Samedi 28 Mai 2011 Au revoir Paris

Last day in Paris & we are all ready to move on, out for a final pain aux raisin & coffee over on Rive Gauche.

Favourite Boulangerie for cafe & pain aux raisin

Fun with the cases down the six flights of stairs & then bit of a drama on the RER to CDG as the line was closed & we had to get off the train at Gare du Nord & get to another platform, which one wasn't clear but we followed those with cases, pandemonium reigned supreme but it all came out in the wash & the Aerlingus flight was delayed anyway. Arrived Dublin airport (all very spiffy) at around 4pm ilo 3. Taxi to accomodation, driver gave us his version of Ireland today & reassured us the about our ancestors who came to Australia, they were not criminals, the criminals sent them, we didn't mention that we descended from free settlers, (as far as we know) He was also pretty vocal on the "feckin nigerians"
First impression of Dublin, ....yikes....could just be where the hotel is but pretty dire, of course we had no idea on nice areas to stay & this area Phibsboro is only 1 k out of town. Hotel itself is fine & we are very happy with our room etc. We walked into O'Connell St & had a look around but impression not improving, all so GREY, so many buildings of dismal grey granite & rubbish all around, I tried to make M feel better & said just like Italy, but she was looking at the people & thought that they looked the same, sort of dismal, look we have just come from the most beautiful city in the world & even Paris has it's ugliness! (Musee Rodin - according to M!)
Settled on O'Neills for tea, just down the street from Trinity College,  there has been a tavern on the site for 300 years, present day pub from 1800's I think. Anyway lots of action & when we got inside we saw why, carvery which served meals you could not jump over for 12 euro, we had roast beef with yorkshire & 100 veg. Very atmospheric pub, all wood & little nooks & crannies,  bulging with people - high excitement over soccer match blasting out from 3-4 big screens- MU & Barcelona - what that's got to do with Ireland I don't know. We made a decent dent on the giant's meal in front of us & staggered back to hotel, tucked up by 9pm

Jeudi 26 Mai 2011 La Poste

Over to Place Maubert Market for another go at the freshwater pearls, really what could we do? Then back to pack boxes of excess baggage to send home, didn't think this one out as La Poste chap neglected to tell us that price accelerates alarmingly once weight over 2 kg. In the end had to repack into La Poste box & couldn't have economy & all sorts of complications. Hope all this is going to make a difference to the case (& I haven't bought much at all, unlike someone else who shall remain nameless)
Lunch at Chez Janou near Place des Vosges ( another recommendation off the net) & really very good, we had the menu, tomato tart &  canard something - both excellent & tried the Kir - cassis - aperitif - yum.

On the way back, dropped into L'Occitane, M has taken it as personal challenge to get some free samples out of them in Paris to no avail as yet, but today we hit paydirt. M bought some lovely verbena cologne set for J, the young chap replaced the soap in the set a for a more expensive one as he was telling his future plans of writing poetry, in fact he was leaving work tomorrow to do so. I bought a serum. He then went on to give us a heap of samples while explaining his boss was a "beetch" & he sounded like he was glad to be leaving.  Mission accomplished,  as we sailed home, but who has the last laugh, we have more weight to carry.

Vendredi 27 Mai 2011 Last day in Paris

Today's Metro entrance Palais-royale Louvre, not the usual Art Nouveau

Well aware that this was our last full day in Paris we tried to squeeze in as much as possible, went over to Les Depots on Rue Vanue where I had had such luck with a torquoise bracelet, but must have been a fluke as everything tres tres.

We ate lunch at Polidor, one of the many places Hemmingway frequented, must have been quite a gourmand, we had the dish of the day, which they called haches parmentier & turned out to be shepherds pie, very nice. Funny thing was that 2 gentlemen sat at the other end of the table & ordered the same, but with a side order of chips!
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Never enough potatoes

Polidor for lunch, Hemmingway's ghost not inspire greater literary genius


We saw Carlotta about departure tomorrow morning as she was attending to some plumbing issue in the other little garret she rents out, this one is hers, not Desmond's. Probably a better option as bed not mezzanine arrangement, but 2 singles, one been trundle. Not a full kitchen however, just a little fridge & microwave

For our last night in Paris we decided to sample the restaurant on the other end of Rue Chanoinesse, Au Vieux, always very popular as we walk past  and apparently of great repute, in an old building 15xx, all exposed beams &  heavily carved furniture.
 

