Sunday 2nd September Last day in Paris

I am doing this last day back home & bit hard to remember, I do remember trying a recommended bistro in the 13th for lunch Chez Gladines. The 13th sounds a long way out, but really just out of the 5th on the Left Bank. Anyway the place was packed, long shared tables and was recommended for Basque cuisine. I tried the cassoulet du maison, which is a meaty (duck leg, pork belly & sausage in my dish) beany flavoursome casserole with breadcrumbs & parsley on top, absolutely delicious, washed down with a half carafe of the house Cote du Rhone. The chap sitting opposite me on the table gave me a clap when I finished it!

Notre Dame, from yesterday

The "committment" locks, much thicker than last year

Gateway into the Louvre courtyard

Louvre courtyard with glass pyramid

Being the first Sunday of the month, Paris museums/ galleries are free, so took myself off after lunch for another go at the Louvre. I thought the crowds would be huge, but really no different to the previous visits......just horrendous covers it.  This time I did manage to get to some other areas, god that place is huge.  When I got sick of that, walked down Tuileries Garden - lots of Parisians & tourists out enjoying the day  - to L'Orangerie the home of Monet's waterlily series in 2 huge oval rooms, (just as wonderful as last time!) also many other impressionist and post-impressionist paintings, my favourites being Cézanne,  Matisse &  Modigliani.


All arted out & the afternoon gone, I crossed over to the Left Bank at Place de la Concorde & walked along the Seine to the Tour Eiffel, which is not quite as nice approached from that way due to hawkers & unsavoury looking characters hanging around. Best approach is up Champs de Mars from the other side.   Crossed the river again & dragged my sorry a. around Place du Trocadéro-et-du-11-Novembre, named after a victory over Spain at some stage (11th Nov I guess)   From there up hill all way to Arc de Triomphe & home........ I'm pretty sure I walked off my excesses at lunch!

Grand Palais & Pont Alexander from the Left Bank

Tour Eiffel

Arc de Triomphe

Toilet in b&b apartment, presume 1903 as that when built

B&B apartment block, was on 4th floor, lift this time though!

Sat with host C & her friend M for a quiet wine & cheese (me) they had the leftovers of a casserole C had made the first night I got there, chicken & peaches !!!!  strange combination. Both very nice women & both thinking of making major changes in their lives, eg M thinking of moving to Barcelona & C moving anywhere. Anyway it was a fruitful conversation as I found out about the Air France bus which goes from Avenue Carnot, 10 minutes walk,just 2 steps up from where I was going to the RER station, but whereas RER would have involved dragging 18 kilo case (plus carryon bag) down & up metro stairs & then same at Chatelet to change to RER B for CDG.......much easier.





That will have to be it for this trip, next 2 days were a blur of plane trips, with the layovers seeming longer that the flight times,  Paris to Helsinki, then 6 hour wait, Helsinki to Singapore, then 5 hours & then Singapore to Adelaide, phew.  Jet lag at home, very bad, but coming good now & best thing is I don't have to go back to work!

Saturday 1st September Paris

This is the stairwell of the apartment building, very gracious

I had been planning to go to a gallery in northern reaches of Paris but when I started checking it out, the trip required a couple of train changes so went off it.  I headed off to Montmartre & Sacre Couer, wandered around there for a bit, wasn't too crowded as still early.  I was trying to get the courage to have a portrait done in Place du Tertre, I did the rounds a few times & chose an artist, sat still for 30 minutes or so, passed over my 50 euro, not sure who I got a picture of however! She was probably a bit too kind to me!

Sacre Couer

Me having my portrait done

After this spent some time wandering around Montmartre, more than I have before, very atmospheric old area, checked some immobliers (real estate) windows, prices are really up there, 3 rooms 750,000 euros. Ended coming out at Moulin Rouge,  lots of tourists there taking photos of the red windmill....so I joined them.  Diverted to the old Montmartre cemetery,  Emile Zola & Degas (amongst others) are buried there. It is set low as Montmartre is hilly & there is now a road going over the top of it, so from both sides of the road you look down into the cemetery.

Walking around Montmartre

Only in Paris, the dog is tied up in the supermarket while the owner is shopping

Strolling through Montmartre Cemetery

The Moulin Rouge

By then it was lunchtime so revisited restaurant from last trip Chez Janou, had an excellent meal,  whole fish on bed of fennel, provencale flavours, very nice. A lovely little Paris bistro, lots of French conversations going on.

