(Thought
I’d revisit some old notes of some early trips we took to Europe. This one before the Euro and ATM machines for easy money. These are some bits from my future e-book "TRAVAILS WITH LAMONT"))
Neophytes
in Paris Mar 29, 1988

The Paris Metro is a very clean, efficient system, venders and musicians set up in the interconnecting tunnels and amplify all over the place, classical to rock to reggae. Lots of rain in Paris. We got soaked the next day running around to American Express and Galleries Lafayette so Joy can buy a sweater as she is freezing ass. The store has a marvelous stained glass dome, maybe 100 feet in diameter and the space is five stories high. Also found a travel agent and bought Cooks Train Schedules which was indispensable throughout the trip. (Brentanos Bookstore showed us books on cooking). After many false tries we found Bank of Lyons to cash Joy’s Visa card, this being before ATMs. This place also has a great three story central space with curlicue cast iron pinned connections trussed framing and another glass dome .

Walked thru the Tuilleries Gardens to the Louvre and watched the workers putting the finishing touches on the glass pyramid in the center of the old courtyard. It's a masterful addition to the whole place. I. M. Pei has done it again. Naturally some of the world's great pieces are here including the Mona Lisa , which didn't get me excited at all as I have seen her so many times in print. Of course, she is surrounded by a 1" thick bulletproof glass partition. There are always several painters in the galleries copying the old masters, most of them very good.
Next day to Notre Dame cathedral. Pretty impressive rose window as the thing is huge. They purportedly have a small fragment of the cross that Christ was hung on as well as the nails. Riiiight! Found a great crepery, had one with apple brandy and apples,(Crepe Normand). great! Walked thru a small alley street that was all Greek restaurants, breaking dishes on the floor and the whole thing. Went to Le Gare to reserve our seats on the TGV train.
Our hotel, L’Ermitage, cost about 300 Francs ($60) per day including a fine breakfast tray each morning at our door on the third floor. The hotel is owned by a french woman, Maggie, and her German husband who speaks no English. The building is a couple of hundred years old and purportedly built by one of Napoleon’s doctors. Bonny must have had a dozen doctors as we heard this several times. First off we found the nearest Italian restaurant as we ate mostly pizza and pasta in Europe. This is due to the complexities and cost of French cuisine. Montmarte is crowned by a strange bulbous domed church, Sacre Cour, a late 19th century effort. Constructed of white stone, it is visible from all over Paris. Since we were near the infamous Moulon Rouge of Lautrec fame we walked all around looking for it but got lost. But we did discover the new public toilets being installed all over France. They are of prefab concrete and stainless steel and cost half a Franc. Clean, no grafitti, cool jazz music, one person at a time. When finished, the whole interior flushes automatically.
Across the street from the church is a gathering place for youths from all over the world, playing musical instruments, singing and carrying on. We got totally soaked in the rain running around to find the American Express office but with my cape and beret, Joy her umbrella managed OK.


The walk down was a breeze, passing an old American tank as a small reminder that war was hell. Walked through streets with marvelous vege and fruit market.
The fish market begins early each morning on the quay below our hotel. How about a floppy live sculpin or octopus? We found a great pizza place across the port from us. Each day we buy a couple of bottles of wine for $3 and bread and cheese, then we spend hours watching these people drive, park and carry on from our balcony overlooking the entire scene.
Went down to the quay and caught a small boat to Chateau d’If, the miserable fort/dungeon that the count of Monte Christo spent so many years incarcerated in Duma’s story. However, due to the heavy seas, we couldn’t land at the dock so just continued on to the nearby larger island that has been developed with some very well designed condominiums over shops and restaurant (Mixed use!). Right adjacent to the new buildings was a well preserved very small Greek temple, dating from the original Greek colonists around 500 BC. The seas were so bad I was challenged to even stand up and move around. Joy sat paralyze all the time clinging to a stanchion so hard she left a permanent impression on the steel .She was too scared to throw up.

Off to the beach via bus. Took a swim at the ‘Plage’ , always fun as you really float due to the high salt content in the Mediterranean. Even better, there were lots of young things lying about topless. I guess Nice isn’t the only Mecca for voyeurs. I tried to get Joy to take her top off and show these kids some real tit but she was too bashful. I changed out of my wet Speedo bikini on the beach a la French style. Caught the bus back to La Residence and more Pizza and wine. Ah! Marseille! Viva la France!
To be
continued....