FALL, FAMILY AND FRIENDS -  PART 2

The next visit we had was from David's sister, Deb, in early October.  In fact, she arrived the week of Bloom so we had a busy week!!  She came in on Tuesday and was here until the following Friday.  It was a nice long visit giving us plenty of time to see the many things on her list.

On the Sunday following Bloom, the three of us went on a Jewish Historical Tour Deb set up through our friend, April of aprilinparistours.  Her friend, David, does this tour,  and he was wonderful.  The day was cool and rainy so we went prepared with good outerwear and umbrellas.  Fortunately, the rain stopped and we just had cooler temperatures.

One of the stops on the tour was The Great Synagogue also known as the Grande Synagogue de la Victorie.  It serves as the official seat of the chief rabbi of Paris.  It was finished in 1874,  and the inscription in Hebrew at the entrance is a scripture from Genesis 28:17, "This is none other than the house of God, the very gateway of heaven."  It so happened a bris was going on so we were able to see the family members celebrating this occasion with songs and chants.  David was able to take us into where the Torahs are kept that have been donated by different people and are used in the services.

This is the largest menorah I've seen

Outside the synagogue

The three of us

We also walked by the Allee des Justes, a wall that pays homage to non-Jews who, through their acts of heroism, saved Jews during the Nazi occupation of France.  It is next to The Memorial de la Shoah,  a holocaust museum in Paris.  Unfortunately, we were unable to go in as they were having some sort of event.

David was a great guide as he was a library of information and, at the same time, was warm and friendly.  We did a lot of walking (naturally!) and ended up in the Marais where our tour ended, he left us, and we went to Sacha Finkelsztajn's for lunch.  They have the best sandwiches!  We've been there before and, the last two times David and I have been there, he's been closed.  Boo!!!!  But today there was a crowd!!

This is from three years ago, but Sacha's still looks the same

It was a fun, full day even if it was cool.  It felt like fall, which was nice for all of us, I think.

Another day Deb was here we went to the Jewish Museum of Art and History.   David and I had been there last spring for Purim when they had a reenactment of the story of Esther.  Though it was in French, of course, because we know the story, we understood what was going on.  On the day we went with Deb, it was just a museum visit.  It's a beautiful museum with several floors of artifacts, pictures and history.

I loved these menorahs

These wedding rings were fabulous

This structure was symbolic of the "booths" God instructed the people of Israel to live in for seven days.  This became known as The Feast of Tabernacles and is recorded in Leviticus 23. 

I loved this wedding dress until I noticed the face of a  family member on the bodice and also along the train!  Kinda spooky!!!

This was a beautiful picture-It's called "Priere du soir" (Prayer of  Night)-I loved the man looking to God with the Word of God and his wife nearby

One Tuesday each month Adrian Leeds holds Apre-Midi, an afternoon event where she hosts different speakers.  It's held at a little cafe in the Marais, and David and I have been several different times.  We thought Deb would enjoy meeting Adrian and hearing this month's speaker, Cara Black, author of the Aimee Leduc Mystery series that takes place in Paris.

Had lunch here before Apre-Midi-good ol' burger and fries!

Here we are with Karina who found our apartment for us

All Adrian asks is you order a drink of some kind since the cafe gives her the space to use for this event.  This time we shared this chocolate cake too!!!!  That's a copy of Cara's newest book which I bought and she signed.

We had a great visit with Deb.  She was sick with some sort of seasonal cold while she was with us and even got to experience first hand having a French doctor come to the apartment!  Fortunately, this didn't prevent her (or us) from getting out and about.  Hopefully, she left us with memories of her time in this beautiful city we're calling home.