Chez Janou, typical Paris bistro

I have done it again, walked my feet off,  from Chez Janou, which is behind Place des Vosges, I then walked to Ille St Louis for the special berthillon ice cream for dessert, I had two flavours, cassis sorbet & bitter chocolate & can vouch for the excellence of both, in fact as I type this, just thinking, stuff it, I  may have to have another one tomorrow!...  Then revisited old haunts on the Left bank,  really I do love the atmosphere there.

Next on the agenda was Musee D'Orsay (again) & no regrets,  It is a beautiful gallery  & the impressionist (& post) collections  magical, I counted 14 Van Gogh, including starry night, not the name, but you know the one I mean, I saw that one in Canberra when the Musee D'Orsay collection travelled.......would have enjoyed more if I didn't have to keep sitting down to rest! 

Back home to the 17th, 10 minute walk from metro at Arc de Triomphe, Charles de Gaulle Etoile......at least it is 10 minutes  if you remember to come out of the right exit,  you could end up over the other side of arc de triomphe & have to walk all the way around as 12 roads come off the roundabout. Hard to believe that all that confusion on top & the same is replicated below with people scurrying through tunnels to ensure they come up at the right exit.

Friday 31st August 2012 Eurostar to Paris

Last night host Tessa had her "bloke " stay over so I did not feel as at ease as I had previously, seemed like a nice chap but they were talking well into the night, this should not be an issue, but with these "conversions" not quite as much privacy as one would like as you can hear everything. Also maybe I was a bit nervous about having to get to St Pancras for the Eurostar, anyway not a good night sleep.

Decided wth Tessa's help may as well get the tube to St Pancras & really very smooth & not an issue, plenty of time to get a coffee & croissant (getting in the mood) at the station. One thing I did not expect is that they do the security border checks at the station, also the French passport control is at the London end....who would have thought?  In the end just a train trip.....with a very long tunnel in the middle....which I would have not allowed myself to think about too much if it wasn't for a kid behind asking, "are we under the water yet, are we under the water yet?"

Once at Gare du Nord remembered old metro tickets in my purse, so hopped on metro & with one change was in 17th arrondisement at 8 Rue Villebois Mareuil by 2pm. Then realised I did not have the floor number, but managed to rouse the conscierge who took me up.  Now this is how I imagined a parisian apartment to be, very gracious, spacious, the host Carole is really very tres gentile, not sure how many of her kids are here. Got stuff settled  then off to see the lay of the land, very close to Arc de Triomphe, walked there & then of course down Champs Elysees, heaving with people. Ended up at Place de la Madeleine & metro from there to Chatelet - right bank.

This  took a while & by the time I got back was 6.30pm, so stopped for a cold drink on the corner of Avenue des Ternes & something else. It was good to stop & let the world go by & boy was it going by. In my innocence, once past Arc de Triomphe I imagined the pace slowed down, what a joke, it was frenetic, cars & people all other the place. I did enjoy the people watching however. I stopped at Monoprix for something for tea & headed home.  Had a good chat with host Carole over tea. She is early 50s & a dental surgeon, 4 kids. She worked with her husband, another dentist & found out 2 years ago he had been having affairs with the patients!!!!  Suffice to say she is now divorced, no longer works with him.... & is in a quandary aout how to move forward with her life. The building is a family building, I think she said that her grandparents built it in 1903, it is in the typical Parisian style, 6 floors, cream, black wrought iron balconies, she is on th 4th floor.

Thursday 30th August 2012 London still

Up early as last day in London & wanted to fit a bit in.  Earlyish that is, 8.30, early enough to catch all the workers rushing to the office with coffee in hand. As recommended by host Tessa, I walked through the Bunhill cemetery (name thought to come from bone hill), a non-conformist (non-C-of-E) cemetery, don't think anyone has been planted there since 1800s.  Notable graves are of Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe) & William Blake. Another of her recommendations was walking through the Barbican Centre on 2nd floor walkway. Barbican Centre is a multi-arts centre - art, music, drama, London Museum (wasn't open) don't ask me, I just walked through & view to ground was rather nice, I was chatting to a girl from Melbourne on the way through, she had worked for ETSA Power & had been in London for 10 years, so did not focus on much. I did manage to notice a secion of the old London wall down below  & took a photo of that, of course the Romans were responsible for it.... as they were for a lot of things.

