Month: June 2023

Paris..1..2..3

Today, I want to show you photos I’ve taken over the past couple of weeks, tell you some of the highlights of coming events in Paris, and for those of you traveling to Paris and France, how to find out about any strikes involving airports and trains.

Eiffel Tower in the setting sun

1—For three weeks, we have had glorious weather: anywhere between 75o to 84o. Yes, that’s hot, but it’s not canicule (heatwave) weather. Most homes and apartments in Paris do not have air conditioning. We buy up all the fans during the winter and have them going all summer! Most apartments also have window and door shutters that can be closed during the highest temperatures of the day. That brilliant invention keeps the room dark and cool. In California, where I am from, the temperature climbs until about 2/2:30 pm when it reaches its peak. Then comes down and, before climate change got so bad, evenings in Northern California were cool. Mark Twain famously said: “The coldest winter I’ve ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” That’s about right. I always envied people who lived in places where they could eat outdoors and stay long into the evening and not have to put on a coat or sweater. Now, one of those people is me!

Walking home Saturday evening

Here in France, the mornings are cool. The temperature climbs and reaches its peak around 6 pm, staying there for awhile, then slowly goes back down.  Unless there is a thunder storm ahead. Summer evenings in France are heavenly. So many of the districts have music festivals all summer long and one can lie in the grass, with a picnic dinner, and just enjoy!

US has pop-up food vans, Paris has Crepes by Bicycle

One of the thousands of artists who will draw your facial image. They are usually pretty good.

Saturday, Paris had a surprise thunder storm. I was with a friend and we were going out. She told me to bring my umbrella and a collapsable raincoat I could stick in my backpack. I checked my iPhone which said ‘no rain’. To appease her, I grabbed my umbrella. We got on the metro #9 and got off at Alma-Marceau. We could barely get past all the people huddled in the walkways leading to the exists. It was raining. No. It was pouring. We climbed the stairs, opened our umbrellas, and within a minute, both of us were soaked completely-head to toe. Umbrellas basically non-functional as the wind blew them the wrong way. I ran back down into the station and she followed me. After about 8 minutes when it didn’t look like it would slow down, I told her I was going to take a bus. We had planned on walking because it is such a short distance. Lucky me, I got to the #63 bus stop and the bus was there!!! She walked. Can I defend myself by saying she is a decade younger and walking in the rain is still fun?! This morning, the news said the winds were so high, the rains so bad, that trees were blown over, the coastal town of Dieppe flooded, and there was much damage. There are still storm warnings out. My iPhone now says: “moderate thunderstorm warning until 00.00 Wednesday, June 21.

2—My iPhone (with the untrustworthy weather predictions) says that there will not be rain on Wednesday. No sun either. Cloudy and warm. Wednesday is La nuit de la Musique. All over Paris, street musicians will be out playing till midnight, some arrondissements are planning actual concerts. All public and private venues will be open and are free. My arrondissement is doing something in-between. There is one concert in the chapel of a church, another at Place Jean Lorrain in front of the Monoprix which will have music and story telling, and near the street of Rue d’Auteuil—African musique by students of the Francis Poulenc Conservatory and more, much more.

On rue de Ranelagh, a flower store put this up in the middle of the street!

June 21st is also the first day of summer. Parisians and tourists alike are happy. School vacations aren’t far away. A large percentage of Paris leaves for the summer. August is so quiet that about 50% of stores, that aren’t in the very center of Paris, close for the month. So, there is dancing in the street, big smiles everywhere, and a fleeting sense that all is good in the world. Oh those precious moments when we can forget.  La Nuit de la Musique started in Paris, quickly spread thoughout France, then to Europe, and I’m told is celebrated in most countries in the world.

I’ve fallen in love with peonies over here—-but the seasong is far too short.

