Moon Rising over Paris ~ Where are the Jays

The Moon devoured the Sun as we looked on in glee

Last fall, one of my college friends who lives in Paris, TX invited us all to her house for the weekend and the viewing of the solar eclipse since she was in the path of totality. When I say us all, I am referring to a core group of friends from college and most of us accepted so it was college reunion and solar eclipse all rolled together! The Trapp Bed and Breakfast only for an elite few was engaged. Our stay came with several meals, swag bags, solar eclipse cookies, choice of prime viewing spots, tours of town - walking, driving and trolley. The Bed and Breakfast accepted guests on Friday evening and Saturday.

Deluxe Swag Bag contained: Eclipse Glasses, yummy Eclipse Cookie, Starburst, Orbit and Eclipse Gum, Milky Way Bar, Moon Pie and Olive Paris sample of your choice

Being in the path of Totality is a Big Deal!

Some bright forward thinking people realized that 10s of thousands of people would be coming to Paris, TX to witness 4 minutes and 3 seconds of the Moon totally obscuring the Sun. Not just Texans, but people from around the world.

Push pins and notes capture where people watching by the Civic Center are from

Exploring Paris, TX, not France

Jeff and I arrived Friday evening and Saturday morning we went on our first tour of downtown Paris. Its population is around 25,000 but feels like a larger city with all the activities and sites they have in the town. Suzanne had arrived by then too, so we explored the area around the square some. Three of the 4 corners of the square had large placards for the solar eclipse so we checked them out and wandered in a few shops including Olive Paris so we could taste some of their olive oils and vinegars in preparation for having our sample bottles filled (bottles were part of our swag bags). We finished with a lunch at a casual restaurant called 107 where I tried something new - fried okra tacos which were quite good. Our last participant ran late, and we all begin to worry about her. She had told us she was in Shreveport at one point, and we all kept saying she should be here. Well, what she did not say was she had stopped at Centenary College and had run to Strawn's to get a strawberry pie (a college favorite)- yummy!!!! With that treat, we all quickly forgave her for worrying us.

Jeff got out from behind the Camera

Fountain in the center of square also used for Prom pictures

Creative shop windows

Sunday, we went to service where Laurie's hand bell choir performed and as a group of 7 out of towners, we definitely caught everyone's eyes. Kathy got to reconnect with an old childhood friend of her dad's too at the service. Afterwards we learned an interesting fact about Mexican restaurants in Paris - their names can be totally misleading like we tried to eat at Garibaldi's but it was closed so we ate at 2 Marias instead. Then off to explore some of the town. We walked around more of downtown which is a thriving area. We filled our olive bottles and then we went to Sundae in Paris for ice cream. We also wandered into several stores including clothing and antique boutiques. Noticed how many of the buildings had been banks at one time, drove around to the other Methodist church which is turning 100 this year. And most importantly we hung out and talked a bunch.

Paris has many former Banks and Theaters. During WWII the town grew with an influx of soldiers and POWs at Camp Maxey

Paris TX the Birthplace of Dr Pepper? Click here

We tried the ice cream at Sundae in Paris where the Texas Pecan was great, but they ran out of the Eclipse flavor

Monday, the big day

For several days, weather reports kept saying it would be cloudy on the day of the eclipse so when we woke up and saw the sun some, we were hopeful. Around noon, we set up our chairs, in the driveway while listening to an "Eclipse" Playlist. We then were joined by a few local friends who came by including another Centenary grad - Wynn and her husband. Much to our chagrin at first, we saw nothing but clouds. Then we sent Laurie in for something, and the clouds parted for a couple of minutes. We were excited, only to have the clouds close on us again. Bummer But then much to our joy, the clouds parted and stayed parted, so we saw all of the eclipse from there on to the end. Part way through the eclipse several of us took our chairs and moved into the cul de sac to sit and watch because we were afraid the trees might block our view. We all had different points in the eclipse that we were looking forward to like one wanted to see the ring of fire and I wanted the complete covering. The rings of fire person was a little disappointed since the ring was more white than red. In excited voices we were all pointing out things and the changes as the moon moved across the sun. Comments like do you see that red spot at the bottom right or oh look the streetlight came on. Of course, these were in conjunction with all the oohs and ahhs. We had over 4 minutes of totality where we were, and I swear they were some of the fastest 4 minutes of my life! Before I was ready, we started to see bits of the sun again. I think most of us spent the hour plus time with our necks leaning back so maybe it was a good thing for our necks that the first part was covered by clouds.

Getting “Wilson” Ready

A Colander that’s what we need!
Bottom-> view of Moons shadow through Colander and through tree leaves

Wow

At first it was shrouded by clouds
At Totality, we were in Darkness

Did we enjoy it? Well, no one complained about not eating lunch till after 2pm matter of fact I don't think anyone was hungry at all during the eclipse and the topic of conversation during lunch was how we could see another one! The debate is between Iceland and Spain with Spain in the lead.

Oops! I moved when taking a long exposure

Trolley de Paris

Tuesday morning was our last time together and it was in a trolley for a private tour of Paris. The tour started in front of their civic center which had hosted 5,000 or so folks from around the world the day before for the eclipse. Also, at the civic is their Eifel Tower and a large multi county Veterans memorial. The Eifel Tower was the second tallest in the world but has been passed. It is however, the only one with a red cowboy hat! From there we drove around the outskirts of town. He pointed out to us where their big fire of 1916 (?) started and the multiple train stations they had at one time. He mentioned the cemetery with Jesus wearing cowboy boots but since we had already visited the site he went on. We saw a memorial for Chisolm as in the Chisolm trail and then headed downtown. He pointed out the water fountain in the middle of the town square and pointed out a marketplace and a few other sites before it was time to head back to the civic center. We wandered around the war memorial for a few minutes and then went to lunch before we all went back home.