whidbey island

peace...

evening solice...

 

bizmark

i’ve been there twice now, to the house down the lane bordered by forest shrubbery, with the view of the ocean….

it’s quiet, only the sounds of the birds to wake me in the morning. there is little to do, and whatever it is can be decided after the morning coffee taken on the porch…

j makes me the coffee usually (i claim to not be able to use the expresso maker).  somewhere around lurks baby-girl, who, while being a girl cat, is definitely not a baby (think 72 year old crochety woman witha touch of arthritis). she is still leary of me… muffin, on the other hand (paw) is an attention slut, and is always willing to jump onto any available lap for a scratch. j is working on convincing her to not bring any more rodents (dead or otherwise) into the house, but she is a hunter at heart…

the evenings are quiet, j, me,, the cats, and occasionally, a’s special friend – that a picture of him above. although to be thruthful, he might be a she. biz was seen with a baby racoon a few months back…..

i hope to spend more weekends there. it’s a tonic to the noise and bustle of my new home. the three hour drive south is worth it to sit on that back porch, listen to the morning birds, stand out in the rain, watch the lightening, or talk to biz as he/she comes to help himself to the remains of the catfood.

oh, ya, and there is j too of course..

peace…

ahhhh……

what is it about cupcakes? their delicacy…? sweet beauty in minature?..the icing to cake ratio…?  all of these i suppose….i just love looking at these pics so thought i’d share….

beauty in the small things..

the grandness of a french palace does not eclipse the beauty of this found treasure

the louvre

the louvre…what a place. i have a new found love of sculpture. while i did not take any pictures of my favorite greek and roman sculptures, i did capture some images of french sculptures in one of my favorite rooms at the museum….the lightness and airy feeling to the room was magical….it was also the room in which i made a friend who taught me a little about art…and about taking chances…

giverny

 

well, last monday was the french national holiday so i ventured forth to the champs du mars to see the fireworks at the eiffel tower….i got there early in the afternoon, as recommended…. and spent the day laying on the grass and reading. it was a gorgeous warm, sunny day, and i was pleasantly surprised to find out that there was a concert before the fireworks. there were a few mediocre (to my tastes) french singers, but then all of a sudden, james blunt was on stage singing…now, that was a great surprise, and as it turned out, the highlight of the evening! the fireworks themselves were not so spectacular, but worse was that, by the time they started, the place was shoulder to shoulder with people – it was seriously crowded! i actually got into an international spat with some people. (…i realized that i can be quite a bitch when people piss me off….)

 

when the fireworks (figurative and literal) were over it took quite some time to get out of the immediate vicinity of the tower. at times trying to get where i was going was like trying to swim against a rip tide…. . i walked home (a few hours) almost uneventfully. i did meet a good-looking, stylish man from senegal on my way home who asked me out for a date the next day but i politely declined of course…(why couldn’t i have come here when i used to date men…).

 

today i went to giverny to see claude monet’s home and gardens, especially the famous japanese garden he built, and filled with

monet's japanese garden

the water lillies for which he is famous. apparently, he once said that the only two things he was any good at were gardening and painting…well, those two things were definitely enough…

 

 

 

tomorrow i’ll be taking an open air night tour on an open double decker to see paris by night! that should be beautiful… and saturday i’ll be heading to opulent palace of versailles. i remember learning about versailles in highschool (yes, way back then …) and thinking that i’d love to see the gardens there someday. well, that someday is finally here….

 

i think the key to me enjoying my trip here alone is to stay busy (which will be easy enough to do)….i’m contemplating a train trip to london next week….that might be fun….i’ll let you know…

 

au revoir,

j.