Happy New Year from Somerville, MA!!

We spent New Year’s Eve and Day at Kathleen’s sister’s house in Somerville, MA, doing as little as possible after a busy and active two weeks in France. The Boston-area weather was uninviting, with light snow and gusty winds, so staying indoors was an easy choice. 

Somerville, north of Cambridge, was established in 1842 when it separated from Charlestown—the oldest neighborhood in Boston and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th century. Somerville holds the distinction of being the most densely populated municipality in New England, with its 82,000 people nestled into just four square miles. It is home to Tufts University and was the site of one of the first hostile acts of the American Revolution, when British soldiers raided a gunpowder magazine in September of 1774, seven months before the battles of Lexington and Concord. Map link: Somerville, MA

Tomorrow we fly home to St. Paul, and we are very much looking forward to being in our own home again!

Bonus Question: Which two U.S. Presidents died five hours apart on the same day?

Bonus Question Answer: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both passed away on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Adams’ last words reportedly were “Thomas Jefferson survives,” even though his friend and former rival had actually passed away earlier that day. James Monroe, our fifth president, also died on July 4, five years later. 

Nogent-sur-Marne, France

On Tuesday morning we met Liz and David for coffee at Laka near our house in Nogent-sur-Marne, population 35,000. Six miles east of the center of Paris and adjacent to the Bois du Vincennes, this mostly-residential, middle-class suburb has been inhabited since the 13th century. The remains of the medieval Fort de Nogent is now a Salvation Army shelter and the recruitment center for the French Foreign Legion, the elite corps founded in 1831 to allow foreign nationals to serve in the French military. 

We took a stroll through town, and did some souvenir shopping before having lunch at Crêperie Autour du Billig, where the owner/chef knew Marjorie’s family. Then it was down to the Marne River, a tributary of the Seine, and the town marina, returning to the house via a lovely waterfront path. Kathleen and Amy took the train back to Vincennes for more shopping, then we walked to Murli and Marjorie‘s for cake and ice cream to celebrate Birdie’s sixth birthday. Back at the house, Amy made pesto pasta and salad for dinner, then we packed our bags and hung out. Tomorrow morning Kathleen and I are leaving France and heading to Boston for a couple of days to visit Kathleen’s sister Scarlet.

Bonus Question: Who was the youngest person to ever host Saturday Night Live? (Answer at end of post)

23 Rue Carnot, our home base

Bonus Question Answer: Drew Barrymore, then starring in E.T., was 7 years old when she hosted SNL in 1982. Macaulay Culkin comes in second; he hosted the show at age 11 in 1991. 

The youngest musical guest was Kelvin Grant 

of the British reggae band Musical Youth, who was 11 years and 9 months old when he performed in April 1983 alongside his bandmates. 

More Paris, France

On Monday, we picked up Nathan and Pia again and took the Metro back to Paris. We tried again to get inside Notre Dame Cathedral, but the line was even longer than on Friday, so we bailed out again. Then it was north to Montmartre and the Basilica of Sacré Couer (Sacred Heart), which stands majestically on a hill overlooking Paris and is the second-most popular tourist destination after the Eiffel Tower. It too, was massively crowded with a long line to get in, so we enjoyed the views from the hill and admired the outside of the beautiful 1914 basilica, then moved on to the nearby Saint-Pierre, the church of the Montmartre Abbey and the second-oldest in Paris. According to legend, Montmartre (Hill of the Martyrs) was where Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris and the patron saint of France, was beheaded by the Romans in the 3rd century. A popular Christian story tells of the decapitated Denis picking up his head and walking several miles to his chosen burial site while preaching a sermon on repentance. Map link: Montmartre, Paris

We ate lunch at Cafe Mareva in Montmartre, then took the train to the Tuileries Garden on the Seine, strolling through the park and Christmas Market and taking a ride on the ferris wheel, with breathtaking views of the city. Map link: Jardin de Tuileries; Paris.  After a quick cup of hot chocolate, we returned to the house and changed for dinner, walking to a neighbor’s who had invited us all over. We had some amazing Indian food and Marjorie’s holiday cookies for dessert, staying until 11:00 PM.

Bonus Question: What automobile brand’s name means “listen” in Latin? (Answer at end of post).

Bonus Question Answer: In 1899, August Horch opened the A.Horch automobile company in Cologne, Germany. After a dispute and split with his partners in 1909, he lost the right to use his own surname for a new auto company. Horch means “listen” in German and he named the new venture “audi,” the Latin translation of Horch. In 1932, Audi merged with three other German carmakers—the rings of the current Audi logo symbolize the four companies that became one.

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Vincennes, France

On Sunday, after morning coffee and tea, we picked up Pia and Nathan and had brunch down the street at Le Menec Nogent, then walked two miles into the eastern Paris suburb of Vincennes. We strolled through the 2,500-acre Bois de Vincennes, established in the mid-1800s by Emperor Napoleon III; it is the largest public green space in Paris and three times larger than New York’s Central Park. On a brisk winter afternoon, we toured the Château de Vincennes, a 12th-century hunting lodge that was expanded into a fortress, military headquarters, prison and royal residence for French kings, beginning with Louis VII. The expansive grounds, 172-foot high central tower (the tallest in Europe) and beautiful Gothic chapel are restored and open to the public, with iPad audio tours available. Fun fact: In 1917 during the First World War, the Dutch-born German spy Mata Hari was executed by firing squad in the chateau’s moat. Map link: Vincennes, France

Later that evening, we said goodbye to Danielle and Jay, who left for India and their next leg of travel to visit family. The rest of us made dinner at the house and watched The Man in the Iron Mask, the 1998 star-studded adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ novel set in 1662 France. 

