Monday 2 September Charles de Gaulle Airport to Porte de la Villette
We finally arrived in the afternoon of 2 September from Dubai after an uneventful but tedious 11 hour flight Perth-Dubai, overnight in Dubai and then six and a half hours to Paris. We found our way to our hosts' apartment at Porte de la Villette and were welcomed by Nicole. Gilles turned up shortly after on his motorbike and after seeing over the tiny apartment, Terry and I went for a short walk around the neighbourhood, bought our cheap local mobile phones to use, and some wine and olives in the small Jewish quarter and then spent a relaxed evening getting to know Gilles and Nicole. We sat outside as it was pleasantly warm with a slight breeze.
The apartment
Living room
Our room is at the top of a steep stair and is a little wider than the bed - Terry has to crawl over me to get in and out of bed! Nonetheless, the bed was most welcome and we slept well.
Stairs to the bedroom
The bed (and room)
Next morning our hosts were preparing for their departure, so we left them to pack and walked around the Cite de Sciences et Industries, located immediately opposite the apartment complex, had a coffee nearby and returned to farewell Gilles and Nicole, who flew off to Detroit, where Gilles has a photography exhibition.
We set off to buy our Navigo monthly metro passes, which involved several attempts, eventually succeeding with a combination of automated and human interactions and mangled French. After a quick lunch at a nearby café (not particularly interesting), we set off. First stop was Notre Dame, my first view of this stunning building - 850 years old and still a marvel of architecture and a monument to the human imagination.
Notre Dame
Notre Dame was very crowded, it was a hot afternoon, and we were fading, so after a couple of hours we returned to the apartment for a quiet dinner and a long, long sleep.
Wednesday 4 September Porte de la Villette - St Michel /Notre Dame - Musee D'Orsay and return
Today we decided to do a boat trip along the Seine to orient ourselves and cruise past a few monuments along the way. These included the Botanic Gardens (Jardin des Plantes), the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Musee D'Orsay, St Germain des Pres and Notre Dame once again.
We could not resist getting off at Musee D'Orsay for several hours - wonderful Impressionist collection and too many fabulous sculptures to take in (not to mention the many, many flights of stairs - we certainly are beginning to feel the effects). we ate a memorable lunch at the Musee D'Orsay restaurant - very elegant, and the food was classic French. We hobbled home and faded early again, a combination of jet lag and physical exertion.
Ile St Louis
Pont Alexandre III, with the Eiffel Tower in the background
Thursday 5 September Porte de la Villette - Anvers - Sacre Coeur - Montmartre - Pigalle and return
We set out fairly early for Sacre Coeur and Montmartre as we knew it was going to be a hot day. We had seen Montmartre from the Musee D'Orsay the day before, on the highest point in Paris, looking stunning in its pure white against a clear azure sky.
Sacre Coeur from Musee D'Orsay on a hot and hazy day
As we emerged into the street from the Metro, there it was, right in front of us, looking even more magnificent.
Sacre Coeur
We explored the church, then wandered around Montmartre, stopping at the Musee de Montmartre, located in the house formerly occupied by Renoir, as well as Dufy and Utrillo. The garden was particularly lovely, located next to the last surviving vineyard in Paris - still producing wine, In fact, they were setting out nets to protect the grapes in advance of the harvest in a few weeks
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Terry in Montmartre Street
We wandered back down the hill, found a street of fabric markets, and in looking for somewhere to have lunch, found ourselves in Pigalle, in a street that became more seedy as we progressed along it.
It was very hot by then, and we were becoming footsore, so headed for the Metro and back to "our" neighbourhood for a bistro lunch, did some grocery shopping and limped home, very hot and sweaty. We have learned two things about the French - they love stairs (impossible to avoid if you use the Metro) and air conditioning is apparently an unknown concept. It was 34 degrees that day, and a hot night as well. We ate a light salad with some excellent wine - a pinot noir from Alsace, and spent a hot night in our room above the living room (which doubles as Gilles' studio).
Friday 6 September Porte de la Villette - Place Monge - Rue Mouffetard Market - Latin Quarter (Cluny Museum of the Middle Ages, Sorbonne) and return
We woke up to a change in the weather, with thunder and imminent rain as we set out on another relatively early start which saw us at the Rue Mouffetard street market just as the activity began and shops were opening. This market runs up and down a small cobbled street with some buildings from the medieval period.
