BEATING THE HEAT

As most of you probably know, Paris is experiencing (again) some pretty extreme heat.  It's bad enough in Texas, but when you live in a city where a-c is minimal and seldom in housing it can be really oppressing.

A screen shot of my phone yesterday

This was the temperature yesterday at 4:15 p.m.  Today (Wednesday) they're saying 102 and 108 tomorrow.  But, it is what it is so we try to make the best of it.  Yesterday we decided to go out late morning to a couple of exhibits, one on Jackie Kennedy and one on Marilyn Monroe (separate exhibits but same ticket).

As usual, we hopped on a bus then walked to the the Jackie exhibit first (Marilyn was a little walk from Jackie).  The exhibit consisted of photos of Jackie's life with all the signage in French and English (I love when they do that..not all places do, which, of course, I understand since we are, after all,  in France).  I recently read a book,  "The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters" by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger,  so much of what the exhibit shared I had read in the book.  And, of course, some things in the book were not addressed in the exhibit.  She was a fascinating woman,  and I am intrigued by her.  In addition to the photos, there was a case of a look-alike doll and clothes (like a Barbie) and a stick-on paper doll set.

I liked this photo-there were so many great pics of her

Wedding Jackie doll with a string of Jackie's traditional three-strand pearls (replica I'm sure) and a tiny framed wedding pic

I had something like this growing up - not Jackie- and you can still buy this type of "doll"

The exhibit was spread over three floors,  and the top floor had a video that ran continuously.  The young woman at reception spoke some English and told us the video was in French..."desole", but we went up anyway after viewing the pics,  and it was in English as well as French so we sat and watched the entire video.  It was very interesting but pretty lengthy so our time here took longer than we had anticipated.

Being a fan of old movies,  including Marilyn's "Seven Year Itch", "Gentlemen Prefer Blonds" and "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend", seeing Marilyn's exhibit was more about entertainment than knowledge of an important piece of our history.  They had a continuous loop of segments of her movies, which we didn't watch since we've seen many of them...especially the well-known ones!  Again, it was spread over several floors with the explanations of pictures in both French and English.  This exhibit was, as we expected, quicker to go through.  But still entertaining.

One of our favorites!

Again, so many good shots of Marilyn..I liked this one

By the time we left Marilyn it was a little past lunch time and we realized by the time we got home (via bus), it would nearer to dinner time.  So we stopped at a little cafe, sat outside in the shade and ordered a little "dejeuner".

Healthy and tasty too!

This salad was delicious and perfect on a hot day!  Now...I didn't take a picture of David's vegetarian bagel sandwich (and frites, of course!) but I just want it known I would have chosen that had I not been eliminating gluten from my diet for a while!  I love a good salad, but the bagel sandwich really sounded (and looked) good!!!

We had a stop to make after lunch before heading home, so on the way to the bus stop ice cream was  necessary to cool us off!  Again, gluten-free with no cone but ice cream still tastes great!!!  However, I have to admit, a glass of cold water probably would have been a wiser choice.  But, alas, it was delicious!!!

Melting fast in the heat!

By the time we arrived home, we were exhausted and so happy to come into our little fan-cooled apartment.  I'm a little afraid being in a-c during our August US visit will be a shock to me....I think of my dad sitting on his patio outside when Mom had the a-c on.  Like father, like daughter, I think!!!