A Tale of Two Cities...

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Monday 5 July

I am sitting next to Ryan, who is attempting to catch up on his journal, but he is so far behind he’s still in Tel Aviv! We are on the Eurostar, travelling from London to Paris, in comfort and with such ease I’d be surprised if anyone still goes by air. We had to be at St Pancras International thirty minutes prior to departure at 8.55 am, so we were up at 6.00. Actually I’d woken up at 2.30 and heard Ryan and Dean talking, and according to Ryan, Dean had woken from a nightmare. As I was settling him back to sleep, Greg came in and said that he’d had a nightmare! Tucked him in too and then of course I was tossing and turning the rest of the night. We got ourselves dressed and ready, packed the last few things into the two small cases we have brought with us, and had the flat inspected by the landlady. Most conveniently, for ten quid she is storing our two big suitcases and a small bag for us until our return to London on Friday, when we have a couple of hours to spare before leaving that night for Thailand. In that respect, Earl’s Court is very well situated on two excellent tube lines, one being the Piccadilly Line, which goes directly to Heathrow in one direction and St Pancras in the other. The other line, the District Line, also served us very well, going both south to Wimbledon and east to Westminster and Tower Bridge.

Our final weekend in London went by in a blur. On Saturday we began our excursion with the obligatory visit to Harrods. The children were not too excited by the idea of going to a ‘shop’, but once we were there I think they did get a feel of its uniqueness. We walked through the ground level, making our way to the lifts at the back. We went straight up to the fifth floor and meandered through the pet department, stopping for a quick look at the puppies, rabbits and hamsters in their extravagant showcases. Our next stop was the toy department, which wasn’t too impressive after our visit to Hamleys earlier in the week, and we noticed many of the same items in the two stores. We then went back to the ground floor, to the Food Department, and while Russel, Greg and Dean sat outside the Krispy Kreme bar drinking hot chocolate, Ryan and I did a quick walk through the entire area. The confectionary section in particular caught our attention, and we bought two pieces of fudge, regular and chocolate, for a treat later on.

Our next port of call was Camden Town. We emerged from the station into a different world - gone were the masses of tourists and fellow travellers, and in their place were masses of locals from all walks of life, and plenty of punks with mowhawks of red and purple, tattoos and body-piercings and the obligatory punk uniform of tight black pants, studded belts, big black boots, and torn tops with anti-establishment messages on them. As usual, our most pressing need was for food, so we bought some take-aways and walked a little way along the canal to find a spot to sit and eat. As there was no seating available, we chose a tree for shade and sat on the ground. A crowd of young punks nearby started to get a bit rowdy, and two males were swearing and becoming aggressive, with one of them opening a can of beer and throwing it towards the other, and in the process either the can or a foot knocked Ryan’s back. Russel and I both shouted at them to take it easy, which fortunately they did.

The next source of excitement was from a narrow boat coming into the lock in front of us, which was soon joined by another smaller boat pulling in alongside it in the narrow canal. We then watched as the crew disembarked to tie up their boats and then manually close the lock gate behind them. Slowly the lock filled up until the water was level with the lock ahead, when they opened those gates, unhitched their boats, and moved through. We had considered taking a ride up the canal, but after seeing how slow the process was just to move through one lock, we decided against it! We then walked around the market and looked at some of the more interesting stalls, including a ‘fish massage’ stall, where the customer sits with his or her feet in a tub of water, in which are swimming a few dozen little minnows, whose job it is to nibble the dead skin cells and calluses off the feet they are swimming around! We hadn’t realised that there wasn’t just one market, but loads of them, stretching over the whole area. After walking through what we guessed was the ‘main’ market, the kids had had enough (they are pretty much 'marketed out'!). So we decided to head for Regent’s Park by foot, following the signposts and then asking for directions. When we arrived at Primrose Hill alongside the park, we realised that we had taken a very circuitous route! We then had to walk up the hill, stopping at the top to admire the view, down the other side and then right across Regent’s Park. When we finally arrived at the lovely gardens, we collapsed in a heap on the grass, had a drink and gobbled up the delicious fudge from Harrods. After a short rest, we walked to nearby Baker Street Station and took the tube north to Stanmore at the end of the line, where Jodi picked us up and took us back to her house.

We had dinner plans with the Berelowitzes, adults only, the four of us another friend of theirs, Barry Meyerson, who was visiting from Cape Town. Jodi had organised Pamela, a maid from Joburg who had come out with Barbara Freed and was now working as an au paire and char, to babysit the kids. Rael drove us back to Camden, via Hampstead to see the homes of some of the rich and famous, to a lovely Asian fusion restaurant called Gilgamesh, which we had actually walked past earlier in the day! We had a very delicious meal there, all sharing from various dishes ordered by Rael. Jodi and I each had a Mojito to drink, and it was a most welcome change to be in adult company and eating adult food and drinking adult drinks!

After dinner we returned to the Berelowitz home to find the kids all still awake and happy. We again took a mini-cab home, although this time was a quite different experience from the week before. Then we had had a well-spoken Pakistani who knew exactly how to get to Earl’s Court forty-five minutes away, and was an absolute pleasure. This time we had an African who had to rely on a GPS, who had never heard of Earl’s Court, couldn’t spell it, and asked us a number of times which way to go! In addition he had BO! To make matters worse, when we eventually arrived home he wanted ten pounds more than the fare Jodi had been quoted. Russel stood on the street, holding a sleeping Dean, and argued with him! He eventually paid forty pounds, which was five less than he wanted but what we paid previously.

