Paris Apartment at 43 rue de Babylone, 75007

LA  TERRASSE. 50M2/500 sq. ft. Facing south thus sun all day.  Back of building-tres calme. Very private with high fence. Electric awning over entry to block out sun or rain. Watering done automatically by computer. Planted with lavender, roses, shrubs, tree, vines, forsythia , and grapes! Your own private garden in the sky for working, sunning, entertaining, sitting out in the warm evenings  under the stars. My annual Soiree under the Stars with the Stars. May 2008. Front and center is a James Brown & Ray Charles Impersonator  from the Ivory Coast who got THREE ENCORES! From the left dear friend Emily Borel, Robert Azrak my boulanger, and the blond in black with light-blue scarf, my former wife Mary Martin Rogers visiting from Santa Barbara, Calif. The grande studio with terrasse out doors on left, kitchen at the right, and bathroom through mirrored door on right. Great views from all windows looking out over Paris rooftops, private gardens and the Tour de Montparnasse. Looking from french doors to terrasse over to the kitchen. With oven & microwave combo, dishwasher and laundry washing machine. Bathroom through mirrored door.   The bathroom with mirrored cabinets, plenty of lighting and hot water. Looking out from the bathroom, with mirrored door reflecting terrasse. The terrasse with large storage area to left for bicycle, tables, chairs, lounge chair, gardening tools/supplies, lanterns , and such. Enough chairs to seat 18 people! The terrasse looking into the apartment, with storage area at far right.         T The view from my kitchen window. Where I gaze out each morning while squeezing fresh OJ and then walk to a boulangerie to get a warm baguette & the Herald Tribune. As I  exit 43 rue de Babylone I can walk to no fewer THAN SEVEN boulangeries within seven minutes. My most favorite is around the block at 56 rue Vaneau where the Azrak family has lived and served for generations.  Maman, her children Robert & Roula, and grand-daughter  Tiffany all live & work there.   Open six days a week, closed Wednesday, and where there are keys to my apartment in the drawer where you pay for your most delicious delights.   Sitting outside Shakespeare & Co. bookstore facing La Seine with George Whitman, who bought the store from Sylvia Beech in 1951.  He will be 94 this coming June 16th. His only child , Sylia Beech Whitman,  has been the proprietor since 2003. That was the year I hosted a benefit soiree that netted 2000 E~~~ enough to pay for the tent/chairs/mic/stage at the first Shakespeare & Co. Literary Festival held in a nearby park—which has Paris’ oldest tree from 1614!    George has known em all……has cut his own hair for 60 years, lives above the store, has always allowed writers/poet/gadflys to stay in rooms above the store. A prince of a man and what a life!!!! I often ride my bike over in the early evening to see the setting sun off nearby Notre Dame, watch the many locals/tourists walking by, and answer questions for many about what to see while visiting Paris.

Princesse Maria d'Arcy, exotic extraordinaire, performing at my annual soiree in May 2008. Which she has done for many years.

Moi et Emily Borel, shiatsu therapist, and Lorie Strait, sculptor. Both long time residents of Paris. We are at a poetry reading of our mutual friend Bernadette. May 2008.

Jardin du Luxemborg May 2008. Ten minute walk from my apartment at 43 rue de Babylone.

Le Tour Eiffel Sept. 2008.  To mark the rotating Presidency of the European Union for six months, with France in the lead  starting July 1st. Blue the color of the E.U.  flag, and to the right thirteen bright white stars representing all the countries of the Union.

Heart & Soul  Fund Art Show at All Souls Unitarian Church ,  80th and Lexington Ave., December 7th, 2008.

I bought ‘The Collagist’ by Martha Bloom, who teaches collage art at the Art Students League & the National Academy of Art in Manhattan.  www.marthabloom.com   and www.allsoulsnyc.org

My son Albert is a collagist! His work and others at www.sfcollagecollective.wordpress.com