Au Revoir Paris

This is it, probably the last of the Paris blogs.  Maybe there will be one from Singapore, or maybe not.  We shall see.

Feeling a bit like visiting the Dentist.  One dreads it, but one recognizes its inevitability and wants to just get it over.  So today we wandered around some of our favourite haunts, saying our farewells to people with whom we have become on friendly terms.

We stopped to drool over the menu board at Chez Plumeau

and discovered that there was a "fete" just off the Place du Tertre.

Well, more of a "market" and not nearly as good as the one we went to in our shopping area last week.  But it did have one feature with which we were very impressed, a spice stall.  You could smell the wonderful spices as you approached and what a display.  There must have been over 100 different spices in open containers just waiting to be scooped into something, weighed and sold.  Absolutely marvelous.

We went to Sabot Rouge, possibly for the last time (although we might go there for lunch tomorrow) and saw our friendly waitress

and said our farewells to the little sparrows that inhabit the place du tertre.

Finally, back we went to the flat and there, dripping tears onto our baguette and Roquefort, we packed our bags.

Paris. Counting Down.

If you haven't gotten the message yet, we like food!  And what better place for foodies than Paris?  Not only are the restaurants good, but you can buy the most wonderful things almost anywhere in the city.  Even so, there are a few rather special locations, one of which is in the area surrounding the Church of the  Madeleine.  Here are the most elegant macarons, the most expensive caviar, and the most delicious chocolates. Here are the stores with names like Hediard, Fauchon, Prunier and Ladurée.

As we walked past the Madeleine, we saw the front lawns covered with flowers.  Then the penny dropped.  Of course, 29 May is La fête des Mères, Mothers' day.  All very pretty.

Church of the Madeleine

Flower display at La Madeleine

We wandered in and out of shops admiring the displays.  Here are just a few images to whet your appetite.

Fauchon

Chocolates in Fauchon

Hediard

Foie Gras

Selection of tea in Hediard

Turning into the Rue Royale, we immediately stopped at a children's shop.  You know who just can't go past one of those.  Even I had to admit that there were some truly lovely clothes.

Then it was on to Ladurée for Macarons and Coffee.

Laduree for Coffee

Macarons

Continuing along the rue Royale we passed Maxims.  I have to confess that after seeing and enjoying The Merry Widow I really don't want to go there and have my illusions shattered!

Entrance to Maxims

After a visit to W. H. Smith's bookstore to pick up some reading material for the long flight home, we headed back to our own neighbourhood to have lunch at a delightful little restaurant I am sure we have mentioned, la Zuppiera.

La Zuppiera

Later in the afternoon, sitting and reading, we heard a trumpet outside and going to the window saw another street musician.  While we see buskers in Hobart, street musicians simply don't seem to exist there.  They are often quite good and great fun to watch.

The street musician

Paris. Winding down

Well, just as we begin to think we are slowly winding down, we had an emergency at the Chinese restaurant across the way. Mid-morning we noticed the arrival of two ambulances whose crews dealt with an emergency case, whipping him off to the nearest hospital adjacent to the Gare du Nord.  We are not entirely sure (and don't want to find out) but there appear to be two ways medical emergencies can be dealt with.  In addition to an ambulance we noticed that one can call the fire brigade who seem to be equally efficient in dealing with medical emergencies.  Perhaps this made us more conscious of it, but we have noticed that in restaurants there is often a sign at or near the cash desk which basically says that in the event of a medical emergency dial 15.  Useful information for staff.

As I write this, we are down to our last four days in Paris.  Over these days we will do some very familiar things and say goodbye to people we have become acquainted with, neighbours, shopkeepers and even one or two of the "artists" in the Place du Tertre. This morning, for example, we finished our shopping and then went to a very ordinary local bistro for coffee.  The coffee was excellent, hot and the pain au chocolat melted in our mouths.  Interestingly the price was about one-third of what we would have paid in the more touristy part of Paris.  And that price was almost double (as we sat outside to watch life go by) what we would have paid inside at the bar.  So, if you want to taste the real Paris, go to the outer arrondissments. Our favourite, of course, is always the 18eme!

