The Shape We’re In

Newsletter 12.17.2023

Bienvenue and welcome back to Musée Musings, your idiosyncratic guide to Paris and art. This week’s post is about my little pigeonnier in the Dordogne. About how my husband and I happened to buy our own piece of La France Profonde.

It may be mid December, but here in Camelot, aka San Francisco, it’s still sweater weather. Mostly sunny, mostly cloudless. Which makes the unexpected fog, when it rolls in, all the more dramatic. Its speed easy to gage as the Golden Gate Bridge suddenly begins to disappear. (Fig 1) The same bridge which only moments before, you had been admiring in all its orange splendor.

Figure 1. Ginevra as the fog rolls in on Baker Beach

The weather means that Ginevra’s garden, filled with ‘repeat’ roses, is blooming. (Figs 2, 3) ’Species’ roses bloom only once a year, typically in June. Which is why Valentine’s Day Roses are so expenses and June brides proliferate. Ginevra buys rose plants from a company called David Austen. Each variety has a name. You can choose from Desdemona (Shakespeare’s heroine from Othello), Roald Dahl (author), Vanessa Bell (artist) or Darcy Bussell (ballerina). Ginevra has these four in her garden, as well as the Lady of Shallot, (ballad by Alfred Lord Tennyson) Young Lycidas, and the Lark Ascending. The last two I had to look up. To spare you the trouble - Lycidas is from a poem by John Milton or from his source, an Ecologue by Virgil. And Lark Ascending is the name of a pastoral poem by George Meredith. I think Ginevra may choose her roses as much for their names as for their colors and blooms.

Figure 2. Desdemona

3. Vanessa Bell

2a. James Galway

3a. Harlow Carr

It’s a good thing that the weather is so nice, we’re in training. One day, because I can’t seem to shake my Protestant Work Ethic, I insisted that our walk have a purpose, a destination. Trader Joe’s it was. Half of the 3 1/2 mile walk was through Golden Gate Park and most of the rest of it was along streets lined with old Victorians, but by the time we got our shopping done and found seats on the bus home, I was exhausted.

I began to despair. Maybe I waited too long to walk the Camino. The next day, I tried again, this time I made the decision that we should just walk for the sake of walking. It was much less tiring, actually, it was very relaxing. Our first walk was through Lincoln Park to Land’s End and back. Which is mostly peaceful. Except near the golf course, where getting hit on the head by a rogue golf ball is always a possibility. After lunch at home, we took another long walk, through nearby Sea Cliff, admiring well manicured gardens and breathtaking ocean views. (Fig 4) Then we walked along the Camino del Mar to Baker’s Beach. Walking in sand is supposed to be good for your calves, so we trudged along the beach for a while before walking home. (see Figure 3) That day, I was comfortably tired, not exhausted. And I had walked farther than I have ever walked before, a personal best.

Figure 4. View from a house being renovated in Sea Cliff

But wait, I like goals. Maybe it wasn’t a goal that was the problem but the goal I selected. So yesterday rather than going grocery shopping, we went to lunch. Once again we walked through Sea Cliff, along the Camino del Mar. (Fig 5) But instead of turning around, we continued into the Presidio, a military base for over 200 years but now part of the National Park Service. (Fig 6) Our trail took us past the National Cemetery, where Nicolas, when he was a Boy Scout, participated in annual Memorial Day ceremonies. We continued into Fort Mason. (Fig 7, 8) As its name implies, it started out as a coastal defense site and then became a military port facility. It had its ‘swords into plowshares’ moment in the 1970s when it became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). The buildings are now museums and galleries and restaurants. Like Greens, one of the first vegetarian restaurants in the country. Ginevra decided that we should eat next door, at Radhaus, a ‘Bavarian Beer Hall’ (Fig 9) We mostly eat vegetables at home, so it was nice to have somebody make bratwurst for us!

