barack Obama's landslide victory. But before Obama supporters get too excited, don't forget: the real work lies ahead. Wisconsin, Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania will be important challenges. So help rock the vote!
The Make Do and Mend book was published in England during World War II. Many of us might be adopting that philosophy, due to faltering economies in both the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Photo of exhibition at the Castle Museum, York, England.
While George W. Bush continues to insist the economy is strong, the United States appears to be in an economic downturn, if not edging towards full-blown recession. From the mortgage crisis, to three dollars a gallon gasoline to 47 million Americans without health insurance, it's not just the poor who are affected. Two of our staunchest symbols of capitalism, Citibank and Merrill Lynch, have incurred enormous losses. Now they're being bailed out by the Saudi royals, the Bush family's wealthiest foreign friends. And Bush's solution to America's troubles is to suggest a vague rescue plan issuing small tax rebate checks to some Americans?
Bush already has poured billions of taxpaper dollars into Iraq, but says we don't have enough money to continue to fund SCHIP, the program providing health care to millions of children. Late last year, the president issued his second veto on legislation to expand children's health coverage. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has scheduled a vote January 23 to try to override the president's veto. The House fell 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to quash Bush's first SCHIP veto.
Please consider contacting your Congressional representatives and asking him or her to vote to override Bush's SCHIP veto. Shouldn't every child be provided with adequate access to medical care?
More potential for identity theft in Britain
Meanwhile in Britain - also suffering tremendous economic fallout from the American mortgage crisis - more incompetence in safeguarding citizens' private information has been revealed. Personal details of 600,000 people have gone missing, after a Royal Navy officer's laptop was stolen. Police are investigating the theft of the laptop, taken from a vehicle in Birmingham. The computer contained personal information - including passport details, national insurance numbers and bank details - about British citizens who had expressed interest in joining the Armed Services.
Why would a laptop containing such sensitive information be left in a vehicle? The theft was discovered January 9, so why wasn't the news released publicly until nine days later? Defense Secretary Des Browne is expected to appear before Members of Parliament next week to answer these questions.
The theft was revealed on the same day a motorist found documents bearing people's personal details near Exeter Airport, Devon. In December, the same motorist found similar documents at the same spot! And in November, two computer disks containing child benefit records were lost, after HM Revenue and Customs sent unregistered and unencrypted disks to the National Audit Office.