Paris. A Sunday lunch

Sunday is a special family day in France. Whilst many shops are closed the boulangeries are extremely busy.

Throughout the morning everyone goes there to buy a fresh baguette or pastries which are served at lunch time. There are  lots of different breads in France, but perhaps the two most popular are the ordinary baguette which is made with yeast, and the baguette traditionale which is made from a sourdough base.

Lovely baguettes

French pastries

The florists are not idle either because Sunday is the day of family meals and it would be very impolite to arrive with empty hands.

Something from the Florist

For families the agenda is to have a late breakfast and then lunch any time after 2:00 PM.  One starts with an aperitif, maybe Kir or Champagne. Kir is a popular French cocktail made with a measure of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) topped up with white wine. Or, instead of an ordinary Kir, champagne can be substituted for the white wine in which case the drink becomes a Kir Royale.

Kir Royale

Orange juice for the children of course, but for everyone else, peanuts, olives and little cubes of cheese to snack on.  After an entree of perhaps seafood the main meal is usually meat with vegetables followed by cheese and salad and then at about 4:00 the desert is served with coffee.  It is unusual for there to be an evening meal on Sundays.  Although we did not follow this tradition exactly, today we went to one of our favourite restaurants, Chez Plumeau.

Chez Plumeau

Just off the place du Tertre, the restaurant is much better than some of the other, more touristy, places.  We had beautiful lamb shanks, a lovely rose wine and finished with a chocolate tart, espresso coffee and a shot of a very nice liqueur.

Somehow it seemed a shame to know that after that we were going  home and do the ironing.

Paris. A long day

For breakfast this morning we headed down rue Lepic in order to take the Funiculare up to the place du Tertre.  On the way, as we came to  the area around the Abbesses Metro station, we discovered a "second-hand" market which appeared to have everything imaginable: clothes, furniture, records, old telephones and antiquities of every kind. Lots of hustle and bustle!

The Market

In any city places fall in and out of popularity both generally and with individuals. So it is in Paris.  Years ago we loved the Cafe Francoeur.  It was staffed by some wonderful young women, all multilingual, and all good fun.  More recently, however, we have turned to a pleasant little place on the place du Tertre, Le Sabot Rouge.

Le Sabot Rouge

Later we decided to hop on a bus to go to  the place de la nation.  This is a huge place at what was once one of the entrances to the old city of Paris.The central monument, "The Triumph of the Republic", is a bronze group set up to mark the centenary of the French Revolution.  A personification of the Republic, looking towards place de la Bastille  stands on a globe in a chariot pulled by lions and surrounded by various symbolic figures.

The triumph of the republic

At the entrance to the square are two columns which surrounded the entrance to the cours de Vincennes. The columns are surmounted by statues of kings Philip II and Louis IX.

Detail from one of the columns

Our next stop was at the place de la Bastille where the Bastille prison stood until its storming and its subsequent physical destruction between 14 July 1789 and 14 July 1790. No vestige of it remains.

The July Column (Colonne de Juillet) which commemorates the events of the July Revolution (1830) stands at the center of the square.

The July Column

Detail from the base of the column

Heading home, we stopped on the rue de Rivoli and were caught up in a massive motorcycle demonstration.  It was apparently organized by the French motorcycle club and there must have been more than 5,000 bikes racing through the streets while their riders shattered eardrums with whistles and the sounds of acceleration.  Of course this absolutely demolished traffic in one of the busiest areas of the city, an event quaintly described as "une perturbation."

"Une perturbation"

And that was our day!

Quiet days in Paris

Yesterday we did all those things that one does when living in a city.  In the afternoon Virginia went to school and I worked.  Having been diligent we rewarded ourselves today, going into the heart of Paris for a long stroll on the rue de Rivoli.

Every time we are here (or any place in Europe for that matter) I like to buy myself a tie for a souvenir.  This is really quite practical since it is a pleasant reminder of our trip and something that is easy to carry unlike the glass chandelier that a friend of ours threatened to purchase in Venice last year!  Anyway, we wandered into the Louvre and surprise, surprise I walked out with a lovely tie.

