(For some lovely background music, click the arrow at left – takes a moment to start…) Lately, as the Midwest air is warming and teasing Chicago, I’m affected by all things Spring. Everywhere you look, the trees are covered in flowers and there is the promise that much more is coming. This effect hasn’t been lost on even the more hard-hearted and for a softie like me, well, just call me sentimental.
Every once in awhile in the middle of the night, I wake up and can’t get back to sleep. Living in a big, big city, there’s all sorts of night noises that can come calling. They land in the subconcious poking the fight or flight until one gets their wits back. What you see above is my antidote to what can be a startling moment in time.
Maybe you can help me figure it out. Not talking about the big piece of knitting on top, that’s just a half-finished Cerisara back I started in Felted Tweed and have put on hold now that it’s getting warmer. I like looking at it though, especially the provisional cast on, so there it hangs.
Not talking about the house-shaped post-it below, either.
Those are the notes for a sleeve I was knitting a few weeks ago. I like to lounge around in the evenings knitting and watching movies and that was my short-hand to avoid expending any energy to pick up the pattern and read it.
No, what I want to know is where exactly is this house? I took this picture in 1995, the first time I went to Paris. Isn’t it lovely? I am so very charmed by the gate, by the blue, by the geraniums. The cobblestones make me trip into time and if there was anywhere I could live right now it would be there. I go there often in the middle of the night, turn on the light, walk into that courtyard and somehow feel safe and happy.
But I have no idea what the address is. Anybody recognize this?
We have several paintings by Shvaiko that have doorways into courtyards that I would love
to explore. I know how you feel.
Well, it is #8 on some street in Paris, but it also reminds me of the courtyard that a cute little mercerie is located in in the Marais. I spent my 4 days in Paris last year searching out cute places to buy yarn. It is, interestingly enough 8 rue faubourg but it’s not the same place as the gate isn’t as charming and cute.
OOH! I forgot about the google ;p
Thanks so much!
Now, I was staying in Bastille, in a rented apartment on Rue Saint-Nicolas, in the 12th. We hiked everywhere — this was a walk-by, a stolen moment.
I think I’ve seen this courtyard. It’s very memorable. The blue door is fairly common, but the blue lintel is what really struck me. Is it maybe in the neighborhood over near the Jardin du Luxembourg? The bit in between the Palais/Senat and St. Sulpice, but maybe a couple of streets west towards Rue de Rennes? Maybe on Rue Madame. Of course it could be somewhere else entirely. But you’ve successfully taken me back to Paris this morning for which I thank you.
Wow, great post. Can I also say thankyou for a lovely music and for letting us choose whether to play it or not. I hate it when I’m listening to a podcast on the comp and browsing blogs only to suddenly have music playing over the podcast.