Cayo Hueso Literary Salon – Jan 24 2012

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Our first meeting of the Cayo Hueso Literary Salon.

We talked. We ate. We ate and talked. We may even have had a glass of wine.

Much of the discussion dealt with the book of the night … Hemingway’s Boat by Paul Hendrickson

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* Key West Sailing Races (Jan 2012)

High profile fleets, intense competition and superb sailing conditions have made Key West a showcase race event for many years. 2012 marks the 25th anniversary of the annual race week off Key West

“Key West is always one of the

most anticipated events on our annual schedule.”

This year I was fortunate to be invited to watch the races on the boat of our friends Steve and Karen. Here is some of what I saw …

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* a visit to “Occupy Wall Street” at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan

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October 21, 2011 … We took the R train and walked to Zuccotti Park, where we observed the situation a week or so after the tents had been removed by the NYPD. At roughly 3:00 pm, there were only a few people protesting – less, we estimated, than the combined number of police and reporters.

We engaged in conversation with Megan, 28 years old and unemployed, an intelligent well-spoken young lady. Her issue of the day was the exorbitant power of corporations in America, with a focus on the “Corporate Personhood” issue raised by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision.

We think this is the absolute correct issue, but wonder how this movement will ever get to effective action on the evils of political campaign financing which we believe is at the heart of our current national impotence. We will comment further on the political implications of what we saw and heard on our political blog at http://lewandpatpolitics.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/occupy-wall-street-loses-focus-a-post-in-progress/.

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* Fantasy Fest in Key West … Locals’ Parade

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Fantasy Fest in Key West is a weeks long celebration of what makes Key West such a special place. Aside from the plentiful nudity, there are many occasions for fully dressed fun. One of the best events is known as the locals parade. Appropriate for the Halloween season, it begins at the KW Cemetery. Thousands of costumed marchers walk through the streets in a casual parade that this year lasted over two hours. Since Pat had been preparing to be a Fairy Godmother, I just had to be the Godfather. Lots of people took our pictures, and we took theirs …

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* the magic of Venice … Sept 2011

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Just say the word “Venice” and the mind conjures images of romantic canals and the slow passage of gondolas.

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St. Mark’s Square during the day is so jammed with cruise boat tourist groups moving like large herds that it’s best to stay away. At night, it is gorgeous, with music and (very expensive) open air bars. 

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At 7:00 am, it is a perfect place for a morning run.

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It’s also perfect for kids and pigeons … and dancers???

Perhaps an explanation is in order. A band was playing, and Pat and I danced. When we finished, a group at a nearby table applauded. So we asked them to join in the next dance.

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The Galerie del Accademia … a superb collection of art taken from the churches of Venice on the order of Napoleon.

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the saga of Ursula by Vittore Carpaccio

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Pat has arranged for herself a threefold course in Renaissance art … preparing before our trip to Italy, viewing the art, and then reviewing her course materials with the new appreciation of personally seeing the works. And I got to have my own personal art docent.

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And also to amuse myself by finding a mirror on the stairs up to our apartment.

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Sights of Venice

a door handle, music museum, lladro tango, dali’s clock

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thousands of great store windows

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What’s new on the Rialtro? Plenty! We find a tiny cafe tucked into a corner of the bridge at water level. Once we had coffee, the next time bellinis. And we watched the action, an ever-changing mosaic of water taxis, gondolas, ferries, and UPS boats conducting an intricate dance, never colliding.

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the Rialto Bridge

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and of course there are some shops on the Rialto

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The world’s first ghetto was established in Venice, at the site of an old foundry (ghetto means foundry). Our tour of the remains of a once vibrant Jewish community was fascinating. Several small synagogues. Stories from the period of Nazi occupation. “Fortunately,” our guide says, “the roundup of Jews was conducted in the Italian manner. Inefficiently.” He told us the old Jews in nursing homes were shipped off to Auschwitz and most of the rest, dispersed throughout the city (no longer living in the ghetto) survived.

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exterior of synagogues

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the skylight above the bima corresponds to the cuppola in the photo above

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There is an altarpiece by Giovanni Bellini at the church of San Zaccaria that was painted in place so that the light from the window sweeps across the painting and at one point in each sunny day illuminates the heads of both St. Peter and St. Zaccaria. It was truly an incredible experience to watch this happen, and appreciate just how fast the earth rotates on its axis.

Bellini's altarpiece at San Zaccaria

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We had eaten a large lunch and wanted only a prosecco and dessert. It was surprising to us that restaurants with mostly empty tables would not take us, insisting they would only serve full dinners. It worked out fine. We were finally accommodated in an otherwise empty courtyard where the atmosphere of an ancient time surrounded us.

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You don’t take a taxi to the airport. You take a water taxi, winding first through the interior canals and then gaining speed across the wide bay. A great way to end our three weeks in Italy.