M & I having diner at Au Vieux, rather camp waiter, think Benny Hill

  Well quite an experience, the theatre of it more than the food, we had an chef's surprise menu, first up, vegetable crudites with dip (onion), next  little vegetable pancakes, next pate au maison with fruity chutney, next gazpacho, main was fish provencal for me & M chicken dish, dessert was pomme tart & cream. We had to go to the cellar & choose our wine, quite a range,( most out of our price range) We chose a medoc which was very nice. I wouldn't rave about the food, which was nice but we have had nicer in Paris, but the atmosphere & the waiters made it an occasion. Luckily we didn't have far to stagger home

Dimanche 22 Mai 2001 Monet's Garden

Over to Saint Lazare station first thing for train to Giverny - Monet's Garden, sounds easy doesn't, but no mean feat finding one's way from Metro to Grande Lignes, ended up having to come out of the Metro station completely & walk the long way round & entrance not blindingly obvious either as covered with building work, scaffolding etc. Pertinent that the train for Giverney (Vernon really) going from Saint Lazare as one of Monet's paintings was of the station with billowing steam from the trains, ...   OK probably not a coincidence as he would have used this station himself between Paris & Giverny!
Shuttle bus meets the train to transport the hordes. Garden just beautiful & very inspiring, can't wait to get home & get into it, have noted Monet's favourites.

Recognise that bridge? 

Waterlilies at Monet's garden - Giverny

Monet's house Giverny

Monet family tomb at Giverny church

Propeller from plane which came down in Battle of Britain 7&8/6/1944. This is a memorial for seven crew who lie in the Giverny  graveyard

M & I walked back to Vernon, 4 k's, by the river,    holier than thou.
Had run into American girl at Gare Sainte Lazare while trying to nut out the train to Vernon (Monet's garden -Giverny) & we sat with her on our return trip, turned out she was 53!!! , M & I feel she must have had some work done ...  unless disintegration has increased so rapidly for us in the last 5 years! - apropos nothing. The interesting part was that she was doing a blog about fashion in Paris whilst here for 10 days, approaching chic women on the street of Paris & asking if she can take their photo for her blog, no probs apparently - everyone wants to be a star! Her link is www.bienvestido.blogspot   (means the art of dressing well)

Made an abortive call to the Yveline at B&B La Grange I had previously booked by phone on Friday to confirm arrival time but she did not understand, thought I was trying to book again. "Eet's not possible, all fooel"  I persisted to no avail, asking her to check her bookings for my name, etc.

Back from Loire Valley & days behind

Lundi 23 Mai 2011

Managed to leave home in plenty of time for Gare L'Austerlitz to catch the train for  Amboise in Loire valley, mostly due to no milk, so no allbran. Still, good excuse for grande cafe & pain aux raisin at the station while we waited. Train full but very comfortable, 2 hour trip to Amboise. Amboise chosen as smallest town (around 10,000) with hire car facilities in the Loire valley. Bit of a scare when American couple behind us were asked to provide photo id , eg passport, ok for me as I had for the care hire, but M had left hers back at the garret - we just didn't think of it, anyway few digs in the ribs to M to keep her mouth closed & we just passed over our tickets & phew, all ok. Must remember on return journey, when the conductor comes, lips sealed & look like a local....as if.
Straight off the train to the Office de Tourisme, very obliging girl rang Yveline to discuss, yes she had our booking, it was as I thought, she did not understand me. We trotted down, 2 blocks from the Loire river, very old house on the corner, charming courtyard behind large burgundy gates, poor Yveline had a migraine (probably my phonecall to her the previous evening - M did say I harrassed the poor woman) Room & accomodation lovely & just what we wanted for the Loire Valley - character overload. 

