We left the hotel after a disciplined breakfast. No extra pastries or cheeses. We trundled our cases a short distance to the Train station perched high on a hill and up a grandly long and vertiginous series of steps. I stopped about two metres from the top and a tourist taking in the view from the top helped me up the last set. It was a vast station that looked for all the world like an airport. It was a short wait before our train appeared on the departure board and at least a couple of hundred of us surged forward to board the colossus. The train had 18 two storey carriages, two buffet cars and was powered by 4 locos. We crossed most of the country over the next 3.5 hours and saw the country transform from the chalky hills of the south to the rolling green further north. It was a very smooth ride.
It was a great opportunity to read more of H is for Hawk. This is such an amazing book. The reader is made to feel that they inhabit the highs and lows of the writer in a scary sort of way. I had recklessly said to Johnny that it was wonderful how the French had managed to deliver electricity to the whole of the country without ruining the countryside with a skein of power cables. He delighted in pointing out to me every pylon we passed. As we climbed north the temperature dropped even though outside the sun was shining.
We really had a bit of luck arriving in Paris this week. Paris was having a no car day and huge numbers of people were either walking or riding pushbikes. Lots of places appeared to have opened their doors in expectation of the additional crowds and there were a huge number of class musical performances on the street. We arrived at the hotel in the Marais at 1pm and were out touring in half an hour. The first priority was lunch and we found a place nearby. It was called Bagelstein and there was a long trail of people waiting for them so we joined the queue. The wait was worth it and luckily a table came free at the front as we received our order.We joined in the local pastime of cafe sitting and people watching.
Honestly, the crowds were as large as during moomba, but on this special day the whole city of Paris looked this way. People absolutely filled the streets and cafes and there was a great atmosphere. We had no real plan and were happy to go with the flow. We began by going through the flea market. I'm sure there must have been treasure there but we were in no mood to add to the weight of our luggage. We kept thinking that Helen could make a killing here if she put on sale the contents of her garage. In the mist of all this chaos I found 4 pairs of new Todds loafers, complete with their boxes. There were also two blokes locked in an embrace asleep amongst the goods of one stall. I'm not sure which I was more surprised by. We walked through the streets of Marais and down to the river. There appeared to be some kind of protest going on in front of the incredible looking town hall. People wearing green were running around with greed towels or rolls of fake grass and plonking it down in the middle of the road to create a sort of temporary park.We stayed on the right bank until we got as far as the Louvre. The courtyard was filled with an enormous tent complex and at the end some sort of wavy structure was taking place. Whatever the show is, its going to be massive. We made our way towards the Tuilleries and then across to some gardens where we remembered (in the winter cold), having a picnic 15 years ago. I think every Parisian between 1 and 90 was out there lounging on the grass, licking ice cream, chatting and of course, smoking. Neither Johnny nor I could remember the name or specific location of that restaurant we visited all that time ago but to our utter amazement we blundered across it. It was The Grand Colbert and it had recently been in an American Rom Com. We will try to get in some time before we leave. We even found the Timotel we stayed in last time.
I lost track of exactly where we went and what we saw. We went wherever our eyes and our noses took us. There were some stunning gardens in the Place des Vosges. It was built in the 1600s and was originally called the Place Royale. It was intended as a royal residence.The house-fronts were all built to the same design, using red brick with strips of stone quoins over vaulted arcades and steeply-pitched blue slate roofs. In the middle of the square of hoses there was a beautiful formal gardens of clipped lindens grass and gravel.There must have been at lest six hundred people in that space, every one of them enjoying the sun and the carnival atmosphere. Wherever we turned there were crowds but it was in no way oppressive. The buskers really added to the atmosphere. Many of them were playing classical music or singing opera. it really was something very special.
We went on to see the Bastille and surrounding area before making our way home through what was supposed to be the Jewish quarter of the Marais. We could see little evidence of any conspicuous Jewish influence though. We had been walking for about 4 hours with only a short stop for a beer. We both needed a short rest before going out to dinner. Johnny opted for a Corsican restaurant about 20 metres from the hotel. The Lalivi was a very good choice. We both had the beef fillet with couscous. The food and the staff were lovely.
We went back to the hotel at about 10pm as we needed to rest up before our Monday visit to the Musee DÓrsay and then the Champs Elysee. Bon Nuit. Lily
We really had a bit of luck arriving in Paris this week. Paris was having a no car day and huge numbers of people were either walking or riding pushbikes. Lots of places appeared to have opened their doors in expectation of the additional crowds and there were a huge number of class musical performances on the street. We arrived at the hotel in the Marais at 1pm and were out touring in half an hour. The first priority was lunch and we found a place nearby. It was called Bagelstein and there was a long trail of people waiting for them so we joined the queue. The wait was worth it and luckily a table came free at the front as we received our order.We joined in the local pastime of cafe sitting and people watching.
Honestly, the crowds were as large as during moomba, but on this special day the whole city of Paris looked this way. People absolutely filled the streets and cafes and there was a great atmosphere. We had no real plan and were happy to go with the flow. We began by going through the flea market. I'm sure there must have been treasure there but we were in no mood to add to the weight of our luggage. We kept thinking that Helen could make a killing here if she put on sale the contents of her garage. In the mist of all this chaos I found 4 pairs of new Todds loafers, complete with their boxes. There were also two blokes locked in an embrace asleep amongst the goods of one stall. I'm not sure which I was more surprised by. We walked through the streets of Marais and down to the river. There appeared to be some kind of protest going on in front of the incredible looking town hall. People wearing green were running around with greed towels or rolls of fake grass and plonking it down in the middle of the road to create a sort of temporary park.We stayed on the right bank until we got as far as the Louvre. The courtyard was filled with an enormous tent complex and at the end some sort of wavy structure was taking place. Whatever the show is, its going to be massive. We made our way towards the Tuilleries and then across to some gardens where we remembered (in the winter cold), having a picnic 15 years ago. I think every Parisian between 1 and 90 was out there lounging on the grass, licking ice cream, chatting and of course, smoking. Neither Johnny nor I could remember the name or specific location of that restaurant we visited all that time ago but to our utter amazement we blundered across it. It was The Grand Colbert and it had recently been in an American Rom Com. We will try to get in some time before we leave. We even found the Timotel we stayed in last time.
I lost track of exactly where we went and what we saw. We went wherever our eyes and our noses took us. There were some stunning gardens in the Place des Vosges. It was built in the 1600s and was originally called the Place Royale. It was intended as a royal residence.The house-fronts were all built to the same design, using red brick with strips of stone quoins over vaulted arcades and steeply-pitched blue slate roofs. In the middle of the square of hoses there was a beautiful formal gardens of clipped lindens grass and gravel.There must have been at lest six hundred people in that space, every one of them enjoying the sun and the carnival atmosphere. Wherever we turned there were crowds but it was in no way oppressive. The buskers really added to the atmosphere. Many of them were playing classical music or singing opera. it really was something very special.
We went on to see the Bastille and surrounding area before making our way home through what was supposed to be the Jewish quarter of the Marais. We could see little evidence of any conspicuous Jewish influence though. We had been walking for about 4 hours with only a short stop for a beer. We both needed a short rest before going out to dinner. Johnny opted for a Corsican restaurant about 20 metres from the hotel. The Lalivi was a very good choice. We both had the beef fillet with couscous. The food and the staff were lovely.
We went back to the hotel at about 10pm as we needed to rest up before our Monday visit to the Musee DÓrsay and then the Champs Elysee. Bon Nuit. Lily
