Thursday, December 3, 2009

Christmas in Paris



Christmas in France or Paris is memorable and magical. Hit the enticing Christmas markets, sing at midnight mass in a stunning gothic cathedral or dive into a Reveillon feast. Christmas is downright amazing when you spend the holidays in charming France.

France's glorious cathedrals pack them in for midnight mass on Christmas Eve, a longtime and sacred tradition in this country. The cathedrals are lit with dozens of candles and filled with the sounds of Christmas carols and hymns.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Celebrating the career of Wanda Landowska

This year is the 50th anniversary of the death of Wanda Landowska, the famous Polish harpsichordist. Wanda eloped to Paris in 1899 with Henri Lew, a polish enthnologist whom she had met in Berlin where she was in college, studying piano and composition.

Because of a severe ganglion in her left wrist, she feared that she could never be a pianist, but when she discovered the harpisihord, she discovered an instrument that she could play successfully and her wrists finally healed for good.

The story of Wanda Landowska is the fascinating story of a determined woman who desperately wanted to be famous as a teenager in Warsaw. I was so impressed and inspired by her that I did my Ph.D. dissertation on her and her work. I was extremely fortunate to get to go to Paris for six weeks in the summer of 1987 to research Landowsk'a career. There at the Bibliotheque Nationale I found everything I needed for my dissertation, including concert reviews in at least 8 or 9 different languages.

Since that time, my dissertation has been turned into an award-winning documentary entitled "UncommonVisionary." You can purchase this film here. You can also buy many of her CD's that have been re-mastered from the original RCA 78 LP's. Check out the Landowska CD's here. Landowksa was one of the great Romantic artists of te 20th century. I hope you'll get to know her work!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Ready to Return to Paris!


I had such a fabulous time in Paris last April and really lucked out with beautiful weather there and also when we went on our little week-end jaunt to Ireland. I'm ready to go again! What what the weather is like there now?
My last full day in Paris, I went to the Paris Opera House. The is a photo of me ascending the Grand Staircase there. Maybe next time I can actually attend an opera there!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Au Revoir, Paris!



I had such a fantastic time visiting my daughter in Paris and wanted to show just a few more of my pictures that I shot while there!  You'll see the usual tourist sites, but you may see some things you haven't seen before!

A trip back to Paris will definitely be in my future!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Writing to you from Paris

I arrived in Paris yesterday morning and am having a wonderful time here with my daughters! Yesterday we explored the local neighborhood which includes Sacre Coeur. I went to a piano store and gave a little 15-20 minute mini-recital which was lots of fun...mostly Chopin. Today we went to the Louvre and saw so many beautiful paintings, sculptures and objets d'art. It was great! After that, my daughter took us on a tour of the American Embassy...top security!

Tomorrow a.m. we leave for Ireland for the week-end to investigate Cashel, home of the Cashes. Will try to post some pictures in my travelogue next week! Until then...

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Chantdoc leaving for Paris in a few hours!

In just about 5 hours I'll be leaving this beautiful city of Louisville, KY, named for King Louis XIV, to travel to Paris, France! I'll be meeting two of my daughters there and we're going to have such a wonderful time! I haven't really had an extended visit there for over 20 years and I'm so looking forward to getting back into the Louvre and the Bibliotheque Nationale and Notre Dame. On the week-end we're flying over to Dublin to visit the ancestral home of the Cash Family...a town called Cashel. Let me know if you have travel tips!! Will also be blogging from Paris!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Getting around in Paris

Taxis: Taxis can be found at any hour, on weekends it could be a little difficult to find any taxi for hire, free taxis have the large white light and engaged taxis have the orange light below. There are three tariffs, one is the 'A' the cheaper between 6 and 9 euros, the 'B' a little more expensive, and the most expensive is the 'C' for going to aiports at night for example or for going outside Paris. The minimum taxi ride costs 5.10 euros.And the three taxi companies are:« These include Alpha Taxis (tel: (01) 4585 8585)« Taxis Bleus (tel: (0891) 701 010) « Taxis G7 (tel: (01) 4739 4739).

Buses: Buses are easy to find, and the system is very easy to use, at the bus stations there is a list that details the buses that stop there, and the bus route maps and times also is displayed there. Most buses are in service from Monday to Saturday and until midnight, only some of them are in service on sundays or in festivity days, and there are some others that work all the night, they are called 'Noctambus' and have 18 routes, this kind of buses require separate tickets, which cost 2.40 euros aprox., or if you want you can buy weekly or monthly travel passes, children tickets are cheaper.

The Métro and RER: There are 14 lines available if you want to travel by the métro, all lines are colour-coed for giving a difference between them and give an easy way to the users to choose the right one, the lines map can be found at the métro stations or in the tourist office, the métros's schedule is from 05:00a.m to 00:30a.m. Some time ago was included the line 14 métro Météor, that goes from Gare St-Lazare to Bibliothèque François Mitterrand. For using the RER (Réseau Express Régional) the five lines are designated by letters, A, B, C, D and E, and are available from 05:00a.m to 01:10a.m, with frecuency the time you travel by RER are shorter than travel by the métro.