Bonus Question: What is chiromancy? (Answer at end of post)

Bonus Question Answer: Also known as palmistry, chiromancy is the practice of fortune- telling by reading palms and fingers. 

Paris, France

Friday, Dec 26: After a typical slow start in the morning, we boarded the Metro (subway), headed for the center of Paris, the capital and largest city in France, with a metropolitan population of 13 million. It was a chilly day, with temperatures in the mid-30s and a moderate wind as we shuffled around several tourist areas among large crowds. We stopped at Sainte Chappelle, a beautiful 13th-century chapel covered with stained glass that we visited in 2023, but all tours were sold out for the day. Next was Notre-Dame cathedral, reopened a year ago after suffering significant damage in a 2019 fire, but the long line to enter the church wasn’t moving and we weren’t interested in standing out in the cold for an indeterminate amount of time. We found a cozy creperie, La Petite Bouclerie, for lunch, then took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower, which also had a huge crowd—we stood in line to visit the base of the tower but did not go up. Our final stops were a Christmas Market on the Seine, where we warmed up with hot red wine, then across the river and up the hill to the Trocadéro, where we had amazing sunset views of the Eiffel Tower. Back at Marjorie and Murli’s apartment, we were treated to dinner, a recital by Nathan, Pia and Birdie, and pleasant conversation until 10:45 PM, when we walked back to the house where we’re staying, just an eight minute walk away. Map link: Paris, France

Bonus Question: How many bones are in the human body? (Multiple choice, answer at end of post).   A. 106     B. 156     C. 206      D. 306 

Saturday, Dec 27: In the morning Danielle and Jay toured Rolland Garros Stadium, the home of the French Open tennis tournament, while the rest of us visited Kathleen’s sister Elizabeth and her husband David, who moved to France several years ago and also live nearby. Also in Paris from Nashville are Liz and David’s youngest child, Robert, his wife Danielle and their daughter Birdie. We all met up after lunch and the 13 of us took the Metro to the west side of Paris to see Les Folies Gruss, a family troupe of equestrians and acrobats who put on a fantastic two-hour show to live music. A special treat after the show was VIP access to the horse stables, where got to view the 40+ animals up close. Most of us then ate dinner at Saravanaa Bhavan, an Indian restaurant chain and a favorite of our local relatives, before returning back to the house. 

Answer:  C. There are 206 bones in human adults. Infants are born with 270 bones, but many fuse together as they grow and develop.

Joyuex Noël!, Au Revoir Nice!

It’s Christmas Day in France and we are so grateful to be with family! We don't have major sightseeing plans today and are traveling to Paris later this evening. After packing our bags and cleaning the apartment, we took another long walk around Nice, along the waterfront Promenade and through the Christmas Market, which was much busier today. The weather was sunny and beautiful, with temperatures in the mid-50s and light winds; a huge change for the better over our previous four days on the coast. 

Amy boarded a train around 3:00 PM and the rest of us left for the Nice airport at 5:00 PM for a 75-minute flight to Paris. We took an Uber to the eastern suburb of Nogent-sur-Marne, where our niece Marjorie had arranged for us to stay in the house of a vacationing friend near her. Amy met us shortly after 10:00 PM and we relaxed in the well-appointed, three-story residence until bedtime. Map link: Nogent-sur-Marne,France

Bonus Question: What greeting becomes another greeting if you add an A in front and reverse it? (Answer at end of post)

Bonus Question Answer: The Spanish greeting “hola” becomes the Hawaiian “aloha” by adding an A and reversing it. How cool is that?!

Villefranche-sur-Mer, France

On Wednesday Amy, Kathleen, Rachel and I set out on foot from Nice to the nearby village of Villefranche-sur-Mer (“free city by the sea”)—named in the 13th century when it was established as a duty-free port. Today it is another French Riviera stunner, with a charming, walkable town on a deep-water natural harbor. It is the most-visited port in France for cruise ships, which discharge 250,000+ passengers annually. 

Our walking route was the Sentier du Littoral (Coastal Path), which follows the coastline around the cape east of Nice on a winding, hilly and sometimes-paved hiking trail. We spent three hours covering the 5.2 miles, backtracking once, climbing the equivalent of 44 flights of stairs (according to Kathleen’s Apple watch) and stopping often to enjoy the breathtaking views of the sea and coast. 

Jay and Danielle took the train to town and we met for lunch at Les Palmiers, which had many other English-speakers besides us—two other tables and the bartender were Australian. We took a quick stroll past the historic citadel and the adorable 16th-century Chappelle Saint-Pierre, then boarded the train back to Nice. Map link: Villefranche-sur-Mer, France

We returned to our apartment for a quick change of clothes, then attended Christmas Eve mass at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Nice, a lovely neo-gothic church completed in 1868. We did our best to follow along with the French service and children’s pageant, although much was understood by context and experience with Catholic rituals. After mass, we made an unsuccessful attempt to find some gelato, but stores were closed for the holiday, although several of us did find some take-out at the ethnic restaurants that were open. 

Bonus Question: Who is the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different scientific fields? (Answer at end of post)

Bonus Question Answer: Marie Curie won the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics and the 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She was the first woman to win the prize, the first person to win the prize twice and with her husband Pierre, who was co-winner in 1903, the first married couple to win the prize. She invented the word “radioactivity” to describe the emissions from certain elements and died in 1934 at the age of 66 from anemia, likely caused by her chronic exposure to radiation.