Paris Journal 2009 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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Yesterday, we took one of our
long walks across the city along the Seine, because cars are banished from
the roadway there on Sundays. Near the
beginning of our walk, we lingered in the garden at the Musée Branly. There weren’t many walkers,
roller-bladers, skateboarders, and bicyclists by the Seine because the
weather appeared to be chancy.
Nevertheless, we weren’t rained upon. We visited briefly with Dan at
the other apartment, made plans for dinner later in the evening, and walked
back in time to watch the end of the day’s stage in the Tour de France. The Tour is now starting to take
the form of whatever it will be at the end of the month. Unfortunately, our friend’s nephew,
Christian Vande Velde is no longer in the top ten. The Astana team’s Contador and Armstrong
are at the top of the general standings. Jim Hanlon wrote that some
English language news reports called the gun that shot Oscar Freire and
Julian Dean a “BB gun.” Well,
yesterday’s issue of Le Parisien
makes the story even more intriguing. Tom tells me that BB gun shot is
usually brass. But Le Parisien repeatedly has stated that the shot used
this time was lead. The prosecutor in the town near
the incident states that the shots were fired by “youth who were in a bad
mood and who were bored” using a “gun with compressed air, an arm that is
legally sold, perhaps a toy in which the munitions were perhaps changed.” So the little darlings put
buckshot in a BB gun? One of the
racers did see them. He said they were
two young guys aged 16 or 17 who hid themselves behind a tree on the right
side of the road. The prosecutor is hoping to get
video from France Television or spectators that will show the kids in the
act. The manager of the AG2R team
said “You can’t emphasize this enough.
It could give ideas to other unbalanced people.” The French like to call crazy people
unbalanced, or “déséquilibres.” I like
that idea, as if all you have to do is maintain your balance, and you’ll be
okay. This may not have been the first
BB gun shooting incident on this year’s Tour.
Nicholas Roche of the AG2R team says that at the beginning of the 9th
stage, he heard a shot and saw a ribbon of blood running down his left
knee. At the time, he thought it might
have been a firecracker. Now, he wonders
if it was a BB gun. Some people might not think this
is too serious, since it may have been just a BB gun. But, as Tom pointed out, someone could lose
an eye from BB gunshot. Saturday afternoon, a truly
tragic accident unfolded on the Tour route.
A sixty-some-year-old woman decided to cross the road in advance of
the peloton’s arrival. She was struck
by the motorcycle of one of the Tour’s security gendarmes, and she died later
in the hospital. Two more women were struck by
motorcycles at the end of the course.
One was treated for neck pain, and the other for a broken leg. I think we shall remain safely
in front of the TV to watch the Tour.
Today’s a day of rest on the Tour, so there won’t be any more reports
for a couple days. When we arrived home after the
four hours of walking yesterday, I was plagued by a muscle spasm in my
back. But before stretching out, knees
elevated, on the sofa, I checked my e-mail.
There, unfortunately, I was informed of the death of a very dear
friend, Phyllis Bogen. Shortly after we arrived in
Paris this summer, I learned that she’d been diagnosed with leukemia. It must have been an acute leukemia,
because this was all a surprise and she’s always had regular check-ups and
excellent health care. She went through
one round of chemotherapy, and it didn’t work at all. She was in her mid 80s, and decided not to
have any more chemo. Still, I didn’t think she’d go
so quickly. In a way, I’m happy for
her that she did. But it is very
difficult to deal with the idea of such a dear, dear friend disappearing so
abruptly. I knew she was gravely ill, and
earlier in the day I had just mailed a letter to her son. The letter was about how important she was
to me. I had hoped he could read it to
her sometime when she was up to hearing from old friends. But I was a little too late. Between back pain and the loss
of Phyllis, I was fairly low-key yesterday evening. We went with Dan and Mary to Le Tipaza, the
North African restaurant just around the corner. Mohammed, the manager, was back. We hadn’t seen him there for a few years. The servers were all very nice
to us, and the food was good and comforting.
It was just the right place to be last night. We came home after pointing Dan
and Mary in the right direction for walking back to the 6th
arrondissement. In the apartment, Tom
turned on our “Peaceful Ocean Surf” CD in repeat mode. So all night and all day today, we’ve been
soothed by the sound of the ocean. I’m not really homesick, because
I know how hot and humid it is in southwest Florida, but you know, there is
nothing like the sound of the sea. And there’s nothing like
beautiful Paris, even on a gray day. Sign
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Monday, July 20, 2009
The café at the Musée Branly.
The garden at the Musée Branly is planted mostly with
ferns and grasses. It makes me feel
right at home.
The garden is featuring some of the soundtrack from
Tarzan. Strange noises can be heard
there.
Floral arrangement photos in the café building.
The garden at the Branly does have some flowers in it. |