3—If you are traveling to France this summer, keep an eye out for possible transport strikes. One source to read is Euronews.travel or thelocal.fr. No strikes have been announced for France by the French. But…“travellers to and from France from the UK should be aware of the security staff strikes at Heathrow Airport which will affect British Airlines flights to Paris, Toulouse, Nice, and Mulhouse airports on some dates. There is also potential for a strike at Edinburgh Airport, which could affect flights to France run by several airlines, including Air France.”—TheLocal.fr

I will not be writing this blog on a regular schedule from now until the beginning of September. Just thought I’d give you a heads up. I’m not sick or playing hookey just trying to enjoy as much of the summer weather as I can. Thanks for reading this newsletter. It means a lot.

A bientöt,

Sara

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It’s almost summer and in the US that means…..Baseball.

We are six days away from the start of summer. Here in Paris, the weather has been gorgeous. Radio Roland Garros kept saying over and over that the two weeks of near-perfect weather were heaven-sent. I have a large terrace with doors from both my bedroom and living room. From mid-May to the end of October (and sometimes longer) it’s like having a large extra room in the apartment. I have a dining table, a chaise longue for reading, and a planter garden full of hortensia (hydrangea) and geraniums. It’s very hard to be dissatisfied with life when the weather is like this. Wearing a linen sundress and sandals is a reason for huge smiles.

The iris in Parc de Bagatelle

I write this newsletter/blog 1—to keep my friends appraised of what I’m doing. 2—to let Americans into secret parts of Paris that most tourists don’t have time to discover, and 3—to reflect on the US from over here. Usually, that means politics. I guess what I want to talk about – baseball – is also politics.

Photo by Tony Luong, The Atlantic

I am an Oakland Athletics (A’s) fan. Before I moved to Paris, I had season tickets on the lower level near home plate. If you go to enough games over a season and you know your baseball, you soon get to know your neighbors, and the section or a couple of sections become a baseball family. It’s a community. God knows we all need some type of community in our lives. My baseball family was extremely passionate about the Oakland A’s. Many had been fans and season ticket holders since the A’s moved from Kansas City in 1968. Many of us were like little kids wanting autographs, getting to know the players, and going to Spring Training for as long as work would allow.

In the 1980s, the A’s were owned by the Hass family (of Levi Strauss fame). They were golden years for the A’s. They got Manager Tony La Russa from the White Sox, Dennis Eckersley from the Cubs, and Dave Stewart from the Texas Rangers when he was almost out of options. All three got MVP of something while they were with the A’s. The team went to the World Series three times in as many years and won against the Giants in 1989 after the games were interrupted by the earthquake. The Haas family seemed to love the fans. They treated fans, players, front office with respect and with courtesy. Everyone had a good time.

When the Haas family sold the A’s, things started to go downhill. The owners held on to their money rather than investing in good players. They complained about the Coliseum but wanted the City of Oakland to do something about it. In 2003, Michael Lewis wrote his famous book Moneyball: The art of winning an unfair game. The book showed how Billy Beane, the general manager, used statistics to find and hire players with very little money (in the world of baseball, a little money would be a fortune to most of us.) A movie was made starring Brad Pitt. The movie centered around the 2002 season when the A’s won 20 games in a row breaking the American League record and tying the baseball record.

When I volunteered in the Mayor’s office of Jean Quan, I got to meet and talk to Lew Wolff, the managing owner of the A’s at the time. The silent partner was John Fisher. Everyone was miserable. The owners hated the coliseum and wanted a new stadium. Wolff was beyond frustrated with the city of Oakland. The fans hated ownership because everytime they had a good player, the owners traded him. It was a nasty time with a lot of nasty things said.

In 2016, Lew Wolff stepped down as a part-time owner. Dave Kaval took over as team President pushing Michael Crowley aside. ‘Kaval said the A’s are committed to staying in Oakland, per John Hickey of Bay Area News Group. Kaval said the team is looking at several potential sites but likes the idea of a “ballpark village” concept, according to Joe Stiglich of CSN Bay Area.”—Adam Wells, 2016

.

