the cape on the corner: May 2014

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Views from Notre Dame-top 3

It's impossible to answer with just one thing when people ask what was my favorite part of our Paris vacation. And so, like any list maker, i have settled on a top 3. My previous post on the Eiffel Tower and its gorgeous night views from a small park below is definitely number 1. Number 2 of my favorite things and something not to be missed was climbing the 400 spiral stairs to the top of Notre Dame on a clear day. The views were amazing, the gargoyles were a real treat to see up close, and you came away with the feeling of how accessible Paris is. It's a big city that felt small-to be able to point out Sacre Couer in Montmartre, and see the relation to where the Eiffel Tower was-I can see how this is a walkable city. Also, you didn't really think there'd only be one post about France, did you? No no no, my friends. No no no.

So going into the church itself is free (get there early, there will be a line), but to climb the towers there is a fee and also a line. Because there isn't a lot of room at the lookout areas, and you're going up small winding steps, they limit the amount of people going in at one time which creates the line. First you climb to the level with the gargoyles, which is underneath the very tall arched windows at the top. Then you climb to the towers at the very very top, that you can barely make out from this angle and didn't know were up there until we came out of them.

At an art show, i bought a photo taken at this exact spot, with that exact gargoyle looking out onto the Eiffel tower. You have no idea how badly i have wanted to recreate that shot myself and this is why one schlepps a DSLR around, even a basic one.

On the bottom right, at the tip, is the Deportation Memorial honoring and remembering the 200,000 French citizens who were sent to concentration camps during WWII. As a Jewish person, i seek out my culture in our travels, so in addition to the Deportation Memorial we also went to the Jewish Quarter and the Holocaust Museum in Paris, where they have files of all the Jews who were living in France during that time. This is huge, because for many years the French refuted that those files even existed.

The Sacre Couer basilica, in Montmartre (which was such an adorable place, it rounds out the top 3).

Paris rooftops and the Eiffel Tower.

Once we were back at street level, we walked around behind it to see the spires and the flying buttresses, those pieces that fan out. To me those were more impressive than the front and even more impressive from above.

And at sunset.

And the blue hour.

I know many of you shared with me that you went to the top of the Arc de Triomphe or the Eiffel Tower, but has anyone gone to the top of Notre Dame? It is definitely a do not miss.

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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Go Big or Go Home garage wall

Usually the thought of how much flowers actually cost every year aggravates me. And so usually i get the cheapies, and then impatiently wait for them to grow in, and get mad at myself for having gone the cheap route. This year, i told the boyfriend it was Go Big or Go Home for the pots on the wall, and i loooove the instant gratification of these zinnias all colorful and large, like they've been growing there for some time.

I never liked the wrought iron scrolls that were on either side of the window, (remember when we de-scrolled the railings?) but needed something that took up a lot of space and helped with the whole "i'm staring at a cinder block wall of ugliness" since the boyfriend refuses to paint it and yet we do nothing about stucco except lament the cost. These herb planters were a clearance find at the end of last summer, take up a lot of visual space, and modernize the wall as only geometrics can.

And i'm excited about my basil. Yeah, i got a lot of basil. I got confused-i couldn't find lettuce, which i wanted for the window box, and i was in a rush. So i got 2 different kinds of basil. Times two. I am leaving the top 2 boxes empty because i can't reach to water them, so they're for decorative purposes only. #shortgirlproblems.

I'm never sure what colors to go with for my annuals-do they all need to be the same color? Does that look too monochromatic or nicely cohesive? Is that boring or pleasing? My neurotic nature of second guessing loved the colorful blooms all in one plant. Since i knew i was using the big black wall squares, i repainted the terracotta pots from lively spring green to the darkest free sample i could find, which is Valspar's English Tea Party.

Here's the ol' cape from the font. Nothing is in bloom yet, so right now it's lush and green.

Except this. What is this, and how did it get here? Is it hydrangea? Lilac?

It's pretty, but we'll have to move it to a less crowded spot.

We started work on the patio, since we have tons of free brick and figure we should put them to good use. I don't really want more brick, but i'd rather not have to move the table and chairs to mow the lawn like we've been doing for years. Plus, i can finally get a pretty outdoor rug. The only problem is my neighbor's fence. It's wonky.

Perhaps this helps you understand. For us to make the patio straight, it creates a weird triangle that is not ours, but is not being claimed by then. We have looked at the property lines and have no idea why they made their fence like this. You can see the white stakes, marking the straight line.

You can sorta make out the string line which marks where the patio will go, and you can see how the fence narrows where our trash cans are. This stressed my perfectionist darling out and he had a tough time figuring out how to make the patio look right for us and work somehow with the fence.

It took him 1.5 hours to dig out that grass on his own, but when i "helped" last night we got the rest of that half done in a half hour. Which is interesting, as my "help" was handing him different shovels and loading the lighter pieces of sod into the wheelbarrow, but it clearly made a difference.

Mostly, though, i just took pictures.

What are you all planting this year? Do you do a color scheme? Did you know you were reading the blog of a neurotic person? I think you actually might have known that already.