|
"Ah bon?"The French say "Ah bon" frequently. While the literal, word-for-word translation of this means "oh good," that isn't really what it means. "Ah bon" is said in response to something that someone has just told you. When followed by a period, it means something like "oh really" or "I see" or even "that's good." When followed by an exclamation mark it means "oh really!" or even "good!" or "that's great!" When followed by a question mark, it means "oh really?" or "you don't say!" President Chirac had no idea that someone tried to shoot him in the Bastille Day parade. When told about it immediately after the procession, he simply said, "Ah bon?" Then he went on to his long interview with three TV journalists (see July 15) followed by the traditional Bastille Day garden party. The assassination attempt didn't bother him at all. He is a cool and composed as can be. Yesterday evening, after we finished WORKING, we went for a walk up the Boulevard de Tour Maubourg, across the Seine, and into the 8th arrondisement, where the Bastille Day parade took place. We explored the charming, grotto-like garden tucked in next to the Grand Palais and then made our way up Avenue Franklin Roosevelt. After crossing the Champs Élysées at the busy and flower-filled Rond Pont des Élysées, we continued all the way to the end of that street. There, we entered the church of St. Phillippe de Roule. It is a dark and lovely neo-classical and Byzantine-style church. Since I don't use a flash in a church, I have no pictures to show you. You'll have to take my word for it. On our way back, we took a less direct course so that we could walk down the fashionable Avenue de Montaigne. These photos, at left, come mostly from that part of the walk. The red flowers and awnings on the ritzy Hotel Athenee are some of my favorites. Avenue de Montaigne ends at the Seine, at the foot of the Pont d'Alma. Under that intersection is a tunnel - the place where Princess Diana was killed. We crossed the Seine there and continued our walk down Avenue Bosquet. There was loud rock and roll music coming from the basement windows of the American University of Paris's (AUP's) main building. We turned on rue de Grenelle and walked up to rue Cler, one of those utterly charming streets that is closed to cars. There are lots of fruit and vegetable vendors there, as well as other interesting shops. One of our favorite outdoor cafés is there, too -- Café du Marché -- described in last year's journal, I believe. At the end of rue Cler we turned left and walked over to Square Santiago du Chili. We like to sit there and watch people, flowers, birds, dogs, cats, whatever, until it is time for dinner. Then we walk across the street to the Café du Septieme, a very good and reasonable bistro at the corner of Boulevard de Tour Maubourg and rue de Grenelle. On our way home after dinner, we paused in front of the Lutheran church on rue de Grenelle (see bottom left picture). From the street, it looks like this quaint church has very little frontage and is squeezed into a small lot. But that isn't the case at all. The church owns/owned a chunk of land behind it. AUP made some arrangement with the church to use some of their property for offices. The map of the city reveals that this space behind the church even has a name - Square Bülher. But to enjoy this Square, you would have to know it was there -- you'd never notice it by walking past on the street. Of course parking is hard to come by in any big, busy city, but I'm amazed at what people will do with their big, luxurious cars. This Mercedes, at left, wasn't the only Mercedes I saw parked in a crosswalk yesterday. I wonder, where are the keepers of the Revolution and why haven't they destroyed these vehicles? Just kidding. But the French generally do not approve of displays of aristocratic arrogance such as this. Below is our beloved rue du Commerce, the last leg of many a walk home. The church at the end of the street is St. Jean Baptiste de Grenelle.
|