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* Sienna … a day trip from Florence

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Siena is about an hour’s bus ride from Florence. We took the bus because it goes right into the middle of the old city, whereas from the train a taxi is needed. We had been to Siena before, and loved it, so we just wanted to see some favorite sights again. We began with this dramatic entrance into the old piazza, still the site of the annual palio which has been Siena’s signature event for over 5 centuries.

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The Cathedral in Siena is as large and as overwhelmingly lavish as any we have ever seen. There is amazing art and sculpture, and the system for tourist exploration is excellent. Donatello’s emaciated John the Baptist reminded us of his Mary Magdalene in Florence’s Bargello.

Donatello's emaciated sculptures

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Siena’s Baptistry also features reliefs by Donatello.

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* a day trip to Bologna

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We took the train from Florence to Bologna – 37 minutes, mostly through tunnels so we saw no scenery. But guess what? We found more churches and art, and spectacular exhibits at the Town Hall and the National Gallery of Bologna.

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There was also a reminder of the dark days of WWII, and a tribute to Bologna’s partisans who resisted the Nazis.

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* the joy of Florence

We had two glorious weeks in Florence, which I have attempted to express in the three posts which follow …

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*Florence is just spectacular!

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* art in Florence … Pat’s mission accomplished

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*Dali & Rodin interpret Dante’s Inferno … unexpected and magnificent!

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* Florence is just spectacular!

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This is our third time in Florence, which gives you an idea how much we like it. Pat found a rental apartment with views of the Arno River and the Ponte Vecchio that are fantastic day and night. The running path along the river and across the bridges is also perfect. That’s Pat running across the Ponte Trinita just downriver from our location.

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a convention of marching bands

Timing is everything. We had barely settled into our apartment on our first Saturday night in Florence when we became aware of bands marching, drumming, playing … everywhere it seemed, with considerable partying to accompany the music, until the wee hours. On Sunday morning, we saw dozens of bands which had assembled for a convention, marching from various streets into the Piazza della Signoria. Most of them – especially the younger ones – were sober and serious. The older ones … well … at least they were still playing.

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On our first full day in Florence, outside the Duomo, we met friends from Key West. Later we discovered a common fondness for Prosecco at our apartment overlooking the Arno and had a great dinner at Trattoria Cammillo at the other end of Borgo San Iacopo.

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Our apartment overlooks the Arno River between the Ponte Vecchio and the Ponte Santa Trinita. During WWII, the retreating Nazis bombed and destroyed most of the bridges across the Arno, including Ponte Santa Trinita. A multinational group of American, British and other soldiers, known as the “Monuments Men” took initiatives to save and reconstruct the art of Europe. They managed to stop the bulldozers from disposing of the stones and statues of Ponte Santa Trinita, the curvature of which had been designed by Michelangelo at the request of Cosimo I. Fortunately, a set of plans for the bridge was found at Columbia University. Also found were all four statutes for the corners of the bridge, except for one lady’s head. Almost twenty years later, a sand-digger found that head and it was re-attached.

for more fascinating details see …

The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History

The Venus Fixers: The Remarkable Story of the Allied Soldiers Who Saved Italy’s Art During World War II

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Going to the Medici Palace is like visiting old friends. The last time we were in Florence, I practically haunted the place, doing research and absorbing flavor for my soon-to-be-published novel The Pope’s Conspiracy. I almost expected to see Lorenzo and Giuliano playing football in the courtyard and was somewhat disturbed by the extensive renovations which have so far made a mess of what was Lorenzo’s ornate study.

Cosimo’s chapel in the Medici Palace is a remarkable place. It is decorated by Benozzo Gozzoli’s three wall fresco depicting the Medici family offering the gifts of the Magi. This was the place where Lorenzo de Medici asked his visitors to wait, giving them every opportunity to be even more impressed with the majesty of his family (and himself).

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It was Rosh Hashana so I went to the Great Synagogue of Florence, a survivor of the Nazi madness. The painting by Rembrandt is called The Rabbi. I forget where it actually is, so I put it where I thought he would be comfortable.

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Florence is such a special place, full of extraordinary art and architecture. But Florence is also just walking around, enjoying whatever comes into view, so I thought I would finish this post with a series of photos, random as to place and time, that express our great joy at being in this great city.

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* art in Florence … Pat’s mission accomplished

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Pat has been studying art of the Renaissance, mainly from the course “Great Artists of the Italian Renaissance” produced by the Teaching Company and presented by Professor William Kloss. She identified a long list of specific paintings and statues to see in Florence. I was a willing accomplice, enjoying the art and taking hundreds of photographs, some of which are presented here …

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The 12th century Baptistry sits directly across from the Duomo. Three of its sides contain sets of doors depicting scenes from the Jewish and Christian Bibles. 

In 1401, a competition was announced by the Cloth Importers Guild of Florence to design the doors which would eventually be placed on the north side of the Baptistry. The two finalists were Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi, each of whom submitted a design of The Sacrifice of Isaac for the final competition. Ghiberti was chosen and what he produced was later described by Michelangelo as “the gates of paradise.” Ghiberti’s competition panel is shown on the left above and Brunelleschi’s is on the right. Michelangelo favored Brunelleschi’s because it presented the more dynamic action, with the hand of the angel already holding back Abraham’s knife.

