Old Postings                  Photo Gallery                                                               

  Seraphim

Come share our voyage

                                                                                    e-mail us at:    sailingseraphim@gmail.com

Chapter Sixty-Seven      March, 2012

Question:   When does an American crew in Paris decide –7° C is unbearable ?

Answer:   Never!

Oh, there’s no question we were cold.  We had three heaters going around the clock for the first two weeks of February.  It snowed twice; the pontoons were like skating rinks.  The water supply at the marina was turned off because of frozen pipes.  We wore a minimum of six layers when venturing out. But we never once complained.  We’re in Paris!

       (Click on the photo for a larger view; use Back to return to text)

So while battling the cold we did what every other Parisian would do.  We ignored it.

But we did something else, too.  We became Parisian!  Mais, oui!  We went to the markets, we hit every brocante (flea market) we could find, we saw Cirque de Soleil, we celebrated a birthday, anniversary and Valentine’s at the finest Paris has to offer, we’ve even decided on our favorite pieces at the Louvre.  Well, almost.  There are many favorites.

We’ve studied architecture from one end of the city to the other.  We have a favorite there, too.  Styled after Michaelangelo’s “Dying Slave”.

We hit a few of the famous food streets, Rue Montorgueil and Rue Moufftard, where the foods are dazzling.  From Maine lobsters to Iranian caviar.  Here lives one of the oldest and most prestigious Parisian pastry shops that has been there since 1730.  They are famous for their réligieuse à l'ancienne: a mountainous series of cream puffs fashioned to look like a nun!  We have enjoyed many strolls down Rue Mouffetard where the cheese selection is drop dead.  This is a stone’s throw from the marina so we like to meander over there in the afternoon after lunch.  Best to go when not hungry!

We’ve studied bridges.

Taken no less than a hundred photos of Bastille.

And more of the Eiffel Tower.

We’ve been to all the major museums and can’t decide which is our favorite.  But on one thing we can agree.  There doesn’t seem to be a bad one in Paris.  The Rodin is way up there.

Sharon has fallen in love with stairwells.

And street entertainers.

And fountains.

Gardens are good.

And bicycles are always worth a shot or two.

Oh, and about those brocantes.  They come in huge variety!  They run from the neighborhood garage sale to the very sophisticated Antiquities Brocherie.  So you must choose carefully.  You can be utterly consumed by this pastime.  There are endless ways to research your next brocante but filtering the information is key.  What one really wants is a sophisticated garage sale.  The higher end programs are no fun because there is nothing to buy, it is simply unaffordable.  The neighborhood events are close to dumpster diving.  There’s an art to smelling the right ones.  Last weekend Sharon and a friend went to one at a stadium outside the city proper.  It was perfect, so she says.  She had been wanting to buy a horn to commemorate our music atelier evenings.  And it has been found.  French women, however, say "Warning: Men are very impatient with these events.  Leave them home."!  We concur!

The flower shops are divine.  Place des Vosges is our absolute favorite place to hang out.  A certain music atelier is top on our list.  The American Church in Paris is where we hang out on Sunday mornings and have learned to love the place.  The afternoon light, the exquisitely dressed children scampering around the Tuilleries, the fashion, the gargoyles, the mere elegance of everything Parisian thrills us.  Even the graffiti in Paris is good!  So, you get the picture.  We are madly in love with Paris and we are not even thinking about the day we have to leave.

But that day does require some planning because we have a big adventure in front of us.  We head east for Strasbourg, along the River Marne.  There we will get on the River Rhine and travel north to the River Main where we turn east.  We will stop in Frankfurt and then continue on to the Danube River.  On the Danube we will stop in Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, through the rest of Hungry to Serbia.  Then to Bulgaria and Romania, collecting our sails there.  This will be in mid-August.  We will travel through Istanbul through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, stopping in ancient Troy.  We will spill out into the Aegean Sea and head south for the west coast of Turkey!  Here's where we will spend next winter.  That's the plan.  We leave here the first of April and hope to arrive in Turkey by end October.

With all the excitement of this trip, it should make saying goodbye to Paris a little less painful.

A Bientôt.