Courtyard garden La Grange B&B Amboise

Headed straight for Chateau Amboise & Clos Luce (pronounced clo lucy) as in town and walkable. Amboise was seat on Valois kings in medieval times when Brittany was still a separate country, so part of Chateau d"Amboise is presented as it was in medieval times when royal life migratory. Once royals decided Paris was a better place to be, it fell into disrepair & was then redone in the 19th c as country seat of Bourbon royal family & the kids were tucked away there. Most interesting part was that Francois 1st was a patron of Leonardo Da Vinci & LDV spent the last 5 years of his life there & is buried in the chateau chapel. 

Chateau d"Amboise

Troglodyte house on rue between Chateau d"Amboise & Clos Luce

On to Clos Luce, 10 minutes walk from chateau, which was Leonardo's home in Amboise (provided by his patron) lovely old red brick medieval house. Lot's of displays re inventions & ideas, in fact the large grounds a sort of theme park for Leonardo's inventions, bit crass, but quite welldone for that sort of thing.

Models made from Leonardo Da Vinci designs in Clos Luce

Clos Luce, Amboise -home of Leonardo Da Vinci for last 5 years of his life

By then time to pick up the hire car, just didn't realise it was so far away (looked close on the map) 5 k's later, with M following behind cursing me, we picked up our little Nissan Micra & took off. My first action was to turn on the intermittant wiper (going for the blinkers) & not be able to turn it off. Stopped it finally, only to have the rear window wiper wagging away in the rearview mirror, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. Also could not find the cigarette lighter to plug in the GPS-checked the book in the glovebox & everything - in another language,  hope this doesn't happen in Ireland! Lots of fun through one way streets (narrow) back to B&B, we circled it 5 times before we could get to it, all with M offering great encouragement. Yveline's husband, Patric, helped with the street parking, as bit of a minefield, & very kindly moved his car to give us a park.  Cleanup & out for lovely tea at La Reserve (recommended by the girl in the Autoeurope office) in the shadow of the Chateau, went for glass of champagne - yum, mousseline of scallop, M - ginger chicken dish, me salmon with red wine/fish stock reduction, & both chocolate fondant.

Old street in Amboise - on way to tea

Chatted to a Dutch couple on the next table, they were farmers & were on the first holiday after many years of hard work, touring around for 5 months in a campervan with a Harley Davidson on the back!!!

Dutch couple travelling around with Harley on the van

Strolled home via the Loire river & now sitting up in bed listening to 2 chaps chatting as they walk past the window (right on the street) - all "je ne sais quois" &  "qu'est-ce que" M already asleep!

Mardi  24 Mai 2011

At peace with the world after glass or 2 of bubbles (ask me in the a.m) and emporter pizza back in the courtyard garden at B&B after heavy day of chateaux, end of the day

Fruits-de-la-mer pizza

Start of the day, usual french breakfast with cereal bowls, which of course to the uninitiated means cereal must be coming, not so French couple also staying knew the drill, big bowl of milky coffee for dunking of croissant and/or baguette, yes seems unreal in this day & age, particularly when the supermarket shelves are full of cereals, unless they are all for the tourists!
Anyway back to breakfast- fruit, juice, yoghurt, baguette, croissant with butter & jams. Poor Yveline still suffering from migraine, purely selfishly I was relieved to hear she thinks her back is out, ergo, malaise not caused by harrassment by guest.
Chatted to couple from Sacramento, husband an air traffic controller, wife with parks & wildlife (or equivilant), just had their shared 50th birthday, same day. For the record they thought the bowls may be for the fruit & yoghurt. Also at breakfast a couple from Milwaukee & then the French couple. Car had to be faced again & we did it , hopped in (right side of the car) & off to Chenonceaux, thought we had got there at the crack of dawn, 9.15, but so did the busloads of Japanese tourists, hordes of French school children etc, boy has this place has been developed as a tourist destination, perfectly presented & extremely well done, think Loire Valley Disney chateaux. That said enjoyed it for the second time, as history so interesting & evocative, ie King Henry 11 gives beautiful little chateaux to best mistress, Diane de Poitiers , king dies & queen, Catherine de Medicis, chucks out the mistress, mind you, obsolete mistress is given another chateaux in exchange, Chaumont-sur-Loire, another modest little hovel. By the time we gave the place a good going over it was 1.30, so we sampled the crepes on site, really quite nice, but I don't see crepes as takeaway as the French do, as they wrap it in paper & it sticks to the paper & also sticky fingers by the end.