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Michelangelo's Pieta at the Museo della Opera del Suomo

The Museo del Opera del Duomo, located just behind the Duomo, contains an astonishing collection of sculpture. Here are three examples: a Pieta by Michelangelo, Donatello’s wooden Magdalene, and a wonderfully expressive sculpture I neglected to identify. HELP anyone?

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Branacci Chapel & Santo Spirito

In the early 15th century, a young man named Masaccio produced several frescoes in the Branacci Chapel of the Church of S. Maria del Carmine … and changed the nature of painting. His depiction of vibrantly rounded forms and profound human emotion gave the Bible story of the expulsion of Adam and Eve a meaning never before achieved. Years later Michelangelo stood in that chapel and absorbed Masaccio’s lessons. Just down the street in the Church of Santo Spirito Michelangelo’s wooden Crucifixion is glorious testament to how much he learned.

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images in the Bargello

The 13th century Palace of the Bargello was once the seat of government in Florence and later the palace of justice, complete with scaffold and torture room. Now it contains a remarkable collection of statues.

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statues at Orsanmichelle

In the early 13th century, Orsanmichele was a market where wheat was sold. Around 1400 it was converted into a church used as the chapel of Florence’s powerful craft and trade guilds. Late in the 14th century, the guilds were charged by the city to commission statues of their patron saints to embellish the facades of the church.

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San Marco cloister

San Marco - dozens of cells decorated by Fra Angelica

Cosimo de Medici undertook the restoration of the monastery of San Marco, including frescoes in each monk’s cell. Cosimo took one of the cells for his own use, when he needed a quiet place not too far from the Medici Palace. Over the entrance to his cell, he placed a stone tablet on which was repeated the dispensation he had received from Pope Eugenius forgiving him for all sins (At least that’s what I think it says.) Apparently, Cosimo needed frequent reminders that he wasn’t going to go to hell.

Cosimo's sins forgiven

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two of Michelangelo's slaves

The primary attraction at the Galleria della Academia is of course Michelangelo’s David. But down the hallway from the slayer of Goliath are a series of unfinished statues, referred to collectively as the slaves, which to me are even more impressive. Here it is possible to see how the artist removed the excess stone to allow the figure he saw to emerge, and also the vision of internal stress which Michelangelo implanted in his figures.

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Battle of the Centaurs

The slaves were created when Michelangelo was a mature artist. The Battle of the Centaurs was one of his first pieces, sculpted when he was but 15. It is found at the Casa Buonarroti, where you can often stand completely alone and think of the genius sharing the room with you.

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In the Church of the Ognissanti there are a series of striking images. 

But in the adjacent monastery is a masterpiece, a stunning Last Supper by Domenico Ghirlandaio that fills an entire wall in what was the dining room of the monks.

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The Santa Maria Novella, near the train station, contains many astonishing paintings. Here, to finish our tour of the art of Florence, are just a few.

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* Dali & Rodin interpret Dante’s Inferno … unexpected and magnificent!

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This one was not on Pat’s Florence list. We saw a sign advertising Dali and Rodin. What a strange combination! It turns out that both had produced a considerable body of work inspired by Dante’s Inferno, and someone had the brilliant idea to put on a joint exhibition. Here are just a few of the many drawings, paintings and sculptures in the exhibit …

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* a few days (& nights) in Rome

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the Spanish Steps

The Spanish Steps are one of Rome’s most exciting landmarks, a gathering place for young and old at all hours of the day and night. Best of all for us, they were only a few steps from our hotel.

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Michelangelo's Moses

You need no other reason to go to Rome.

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Caravaggio in the French Church of St. Louis

Pat has been studying Italian Renaissance art for months in preparation for our trip to Rome, Florence & Venice.  One of her particular new favorites is Caravaggio, a really bad person who produced stunningly original paintings. The three paintings in a single alcove in the French Church of St. Louis, not far from the Piazza Navona, is a spectacular sight. We went twice.

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…speaking of the Piazza Navona

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St. Peter’s Square at 7:00 am is a remarkable sight, quiet, peaceful and empty. We saw the Sistine Ceiling and the Last Judgment, after rushing through the Vatican Museum in a successful breakneck effort to get to the Sistine before the first tour groups.

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Michelangelo's Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel

It’s not a good thing to anger a painter of Michelangelo’s caliber. Apparently, the Pope’s assistant suggested, while Michelangelo was still painting, that there was too much nudity in the Last Judgment. So … Michelangelo added this fine official to the lower right hand corner of the wall, nude of course, wrapped in a snake, and with a very prominent donkey ear growing from his head.

for more about Michelangelo’s Last Judgment, see …

 http://maitaly.wordpress.com/tag/sistine-chapel/

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Vogue Fashion Night in Rome

Timing is everything. Our second night in Rome was the annual Vogue Fashion Night, and it took place just past the Spanish Steps. Champagne, the highest of high heels, and beautiful women made a terrific street party.

