You Gotta Have Heart

Illustration by Lina Nordin Illustration by Lina Nordin Oliver and Lina Arrive in Paris After their Heart-Shaped Tour of France on their Vespa

HEART OF FRANCE

Oliver Gee and his new wife, Lina, podcaster of Earful Tower fame, have traveled all around France this past summer on a scooter for the sheer pleasure of honeymooning in the French countryside in a heart-shaped pattern. How romantic! Still, I thought he and Lina were nuts, as I can tell you right now, that I wouldn’t want it to be my toosh on the back of that Vespa going from town to town…but what the hell…he and Lina are young, enthusiastic and clearly adventuresome. I admire it and wish I could be the same.

Their adventure was followed by fans via their Facebook page where we could live vicariously through their experiences. Now, that’s a much more comfortable way to take the tour of France with them, rather than having a sore bottom on the back of their bike! They covered 4,000 kilometers over the course of two months and on October 19th, landed back in Paris unscathed.

Oliver, in the midst of his travels, doesn’t stop keeping us informed of his podcasting and informed me that the three podcasts/videos he and I did together this past year are now publicly available for all of you to see and hear.

Oliver Gee at Après Midi in Paris

Oliver Gee Why buy property in Paris?

Oliver Gee with Adrian Leeds on a Tour of Le Marais

If you like these, then you’ll like the others he’s done, so be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel. It only takes a click, it’s not intrusive at all, and it means you’ll be able to find more cool videos like this in the future. Click here now.

And if you really love what Oliver’s doing to bring you a slice of life in Paris (and all over France), then subscribe for a “measley” $10 a month to help The Earful Tower grow. Here’s how. 

QUEEN OF HEARTS (DAME DE COEUR)

Tonight we’ll be standing in front of Notre Dame on the “parvis” in commemoration of the end of World War I in a universal call to peace…all in the form of a light show on the facade of the Notre-Dame Cathedral. I saw it once before in November of 2017 and couldn’t wait to come back to witness director Bruno Seillier’s creation of the scenography.

It’s a story of beauty and peace: “At the end of the First World War, on a battlefield, we are in the shadows, on the spot of a meeting: that of a young French nurse and a dying American soldier. At the twilight of his life, he expressed a regret, that he could not visit the Notre-Dame Cathedral. Through a historical, artistic and mystical dialogue, these two souls will meet to discover together the mystery of Our Lady, who will be their ‘Queen of Hearts.’ In an incredible visual and musical journey, the facade of Notre-Dame de Paris will reveal the most beautiful aspects of her personality and her message. Invited to a popular and aesthetic communion, thousands of people are invited to access the Parvis of Notre-Dame de Paris. Plunged into darkness, spectators will gradually witness the illumination of the monument.“

On December 31, 2017, France Magazine listed their best nine photos from 2017 (#bestnine2017) and one of them is our own Patty Sadauskas’ from that evening in November!: #2 Notre-Dame, photo by parisonadime.com.

Get your tickets now for tonight or tomorrow night — don’t miss it.

HEART OF THE CITY OF LIGHT

Strollers Along the Seine – by Patty Sadauskas

The French court slapped the wrist of Madame Le Mayor Anne Hidalgo for jumping the gun without having done her homework by giving the “green light” to cars driving once again along the quays of the Seine in the heart of Paris. While strollers and cyclists loved their new highway along the river unobstructed by vehicles, five million drivers were suffering from an increase in traffic and pollution levels soared. The courts declared that City Hall failed to address the real impact the project would have on both air and noisepollution, in lieu of allowing a few citizens to have a picnic on the banks of the river. While her intentions may have been heartfelt, the press has called Hidalgo’s push a “misguided ecological utopia.”

A majority of pedestrian Parisians (55%) favor the vehicle-free roadways, and while I enjoy the scenery myself from time to time, have personally seen the results of the mayor’s folly when trying to get home on a bus or in a taxi stuck in traffic since the cars have been displaced onto the streets. The quays equate to 3.3 kilometers from the entrance of the tunnel at the Tuileries in the 1st arrondissement to the exit at Henri IV in the 4th. It’s a short distance, but makes a big difference to those who have to drive in and out of Paris each day to get to work. Fortunately, I am not one of them.

You gotta have heart…

A la prochaine…

Adrian Leeds
Adrian Leeds Group

(A Birthday Card by the Fabulous Lulu Lolo)

 

Respond to Adrian

 

Nice – Photo by Patty Sadauskas

P.S. Next week you’ll be hearing from me from Nice again, thanks to filming another House Hunters International there, our 34th episode!