The Vilna Gaon

Today we went to the cemetery where the Vilna Gaon is buried.  He was a famous rabbi and scholar from Vilna in the 18th century. There is a rumor that we are descendants of his.  Our tour guide says I should keep researching, it could be true.  No one else on this tour from Lithuania seems to have the same family lore, so maybe it is.

Here is his tomb, and photo of the inside with prayers and stones on top of his grave.  I found a stone and was able to toss it in with the others, through the locked gate.

A views of Vilnius

Here are some phitos of what the city looks like.  Lots of sidewalk cafes, and the weather is like Portland, warm but not muggy.  

The nice In hotel in Vilnius

Ellie asked for photos of the hotel so here are a few.  I am sitting in the fancy reception room watching Poland play Portugal in the football championship and since there are two people from Poland here with me, I guess I am rooting for Poland.

Opera in Paris

saw Aida at the new opera house.  It is like the Keller only much bigger and much newer and nicer, bu t with fewer bathrooms. 

The opera was a fantastic performance, excellent singing, amazing sets and visual things going on, all in black, white and gold and a chorus of at least 50 people.  And real fire on stage.

This is why it is good to travel.

Here is the curtain call

Day 1 in Paris

Lovely train ride from Amsterdam to Paris yesterday.  No security visible in Amsterdam, passed seamlessly into Belgium, and then once we reached France the train was stopped and a team of police entered the train and checked everyone's passports.

There were soldiers at the Louvre  with big guns and a security checkpoint (first museum ever that I can remember that did not care about my bringing in my pocket knife).

It has been 42 years since I was here and my first observation is that Paris is just like New York except everyone speaks French,  and they have better croissants here,

The photo here is of the really giant taxi line at the train station and the other is the Louvre. 

Besides the Louvre (which really is pretty big, I did not remember that it was that much bigger than the metropolitan museum of art), I found the tourist office and got my museum pass, took the subway home, sat in a sidewalk cafe to drink wine and watch people.

Sunday I think

Walked thr left bank .  And then the island On which Notre dame is located.  Saw the memorial to the deported, which was mostly closed due to the floods early in the month,  heard soccer fans singing the Marseilleise in a bar during a game and then many drunk people after France won.  Lots of shouting "baguette" and then Hugging of old women in parks.  Not me.

Took a boat ride and saw the hotel where Oscar Wilde died.

Saw street gambling and people apparently winning money.  Again, I did not participate.

And saw foucaults pendulum in Notre dame.

Since I don't seem to k ow how to put photos in a blog in the correct order good luck in figuring out which is which.

Visited the muse d'orsay

Some pretty awesome art here.  Almost felt I was walking through my college art history book.

And in the morning went up to Montmartre and saw where some of these artists lived.

Also walked past a functioning vineyard, the only one on Paris.

On my way home I discovered that apparently Parisians have never gone shopping before because there was some kind of giant shopping frenzy happening on my street.  Clothes all over the floor of the stores and the sidewalk impassable with crowds.  Ok, info from someone I meet yesterday from Boston.  She says they don't Have  sales here so that was the excitement.

Here are some photos :

The vineyard

Some art

Rembrandt

Visited rembrandt's pre-bankruptcy  house in Amsterdam.  They showed house one uses a large stone to mix linseed oil with powdered pigments to make oil points and also had a nice demo of the etching Iprocesses he used to produce his prints.

This photo is of the grave of his wife which is one of hundreds making up thei floor of the old church which is also right next door to some of the women advertising their personal wares in the windows.

Wondering about Amsterdam

Seems they have a large number of bars here that allow for reclining.  Thinking this may be related to the near constant scent of burning marijuana as one walks down the street?  Why don't we have this in Portland ?

Who knew?

That there was so much miscellaneous stuff to bring to Lithuania!  Crayons and toothbrushes for the children in the Jewish school, hotel soaps for seniors at the senior center...  I hope I can find something to buy there to fill the space on the way home....