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So much to see in Rome, including statues, large and small, at every turn.

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* and then there’s Collioure

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The views along the Collioure harbor and in the town at night match any other village we’ve ever seen, in France or anywhere else. 

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We also love the views from our terrace. From about 5:30 to 8:30, with the cooling sea breeze and the puffy ever-changing clouds, it’s just a great place for a glass of wine, a good novel, and a soft reflective conversation.

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A real highlight of the summer of 2011 was the visit by two of Pat’s kids and their spouse and partner. They got to see what we’ve been talking about for 6 years, and we got to spend great time with them.

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For us at least, it doesn’t get better than this.

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… and then we came back to Paris for another week

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This is the bridge of locks, where lovers leave a symbol of their love in the city of love. We left our lock last year. The first time we looked for it, we were disappointed. But Pat is persistent and we returned to learn it is still there.

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The Hotel de Ville is the city hall of Paris and one of the most beautiful buildings in a city of beautiful buildings. The plaza in front of Hotel de Ville  is also the scene of a wide variety of activities, such as rock band setting up between two rather contrasting statues.

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For us, this was a Sunday trifecta of iconic images: High Gregorian Mass at Notre Dame, Breakfast in America, and the finish of the Tour de France along the Champs d’Elysee. Does it get better than that!

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People often ask us what we do in Paris, and we usually say, “We just walk around.” Here’s some of what we see. And this will have to do for our Paris experiences in 2011.

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* more images of Dubrovnik … the city walls, kids and music everywhere, ringing them bells, pictures of bombing, an island preserve … and a nude beach

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It seems to be the consensus that walking the mile or so around the top of the Dubrovnik walls is the main “not to be missed” attraction of Dubrovnik. Accordingly, I set off one late afternoon when the sun was not so fierce. Pat, showing her wisdom, did not join me. The walls were built eons ago, and enhanced in the 1400s  as defense against the Ottoman navy. The views are actually quite nice, both out to sea and looking over the orange roofs of the old town. But halfway around, it got repetitive and I came down.

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What Dubrovnik has more of than anything else is young people. Thousand of young men and women strutting about, enjoying the restaurants and bars, finding each other. It is they who create the wonderful atmosphere that permeates the broad and narrow streets and the beaches. Although slightly older, we felt right at home wandering along amongst them.

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Liza Minnelli sings it as only she can deliver a song … You gotta ring them bells. It’s the story of Shirley Devore from the Upper West Side in Manhattan, 31 and unmarried. She “borrows a thou” and sets off on a European adventure, intent to “haul me home a hus if it’s the last thing I do.” But Shirley strikes out in London, Madrid, Brussels, Majorca and Rome …

so she went to Dubrovnik and the very first day

she met a guy on the beach who took her reason away

The guy, it turns out lived at Five Riverside Drive, apartment 29F, while Shirley lived in the same building at 29E. The moral of the story …

You girls who live in apartments, don’t just stare at the wall

Open up the door and hurry out in the hall

And … ring them bells … swing them, ring them, swing them,

ring them bells!

So we tried it. We went to the beach in Dubrovnik and guess what happened? We each found someone who lives in the same house.

Enjoy Liza’s stirring rendition at … http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtJSLZnKCv0

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There’s music all over in Dubrovnik, on all sorts of instruments, including empty liquor bottles. And the Dubrovnik String Quartet playing a selection from Mozart’s Night Music to the Mikado.

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In 1991, Dubrovnik underwent severe bombing attacks. The war with Serbia over the dissolution of Yugoslavia lasted until 1996. In our hotel, the desk clerk said she had four little children and no food, no water. She took their diapers to the sea to wash, and people shot at her. In a narrow alley, there’s an almost unmarked building where we saw the photos and video above.

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Lokrum Island is a ten minute boat ride from the Dubrovnik harbor. There’s an old monastery, hiking trails, beautiful views of a stunningly blue sea, a swimming hole that fills with sea water. You can see how enthusiastic Pat was about the nature all around her.

And, oh, there’s also a nude beach.

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It’s at the far end of the island, and it’s not a beach at all. It’s a collection of more or less flat rocks, high above the sea. We wondered how you could get to the water, and walked to the edge of the rocks, where we saw a ladder. We also saw waves crashing against the rocks, making it very dangerous to get into and out of the water. There were about a dozen people laying on the rocks, some relatively decorously, some not. Several men seemed to be posing at the edge of the rocks, the sea as background, although no photos are allowed and no one seemed to have a sketch pad.

“Once you’re in, the sea is pretty calm,” a lady said. “There’s my husband swimming out there.”

We turned around to face a lovely blond woman standing near us, perhaps in her mid 30s, with a beautiful figure, wearing a necklace of pearls … and nothing else.

There followed the most surreal conversation. She seemed to be an American. There were four children walking about, equally nude, and everyone (except us) seemed quite comfortable.