Front entrance to Chateau de Chenonceaux

Next chateau,  Chaumont-sur-loire, 10-20 k's away, not quite as developed but gardens huge & lovey setting high over the Loire river. Chateau had long history starting 1000, Catherine de Medicis mixed up in it again. Chateau decorated as it was by last owner -an heiress who married a Prince - from 1875 & it was a compulsory state acquisition from her in the 30's.

View

Fireplace with porcupine theme (emblem of Loius XII )at Chaumont-sure-Loire

Chateau Chaumont-sur-Loire

17th c majolica floor tiling at Chaumont-sur-Loire - came from palace in Palermo, Sicily

Next chateau another 20 k's, Montpoupon, low down on the commercial scale, but cute little chateau, all done out as hunting lodge, which of course a lot of these were, lots of forests around for deer hunting etc. We then wanted to look at a folly, Pagode de Canteloupe, which was only 4 k's from Amboise, well 50 k's later, and a lot of frustration, called it a day & headed for home, more frustration there as no parks near B&B, finally found one after 2 rounds of the town.

Chateau Mountpoupon - hunting lodge

Chatted to Ken & Bev from Milwaukee while we ate our pizza, Bev an ex-teacher (thought so even before she said) They had been to Chambord & Cheverney today, which is what we plan for  tomorrow.

Ken & Bev from Milwaukee

Mercredi 25 Mai 2011
Full house for La Grange again this morning, 4 couples plus 4 on bikes. I gather that this B&B is recommended by Rick Steves from what I overheard. Chatted again to Ken & Bev & they have been to Ireland 7 times (that put our minds at rest) & recommended Dingle on the Dingle peninsula  as good place to go  - put it on the list, M.  ate our full, same as yesterday, plus little sweet puffs (got to love those high gi carbs), paid Yveline (now recovered) 150 euro for the 2 nights & au revoir.

Off to Cheverny Chateau, reputed to be the most lavishly furnished, & really decor most complete, tres sumptious appointments. The family still live there & it has been in the same family  (the Huralts) for 600 years, although slipped out of their hans twice in its history, one incident being to KIng's mistress Diane de Poitiers  (mon dieu, she was good!) Style looked more like townhouse to me than chateau (  sleeping beauty)

Chateau Cheverney

Not sure how far it was from Amboise but it tooks us a good one & a half hours to get there, what with diversions & wrong turns, merde!

Wall panels at Cheverny - story of Don Quixote - by Jean Monier

Firedogs at Cheverny date from the time of Loius XIV

Ceiling at Cheverny

Fancy fireplace at Cheverny

On to Chambord - this one was started as hunting lodge for Francois 1 in 1519 & it is HUGE, 426 rooms with a double helix stone staircase, thought to have been the design of Leonardo Da Vinci. From the outside there is a hotchpotch of different shaped towers & turrets etc like it was designed by a committee which couldn't decide, inside & out tufa stone. The whole estate is now government-owned, national park, camping, picnicing etc.

Chateau de Chambord, a plethora of towers

Double helix stone staircase at Chambord

Interesting part on this one was  Duc de Bordeaux / Compte de Chambord - last of the Bourbons - owned it from 1821 & he was pretender to the throne, whiled away his time awaiting the restoration of monarchy and when the offer came, he refused to adopt to tricolor flag, so no dice. Place filthy with tourists (many buses) & schoolkids (French schoolkids have decent excursions, best I can remember from schooldays - mind you was a while ago - was bus to Melbourne to see play "Waiting for Godo"!)  Huge car park & of course we lost the car & continued to get lost all the way back to Amboise, only 2 incidents of road rage - directed at me, not by me, on the whole French quite tolerant drivers!  Delivered car to Europecar,  unscathed (well some nerve damage only) pleased to restore to more competent hands.  Taxi to gare for 7.02 train  back to Paris.
Impression of Loire Valley 2nd time around, bigger than I remembered, and also busier, could have been all the the extra k's done getting lost of course

Samedi 21 Mai 2011 Last day of our Museum pass

I scooted out first thing (9.15am)to get at the front of the queue for the Notre Dame bell tower , it is just around the corner & although opens at 10am, still 15 people in the queue, stood behind 3 backpackers from Germany who got themselves a coffee which was obviously no good as they left it on the pavement, well!! Then the chap started marshalling the queue & coffee was at risk of being kicked over, so I said (sotto voce)"mind the coffee you left on the pavement girls" One of them took the hint & got rid of them. Anyway went up again (another 350 steps) & took the photos I missed out on last time.

