Initial Seemingly Random Paris Scenes

So we arrived in Paris on April 1st, somehow evaded being April-fooled, moved into our apartment, shopped at the Franprix downstairs, and generally re-acquainted ourselves, despite the jet-lag, with the environs. Next day we were at the D'Orsay to buy Carte Blanche passes, and next day after that, FNAC, the Grand Epicerie of Paris, etc., and greeting Vicki's sister Marie and husband Norm at the Gare de Lyon. They had been touring Spain after a cruise to Barcelona, but, as we learned, had been limited because of Norm's bronchitis and a subsequent fall. Not happy campers. At the same time, I had contracted a cold and was similarly happy to take a day or two off to fend off worse developments. Nonetheless, we all got out a bit...

Beautiful art nouveau bookmarks at the Orsay

Spring has sprung...

Interesting chair at a market

Hobbit apples at the Raspail market near our apartment

Crottes fraiches...

Hobbit chickens

Among the neighbors...

Ditto...moving right along to the Hotel de la Marine

Hole in the shutter cut by the Kriegsmarine, to watch the
advance of Free French forces toward the Hotel de la Marine

View of Place de la Concorde and beyond from the Hotel

Interesting chair...

Marie taking it all in

Spring in Luxembourg Park

Pineberries at the Galeries Lafayette food court...our favorite

And you thought Wagyu was Japanese

Dior literary handbags at the Galeries Lafayette...the Joyce
version was 3,000€ (for the small version)

We can never resist this view

Did that too, again

Spring outside the Palais de Justice

Getting harder and harder for sunlight to reach
Saint Chapelle

Lightning lane to Notre Dame

"Our" boulangerie/patisserie, Mikhail Reydillet's
La Parisien, half a block away, continues to win
awards....

Half a block in the other direction, on Rue Fleurus,
across from Gertrude Stein's apartment building, this 
Livres Anciens, old books store...totally intense...
no smoking, sil vous plait...

Interim Update #1,292

After Yellowstone, our March was mostly about continuing our move into our Winter Garden apartment, enjoying visitors, a few excursions to Disney, a No Kings demonstration, celebrating birthdays, and then preparing for a trip to Europe. Amazingly, everything fell properly into place, and on March 31, we jetted, via Philadelphia, to Paris. 

With a glom of hot maple popcorn at EPCOT

At the impressive No Kings demonstration at nearby Clermont, FL

79 year old posing with birthday ice cream sandwich at Morimoto's

And at Adega Gaucha Brazilian steakhouse

Thanks, Rebecca and Jeremy, for a wonderful birthday dinner

Beginning one of our easier crossings

Back in Paris, immigration, luggage, and the RER B had us back
in "our" apartment on Rue Jean Bart in less than 2 hours; the apartment
pretty much unchanged--our 4th year here--the neighborhood pretty
much unchanged too

Snowmobiling The American West, 2026: Grand Canyon Of The Yellowstone

We wanted to do one more good ride but had to wait out the weekend to get enrolled in Three Bears' Canyon tour on Monday, March 2nd. It was a very good ride, from West to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and back.

Again, something else other blogs won't show you...
a bison patty in the snow in Yellowstone

Another waterfall; after Iguazu, I can hardly remember any of the others' names

Us, there; wherever

Seeing Yellowstone in the winter vastly outweighs seeing it in the
summer; however, sometimes the steam vapor obscures one's vision...

Yellowstone (River) Falls...note especially the snow bridge, formed
entirely from the freezing spray; and the icebergs

Us, there

Looking down from the rim upon the river

The view from Artist's Point, wherefrom Thomas Moran did some of
his most famous western landscapes...

On the 40+ mile ride back, a little-known vent on the road side;
chocolate volcano

Our group

One of the more interesting sights of the day...very loud steam vents
right on the road; the video someday might be posted on my YouTube
channel; probably not; impressive, nonetheless

Last bison of the campaign (note asphalt)

Wile E. Coyote, last wild animal specimen of the campaign

The Tetons, from the air, over Idaho, last photo of the campaign

Snowmobiling The American West, 2026: Two Top And Environs

With temperatures rising well into the 40s and the melt well underway, we decided to go out again the next day (Friday, the 27th), renting another two-up, and heading onto the trails west of West Yellowstone, including our favorite in the area, Two Top mountain. Unbeknownst to us at the time, two of Island Park's three groomers were out of action--they're responsible for grooming many of these trails--and so it was a generally bumpy day, although we reached our goals and made a discovery or two along the way.

En route through the winter wonderland to Two Top, Vicki driving

Street scene

Looking toward the summits of Two Top, the higher one a bump
to the right

Ghost trees

After Two Top, we thought we'd head further west to Big Spring, Mack's
Inn, Island Park...but the trails were so awful we decided instead to stay
in Montana and do the long Black Canyon trail...eventually, we did it twice

At the higher elevations, snow on the trees is common, but here we
began noticing a different and new to us phenomenon: ice on the trees

With the higher temperatures, the snow melts, then re-freezes over
night...we theorize

All these on the lightly-used Black Canyon trail

Looking north

Coffee break

Sawtell Peak, in Idaho

Again on Two Top, clouds have parted, and we get a good view of
the Tetons