By the way, you’ll have to take Pat’s word about the pearls. I never saw them.

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It takes a lot to supplant the image of the lady on the beach, but my final impression in Dubrovnik, and my first impression in Paris where we went next, was the lovely lady sitting across from me. It’s really no contest.

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* died defending Dubrovnik … part of a centuries-long, and probably still unresolved, ethnic conflict

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There’s a small room on one of the side streets in Dubrovnik dedicated to the memory of those (mostly young men) who died in 1991 or after in the defense of Croatia against the Serbian Bosnian attacks. It is moving to stand there. All the buildings have been reconstructed and the tourists have returned, but the families and the feelings are still not settled.

We asked our waiter in a pizza restaurant where he was from … Bosnia & Herzegovina he says. We ask, “Are the tensions fully subsided?He shakes his hand in a manner that says … not quite. Our waiter at breakfast was a very young child during the fighting. His father fought; he and his mother remained in Dubrovnik, even as many others fled.

I recently read a novel about the refugees from that war and I recommend it … it’s called The Sound of Blue by Holly Payne, set in 1992, in Dubrovnik and in a refugee camp across the Hungarian border. Very moving and enlightening. And I just added another book to my reading list … The Yugoslav Auschwitz and the Vatican: The Croatian Massacre of the Serbs During World War II by Vladimir Dedijer. It’s a complicated situation that goes back generations and centuries, a situation where the truth is elusive and never unambiguous … not untypical of many ethnic conflicts that have always plagued our world, and continue to do so today.

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* Dubrovnik is spectacular!

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Dubrovnik is alive!

And at the same time beautiful and restful. The city is loaded with tourists, including many young people who fill the beaches during the day and the bars at night. Yet there is no sense of over-crowding, and once you move off the main street, the narrow side streets offer many pleasant places to have a glass of Croatian wine or beer, or to eat a fine meal or pizza at a reasonable price. There are plenty of shops with a variety of tourist merchandise and some up scale clothing, and there is a fine book store well stocked with English titles.

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Dubrovnik’s Jews and synagogue

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The Old Synagogue in Dubrovnik is the oldest Sefardic synagogue still in use today in the world and the second oldest synagogue in Europe. It still functions as a place of worship for Holy days and special occasions, but is now mainly a city museum which hosts numerous Jewish ritual items and centuries-old artifacts. After the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, many of the expelled went east and some eventually settled into the then independent city of Dubrovnik, where there was already a small Jewish community. Many Conversos came to the city.

NOTE: for more about conversos in Spain, see my novel “The Heretic” at …

http://www.amazon.com/Heretic-Lewis-M-Weinstein/dp/1595943242/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1311062422&sr=1-1

In 1546, Dubrovnik officials allocated a Jewish settlement within the city, with the main street being called Ulica Zudioska (“Jewish Street”) in the Dubrovnik Ghetto. When and Dubrovnik was occupied by Napoleon’s forces in 1808, essentially ending Dubrovnik’s centuries of independence, Jews attained legal equality for the first time. However, when the Austrian Empire annexed Dubrovnik in 1814, legal equality was again withdrawn. Jews were again granted legal equality under Croatian law in the mid-late 19th century.

Today, because of the small number of Jews in Dubrovnik, the synagogue does not have its own rabbi.

However, when we visited the synagogue,

there was a Rabbi in residence.

Rabbi Yisrael Karasik had just arrived from Brooklyn with his charming new bride Mushki (from LA). It is Rabbi Karasik’s Chabad mission to bring Jews into greater recognition of their Jewishness. On this day, that meant convincing me to wear tefillin and say the Shema prayer.

Rabbi Karisik and his wife are hosting a regular Friday night Shabbat dinner

at 8:00 pm at the Dubrovnik Hilton.

If you are Jewish and plan to be in Dubrovnik this summer,

this would be a fine addition to your trip.

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Croatia on the Adriatic Sea

a brief historical note

Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea.  The prosperity of the city of Dubrovnik has always been based on maritime trade. In the Middle Ages, as the Republic of Ragusa, it became the only eastern Adriatic city-state to rival Venice.

During World War II, in 1941, Nazi Germany, Italy, Hungary and Bulgaria occupied Yugoslavia, redrawing their borders. A new Nazi puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), was created. Many Croats took refuge in the satellite state of Croatia, which became the battleground for a guerrilla war between the Axis and the Yugoslav Partisans. Following the surrender of Italy in 1943, most of Italian-controlled Dalmatia was reverted to Croatian control. After WWII, Dalmatia (including Dubrovnik) became part of the People’s Republic of Croatia, part of the SFR Yugoslavia (then called the Federative People’s Republic of Yugoslavia).

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) was the Yugoslav state under Marshall Tito that existed from the second half of World War II (1943) until it was formally dissolved in 1992. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia. Yugoslavia pursued a policy of neutrality after the Tito-Stalin split of 1948.