Medieval building in Rue Mouffetard
Our favourite stall was this magnificent display of fish - the photo does not do justice to the artistry shown by the poissioniere.
Poissoniere in Marche Mouffetard
Terry at the top of Rue Mouffetard
I bought a couple of scarves in the small market at Place Monge on our way to the train station to take us to the Cluny Museum of the Middle Ages (la Musee de Moyen Ages). It had begun to rain by this time, and it was clear that summer had come to an end.
Judith at market at Place Monge
Unfortunately the main attraction at Le Musee de Moyen Ages, the Lady and the Unicorn tapestry, was not on display as its room was being refurbished and the tapestry had been lent to a museum in Tokyo. Nonetheless we were very impressed by the vast collection of mainly religious art of the period in the form of stone, wood and metal sculpture, tapestries, paintings and metalwork from all over Europe, and the remnants of the Roman baths over which the original Cluny mansion had been built.
We ate an expensive lunch at Le Balzar brasserie, near the Sorbonne and headed home on the Metro. As we were stepping on to our Metro train, a man who had been following us rather close made an attempt to pick Terry's pocket just as the doors were closing. Fortunately Terry had a map in his pocket on top of his wallet, so the thief grabbed that instead of his real target and Terry was quick enough to grab the map from the man as the doors closed, leaving the pickpocket empty handed and Terry's map rather the worse for wear. Needless to say, we have been very much aware of the potential and keep our bags close to our bodies and our money well hidden.
Saturday 7 September 2013 Porte de la Villette - St Paul - Marais - Place des Vosges and return
The Marais is essential Paris - narrow, winding cobbled streets of elegant mansions , trendy boutiques and small galleries. We spent quite a while wandering about, looking for the Enfants Rouges food market. On our way we had coffee at a café near the site of the infamous Bastille (demolished in the French Revolution). We eventually found the food market, which is the oldest covered market in Paris (dating from its establishment originally as an orphanage in 1628). Here we ate Moroccan food for lunch and bought some olive oil and delicious olive tapenade.
Poissoniere at Enfants Rouges market
Terry enjoying a Moroccan tagine
We were disappointed to find the Musee Picasso was closed for renovations, so we found a small park and rested while we waited for a tiny gallery of primitive art to open. Then we wandered through the streets enjoying the ambiance and the artwork and fashion on display.
Small park in the Marais
We bought two beautiful ice creams and ate them while we sat for a while in the Place des Vosges formal gardens where everyone was enjoying fine sunny day before heading home on the Metro, stopping at a local boulangerie to buy a loaf of the most delicious bread and some quiche for dinner . We have vowed to return to the Marais, which is definitely a favourite,
Place des Vosges
Sunday 8 September 2013 Porte de la Villette and Joinville Open Air Market
Today was a quiet day. We woke to the analysis of the rather depressing but not unexpected Australian election result. It all seems and is rather far away.
We decided to walk along the nearby canal to the closest market, which is truly an authentic local market serving a different clientele than those we have thus far visited.
It was very multi cultural and the food very cheap, although not of the same quality as that we saw the previous day.
Opposite the market we saw a sign signifying a dark period in French history, telling of 390 children from a nearby school who were sent to death camps in 1942 simply because they looked Jewish. Those days are quite rightly not forgotten here in France,
We bought some fruit and vegetables and wandered back through a small Chinese dominated street and back on to Rue de Flandres, the main street that passes near our apartment block. We stopped for coffee at a local café, and bought some pastries at a patisserie near the apartment before spending a quiet afternoon at home.
Opposite the market we saw a sign signifying a dark period in French history, telling of 390 children from a nearby school who were sent to death camps in 1942 simply because they looked Jewish. Those days are quite rightly not forgotten here in France,
We bought some fruit and vegetables and wandered back through a small Chinese dominated street and back on to Rue de Flandres, the main street that passes near our apartment block. We stopped for coffee at a local café, and bought some pastries at a patisserie near the apartment before spending a quiet afternoon at home.
Terry having coffee in a Porte de la Villette café
Jude
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