Part of the old London wall viewed from the Barbican walkway

Once I emerged from the Barbican, I could see the the dome of St Pauls so walked in that direction, about 10 minutes. Against my better judgement stopped for a coffee at a chain very prevalent here (no, not Starbucks, have learnt that lesson, the coffee is shite) anyway the chain is Costa & the coffee was ok, but they serve is in these huge, thick,  white cups - like drinking out of a chamber pot, not that I have done that, but I can imagine.

On from there I walked down Ludgate Hill & Fleet St & diverted off for Leicester Square, eventually found it (no mean feat) & purchased a matinee ticket for "Ghost the musical"  32 pounds (think 1990 film- Demi Moore & Patrick Swayze) recommended by L (not sure about T) with whom  shared afternoon tea yesterday.  Deal done, headed for the National Portrait Gallery & spent a good 2-3 hours there, it is like a history lesson , as it starts with the 1500s & moves up from there. I really enjoyed it.  Just had time to grab some lunch before the matinee at 2.30.

Well the show, what can I say, I loved it, great fun & ended with a tear in the eye.....much like the film really.  Full house & standing ovation. The male lead Mark Evans was excellent, the girl - not sure about her.

Ghost the musical at the Picadilly Theatre, just off Picadilly Circus

After that, hopped on the tube to Knightsbridge, Harrods & did a bit of shopping, along with all the middle eastern shoppers,  probably 7 to 3, I kid you not. Lucky they have a lot of oil currency with the prices in there, I could only afford the Harrods souvenirs (made in China- might as well buy them in Bali at 10th the price!)

Day done, back home to tangle with hair wash without a shower. Kneeling over the bath is de rigeur apparently & then to top it off, no powerpoint in the bathroom for the hair dryer, against the law in UK.




Host Tessa has her chap over for tea this evening, so quite happy to be fiddling with blog ....no more than 2 can fit in that kitchen anyway!

Wednesday 29 August 2012 Claridges

Did not rush off this am, bit tired after big day yesterday. Negotiated the tube to Trafalgar Square heading for National Portrait Gallery.  Trafalgar Square teeming with people as the Para olympic torch was coming past, so I only made it to the National Gallery, but 3 hours slipped by before I knew, I thought  that I had seen 3 of the 4 Van Gogh sunflower paintings, but I can't have. I know I did see one in Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam & now this one, must be 2.  Suffice to say I had a lovely time of it.


Before I knew it it was time to meet L & T for afternoon tea at Claridges....this had been arranged this morning... but it turns out that T had made the booking months ago, ( I was included at the last minute, aren't I lucky! ) as this event is so popular it is booked out months in advance.  Very swish it is too,  in the ladies loo the attendant goes in & flushes the loo when you come out....not sure what that is about... but it costs you a pound. The afternoon tea is a choice of with or without  bubbly & then you choose your special scented tea, we all chose different ones, mine was Marco Polo which was divine.....and then they bring out the little sandwiches, all delicious & keep them coming  and then the scones, with their special Claridges jam & clotted cream, oh the arteries. The scones were really special, an apple flavour...we had to have seconds of those also. By that time little cakes, but really to enjoy those to the fullest should not have overindulged earlier,  so sad.  I was really there as proxy for my friend S back in Adelaide so I gave it my best effort, you would have been proud!

Ladies room entrance at Claridges

L, T & I enjoying our afternoon tea

Look at those sweet little cakes

My humble abode in the Barbican for 4 days... T thinks 2 bedroom flat  probably worth half a mill

Staggered/waddled back to the Oxford Circus tube,  Victoria line, change at Kings Cross to Circle line to Barbican.  Sounds like I know what I am doing,  doesn't it?