Rising ethnic nationalism in the late 1980s led to fast dissidence among the multiple ethnic groups within the various republics, followed by recognition of their independence by some European states in 1991. This led to the country collapsing on ethnic lines which were followed by wars fraught with ethnic discrimination and human rights violations.

In 1991 Croatia and Slovenia, which had been republics within Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, declared their independence. On October 1, 1991 Dubrovnik was attacked. The siege of Dubrovnik  lasted for seven months. The artillery attacks on Dubrovnik damaged 56% of its buildings, as the historic walled city, sustained 650 hits by artillery rounds. Following the end of the war, damage caused by the shelling of the Old Town was repaired. As of 2005, most damage had been repaired.

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* lunch at the Polidor with Hemingway and Woody

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Before coming to Paris, Pat had identified the Crémerie-Restaurant Polidor (41, rue Monsieur-le-Prince near the Jardin de Luxembourg) as a likely place for an authentic French meal in a historic setting. Founded in 1845, the interior of the restaurant has not changed for over 100 years, and the style of cooking remains that of the late 19th century.

Imagine her surprise, when we saw Midnight in Paris for the 2nd time, to follow Gil into the Polidor where he encounters Ernest Hemingway offering short stereotypic bursts about courage and manliness.

The Polidor is a marvelous place to feel what Paris was like many years ago, and the lunch was just about the best French meal we have ever had, priced quite reasonably. The only modern accoutrement is the signed photo pasted on the front window.

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* just another day in the Jardin de Luxembourg

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a performance of the Northern Ambassadors of Music

The Jardin du Luxembourg (Luxembourg Gardens), located in the 6th arrondissement, is actually the garden of the French Senate, which is housed in the Luxembourg Palace. Both palace and gardens are the legacy of Marie de Medicis, the widow of Henry IV and the regent for the King Louis XIII, who in 1611 decided to build a palace in imitation of the Pitti Palace in her native Florence. It is one of the most beautiful places in Paris, and one of the most beautiful parks in the world.

Walking in the park, we followed the sounds of music to a bandstand where we came upon an ongoing performance of the Northern Ambassadors of Music. Comprised of over 300 students from North Dakota and Montana, the high school and college students were in the middle of their 16-day 2011 European tour through England, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Italy and Germany, including performances at Buckingham Palace, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Luxembourg Gardens.

The group, each of whom pays roughly $6,000 for the trip, is put together on recommendations of music teachers. They played a combination of classical, show and patriotic music, and apparently had their first rehearsal as a group just three days before we heard them. Their rousing Sousa marching music and a moving rendition of America the Beautiful were extraordinary, especially given the short time they’ve had together.

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views from a walk around the Jardin du Luxembourg ... note the Statue of Liberty, one of two in Paris ... a plaque next to the statue is dedicated to the memory of those killed on 9-11 and to the long spirit of friendship between the French and American people

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* impressions of Paris … July 2011

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Of course it’s a cliche. But you see it everywhere and it is beautiful, especially at dusk.

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We had a wonderful dinner with our friends Marilyn and Bernard, and on the way, Marilyn took this picture of us … the church in the background is one of the great shots from Woody Allen’s new film, Midnight in Paris, which of course we saw in Paris.

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Paris is a city of beautiful women … a photo shoot at the Opera … coffee at Starbucks … Madame Lenny emerging from a delightful passage … a classic lady on a bike … some younger women assaulting the studs at Abercrombie & Fitch on the Champs Elysees

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Strangers having dinner with Jim Haynes … he’s been organizing these events for 30 years or so every Sunday night … The cost is 25 euros, more or less … his friends cook the dinner … the location is Jim’s house and the adjacent garden area, in the 14th arrondissement … people learn about this from Jim’s website (http://www.jim-haynes.com/) and sign up until the guest list has filled the available space (less can be accommodated in winter than in summer) … the food and wine were excellent and plentiful … and the company was delightful, mostly English speaking, although from many different countries … everyone there was looking to meet others in Paris, for a variety of reasons … the result – a unique and entertaining evening

Jim is the guy in the apron … next to him are a couple who met at one of these dinners 13 years ago and have been married for the last 12 … lower left corner are  a professor at Queens College and a student at the same college, who had just met

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A fabulous experience at an afternoon auction at the Drouot Hotel … as many as 8 rooms operating at the same time … art, books, coins, cooking appliances, and a whole roomful of Louis Vuitton bags going for 250 or so euros

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Paris is loaded with great old passages … stunning architecture, beautiful shops, sometimes even bargains, espcially during July’s annual sale days

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Pat planned her trip to the Louvre for months … she had a list of the art and the details of each work she wanted to enjoy … on the way, I bought a sketch pad, two pencils and an eraser … I found a chair near this Greek fellow … I will NOT post my sketch!