Our friendly neighbourhood gargoyles

The sud bell

Can't keep away from the gargoyles, must recognise kindred spirits

Our garret window, middle of shot, above the dark awnings, the 2 windows on the right

Back to pick up M & off to the Maubert Saturday market, another shopping frenzy at a stall which had very reasonably priced freshwater pearls from Vietnam, ( & I even indulged myself). Also bought a can of perigord fois gras for tea to try. Lovely smell coming fom the flaffel stand & looked very popular, so tried the wares for lunch, tres good, rather odd arrangement, they had the large flat bread already spread with some sort of ground meat, perhaps lamb, that is then put on the rounded hotplate & cooked & then hummus or cheese, tabbouleh & salad added, yum.

Maubert Market

Our final chance at the the Pomidou Centre modern art exhibition, has to be the most ugly building in Paris, but we girded our loins & braved it.  About the the modern art collection, really just a lot of "pôles bleu" if you get my drift, in the earlier section from 1905 some wonderful things to feast one's eyes on, eg Matisse, Chagall, Modgiliani

The Pompidou Centre in all its glory

An interesting piece in the modern art , recycled bottle tops

Andy Warhol, 10 Lizes

Henri Matisse - self portrait

Another Matisse, have known & loved this many years from Mum's spare bedroom..poster of course

A Modgiliani

View to Sacre Couer from Pompidou Centre

A Marc Chagall  -   beginning to wish I had noted the names of these!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vendredi 20 Mai 2011

Off to the laundromat on the Left Bank to do the necessary, (but Merrel wasn't there this time) I don't think I mentioned our last washing experience, but a woman who was SO like Merrel Streep was at the laundromat when we got there & of course M had to put her teeth back in & all she could get out to the woman was "the devil wears prada", 'Merrel' was very gracious & nodded and in a very charming french accent, yes I am often mistaken for Merrel, cripes she even dressed like Merrel, all white linen, obviously very tres chic in a Parisian matronly sort of way. She showed us  how to use the washing machine (whilst staying in character the whole time) I said to M that if in a year or so there is a Merrel Streep movie in which she plays a Parisian lady, we will know we were right!
Then La Poste again for another parcel home for M - I told you she's a good shopper - the rather stern chap (one of the Parisian shop assistants who when you ask "parlez-vous anglais?" answers with "what do you want")  in La Poste on the Left Bank is getting positively friendly.
Quelle horreur, time for lunch already & so close to L'ecurie, had the menu again,  this time pate de compagne, steak & frites (spoke to the chef this time & he told us the aioli which comes with the steak is mayo & roasted garlic - lip-smackingly good) We both went for the tres bon chocolate mousse. The waiter was up to his usual, smoking outside & chatting up attractive young women, and a ready market freely available as this is the uni area, Sorbonne etc, he certainly seemed to know them all & vice versa. Quite a character & turned out not even French but from Abruzzo in Italy ... all is revealed! 

Italian waiter at L'ecurie, for once behind the bar

Decor L'ecurie showing stable origins

After lunch spent a good hour or so in the Pantheon, built 18th century as a church & has gone between religious & secular use several times since & is now used as a mausoleum for French people who have contributed to the nation, the tombs are in the crypt, Mme Curie, Louis Braille, Victor Hugo (hunchback of ND) Voltaire & Emile Zola were the ones I recognised (& can remember)

Crypt below the Pantheon, where the bodies are buried

Quick cup of tea back at the garret & then headed for Pompidou Centre over on the Right Bank, alas did not make it again, got as far as Forum Des Halles, a huge subterranean shopping centre, & well named as it really was hell -not sure how many floors it went below- but we did manage to find something to buy in a sports shop, I got some Billabong (can you believe it!) tops for M & T.  We got lost several times as the whole thing is escalators all over the place, nightmare stuff, luckily we had to get out at 8pm when they closed so followed the crowds