Tuesday 28th August 2012 Greenwich

Footsore & weary after big day at Greenwich.  The B&B is on top floor- 5th - & the Barbican area is very convenient, 5 minutes to the tube on the circle line which goes to everything but, no B, just bed, so had to get some bread for toast & fruit, but would you believe it, no toaster, felt like I was in Italy! Had to make my toast under the griller! Just setting the scene, I'm not sure how old the building is but not much has happened internally since, I'd say. Infact the shower does not come from above, but is one of those ones where you have to sit in the bath & hold it, I kept looking for the hook to hold the nozzle, nothing. I am going to have to go the hairdresser & get hair washed, as I know from experience impossible task with this "shower"  Anyway the bed is comfortable & the host Tess is a nice woman. She must lead a very cosmopolitan life as not much in the kitchen cupboards  by way of crockery etc or food. It's all an experience.

Off early for my 11.30 booking for the Cutty Sark as not sure how long it would take to get there. Circle line tube from Barbican to Tower Hill, got right out at the Tower of London, & then around the corner to Tower Gateway for the Docklands Light Rail,  on that one for a few stops & then off & onto the Lewisham line for Greenwich/Cutty Sark.  Got there in plenty of time so visited the Old Royal Naval College - the painted Hall with painted ceiling bigger that the Sistine Chapel from 1707 & the Chapel,  the whole complex was a Christpher Wren design. The Cutty Sark tour was interesting, such a sweet little boat, the sailors must have been short, judging by the length of the bunks! A good display of the history of the boat as a tea clipper & then wool from Australia & how it was rescued. After that back to the naval college chapel for recital, piano, young chap played for an hour or so, very dramatic, nothing I knew, one Liszt one was vaguely familiar.
I then walked up the hill to the Royal Observatory, this was a long walk due to the closing of access, due to Paraolympics still going on, but worth it, did a very good tour of history of the Chronometer & John Harrison many decade quest to create an accurate one, his attempts are there H1, 2 & 3 huge brass things & the final one a large pocket watch size, then he had to fight for another 10 or so years to get the 20,000 pound reward which had been promised. His son then led the life of the idle rich with the money as he had popped off by then!

The whole thing a good day out & was crawling with people.

Next stop was the National Maritime Museum,  which had a lot on the old favourite Nelson & also a special exhibition on the Thames river & it's history re the Royals.

6 o'clock by then & took the Thames boat back, takes about 30-40  minutes, & worth it for different view. I got off at the Tower & walked around for a bit, really I was looking for the tube station, which proved elusive as was coming from a different angle.........finally got home, got some indian takeaway on the way.  Host Tess not home, vegged out in front of the telly,  100 channels & nothing on, had to watch a bakeoff show, but once in bed did not need much rocking.

One of John Harrisons first chronometers

View from the Royal Observatory

Part of the Royal Observatory

The Cutty Sark

"Beautiful" building development along the river

Ditto

The Prospect of Whitby, oldest pub on the river, from 1520

Love that gherkin building

The big one's called the shard

Obvious

 

Good view of the Tower of London  just out of the tube

The Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich

Monday 27th August 2012 to London

Not sure what is happening with the blog, but when I have been adding the photos which I was unable to on the boat trip, the dates are getting all higgedly-piggedly, not to worry , I shall cease & desist immediately.

Anyway today I arrived in  London, the National Trust tour came to an end, the last property we visited was Biddulph Grange garden, an original garden created in the Victorian era, with different "rooms",  or the garden was compartmentilised, an Italian garden, Egyption, Japanese etc, just beautiful,  it was a horrible day, but the weather held off just long enough for us to get around the garden without too much trouble.

Biddulph Grange Garden

The house at Biddulph Grange Garden, used to be a TB sanitorium

The Japanese Garden

Biddulph Grange Garden

 This last property was on the way home, as most were from Bath & points further south. I had arranged for the driver to drop me at the Bath train station to get the train to London.  We left Lymm at 9.30am & arrived at Bath at 4pm, with the garden stop & one motorway services stop - this was an experience in itself. The services stop was "not very good" they said as it was an old one, but it had a Marks & Spencers (food only) a Costas (a coffee & food chain here) a Burger King, a newsagency chain & another food franchise - forgotten the name. The place was fairly hopping on a bank holiday Monday, just shows what can happen with a different market size.  It made me wonder, doesn't anyone take a thermos & sandwiches anymore, obviously not.