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Adrian Leeds is one of the busiest Americans in Paris. She posts a blog (http://www.parlerparis.com/) which Pat reads regularly … very high content about what’s happening in Paris … Adrian also buys, renovates, sells and rents apartments in Paris … and she runs a monthly (2nd Tuesday) get together which features a speaker … this week that was Jeffrey Greene (author of French Spirits) who spoke entertainingly about living in the Burgundy area of France … we had a delightful afternoon and met many expats living in France including with our new Queens College friend from Jim Haynes’ dinner

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These are the steps where Owen Wilson waited for F. Scott and Ernest … up a hill and just below the Pantheon … there was no magic transport available at noon … but we did go to see the movie, for the second time … it is a marvelous, cultured fairy tale that is really a love story … for those who love the enduring beauty and eternal aura of Paris … thank you, Woody

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photo from ... http://news.yahoo.com/photos/france-celebrates-bastille-day-1310655079-slideshow/

FOOTNOTE: after we we returned to Collioure, I was sitting on our terrace, looking out at a glorious panorama of white clouds floating above the Pyrenees Mountains. Suddenly, there were the same blue, white and red smoke trails I had seen in Paris. Nine powerful jets put on a display of precision flying that took my breath away. Rapid turns. Dives straight down from rather low altitudes. Soaring out over the Mediterranean Sea in broad swoops, at what seemed like barely a wing length apart. Turning on edge so it seemed as if there was but a single plane. It was just spectacular.  A private show just for me.

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Bastille Day … crowds along the Champs … an impressive military parade … jets overhead … Nicolas Sarkozy, the 23rd president of the French Republic … and the very real presence of Charles de Gaulle, the 1st president whose unique combination of arrogance, grandeur and political skills seem to infuse France as much today as they did in the aftermath of WWII

… but Bastille Day ??? … honoring a day when 6 criminals were set free and a process initiated that ultimately became one of the bloodiest episodes in civilized society, a time when nobody’s head was safe … I have read and read about the French Revolution and I still don’t understand what happened and what results it accomplished … but we nevertheless enjoy the day and wish the French well

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* Vive l’Amérique, vive la France … At Picpus Cemetery on July 4, 2011

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Changing the flag at La Fayette's grave ... U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Rivkin speaking at gravesite

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The sound of a French military band playing the Star Spangled Banner on the 4th of July brought tears to our eyes. My wife Pat and I were among those assembled, along with a substantial French military presence, many French dignitaries, and Charles Rivkin, the American Ambassador to France, at an obscure cemetery in a far corner of Paris. We were there to pay homage to the contribution of the Marquis de La Fayette to our American War of Independence against the British. The place is Picpus Cemetery in Paris’ 12th arrondissement, where General La Fayette, his wife Adrienne de Noailles, and his son George Washington La Fayette are buried.

The ceremony began in the courtyard of a chapel built on the spot where a previous chapel had been destroyed in the fury of the French Revolution on the 1790s. Ambassador Rivkin, precisely on schedule, was the last to arrive. He stood at attention as the French band played the Star Spangled Banner and then the La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, both very moving as perhaps only military bands can be. We could not help but think of that famous scene in the movie Casablanca, where the stirring rendition of La Marseillaise so irritated the Nazis.

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a portion of the French military attending the ceremony

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From the courtyard, the band, the Ambassador, military representatives of both France and the U.S., and the crowd of perhaps 50 onlookers, including us, marched rather briskly a distance of approximately 100 yards through a beautiful tree-shaded lawn to a small cemetery enclosed by a wall in the far right corner of the small park. The La Fayette graves are in a corner of the cemetery, enclosed by a low gate. Pat and I had been there two years ago, all alone that day, and earlier on this day, when we spoke to the five members of the U.S. military contingent (Army and Marines) who were now standing at attention alongside the Marquis’ gravesite.

The ceremony began with the annual formal exchange of the American flag, which has flown over the gravesite for many years, including the period of the Nazi occupation of Paris in WWII. The flag which had flown for a year was lowered from the flagpole and carefully folded into the required triangle by Lt. Colonels Griggs and Pollard, U.S. Marines. A new flag was the raised in its place. At this point, the French military band again played the Star Spangled Banner. All of the U.S. military saluted, other Americans placed their hands over their hearts, and the French military, surprising and moving to us, also saluted. America is indeed indebted to France for its assistance in our War of Independence, and the French are indebted to us for our assistance in both of the 20th century’s world wars. Each country does well when they remember the assistance rendered by the other.

Then came the placement of flowers, beautiful arrangements all, presented by representatives of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Society of the Cincinnati, the Friends of La Fayette, the Mayor of Paris, the President of France, the French Legislature, and the American government represented by Ambassador Rivkin.

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La Fayette's grave with new flag and flowers

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Charles H. Rivkin is the youngest Ambassador in nearly 60 years to serve as his country’s senior representative in France.  He is a handsome man with a powerful presence. Dressed in a dark suit with a red tie, wearing a lapel pin featuring both U.S. and French flags, he spoke in fluent French as he described the contributions Marquis de La Fayette made to the struggling American republic over 200 years ago. He sounded so natural in French that it was surprising, jarring almost, whenever he spoke the name of an American – George Washington, Benjamin Franklin – to hear the words in English, devoid of any French accent. He concluded with a ringing “Vive l’Amérique, vive la France.” When I spoke with the Ambassador at the conclusion of the ceremony, he offered to send a translation of his speech as soon as one is made.

