Temperate, sunny days are one thing Arkies take for granted, but Parisians don’t. Give the French an excuse to luxuriate and soak up some rays, and they are out en masse. Adopting the “when in Rome” mindset, we joined thousands of others in Jardins du Luxembourg, a spacious park just south of the city’s center.
Every one of the green metal chairs available for visitors was occupied when we arrived about 1 p.m., so we sat on the concrete rim that rings the large pond that is the central focal point of the park. Competition to nab departers’ chairs was intense, but in 20 or 30 minutes we had two and began serious sun soakage-uppage. We felt just a wee bit guilty that our friends Stacy and Rusty (aka Team Racy) didn’t get to enjoy the warm-and-fuzzy Paris during their week here.
As we basked and chatted, chatted and basked, a woman nearby heard our English and came over to chat. She and her husband and darling 18-month-old boy were visiting from Argentina, staying with her brother, who is on a six-month work assignment here. She was friendly and talked about how much she admired the United States and its role as the world’s do-good guardians. We acknowledged the kind words while assuring her we weren’t personally responsible for any good our country had done.
It was hard to tear ourselves away, but our next stop was almost equally as sun-splashed, tranquil and beautiful. When an elevated train line was shut down in 1969, the city of Paris turned the 2-mile stretch into Parc Promenade Plante, a park custom-made for walkers, joggers and just hanger-outers. It offers fabulous views of the adjacent, seemingly swanky apartment buildings and itself is an architectural marvel. Here’s the link to a rather weak collection of still photos some Paris visitors turned into a YouTube video, but it does give you a feel for the place: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdItpFo7yCI. We walked more than half the route, then retraced ourselves, caught the metro and headed back for one of the Janins’ famed dinner parties.
Of the 10 of us, eight had spent at least some time in Little Rock, including Beth Arnold and her husband Jim Morgan, writers who have lived and worked in Paris for almost nine years. They came to France so Jim could do the research that resulted in “Chasing Matisse,” a fabulous book that finds the Morgans following in painter Henri Matisse’s footsteps. (Much more at www.chasingmatisse.com.)
Neil, who spent much of his youth in Beirut, cooked the Lebanese-influenced main dish, a very flavorful chicken and rice concoction. The wine, and conversation, flowed until well after midnight, after which we wrangled the first load of dishes and silverware (three pates, three glasses, three forks, one knife and one spoon per person) and hit the hay.
Today … a road trip (via SNCF train, the only way to fly/ride) to Chartres, a quaint town that is home to one of the world’s most famous cathedral. It’s sunny with highs around 60 today, the best weather yet!
Temperate, sunny days are one thing Arkies take for granted, but Parisians don’t. Give the French an excuse to luxuriate and soak up some rays, and they are out en masse. Adopting the “when in 
It was hard to tear ourselves away, but our next stop was almost equally as sun-splashed, tranquil and beautiful. When an elevated train line was shut down in 1969, the city of 
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