View of the Pyramid inside the Louvre

Then we strolled down to W. H. Smith's stopping on route for a coffee in a rather up-itself cafe where the coffee was mediocre (rare in Paris) and the prices outrageous.  An ordinary coffee cost seven and a half euros or the equivalent - even with the excellent exchange rate currently prevailing - of ten dollars!  But as they say, "position, position, position."  Oddly enough we had gone to this cafe twelve years ago and had a similar experience.  Who would have believed that in all that time there had been no change for the better.  Well, we won't be going there again, at least not for another twelve years.

Looking back across the rue de Rivoli toward the Louvre

At W. H. Smith's, Virginia added another book on la langue Francais to her already bulging collection.  I dare not be critical or she reminds me of all the books I buy on Victorian England.  Our mutual cries of "but that's different" seem to fall on deaf ears.

For lunch we went to one of my favourite places,Léon de Bruxelles.

Léon de Bruxelles at place de Clichy

Here they have the best moules frits ever.  I enjoyed mussels in Belgium on several occasions as well as in Marseilles, but Léon's are far and away the best.  The thing about mussels is how easy they are to prepare.  All you need is a big pot, some diced onion, a bit of butter, white wine and possibly some thyme as well as the bearded mussels.  Steam for about five minutes or until the shells are open and enjoy.  The sauce can be dunked up with pieces of good baguette or even eaten as a soup.  This is heaven in a bowl.

Inside Léon de Bruxelles

A quiet day and a visit to Giverny

Tuesday was a quiet day with Virginia at school in the afternoon while I worked on my U3A talks.  Today, however, was much more interesting as we went to Giverny, to visit the home and gardens of Monet.

An early start took us by Metro to La gare Saint-Lazare where we purchased our tickets to the little town of Vernon.  Since we had a reasonable time to wait before our train left, we went across the road from the station for coffee and a pain au chocolat in a rather seedy cafe.

A rather seedy cafe

But the coffee and pain au chocolat was not too shabby

We boarded the train and within an hour were in Normandy and disembarked.  We were quite impressed with the train which was fast, clean and very pleasant.  We then boarded a bus which runs to the trains' schedule to take passengers to the sumptuous small village of Giverny.  A short walk from the bus stop took us to Monet's house and gardens.  The house is fascinating and appears quite small when one is inside, but from the outside it is possible to see that it is, in actuality, quite large. The views over the garden are exquisite.

View  of the House

Part of the Kitchen

The gardens from an upstairs bedroom window

The gardens are divided into several parts.  Of course, there are the wonderful flower beds with all the rich colours and smells of an early summer.

View down the front of the house

One of the many magnificent flower beds

When we were at Auvers sur Oise at the weekend we noticed that there were beds of Irises, reminiscent of the famous paintings of this flower by Van Gogh. But to be perfectly honest, they were not at their best. On the other hand, at Giverny, they were magnificent.

Irises in the garden

Although the lilies in the pond were not at their best, the Japanese bridge and the water are still charming. It seemed to be the day for the frogs as well since they were leaping around on the lily pads.

A frog amongst the lily pads

The Japanese Bridge

Lily Pads

Rowboats in the lower part of the pond

The last time we were in Giverny, it was spring and although it is spring now, the unseasonably hot and dry weather has meant that we were fortunate enough to see a summer garden this time.

We finished our visit to Giverny at the musée des impressionnismes where an exhibition of Pierre Bonnard's work was on display.

For anyone planning a trip to Paris and Giverny here are a few tips.  There are half-day bus tours from Paris which cost around 90 euros.  On the other hand, you can go to Vernon by train and on to Giverny by bus.  You can pay the admission fee for the Monet house and garden and the musée as well and the total for all of this will be about half of what you would pay for the organised bus trip. Of course, the best part of doing it on your own is that you can spend as little or as much time on the trip as you want.  There are pamphlets in English and the staff at the Gare saint-Lazare are very helpful.  So, save your money and have your own adventure.