i am in paris since may 10th in a rather unusal neighborhood (for me): 100 meters from the eiffel tower! call me a snob but i like to see the tower from afar; i see much to my surprise that i like it upclose too.

i went to musée du quai branly on friday – the maven of “cultural diversity” – the collections were not to my taste but jean nouvel‘s architecture was sublime.

saturday was spent on my first visit to fontainebleau; coming from southern california, i always forget how densely green western europe is; i love the myriad shades of green – much to my delight, i discovered a poppy field and got a bit nostlagique (i haven’t seen a red poppy since i left my country in 79).

the château itself was very impressive but i still prefer the one in chantilly.

paris is a great walking city, day or night…