It was nice seeing Bath again, very very pretty, so Georgian, Jane Austen, you can just about see her tripping along to the Assembly. No trouble getting ticket to London, 29 pounds, trains every 30 minutes. The train was crowded & trip 1.5 hours. When I got to Paddington, discretion being the better part of valour, took a taxi to the B&B in the Barbican, paid a bit extra as bank holiday, but was OK at 25 pounds...worth it!

Just a word on the tour, the people were very nice & inclusive. The thing about the english is that they are individuals, I enjoyed very much spending time with  them & it was only a small group of 14. Let's put it this way, on the boat trip with a much larger sample of yanks, I was more comfortable with less of them, nuff said! I have the contact details of several, one of which Val is into family history for Somerset/ Dorset, where  I have family from (few generations ago, of course) Another one Julie,  from Wiltshire, we had great chats, just retired like moi!

B&B seems fine, host Tess a film-maker & lecturer & the flat on top floor of Peabody Building, she seems very nice, had a lot of information about the area & getting to any points of interest. I took a walk to the nearest Tescos , 5 minutes,  to get something for tea.

Saturday 25 August 2012 Speke Hall & Quarry Bank Mill

After leisurely breakfast off to Speke Hall, a Tudor house built between 1530 & 1598. It has only had 2 families as owners in it's history, the Norres & then the Watt family. Something I didn't know was that in tudor times the wood was natural, it was the Victorians who painted the wooden beams & bits black.  Sounds like a large extension of the house was financed by the slave trade, now there's a surprise!  The house is full of heavily-carved dark wooden furniture, & of course dark wooden panelled walls. I reminded me of Carrick Hill, infact it could have been a house such as Speke Hall which was the source of the innards of Carrick Hill. 

Speke Hall

Lunch at the tearooms & then onto the next one which was completely different - Quarry Bank Mill - a restored Georgian mill from the industrial revolution,  a 5 story red brick factory, really a showcase of  working conditions in a big cotton mill. The complex was complete with an Apprentice house, for the child labour - probably orphaned children who came from the workhouse, the apprentices were not paid, just board & lodging.

Georgian Cotton Mill - Quarry Bank

Really good display of the combing, the spinning, the weaving, the powergeneration by giant waterwheel . The workers were doing 12-13 hour days 6 days a week,  ... we don't know we're alive.  The mill owner also had built workers cottages for his labour force.

Funny thing about both these properties was that they were right next to airports. Speke Hall was next to John Lennon Airport, Liverpool....yes they have named their airport after him... and Quarry Bank Mill next to Manchester Airport.    (As we skirted Manchester Airport I had a flashback, yes only to yesterday & not a pleasant one, of negotiating the airport to get to the car rental return - 5th floor of the longstay carpark, it really is a miracle I got there!
What a luxury, just hop on the bus & be carted around, am loving it!!

Thursday 9 August - Passau

Passau is at the junction of the Danube, Inn & Ilz rivers, originally settled by the celts, then the Romans. We took a walking tour with the local guide who pointed out the high water mark when the rivers have flooded, which sounded like not an uncommon occurence as the bottom floors of the houses were eventually left unused. The Cathedral of St Stephen is German baroque & it made a nice change, all white stucco cherubs & gilt. The stucco worker plus 13 little helpers took 17 years to complete all the decorations, started in 1677.  I liked the chubby cherubs with their cheeky mischievous poses  perched high on the walls. At midday there was an organ recitel, world's largest organ, the choice of music left me cold, but the noise certainly filled the cathedral. I kept waiting for the organist to launch into the Phantom of the Opera. When I looked around the people in the seat behind had their eyes shut in what looked like orgasmic pleasure...takes all kinds!

The most delicious monkfish wrapped in prosciutto

A towel sculpture exhibiton by 2 of the waiting staff

The Rhine meeting the Danube

View from boat at Passau

St Stephens Cathedral Passau

The organ in St Stephens Cathedral Passau

Me reclining in cafe in Passau where I ate cherry strudel, below

Cherry strudel,  delicious

When we went through the Lochstein lock, there were 2 vessels in the lock at the same time & it was a neat fit.  I watched the deck hand  working hard attaching the rope to the pegs in wall of the lock to keep us close to our side as we descended the lock . This entailed judging when to slip the loop off the peg which was disappearing upwards & get over the next one down, quite a feat, hope he had remembered his deodorant

Chap keeing the boat close to the side as we went down in the lock

Opening the lock