Pomp and Circumstance

Tami - Clarke - Jef

So, at the end of March, my good California friend Tami told me she was going to Paris  because her daughter Clarke, which I call my niece, would be graduating from an American university in Paris.  The graduation was to take place in May.  Tami invited me to tag along if I was interested.  "You bet I'm interested!", I told her.  "When is it?", I asked her.

The graduation was on a Monday.  That sounded kind of weird but luckily, I just happened to have that Monday off as well as Tuesday.  Otherwise I couldn’t do it.  My summer vacation was already booked.

I thought I would arrive on the first flight from CPH and land in Paris on the day of the graduation ceremony.   I would check into the hotel before noon and then make my way to the afternoon graduation. 

Wrong! 

The graduation ceremony started at 10 in the morning.  The first flight out of Copenhagen to Paris landed at 10:20. 

There was only one thing to do:  Sell my Sunday shift and take an afternoon flight on Sunday to be there in good time. 

I didn’t really want to sell that extra weekend $ but when you get a chance to see friends/family and celebrate youth moving on in life with a degree from university, you just can’t say "no" to that. 

I asked Tami where she was staying because I wanted to book a hotel nearby.   She booked a fantastic AirBnB near the Pasteur metro stop.   

Eew…. It was a bit a way from the city center.  I  plotted the location of the morning graduation and the evening graduation gala and they were nowhere near the bnb.    

Well………. It really didn’t matter as I was booking at the very last minute and all of the few hotels near the Pasteur Institute were booked or too expensive, but mostly there were just very few hotels in the area. 

I could see that from the Pasteur Metro, a lot of time was going to be spent in the underground.  I was only going to be in town for less than 48 hours so I figured that I would book a room between the 2 places where the morning and evening events would be taking place.  This way I could just walk on the streets and not spend so much time in the subways. 

There was a large number of places to choose from.  But May is such a popular time and booking at the last minute was not to my advantage.  The places that I had considered, ended up being fully booked by the time I got my lazy azz in gear. 

What turned out to be so funny is that a lack of options ended up bringing me back to the Pasteur area.  A hotel that was not available before, now had availability.  The great thing about it was that the hotel I booked was separated by a wall and small garden to the AirBnB that Tami booked. 

The above picture shows the walking distance from my hotel room to the front door of the Airbnb apt building.  About 50 steps away from each other - soooooooo close.

So yes, I spent more time underground than what I preferred but I was spending it with family. 

Oh, and the funny thing was, the huge 2 room apartment was the same price as the teeny tiny hotel room.  Of course, my pock book didn't find it funny at all.

Google maps is great.  I was able to figure out how to get from airport to city and city to hotel without any problems.  I was actually able to save myself from problems and from getting lost with the very useful help of google maps.

   

Here is a map of the locations I would be using and a pix showing the graduation places with associated metro/train stops. 

From Pasteur metro stop (bottom of the map) to Trinité metro stop (top of the map), it is roughly 20 minutes.

I got to my hotel just fine.  I made a printout of a list of stops along the way and I could count them down as the train moved along the tracks.  I was soooooooooo lucky to get the express train.  It's a difference of about 25 stops that I avoided.  I'm also soooooooo glad I read the sign that said: Paris --> because I seriously thought that Paris was in the other direction.  All the other times I've been to Paris, I would always get off at the main central station which so huge, it's like a little town under ground.  But I sat calmly on the train knowing that I had just 3 more stops to go and then switch to the metro.  Easy.  Once I got up on the street, I walked to my hotel.  I walked about ½ a block when I realized I was walking the wrong way.   When I turned around and walked the right way, I could start to recognize some of the buildings from google maps.  I ended up staying at Hotel Kroner Montparnasse. (click onto "photo gallery" on the site) It was an ok place.  