Smart A’s fans knew better than to believe that. They were cautiously hopeful as the City of Oakland began pushing for a spot near Jack London Square, Howard Terminal. Earlier this year, Kaval said he was going to sit down with the Mayor and work the Howard Terminal deal out. A week later, the A’s announced they were moving to Las Vegas. There was no intention to work with Oakland only empty words now known as False News. It is VERY clear that the only important thing to the ownership of John Fisher is money. He refused to give money for players, ticket prices doubled and attendance went way down. There are many who believe that was the point—show Major League Baseball that the fans won’t show up (and that had to be manipulated) and they would give their blessing to moving the A’s to Money Land following the Oakland Raiders.

Then came a one man group known as Rooted in Oakland. He tweeted that he thought A’s fans should form a reverse boycott: pick a day and all fans show up, show MLB and Fisher what the fan base looks like if you treated them well. More die-hard fans joined him, they raised $25,000 on Crowd Funding to make T-shirts that would say SELL on them. They picked a weekday night for the boycott. The game couldn’t be against one of the Big Four that have large fan bases everywhere: Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Giants. They picked June 13, 2023. As the day drew closer, the A’s started winning. They no longer have the worse record in baseball history. I wish I could have been there. Over 27,000 fans came out. They stopped at various places in the parking lot and picked up their free Tshirts, put them on and entered the park. They roared for their team. I heard that, at one point, the catcher turned around and had a huge smile on his face. The A’s won 2-1 over the Tampa Bay Rays. The A’s have won seven games in a row.

“Mother and son Leslie and Justin Lopez walked together in their SELL T-shirts reflecting on how much the A’s have meant in their lives — 27-year-old Justin has been coming to games since he was 8 months old. He is devastated every year watching All-Stars depart to bigger markets in free agency or all the other stars get traded away.

“It’s been so sad to witness. We feel like the historically disenfranchised,” Justin Lopez said, embracing his mom.”—Janie McCauley, AP

When I volunteered in the Mayor’s Office and truly believed that my love of baseball could make a difference, could initiate some kind of change, and would help to keep the A’s in Oakland, someone much wiser than me said: “Sara, baseball is a business. They don’t care about the fans. It’s sad but it’s true. If you don’t remember that, you will have your heart broken over and over.” I heard him. It didn’t slow me down initially. When I decided to stay in Paris, people would ask me “What about your A’s?” Yeah, what about them? When you keep getting your heart broken, it’s a good idea to step out of the ring. Apple TV shows a daily baseball wrap-up over here in Paris. Today, I watched the highlights of Tuesday’s game. I saw the massive amount of kelly green T-shirts that said SELL. Fans were standing behind the batter’s box and every T-shirt said SELL. Not one word was said in explanation. Can you imagine if Trump went somewhere and not one word was said by the media. How MLB pulled off silencing everyone……., well I did say at the beginning of this blog that it’s all about politics.

A bientôt,

Sara

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Roland Garros

When I was in my early teens, my mother signed me up for tennis lessons. She loved tennis; had played it all her life, and couldn’t image a growing girl not including tennis in her daily routines (along with French and poetry). She also probably didn’t imagine a slightly overweight girl who, at that point in her life, lumbered along like a limping bull in a china shop, as her eldest daughter. I had no interest in anything my mother suggested and exercise of any sort scared me as I was no good at it.

So tennis has never been much on my radar. Those who know me know I love baseball. Living in France, I’ve come to appreciate, enjoy, and want to learn more about futbol/soccer. And not just from Ted Lasso. Of course, one can’t live in Paris without being hyper aware of the French Open known in France as Roland Garros. My friend, Barbara, bought tickets for my birthday in 2020. Ah, 2020 when all life was cancelled.

