Wednesday, November 18, 2015

LITTLE PIECES OF PARIS

By:
Gypsy Rhapsody
 
PARIS...  We hurt for her.  We cry for her.  We stay strong for her.  We pray for her.
Vannie, Dave, Jan and Chester traveled to "the city of lights" in April.  I wrote about their adventures...and tried to be happy for them...even though I didn't get to go.
While they were there, every afternoon after touring, they would return to their apartment on the Boulevard Beaumarchais and talk about their day...and Vannie and Jan would paint.  Just little small paintings using watercolor pencils.  As a statement of showing our support for Paris, I'd like to share Vannie's "little pieces of Paris"
 during their magical visit.
 
Solidaire avec Paris
(united with Paris)
 
Eiffel Tower
 
(in the style of Marc Chagall)
V and D floating outside their apartment window

(also, in the style of Chagall)
Scene out of the bathroom window...
Everything was there...except the chicken and the girl.
Marc liked to stick those in places where you would least expect them.
 
 
Marc himself
(V's paintings in the style of Chagall were inspired after seeing the wonderful paintings he did for the Paris Opera and, also, his paintings that are exhibited at the Centre Pompidou)
 
"Place de Vosges"
(beautiful park right down the street from their apartment)
 
(in the style of Gustav Klimt)
"The Kiss"
 
Gustav himself
(Gustav was from Austria, but there was an exhibit of his works showing in Paris during their visit.)
 
 
Basilique du Sacre-Coeur
...located on the highest point of the city...
 
 
Monet's Waterlilies
(Musee de l'Orangerie and, of course, the real thing right outside of Paris in Giverny)
 

Claude himself
 
 
Chez Marianne
A wonderful little restaurant in Le Marais District
 
Flowers from the gardens surrounding the Musee Rodin
Remember...Auguste Rodin was the sculptor that gave us The Thinker.

Auguste himself
 
Catacombes de Paris
...underground ossuaries... Spooky...
(site made to serve as the final resting place of human skeletal remains)
 
 
You are right...Shakespeare was not from Paris...but,
a wonderful English language bookstore right by Notre Dame Cathedral is named after him.
 "Shakespeare and Company Bookstore"


Oh my goodness...is this Vannie and Dave?...I think so.
(in the style of Pablo Picasso)
 
Pablo himself
(one of V's favorite museums was Musee Picasso)
 
 
"Café au lait and baguette"
(an everyday treat...one of their favorite things to do...stopping for café au lait and baguettes)
 
According to Vannie and Dave, Paris is for everyone.
It is a small town in a big city.
It sparkles.
It shines.
It radiates.
 
It will be back.
 
Je suis Paris.
(I am Paris.)
 
Fluctuat Nec Mergitur
(Tossed by the waves but not sunken)
 
Meme pas Paris
(Not scared)
 
Prier pour Paris
(Pray for Paris) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Wednesday, November 4, 2015

GYPSOP'S FABLE...THE MIME DISCOVERS THE SECRET

By:
Gypsy Rhapsody
 
Once upon a time there was a very OLD mime.
She was very sad, because all of her friends had more energy than she did.
She wondered why.  She wanted to know the secret.
 
She first asked the Wolverine...but the Wolverine only wanted to have tea parties.
The Wolverine said tea was the secret.
So the very OLD mime tried drinking tea everyday,
but it did not give her more energy. 
It just made her go to the bathroom even more than usual.
 
The very OLD mime asked the Wolverine that had morphed into a kitty cat where she got her energy. The kitty cat only wanted to jump around and say "meow". 
She said jumping was the secret.
The very OLD mime tried jumping (as best she could),
but it did not give her more energy.  It just made her feel even older,
because she could not jump very high.
 
The very OLD mime asked the Wolverine that had morphed into a kitty cat,
that had morphed into a tiger,  "Please help me tiger...what is it that gives you
so much energy?"  The tiger responded with showing her big strong teeth
and saying..."GRRRRRR".  She said her big strong teeth
gave her energy.  That was her secret.  The very old mime checked out her own teeth and realized
that not all her teeth were real...so not much energy there.
 
The very OLD mime asked the ninja where he got all of his energy.
The ninja said that his high kicks were the source of all his strength and energy.
That was his secret.
The very OLD mime tried kicking...but only fell down and almost broke her leg,
Not good.  
 
 
The ninja morphed into Spiderman, and the very OLD mime knew that
he would have all the answers.  Spiderman said that his web was
his energy secret.  Well, the very OLD mime didn't have
a built-in web maker like Spiderman, so this was no place that she could get extra energy.
 
Aha!  Energy here, for sure.
Parents of a 3 and 6 year old.
"Pretty Kitty" and "Suit and Tie-ger Man"
When the very OLD mime asked them about their energy...
they said they had to grab it wherever and whenever they could.
Their secret...Granola Bar, boiled egg, glass of milk, cheese stick, peanut butter crackers.
The very OLD mime tried some of these things, but it just constipated her...so...
 
Finally...someone that knows all the answers...T-Pop.
"T-Pop, where do you get your energy?" said the very OLD mime.
"NAPS," said T-Pop.
So....the very OLD mime tried napping as much as T-Pop,
but it just didn't do the trick.  It made her have less energy.
 
Just the thing for more energy...junk food.
NOT the secret, for sure.
 
Ahhhh...Look at that energy.
Cinderella hopped on board.
The very OLD mime watched.
 
The Tiger, Spiderman, Cinderella...
went from house to house with energy to spare.
The very OLD mime learned.

The energy was spilling out everywhere.
The very OLD mime just tried to keep up.

A penguin was added to the mix.
With each house, more and more energy surfaced.  
The very OLD mime observed.

It seemed as if the energy was coming from
the people in the houses. They were giving out bags of it.

Spiderman, Tiger, Cinderella, Penguin
carried it out of each house by the handfuls.
The very OLD mime was amazed.

Finally...the secret was revealed...
CANDY
The "eyes of the tiger" say it best.
ENERGY...turned CRAZED
The very OLD mime noticed something.
As soon as the Spiderman, Tiger, Cinderella, Penguin stopped,
the energy spiraled downward.. 
Too much of a good thing.!!!
 
So...the very OLD mime wasn't sad anymore.
She had discovered the secret of her friends energy...CANDY...
and she discovered that when the candy wore off,
the energy left.
 
So...the moral of this story is...
 
"A little candy in the hand is worth more than a lot of candy in the tummy."
 
Happy Halloween 2015