The young man who checked me in was very friendly but I didn't have time to chit-chat. He handed me the room key and said, "Here is your key to room 8." He insisted on offering me a coffee.  "Short or long" he asked.  "That's none of your business" I was about to say but then realized he was talking about a large or small cup.  I answered, "small."   It turns out it's the same amount of coffee in a "short" or should I say about 4 cups worth of caffeine in half a cup.  I tried to be friendly to get off on the right foot.  But then the trouble started.  After the chit-chit and what felt like an electric buzz, the young man asked me sheepishly, "Do you remember the room number?"  What is going on here?   Why is he testing me on room numbers?  Why is my head spinning?  What did he spike my coffee with?  Wow that was a powerful "short".   I couldn't imagine what a long coffee was going to do to me.  "Room 8", I answered.  Kind of weird to be tested on room numbers, I thought, but hey, this is Paris.  So up one flight of stairs.  I recognized the fun hanging lamps in the stairwell from the web page.   Walked down the super narrow corridor and started counting doors.  I passed 1, 2 and 3 before I noticed door 4.  I started to count as I walked; 4..... 5..... 6...… 7..... 9..... 10...… 11...…   "Hey!  where the heck is door 8?", I wondered.  So I walked back.  11.  10. 9. 7. 6. 5 . 4.    What the heck !!??  I turned around again and there it was.  The only door on the other side of the hallway and it was between door 4 and 3.   I opened the door and to my surprise, there was a backpack bomb in the room.  I was scared and nervous.  Like a dummy, I went to see if the backpack would explode if I touched it.   

I went back downstairs to ask the young man if I was in the right room because somebody's personal stuff is in there.  The young man had a look of disbelief in his eyes and then remembered and apologized about it.  He told me an earlier guest had left it there on hold as he had a late flight and didn't want to carry it around town.  I'm thinking that that's not really very trust worthy.  I could easily have taken a thing or two from the backpack and no one could prove it was me.  

I quickly unpacked just a few things - my suit and shirts so that they would have as few wrinkles as possible.  Then I would put my cash and passport into the safe and off to find Tami and Clarke.  But the safe turned out to be a hassel.  The backpack bomber left the room with his code still programed into the safe.  The young man at the front desk had to come up to the room to re-set the safe.  I couldn't believe it; he had keys to every safe. That sounds and looked very fishy to me.  But he set the safe to zero so that I could put in my code.  One thing I have learned through my travels is always test your code first, at least twice, before putting your stuff into the safe.  I tried but couldn't get it to work.  Went back down to ask the young man to help me out again.  He fumbled around with it again and it was an exact repeat.  He said he would get some printed directions for the safe later if I needed them.  I said, "Yes, I need them - but now, not tonight."  Then he said I would have to wait until his boss comes in because he doesn't know where the directions are.  And he really didn't know what he was doing either.  Then he said, "You don't have to keep coming down the stairs - you can just pick up that phone and dial 0 and I will come right away."  I thanked him and he left the room once again.  And once again I couldn't get the dang thing to work.  So I picked up the phone to tell the guy I really need those directions - NOW!  I laughed and shook my head.  Typical.  When I held the phone to my ear, there was no tone.  The phone was dead.  It was a fourth time that the young man did something inside the safe.  He kept saying to me, "Just put in your code twice."  I told him to try it and then I would try it.  He did it and it worked.  I did it with his code and it worked.  He walked out of the room and I tried to change the code and  then it didn't work.   

What in the world is going on with this stupid safe!!?  I've used them a million times and they are all pretty much the same.  Normally a code and then the open/lock button.  But the man just kept saying to put in the code twice.  Anyway, I stuck my head into the safe to see what in the world the man kept playing with.  It turns out that there is a little red pin to press to set the code back to zero and then you put in your code and then press one of the 2 buttons that must have at one time had a letter or lock symbol printed on it but worn off.  I figured it out and to no credit of the young man.  I tested it about 6 or 7 times before I actually put my passport and cash in the safe.  Couldn't there just have been a printed card on or in the safe that tells what to do?  My goodness.  

That whole safe episode took an hour.  I was supposed to meet Tami and Clark already 1 hour ago at the bottom of the hill from the landmark church, Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre.  But with the time spent on chit-chat, drinking spiked coffee, avoiding being the next victim of the backpack bomber, looking for door number 8 and  learning how to hack a safe, I was running late. 

