Packing Up

It seems quite strange to be leaving Paris only two months after we arrived but last year we had decided not to spend the winter here after the last two really cold, snowy hivers.  The first one was kind of fun and we were assured by Parisians that it was not at all the usual winter weather.  When the next one was worse, we stopped believing them.

We're Californians after all and have a perfectly nice house in which to sit out the chillier months, so that's what we're going to do.

And naturally this winter has been, at least so far, much milder than the previous two, has been in fact more like an extended autumn.  Virtually no rain and temperatures ranging 10F-15F higher than normal for the season.  I'm actually kind of pleased that it's gotten a bit colder this week and that there's been some rain the last couple of days, enough for me to think that spending the winter in Berkeley really was a good idea.

Meanwhile we haven't been doing much other than the inevitable round of "last" dinners and coffees and our daily strolls around the city.

Which, you will agree, is lovely in any season.

Well, the sun helps of course, highlighting the gold on the statuary

and turning the occasional planted terrasse into someplace you'd like to be invited to visit because, as the dial tells you, this time is fleeting.

The large Maillol sculptures of ronde ladies in the Tuileries don't seem to get the attention of the men in the area, no matter what their ages.  Not the preferred body shape for today's males apparently.

Some wall art that caught my eye included these fellows who seem to have dropped down from Notre Dame to look over the courtyard wall at the human goings-on

and this agreeable response to the typical injunction not to post on the walls.

And so we're leaving in a couple of days for several months.  The blog will not be on hiatus

but it is likely to be even less frequent than it's been lately unless life gets unusually exciting in Berkeley.

Paris store windows are dressed for Noël, but this one around the corner from our apartment seems appropriate for us right now.  It's all in English, although the date is written in the European manner.
Happy holidays, tout le monde.