Figure 5. Sea Cliff, on the Camino Del Mar, here decorated with the Shells of Santiago de Compostela 

Figure 6. Ginevra waiting for me (patiently) at the top …

Figure 6a. Me making my way up…

Figure 7. On a sunny day in the Presidio walking to Fort Mason

Figure 8. Fort Mason

Figure 9. Rathaus, Fort Mason

Fueled and refreshed, we found another trail home which took us through another part of the Presidio. Where Letterman Hospital has been replaced by the Letterman Digital Arts Center and Lucasfilm (aka George Lucas of Star Wars fame). A missed opportunity, architecturally speaking, the complex consists of simple buildings the same size and scale as the old ones at Fort Mason. (Fig 10) When I looked at my Steps count, I saw that this walk had been even longer - 19 km (12 miles).

Figure 10. Letterman / Lucas Digital Arts Center

So, we’re back on track. Walking the final 114 km (71 miles) of the Camino seems absolutely doable. Now to organizing our trip. The most important determination is how many days to walk. Most companies offer six walking days but that seems too short because each walking day seems too long. But ten walking days seems too long because each walking day seems too short. I have contacted several companies that do all the planning - they book the hotels, they take care of luggage transfers and they provide 24/7 assistance along the route, au cas ou. The prices range is $1200 to $600 per person for 9 nights (which now seems to be one night too long). That’s a huge difference! Could the quality of the hotels along the Camino be that different. Are we talking about 5 star hotels vs modest hostels? One of high end companies included the names of the hotels in their quote. Adding up the prices for all of those hotels on booking.com, it’s less than half the price of the least expensive quote. And most of the hotels along the Camino are either 2 stars or 3, with twin beds, private baths and breakfasts.

My friend Caroline’s biggest concern when she walked a portion of the Camino was her luggage. Turns out that the Spanish postal service offers luggage transfers for a very reasonable fee. Her rucksack was waiting for her each day after her walk.

What about the 24/7 emergency assistance? Sound prudent, doesn’t it? But the section of the Camino we will be walking is the most popular. And October is the most popular time to walk it. We are not going to be alone along long stretches of trail. And the trails seem to be between or near towns and villages. We can call a taxi or Uber or worst case scenario, an ambulance ourselves, rather than contacting someone and then waiting for them to contact someone else. Ginevra is brushing up on her Spanish.

That settled, it’s time to decide what else to do while we are in Spain. Flights from Paris to Santiago all stop in Madrid, so that’s where we’ll base ourselves after the Camino. We’ll pay homage to Picasso’s Guernica one day and see Goya’s Black paintings another. We’ll take day trips to Toledo and Segovia and maybe Salamanca and Avila.

Let’s see, what else? Well, this year I followed Melissa Clark’s recipe exactly, I mean to the letter, for latkes. (11) They were so exquisitely delicious that they just may replace blinis for caviar this New Year’s Eve! Ginevra has been making Christmas Cookies - all from the New York Times Christmas Cookie Week - Vaughn’s Hot Chocolate ones, Alison Roman’s Linzer Tort ones and Eric Kim’s M & M ones. More about those next week.

Figure 11. Latkes, Melissa Clark recipe, New York Times (at left, Marcella Hazan’s marinated carrot sticks)

Thanks to those of you who commented on last week’s post. One of the things in my life for which I am very, very grateful. For those of you who might have missed the post on the artist Nicolas de Staël, tucked in as it was between recipes for leftovers, here’s the link: Between Abstraction and Figuration The exhibition is in Paris until 21 January. After that, you can see it in Switzerland at the Fondation de l’Hermitage in Lausanne, from 9 February to 9 June. Gros Bisous, Dr. ‘B.’

New comment on Moving On:

I do remember San Francisco in the early 90s. It was all glittery and Union Square shops were lovely. I am glad you are finding some areas Ok to be in still. The Tenderloin is scary and my daughter's school was on the edge of it in 2000; no walking through it for sure so that hasn't changed. I loved the Ferry Building and its shops and framer's market. We can hope the city can survive the current turmoil. The Legion of Honor is beautiful. I lived on Treasure Island with a wonderful view..good memories of delicious Acme bread and attending Tante Marie culinary School later on. Dianne

New comment on Between Abstraction and Figuration:

Thank you so much for the comprehensive article on De Stael and the exhibit. One of my very favorite artists and so sad to miss the show. Maybe it will travel? Shirley L.

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