As I am leaving the room, a new message comes into my phone and it's Clarke saying we are now on our way to Pigalle and to meet them there.    "Just as long as you come and meet me when I get out of the metro" - was what I was thinking.   30 minutes later I sent a text to Clark and Tami:  "I'm here.  Where are you?" and continued with more phone text:  "I just got out of the metro and standing in front of McDonalds."   Then a text came back:  "McDonalds !!??? What the heck are you doing at McDonalds? "   Then came: "We're at Bulles Á Bar.  Come and meet us there for a drink."  Uh.... ok.  Now where the heck is Bulles Á Bar?  Thank god for google maps!

Well.... it turns out that I really should have gotten off of the metro one stop later as the bar is closer to Blanch Metro, but then that would have meant that I would have had to switch tracks for just one stop.  I was actually glad that I got off at Pigalle because it turned out that the street was lined with one sex boutique after the other.  It gave me something to gawk at.  So now I call the street, Pig Alley.

These are just a few of the very many sex shops on Pigalle Pig Alley.  I got the photos from Google Maps so you can google it yourself for some clean fun and enjoyment.

There's a hotel where you can rent a room by the hour.  "How much for 5 minutes?", I asked the concierge.  They don't call me 'Fast Eddie' for nothing.  Relax - it's a joke.

Having no idea of where I was or where to go, I had to figure it out for myself  where everybody was at.  Thanks to my little pocket-pal, Google Maps, I was able to figure out that the restaurant was actually hidden in a back alley.   You would never know there was a restaurant through the port that welcomed guest with trash and broken bathroom tile laying about.    As I was looking back and forth between door numbers, boutiques with giant dildos for sale, and my tiny cracked android screen, I heard:  Eddie!!!  I practically bumped right smack into Tami and her mother, Beverly, who were also trying to figure out where to go.   They would have missed it for sure.  They just couldn't imagine such a trashy gateway would be the entrance to the restaurant.  But it was.  We walked in, up the stairs and we landed on a very nice and very cozy outside deck just behind Moulin Rouge.  There we met Clarke and her very attractive boyfriend James and Clarke's father, Jef . 

It was all too overwhelming; the planes, trains, the metros, how to buy tickets, which way to the hotel, the strong short coffee, Monty Hall and what's behind door number 8,  a backpack bomb, the unlockable safe, the unusable phone, lost in front of "MagDuo-nells", porn alley, faces I haven't seen in over a year and faces I have never met.    And stupid me was so nervous, I just kept talking about myself.   So embarrassing.   Feeling so uncomfortable with myself I ended up talking about my huge zit in the middle of my forehead and my stupid new scar on my nose.  

oh yes!  Zits!  I'm almost 61 and I still get zits.  It started just a few days before departure.  I kept telling myself, "don't touch it, don't touch it".  Pray to the Stride-X gods, Eddie - it's your only hope.  The last day at work, Saturday night at 10:00, and just 12 hours before my departure, I come home from work and walked into the bathroom to brush my tooth and I swear to god, an alien was trying to escape from my forehead.  There was nothing to do about it but squeeze it.  I couldn't go to Paris with a huge pusy white zit in the middle of my forehead.  I tried ever so gently to squeeze it.  But no.  I really had to give it a good squeeze.  The pressed skin between my 2 index fingers was turning a nice shade of bruse.  Then suddenly the damn alien jumped out of my body.  But it wasn't just any kind of alien, it was a racist alien screaming, "White Power! White Power!" as I exorcised it from my person and then it splattered and died all over the mirror.  Sick and gross, I tell you.  This is what happens when you make a generalized prayer for the fountain of youth.  You really have to be very specific.

Me me me me - I went on and on.  But then James shut me up by asking me if I would like something to drink and I immediately said YES! - gimme a gin and tonic!  Then I realized that I just let a kid buy me a drink.   That was terrible of me.  But boy did I need it.  Mercy poo poo, James. I owe you one.