Court Philippe-Chatrier

Yesterday, after living in Paris for 9.5 years, I went to my first Roland Garros experience. You can have a ticket to a match but that is only part of the fun. And it is FUN! I went with three friends. They’d bought two tickets to the day matches at Court Phillippe-Chatrier and two tickets to the day matches at Court Suzanne-Lenglen. We agreed that we would switch back and forth seeing as many of the matches as possible. The four of us met up at a café at Auteuil. We walked into the Roland Garros complex at 11 am. I’m not sure how one can live so close to RG (I live a 20-minute walk away) and not realize how large and grand it is. “The 13.5-hectare (34-acre) complex contains twenty courts, including three large-capacity stadiums; Les Jardins de Roland Garros, a large restaurant and bar complex; Le Village, the press and VIP area; France’s National Training Centre (CNE); and the Tenniseum, a bilingual, multimedia museum of the history of tennis.”-Wikipedia.

Sara at Philippe-Chatrier before it filled up.

Pete and Mike headed for the match at S. Lenglen. Meg and I walked around. Meg knows the complex like the back of her hand. She showed me everything including where we were going to go sit, Philippe-Chatrier, to watch the match between fan favorite, Caroline Garcia and no.56 seeded Anna Blinkova (whose country wasn’t listed. This is the only way the Russian and Belarus players are allowed to play). Before we went in, we sat on the green watching a match between Greek Tsitsipas and Spaniard Baena. Large orange folding chairs were set up for comfort.

These games were the second round for both the men and the women. It was only four days into Roland Garros with another week and a half to go. But the atmosphere was electric. It reminded me of Play-off games in baseball. Plus, Paris was experiencing glorious weather. Not a cloud in the sky. 78o/24C. Even though I didn’t play tennis, it would have been impossible to get through my childhood without learning something. I knew most of the rules; game, set, match. Best of three for the women, best of five for the men. For singles games, outside the inner white line was out. For doubles, outside the outer white line was out. What I didn’t know was that there are three line judges at each end for the vertical lines, two line judges in the middle for the horizontal lines, and the judge who sits up above just like a lifeguard who rules over everything. I turned to Mike at one point and asked “Is this like baseball? Whatever the judge says is what it is? Whether it is or isn’t?” Yes,…however starting next year, it will all be digitalized. No more human judges, no more human error. Human error is part of baseball. I was once told by another baseball fan when I was outraged by an umpire’s bad call that lost a pitcher a ‘perfect game’, that it isn’t just perfect for the pitcher. It also has to also be perfect for the umpires. Oh! (and just for the record, I wasn’t satisfied. That explanation did not make up for the dramatic letdown for both pitcher and fans).

Fan favorite, French player Caroline Garcia who lost in the second round.

Another surprise was the noise. I had always been told that tennis games were played in absolute silence. If you talked to your neighbor, it was a whisper. Not so at Roland Garros. the fans cheered their favorite. They clapped loudly when they wanted to encourage a player. Musical instruments appeared in the crowds like whales jumping out of the sea and played the Marseillaise or something that the fans could smile at, rout with, and encouraged the players. Mike, who is British, assured me this was not done at Wimbledon. 

Pete and Meg

Truthfully, I thought that since I didn’t know most of the players and wasn’t a tennis fan, I would want to leave after a couple of hours. Wrong. Oh, how wrong! Tennis is a wonderful game. Do you hear that Mom? I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you. I watched every hit. Both Mike and Meg told me that if you didn’t have a favorite in the game, one cheers for the underdog. My father always said the same. Garcia, the French fan favorite seeded at #5, lost to the underdog. The fans weren’t happy. But other than a French player losing, it was the underdog all the way!

Mike and his son who came over from the UK.
Caroline Garcia

I guess I’m now a tennis fan! The next day I watched and listened to a couple of matches—one between the Italian Sinner and the German Altmaier which lasted five hours and twenty-nine minutes!! Both were exhausted. When the German won, he started to cry. The entire stadium stood up and cheered him on.

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A bientôt,

Sara