Chapter Sixty-Six      January, 2012

What could be more enchanting than Thanksgiving in Paris?  Absolutely nothing.  Unlike previous years in countries with limited provisions, Paris offers every ingredient we could wish for right down to fresh cranberries.  We were even able to make soupy corn casserole, a specialty of Sharon’s Mom’s.  This being our first Thanksgiving without her, the casserole was important.  So we celebrated in style and invited two other Americans in the marina to help consume the smallest turkey we could find, 3 kilos.  We were frantic when we realized the bird wouldn’t fit in the oven.  But a quick dash to the supermarket for a crushable boiler pan solved the problem while adding another “Thank You” to our gratitude list.  Even without the Macy’s parade, a football game or a crackling fire, Thanksgiving in Paris was wonderful. 

      (Click on the photo for a larger view; use Back to return to text)

Of course December was spent taking in the magic of Paris and Christmas.  Paris was just alive with Christmas.  The annual nationwide telethon kicked off Paris’ Christmas season.  Some of the activities used our marina as a venue, so we were treated to floating spectacles, several bands, even a high-wire act out over the boats moored along the canal.

There is no end to the beauty of Paris’ shops adorned with beautiful things, window displays and perfectly coiffed shoppers. Sometimes it’s more fun to study the shoppers than the merchandise!  Every street was lit, every doorway was decorated.  Sharon combed the neighborhoods for the best décor.  St. Germain won the prize, decked in champagne flutes.  St. Louis came in a close second, dressed mostly in purple. 

With our Christmas shopping complete and packages in the mail before Thanksgiving, we were well into the Christmas spirit, loving the crowds of shoppers.  So we often strolled the back streets of our neighborhood just to take it all in, again.  It almost seemed like we were Parisians.  We felt so at home we even took to helping a struggling old lady with her bags.

We were fortunate enough to attend the Christmas concert at Notre Dame.  The music was largely traditional French songs, and unfamiliar to us, but the spectacle and the venue were fabulous.  Sharon says one of the best parts was seeing the cathedral lit only by its elegant chandeliers.

You know, there actually is something more enchanting than Thanksgiving in Paris:  Christmas in Germany with the Shrys. This is our fourth Christmas together; this year in picture-perfect Landstuhl.

We were pretty well charged with the spirit of Christmas before we arrived, but the welcoming of two very enthused children, the smell of warm Christmas cookies and a tall sparkling tree topped us up.  It was time to visit German Christmas markets, get in some last minute shopping, nibble on some flammekuchen and frites and generally stand by ready for Santa’s arrival.  There was some disagreement on the spelling of “Noël,” as the stockings were hung. 

After Christmas Eve’s reading of “The Night Before Christmas,” – Eric only editorialized once, reading “…as visions of sugar plums danced in their greedy little heads…” - we joined in the work of the elves readying the house for Christmas morning.  The children decided they would wake us all by 6:00 a.m., so the adults retaliated by sealing up their bedroom doors with an alternate schedule.  (Note the message in the photo.)  It should also be noted that Ethan was not impressed.

The Shrys had the idea that the menu of the week should be an international one since we have spent Christmas together in Turkey, Tunisia and now Germany. We had Italian one night, Thai another, even Mexican.  When it was our turn to prepare the meal, however, our assignment was “Estonian.”  We are still unclear as to how Estonia made the list, but with a little help from the Internet we managed to convince those assembled that our meal of pork and potatoes qualified. 

We do love being with the Shrys.  The entire family is in motion.  Christmas Eve was spent tying Audrey’s long hair into tight twists so it would be special for Christmas.  After opening presents Christmas morning, Ethan (age 12) retired to his room with one of his new Christmas books; he completed it before bedtime.  While he was reading, Audrey (age 10) is peppering Sharon with questions about fashion and showing off her newest dance routines.  The next day, while Sharon, Rachel and Audrey locked themselves into a “Project Runway” marathon, Ethan pulled out his Legos and built not one, but three operating robots, complete with ultrasonic sensor and color analyzer.  Between these playful pursuits, he was busy creating apps for his iPad and iPhone. 

Back to Paris for New Years. We’re not big fans of New Years’ Eve celebrations, but how can you not celebrate when in Paris?  So we had a delightful evening with three guests.  And then we headed for the Champs-Elysées.  It was unseasonably warm and the streets were packed.  We roamed for a while before grabbing a spot across from the Eiffel Tower.  Midnight struck.  The corks flew, the crowds cheered and kissed and danced.  And the Tower twinkled.  Perfect!

Stay tuned for our spring plans!

                               Old Postings    Photo Gallery