So as I try my best to calm myself down and chill out a bit, I snap a few pix of the family.  We talked, we chatted, we laughed and then somebody said:   Oh look !  You can see the tip of the windmill swing by.  It was the windmill  on the front side of Moulin Rouge.  I kept hoping to see Ewan McGregor pop up on one of the windmill fins, but no.  Actually I was hoping to see him in one of those dildo shops calling me in to take a test-drive with one of the new ultra high-speed, supersonic, see-thru dildo with flickering lights- ha ha.  It's a joke for goodness sakes!  Just be glad that i'm letting you google your own links.  Because I've got them.

notice the windmill fins in the background.

The front side of Moulin Rouge

After drinks we headed out to an unbelievable Italian dinner restaurant for dinner; Pink Mamma's.  If you are not there standing in line before the doors open, chances are you'll be waiting 2 hours to get in.  We showed up a bit late and was totally taken by surprise to see that the line went around the building as if there was a concert going on.  I knew that there was no way we were going to get in.  And with all those people in line, if by some miracle we got in, it would take hours to get food.  Mamma Mia!  But we did get in and service was fast and food was tasty.  Too tasty.  I shouldn't have eaten the whole thing. It was so good, I just couldn't help myself.  Oh and I had the decency, once I calmed down, to suggest that we 4 adults split the bill and pay for the kids.

This is just part of the line and people were already pouring in when we got there.  Notice the top floor is all glass with wooden frame.

Notice the pink tile.  Menu card built into the wall.

The above and below photos were snapped just across the street from the restaurant.  I really enjoyed how the apartment above had a facade window but behind the window was a balcony.  And I love the man above an arched window with fruit in his hair.  Maybe I should do my hair like that.

Over 4 floors, the idea seats are on the top floor because of the skylight.  But we made it to the 3rd floor.  I hope this link works to take you to google pix of the place.  If you are headed to Paris, try to put this place on your foodie list and get there before they open.

After dinner we rolled ourselves down the stairs and out of the door.  Now it was time to head back to our accommodations.  But I took the metro to the main station to go see my very good friend Fabien.  As I was saying good-nite to my dining and drink comrades, James said to be sure to exit at number 10.  I had no idea the exits were numbered.  I'm soooooooooo glad he said that because I would have come up from under ground at the first exit and be a mile away from where I need to go. 

Fabien is a DJ and he was spinning liquorish pizza at a bar called El Hombre.  It was a super short visit as the time was late (for me) (early for the bar) and we had to get an early start in the morning.  Fabien works in different clubs throughout Paris.  He produces music and he's even worked in the states and in a few other countries (if I remember correctly).  His husband Patrick was feeling under the weather today so unfortunately he was not there - sorry to say. 

Then it was another long walk back to the metro and back to my hotel.  I wouldn't have been able to find my way around without the help of my google maps.  Ok it was actually a short walk but after a long day in my discount flats...…  

GRADUATION DAY

Monday morning I got up and sent a message to Tami on WhatsApp.   Jef has already gone on to the Mogador Theater and I luckily did my research at home to figure out where to go and how to get there.  Which metro and which exit. Tami and her mother, Beverly followed me as I lead the way.  

This is where the Graduation Ceremony took place.  The Mogador Theater is a theater for performing arts.  All the big Broadway shows are performed here.  The photo is from google.

We got to the theater in good time.  No line.  But we were hungry so we walked back to the main corner and popped into a typical French café like you see in the movies and on post cards.  So cute.  We ordered coffee and croissant, shoved the food down our throats and then hastily made our way back to the theater.  Because you know - fast food is not a French concept.  Here they take time to enjoy life.

Now unfortunately there was a line.  Not long, but long enough to keep us from sitting in the front row.  Actually we were 4th from the back but maybe 12 rows from the front of where they were letting the guest sit.  The student got all the damn good seats up front.  Imagine that.

Basically every seat was filled inside but we just happened to get lucky with a row of 5 seats.  After all the guest were in their places, the students walked in to the tune of Pomp and Circumstances.

I have very many more photos but I will let the video below say it all.

It was a very nice ceremony with very positive and motivating speakers - both faculty and students.  I enjoyed it quite a bit and very happy for Clarke and her family.

