Paris ... Paris ... Part 4

Thur 13 Apr

Metro to the Bastille street markets; these operate twice a week and offer a huge selection of fresh food (fish, meat, fruit, vegetables, honey, fois gras, cheese). Yes we have renewed our pursuit of the 246 varieties. We found a Lebanese food outlet selling the most delicious wraps with felafel, tabouli, spinach, feta and hummus. This was our late breakfast.

Some of the products on sale at the Bastille markets

We then made our way down past the Bastille monument to walk along the Viaduct des Arts. This is the Parisian version of the New York highline. The elevated path and gardens can take you about 4 km to the Bois de Vincennes, but we only walked the first 1.5 km to a large planned garden with a park and children's playground. We descended here and walked back to Bastille alongside the ateliers under the Viaduct.

Some of the sights along the Viaduct des Arts

We then took the Metro to the Musée Cluny, also called the Museum of the Middle Ages. This was particularly to see the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries that were out on loan last time we visited. These 6 tapestries are stunning, not only by their size, but also by the detail that is included in each.

Just one of the six "Lady and the Unicorn" tapestries

Next was a quick visit to the Panthéon - formerly a church but now used as a memorial to significant people from the Republic who are now buried in the crypt there. These include Hugo, Braille and many more; though not many women. Also here is a copy of Foucault's Pendulum swinging from the high dome inside. This pendulum demonstrates the Earth's rotation. Another copy in the Musée des Arts et Métiers snapped in 2010 causing irreparable damage to the pendulum and the marble floor. Our late lunch was eaten in the Jardin du Luxembourg while we watched children, and parents, playing with sailing boats in the pond.

Inside the Panthéon

Pond and flowers in the Jardin du Luxembourg

A couple of recuperative wines were required at "Les Vieille Vignes" by evening.

Paris ... Paris ... Part 3

Tue 11 Apr

We calculated our planned outings with our 6 day passes from "Paris Pass" and figured we'd use our hop-on-hop-off bus ticket to get around today; that would leave us with metro tickets for the final days. We got on the bus at the Eiffel Tower and got as far as l'École Militaire (Military Academy) when  - road closures! It was London all over again. We crawled through the streets for well over an hour before we decided to ditch the bus at the rond-point half way down the Champs Élysées.

We then started walking up the Champs Élysées stopping at the PSG football club shop (to buy some t-shirts), a makeup shop (to buy makeup), H&M (to buy some shirts), all the way to the Arc de Triomph, then climbed those helical staircases to the sublime view from the top. One must hand it to Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann for their vision in creating this arrangement of avenues leading out from the Arc.

Helical staircase inside the Arc de Triomph

View from the top of the Arc

We then took a leisurely stroll down the Champs Élysées (as one does) as far as the Jardins Des Tuileries. These gardens are just passing their peak blooming, although we did sight some rare black tulips in the plantings. It was then time to snaffle a couple of the metal chairs scattered around the ornamental ponds and put our feet up and relax in the sun for a while.

Decided to do the riverside stroll back to our apartment. Rested and headed back to the river to take an evening cruise on one of the many bateaux catering to the tourists. It's interesting seeing the city from this aspect. There were also a lot of people out enjoying an evening picnic on the riverbank. Thought we might try that tomorrow night.
____________________________________________
Wed 12 Apr
Musée d'Orsay is open today so we headed there by Metro, or tried. Steph's 6 day travel pass didn't work so she doubled up on my card and we got her a new one at the Musée d'Orsay stop. The museum had a prolific exhibition of impressionist paintings from Van Gogh, Matisse, Monet and many others. Saw the excellent view through one of the two giant clocks to Montmartre.

Walked from here to the Musée Rodin and wandered around his garden where the is a large selection of his statues including The Thinker, his set of 6 dedicated to the Burghers of Calais and Dante's Gates of Hell.

One of the Burghers of Calais

Do I need to ... ok it's The Thinker (Le Penseur)

Our weary feet took us back past a supermarché to get some food for a picnic dinner. After a rest at the apartment, we took our wine, cheese, olives, salami, bread and dips down to the riverbank and found a nice place to sit and eat while we watched the river, busy with traffic - transport barges and tourist Bateaux Mouches. Best way to finish the day.

Mmm

Paris ... Paris ... Part 2

Mon 10 Apr

Pored over maps and guides last to choose today's journey. So got off the Metro at Musée d'Orsay to discover the museum doesn't open on Monday, nor do some of the others on my list! So - plan B.

Crossed the river at Pont Royal and walked along the right bank past the bouquinists to the Pont Neuf and crossed to the Ils de la Cité. Had a quick look at the Square du Vert Galant at the downstream tip of the island - not as impressed as the guide books said we should be. Then walked and waited in line to enter the Consiergerie.

The Consiergerie seen from the Seine

 This was the royal palace of Phillip IV (the Fair) and Louis IX (the Saint). Later used as law courts and a prison during the reign of terror during the revolution. It's now the Palais de Justice. The current renovations and displays are very informative and they led us to the neighbouring Saints Chapelle.

 Inside Sainte Chapelle lower level (left), upper level (right)

Sainte Chapelle exterior

This chapel is on two levels with a captivating lower level with vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows. The upper level - simply breathtaking. Huge, recently renovated windows dominate the four sides. The effect is "Oh, wow!" As expressed by each person as they step out onto this level - usually reserved for the king, of course. The details of the renovations are just as breathtaking in the fastidious way they have been undertaken.

