Fezzik In Paris

While last weekend was surprisingly productive from the standpoint of The List, we wound up chasing our tails this weekend, owing to a creeping sense of dread.

Last week’s four-day weekend (it’s quite easy to faire le pont when it’s the company telling you to take the Friday off) consisted of a fair amount of (unfortunately high-temperature) relaxation time, a jaunt to les Invalides, a trip to the Crazy Horse, and a visit to the grand palais where we managed to knock two exhibits off of The List.

As to the source of this week’s dread, what we had thought would be an annoying but otherwise unremarkable visa renewal will actually require a trip back to Houston for a stay of a few weeks as we have to submit the paperwork in person, and in our home country. As that flight will happen a week from Monday, this was our last weekend that won’t be spent shipping off the cats and packing.

Sigh.

The cleaning program has done wonders for the façade.

The line between dirty and clean.

Even the roof looks better.

A fire-and-iron-belching lion.

Yes, we still take pictures of pigeons.

Hi, guys.

A new maquette!

…and a part of the plans and reliefs that we had not yet wandered through.

The temporary exhibit told the story of the Franco-Prussian conflict of 1870, which set the stage for the bloodbath that would be the first world war (which itself lit the fuse on the second world war).

From the jardins exhibit at the grand palais.