After the ceremony and after the students exited the main theatre hall, wine, champagne and oders hor d'oeuvres were served throughout the theatre.  We mulled about the theater taking in the views, the architecture, the art and so on.  Eventually we went back to our rooms to take a nap before the big event tonight.

After a very nice snooze, I got up and went for a walk about 2 blocks down from the hotel, 2 blocks over and then back.  Here are a few pix from my walk.

 Uh oh…. I think all these photos are revealing something personal about me...…. peeping tom.

While I was snapping photos, the girls went and did their hair and a bit of shopping.  When I was done playing with my camera, it was time to hop in the shower and get ready for the fancy dinner.  When I was dressed and ready to go, I texted Jef a WhatsApp message and we both agreed we were not comfortable in funny suits with a colorful rope around our necks.  I met Jef in front of his Airbnb and we headed to the metro.  "But first I gotta get a coffee", Jef said to me and offered me one too.  We drank it on the metro on the way and it was really delicious.

We got out at the Concord metro and walked 4 or 5 blocks to an amazing palace where the gala dinner was held.  The formal graduation dinner gala was held at Le Palais de L'Élysée.  If you go onto google maps and search for Élyées Palace, you will find over 5 thousand photos of the place  (seriously).  So no need to post my 50 out of focus photos here other than this screen shot from Google.   

This is the front main entrance once you past the main gate from the sidewalk.  But the gala guest entered from the side.  There were several doors to get inside.  Once inside, everyone made their way to the back of the palace where drinks were being freely poured and hor d'oeuvres were being generously served.  

A rumor circled around that President Emmanuel  Macron lived next-door.  First I was wowed, but then realized that it must be incorrect because it just seemed way too easy to hop over the wall and invite oneself to visit him.  

Through the wonders of the internet, I've come to learn that the real story is that the palace that we were at, was completed in 1722.  It was initially built for Louis Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne (a nobel man).  It was used as the office of the French President for the first time in 1848.  But it's so much easier to say the French President lives next-door.    Actually there is no next-door as there are streets all the way around the property.  Google maps told me so.

Here now are a few photos from the graduation dinner gala.   

Tami shows me her nostrils - clean as a whistle.

But does anyone bother to say to me:

"Hey Moris, blow your nose!  We don't wanna look at that crusty thing while we're eating and while you're at it, dab a bottle of 'CoverGirl' on that gross thing you've got growing out of your forehead!" 

Then the announcement was made that we all need to move inside as dinner was about to start.

The palace place was just too beautiful not to snap everything in sight.  Now you know why there are over 5000 photos on google.

Beautiful harp music was playing while everyone was piling in the dinning room looking for their table.

The table setting was gorgeous. 

I saved the menu card.  And as I posted this photo, I looked to see what it is so that I can tell you here.  Either they gave me the wrong menu card or they gave me the wrong dish.  Anyway... it's some sort of veggie appetizer.

This was really tasty but it was pretty sad that it was the main course.  It was about 3 or 4 spoonful's of tiny square-cut celery root in some kind of parmesan foam.  I only realized it was the main course after they brought out dessert.

Dessert was also ok but the apricots should have been soaked in something or another and the pistachio, whatever it was, should have had pistachio pieces on it.  I think it was some kind of cream mousse.  Tasty, but the meal didn't quite live up to the palace that we were in.  Then a teeny tiny cup of coffee was brought out way after the dessert was served and it wasn't even a "short" hotel coffee.   I don't mean to sound like I am complaining.  I'm not.  It was all very wow but the meal just seemed like it would have matched the rest of the presentation of the palace.

oh!  ok - wait.  I just went through a previous WhatsApp message from Tami.  It's the menu option.  Here's what we ate.  There were 3 different menus you could choose between.  Tami sent me only 2 of them.  One is chicken the other is Vegetarian.  I am guessing the one I didn't receive is beef.  I wanted the chicken menu because it starts out with champagne.  There is no champagne on the Vegetarian menu.  Kind of weird.  But Clarke already ordered 6 veggies, so veggie it was.