We then headed towards the Pompidou Centre but sat and ate our lunch before heading inside. Stephanie was pleased to learn that an exhibition of works by Cy Twombly was on display so that was first - straight to the top of the gallery. Afterwards we worked our way down viewing the exhibitions on two other levels.

Thought we deserved a treat after this so headed down to Ile St Louis and found Berthillon's famous ice creams and sorbets. Yum, but expensive. Took the Metro back to Pont d'Alma  - a short walk to the apartment. Dinner tonight was at Les Vieille Vignes the little brasserie where we ate a few times during our last visit to Paris. The owner and his wife are still there and served us delicious duck confit with fried potatoes, and a couple of glasses of Côte du Rhône.

On the pavement outside Les Vieille Vignes

Confit de canard - mmm

Sore feet today and over 11 kms.

Saw this on the side of a Post Office van. It reads:
"Smile, perhaps there is a love letter for you in this van."

Paris ... Paris ... Paris

Sat 8 April

Packed up after the "Continental" breakfast then headed to St Pancras station to see what the queues were like - better than yesterday's. Had a lovely soup for lunch at Le Pain Quotidian. Finally had our train called to go through security check and immigration processing ... and another wait. Our train was over 70 minutes late arriving in London so was late leaving too. Because of this we didn't get into Paris until after 7:00pm (Eurostar do compensate for this).

Got to the apartment via the metro and met by Sam who showed us around and gave us keys. Soon went out for a walk to la Tour Eiffel - about 5 minutes away. There was also a Village de Pâques (Easter) on the river bank where we found something to eat.

Also found a little 2CV Citroën in the street near the apartment; made Steph happy, like her personal welcome to Paris.

Two old relics on the Rue de l'Université

________________________________
Sun 9 Apr

Hunter-gatherer collecting groceries

The Parisians were out in force today because: a) the Paris Marathon was on; b) it was a bright, warm, sunny day; and c) it's the weekend. Of course half of these Parisians are tourists, including us. The marathon began at 8:30, we headed out around 10:00 and crossed the river at Pont de l'Alma
to get our first glimpse of the runners. Their bibs had numbers, first name and country. Highest number I saw was 76 802, and a great assortment of countries including Australia. There were a number of musical groups on trucks along the way to give the runners encouragement. We crossed over the course and passed a number of inner city vegetable gardens before climbing a long set of steep stairs, then followed the street to Trocadéro. People everywhere, though the fountains were not working.

Runners in the Paris Marathon

Part of the marathon mess at one of the feeding stations

Crossed back over the river to skirt Le Tour Eiffel, down the Champ de Mars with more crowds out enjoying the wonderful weather. We'd been intrigued by some silver, onion-shaped domes on a building near us, so explored to find a new Russian Orthodox Church. Had a quick look inside before heading back to our apartment.

Flowers, tourists and Parisians enjoying the Champ de Mars

Heading back east

Wed 5 Apr

Left Wyke Farm after another delicious breakfast. A one and a half hour drive to Salisbury where we found a pay & display car park fairly close to the city centre. We walked first to the cathedral clause for the outer view of the cathedral. Renovations were begun in 1986 so there was scaffolding around in 1994 when we last visited - and it's still there. We went in to view the Salisbury copy of the Magna Carta before entering the cathedral itself and attached ourselves to one of the informative tours. We learned a lot about the construction of the cathedral and the efforts made to stop it from falling down. The guide told many interesting anecdotes about those buried there and about the town itself.

This is the new baptismal font with its cleverly reflective surface

We then drove for another 1 hr 45 min to Oxford and checked back into the Oxford Guest House where we'd stayed before. We went to meet Peter and Lesley and went for a walk with them to find a pub for our evening meal. Settled for the White Horse which had a wide range of cheap, tasty dishes.
________________________________
Thur 6 Apr

Peter had to drive to Milton Keynes for his work. I had to return our car to Hertz at Osney Mead, so while I drove there, Stephanie and Lesley walked into Oxford city and I met them there.

We first walked down to the river to go punting. The "chauffeur" (well, I wasn't going to do it) was very informative with facts about the city and the colleges and particularly chuffed about Oxford's win over Cambridge in their recent boat race. He returned us safely, and dry, after half an hour then we headed off for a big walk around some of the colleges and the botanical gardens. The walking paths follow the meandering river and show off Oxford's natural beauty very well.

We found an Italian styled café for a cheap lunch then bused back to Headington where Lesley started preparing our delicious dinner.
___________________________________
Fri 7 Apr

Packed again and took our bags down to Peter and Lesley's place. Headed out for another walk around this part of town as Lesley had found a small stone church in a back street with and interesting surprise. We almost didn't find it due to the meandering streets but finally did, and it's tiny graveyard. And there (yes it is marked) is the grave of C S Lewis, who wrote the Narnia series. We found some other interesting lanes and parks before heading back for lunch.

Then waited outside Peter and Lesley's place to catch the bus to London. Only £11 for seniors. It took us about 75 minutes to get to Victoria Station in London, another 15 minutes on the Tube to Kings Cross and a 5 minute walk to the hotel. It's called "Comfort Inn"; it was a bit small and claustrophobic but it was just for one night.

We dumped our bags and headed out for a walk, eventually back to Kings Cross and St Pancras to check out where we had to go tomorrow. The place was packed, queues everywhere and there was more security in place after the incident in Stockholm. We got a Tube to Trafalgar Square for a look round - Steph was pleased: no pigeons!

Flowers along the Mall, London

"Don't feed the pigeons" Hooray!