After the service, Ambassador Rivkin met with a group of young American students who had attended the service under the auspices of a group called People to People, founded by President Eisenhower in 1956, as part of their Student Ambassador program designed to make young Americans more aware of the world. The Ambassador told the students they were the “best ambassadors America could send to make the world more aware of who we are and to show that we care about those in other countries.”

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Edward Moran ... La Fayette in battle

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At the center of this story is La Fayettes’ contribution to America’s independence. The Marquis was but 19 years old when he purchased a ship and violated the specific direction of the French King to sail to America carrying with him the recommendation of Benjamin Franklin. He first met General Washington in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on August 10, 1777. He impressed Washington with his manner, intelligence and enthusiasm, and participated bravely in the battles of Brandywine and Monmouth. Many reports indicate that Washington came to look on La Fayette as the son he never had.

La Fayette returned to France in 1779, where he received two weeks house arrest for disobeying his King. Undeterred, he lobbied for more French aid for America. In the following year, he returned with the news that he had arranged for 6,000 French troops and  a French fleet to come to America, assets which subsequently proved of critical value in the decisive battle of Yorktown.

But why a gravesite in this tiny cemetery on the edge of Paris? After Yorktown, Marquis de La Fayette returned to a France soon to be embroiled in its own revolution. He was a hero to some and a targeted villain for others, a member of the now hated aristocracy. La Fayette escaped, but the family of his wife was not so lucky. La Fayette’s mother-in-law, her mother and one of her daughters were among the thousands whose heads were separated from their bodies by the infamous machine of Dr. Joseph-Ignace  Guillotine. Over a six week period in 1794, 1300 victims of the French terror were murdered in the nearby square now known as Place de la Nation, including 16 Carmelite nuns. Those bodies were taken away by carts and surreptitiously buried in the dark of night, eight deep in a common grave, heads thrown in on top, at what was not yet known as the Picpus Cemetery.

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In the early 1800s, French nobles returned to Paris and began a search for the gravesites of their relatives. Among these was Adrienne de Lafayette, the Marquis’ wife, who found someone who had followed the carts and was herself led to the site. Adrienne arranged the purchase of the property and invited nuns to establish a new convent and build a new church over the ruins of the old, where nuns of the Order of the Sacred Heart still maintain a permanent vigil. Madame La Fayette set aside a small corner of the property as a private cemetery for the La Fayette family, and when she died in 1807, she was buried there.

President James Monroe invited Lafayette to visit the United States in 1824, as part of the celebration related to the nation’s 50th anniversary. During his trip, he acquired soil from Bunker Hill in Boston and expressed a desire to be buried in this American soil. When he passed away in 1834 at the age of 77, his wish was fulfilled when the Bunker Hill soil was sprinkled on his grave by his son George Washington La Fayette. Even then, the public was prohibited from attending, and crowds formed to protest their exclusion from Lafayette’s funeral.

We were fortunate and privileged to receive a special invitation to this private ceremony from the Sons of the American Revolution in France, and are very grateful to have been included in as memorable a 4th of July as we could have imagined.

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Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette

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* the expulsion of the Jews from Collioure in 1493

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These are details of a large painting which hangs in the ancient chateau of Collioure.

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* the lavender fields at the Abbey of Senanque

 

the Abbey at Senanque

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Wei Ling’s QUESTION … Hi, I was wondering in your entry re Provence you wrote, “As if the mountains weren’t spectacular enough, we came across one of Pat’s major objectives, a glorious field of lavender nestled in a cleft between the hills adjacent to an ancient monastery.” Can you tell me where exactly that lavender field is and what is the name of the ancient monastery? Thanks!

ANSWER … Thanks so much for your interest. We were travelling along the stunning mountain road (D177) from Gordes to Carpentras. The lavender field was at the Abbey of Senanque.

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see our original Provence post from July 2010 at …

http://patandlewtravel.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/a-cemetery-in-gordes-lavender-fields-a-synagogue-in-carpentras/

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* a stroll through New York’s Central Park

We love New York. And one the things we love most is Central Park, where Pat ran almost every day for ten years. So when we visited New York in November, we went straight to one of our favorite places. Come with us on our stroll …

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* Mykonos & Santorini … our 25th anniversary present to ourselves

Our whole life since we retired is basically a vacation, interrupted by writing novels and enjoying times with our family and friends. So how do you do something special to celebrate 25 terrific years of marriage? You could do a whole lot worse than go to the Greek Islands.

Actually, we were a year late, and it was our 26th anniversary this year. But who’s counting?

Our plan was simple. Find the most beautiful place in the world and basically do not much once we got there. Here’s what we saw each day. So how do you think we did?

this was our view from our room in Mykonos

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and this is what it looked like from our room in Santorini

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