It must have been an oversite because free flowing champagne was being poured all day long; both at the morning event and at the evening event.  Here they drink champagne by the gallons.  But I'm not a drunk so I drink it by the liters - 3.785 liters to be exact.

Starter:  Vegetable antipasti, burrata, gazpacho vinaigrette (think layer cake of sliced veggies)
Main course: Truffle risotto with celery, parmesan foam  - something must have gone wrong in the kitchen because risotto is short grain rice - there wasn't any rice at all in the bowl. Truffles are super expensive and I didn't see or taste anything like it.  But it was foamy - think milk and parmesan cheese in a blender and then pour it over a small hand full of very tiny pieces of celery root.  I found a very interesting and easy recipe for it if you want to give it a go.  Click the link.
Dessert: Apricot jubilee infused with vervain, pistachio cream.  It was very pretty to look at but nothing to juble over once it got past the lips.  Vervain?  what the heck is that?  google says: a widely distributed herbaceous plant with small blue, white or purple flowers and a long history of use as a magical and medicinal herb. Trust me, there was nothing magical about it.

As boring as I make it sound, I would do anything to be there again at the table with the same people eating the same food.  It was truly a wonderful evening.   After mini coffee was served, we made our way to the grand ballroom.

Great tunes, great fun.  Could have gone on an hour or two more but eventually we all had to say good-night and find our way back to our accommodation.  I lost my glasses so I had to hang on to Jef's tux tails to get home.  It was a wonderful evening.  No, A wonderful day.  So thrilled to be a part of it.  All the best to you Clarke.  To both you and James.  Enjoy your up coming travles and best of luck and successes in your continuing education.  You are amazing!

The next morning Tami was on her way over to bang on my hotel door because I was not answering her calls and messages.  I had my phone off.  But I was up and ready to go back to the airport.  I was able to get the safe open and retrieve my passport.  Tami walked me to the café where Jef bought me coffee.  It's right across the street from the Pasteur Metro.  Actually I took photos of it when I arrived because the place was so cute.  But the photo is not in my camera.  Where it went, I have no idea.  

Actually Tami and I had lunch there too.  When was that?  My goodness there was so much packed into these few hours, it's hard to keep track of it.  But I remember we just wanted a croissant and coffee.  The non-English speaking waitress was not happy and said, "Non! Only for breakfast." " Ok then 2 ham n cheese sandwiches", I requested. "Non!,  We only have what is on the menu!", she barked at me.  She was not happy at all.  Well excuse me for not knowing what is on the French language menu.  What kind of café doesn't have ham, cheese and bread?  What kind of rule is that;  to serve croissants only for breakfast?  I just got a coffee and ate half of Tami's French fry order.   Why does Tami get to order something not on the menu? (in my whining voice) BTW...They don't have French fries in France.  They're pommes frites.   And yes I say: Pom-mez  frit-tez  just to drive everybody crazy.  When the bill came, I didn't leave a tip to that evil woman.   Just kidding of course.  I left her the tip of my middle finger.   Kidding, I'm kidding.  I gave her the whole middle finger.  oh relax! - it's a joke.  Check out their dishes on their facebook page.  On my next visit to Paris, I'll be here making a pig of myself and then of course I'll go to Pig Alle for dessert.  

OK... so back to breakfast on my way back to the airport.  Tami and I were finally able to get our croissant and fried egg omelet.   Before we were finished eating, Beverly met up with us and ordered breakfast too.  Jef text and asked if it was too late to join.   Eventually we paid and then the girls walked me across the street to the metro and waved me off.

As the saying goes: All good things must come to an end.  So back to Copenhagen because I am not yet at the end of this "good thing" of my life in Denmark.

For those of you who have not endured enough pain, you can see all of the photos on my Shutterfly site by clicking here.      When you get to the site you can click onto the blue "ALL" to see all of the 283 photos one by one or click onto slide show and the photos will come on screen one by one by themselves.  You can adjust the speed to your liking and you can click onto full screen.

Eventually I will have about 8 videos to go along with the photos.  Check back later for that.

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