Memento Mori

Paris is filled with the past, choking on it almost. Thankfully it all looks beautiful and those who don't remember the past are doomed to repeat it, so I guess it is mostly friendly reminders from the dead to make sure you live the life you want to live. That is how I see things anyway.

Wall of the cemetary at MontparnasseEver heard of these guys?Oh Serge you sexy beast, even in death he gets a lot of attention. You should walk past his house on rue de Verneuil in Paris, it is covered with graffiti.I went inside the Notre Dame for the first time the other day and was blown away. Someone in line behind me said "This place makes me wish I believed in God." I think that was their goal. You can feel the love and tremendous care that went into making this place by hundreds, maybe thousands of people more than 600 years ago. It took quite a beating during the Revolution from the people who "beheaded" mamy of the original statues but has survived, thankfully with the windows intact.

Villenauxe has great champagne

Villenauxe is an extremely sleepy hamlet in the Champagne district of France and we went there to visit a cave and sample some delicious champagne. Of course you know "champagne" can only be called thusly if it is actually produced in this area, by law. Otherwise it is called sparkling wine, even if produced with the same grapes and in exactly the same methods. We visited the tiny operation of Oudard which is run by two brothers after their father started it in the late 80s. I asked him if he grew all the grapes for his champagne and he said regretfully, no I must buy some. But he buys them from his uncle. You can only buy their product from them or at their parents' restaurant in town, or perhaps locally, I'm not sure. I am definitely not a wine expert but I think the Oudard Brut is delicious! I bought several bottles and hopefully I can make it back to the states with at least one. My mother says you should have a bottle of good champagne in the refrigerator at all times, in case something really good happens.

The church was heavily battered during World War Two and in the early 90s they chose to redo the stained glass windows in the beautiful old church with a modernist flair. Here the Virgin is asking why, why?A baby duck ignoring meI will buy this place and make my own champagne.One of the brothers gving us a tour of his caves. If you walked by this building on the street, you would never know - it just looks like a big house.In France, you can rent a building from Shakespeare's time to live in. In America this would be a national monument.A carved figure above the door to the church

The church in Marnay sur Seine

No one uses this church anymore. No Sunday mass, just the occasional wedding or christening. To go in you must ask for the skeleton key from the barkeeper next door, which he is happy to give. It was originally built in the 1150s and was kept by monks who lived in what is now Camac, where I am staying. Does that make me a nun?

Not really because my bedroom is in a building built 800 years later in the 1950s to house guests of Frank Tenot and Daniel Filipacchi who used the place to record their famous radio show Salut les copains. Then they started this little publishing side project, you may have heard of it. So I like to think Count Basie or Petula Clark slept in my room. Anyway, there is this beautiful church across the street from me that is much much older than the good 'ol USA.
There are several different sets of numberings on the pews.This amazing fresco work only remains inside one arch. It looks ancient, I would imagine middle ages.I am obsessed with renderings of fierce beasts drawn only from imagination.