As it was a late night for all of us, we slept in a bit on Sunday and then made our way to Speakers’ Corner by bus. We listened to some of the ranting and raving going on, including a black preacher-man going on about Christianity versus Judaism, and a seemingly religious Jew in tzitzit in the crowd who was arguing with him. Religion certainly seemed to be a major theme amongst the speakers, of whom there were about five or six. Most of the crowd was there for entertainment value only, and no-one appeared to be taking any of the self-proclaimed experts seriously, and neither should they have. Russel was most amused by the spectacle and Ryan and Greg were enjoying it too, surprisingly!

After about forty minutes there, we crossed the road at Marble Arch and took the tube to Covent Garden. As we approached, we saw a number of buskers and street performers entertaining the crowds, and stopped to watch some of them. We wandered around the shops and through the flea market, and then looked for a place to have lunch. We settled on a pub lunch at the Punch and Judy, where we sat outside in the courtyard downstairs. After lunch we stopped to listen to a woman singing some well-known opera numbers, while Greg and Dean ate frozen yoghurts. We then headed for the neighbouring London Transport Museum, where we wiled away a couple of hours learning about the history of London's three major forms of publlic transport, the tram, train and bus. Of course there were lots of the real things right there to look at and in many cases climb in or on: carriages, old buses and even an Omnicab from the 1800's. We finished with the highlight for the boys - the gift shop, where we bought Ryan and Dean each a T-shirt and Greg some other bits and pieces of his choosing.

Back outside Covent Garden, the street performers were still hard at it entertaining the Sunday crowds. If it had been just the two of us, we would have sat at an outdoor cafe with a drink in hand, enjoying the Cat Stevens impersonator... Instead we watched another entertainer around the corner who was performing magic tricks!

We walked to Leicester Square, stopping at a souvenir shop for some nicknacks. After a quick look at the square we headed home to pack. One big suitcase filled with all the things we won’t be needing for Paris or Thailand, such as all the winter clothing we brought in case of cold weather, the toys the boys chose at Hamleys, the beach towels we brought for Israel.... The second big case with summer things that we will probably use in Thailand, apart from the four days of clothes we brought to Paris.

What a relief it was to travel light around Paris! I am now writing from our apartment at 157 Rue de l'Université, in the 7th arrondissement, which is our ‘home’ for the next four nights. Disembarking at Gare de Nord station and finding our way by RER, metro and then foot to this address, with three kids, a pram, two cases and four small backpacks was quite an accomplishment, to say the least. We had been warned by at least three people about pickpocketing gypsy children at the station, so were on high alert, but fortunately there were none around. We stood in a lengthy queue to buy tickets, and then had to fathom out the intricacies of the French transport system, with a bit of help from the information desk officials and a map. This also involved a change of trains, from RER to metro, mid-way through the trip. When we finally disembarked at Invalides, alongside the Hotel des Invalides (a magnificent building which houses, among other things, Napoleon’s tomb), the closest station to our apartment, we knew which direction to walk in because we could see the top of Eiffel Tower ahead! We discovered we were in Rue de l'Université, and walked a good few blocks before we arrived at the apartment.

We were told beforehand by the owner of the flat that the concierge would let us in to the apartment. She took us up in the tiny lift (some of us used the stairs as there is literally room only for two people), and showed us into the flat. The owner is a very trusting French lady! We hadn’t even paid a deposit, as she had emailed previously that it wasn’t necessary, and in addition that as she would be away during our visit, we could just leave the 480 Euros on the desk when we leave. The flat is obviously her actual place of residence, unlike the others we have stayed in which were holiday rentals. The cupboards have clothes in them, the kitchen is fully equipped and there is food in the freezer and a few bits and pieces in the fridge. There are photos of her children and grandchildren on the walls, and there is even an electric piano (Greg has already had a bit of practice).

The position seems great - a two minute walk to the Seine and ten to the Eiffel Tower. So, after dropping off the bags, we set out, stopping along the way to buy some lunch from a little deli (adults) and a Chinese take away (kids). We approached the Eiffel Tower from the side streets, so did not get its full impact until we were right at it. The first impression of us first timers (i.e. not Russel) was, wow, it’s so big! Also it’s colour was a surprise, because somehow we expected it to be black, not the bronzish brown shade that it actually is. We sat on the lawn and ate our lunch, with this amazing icon of Paris before our eyes. The streets we had walked to get there were practically deserted, yet at the tower itself, hundreds of people milled about or stood in the snaking queues for tickets (as well as good number of illegal vendors, plying model Eiffel Towers and drinks). We walked under the tower and across the road to the Seine, where we purchased tickets for an hour long boat trip, with audio commentary. We spent a very pleasant hour on the boat, which I found to be a good introduction to Paris. I loved the vistas of the beautiful old buildings from the river, and took tons of photos.

Then it was back to the Eiffel Tower to join the queue, which we hoping would be shorter than earlier, but no such luck. We stood in the queue for about 25 minutes, chatting to a frum Israeli behind us, before we heard someone in the queue announce that the top was closed. Looking at the electronic sign board above the ticket office, we read for ourselves that the very top was indeed closed due to congestion. So we left and headed back here to the flat, to see if we could have any better luck by booking on-line. We managed to hook up to the internet, much to our delight, but disappointingly found no tickets available in the next few days. So we are planning to get there bright and early tomorrow morning. Which is why I need to get to bed very soon...

P.S. I have a feeling I’m about to fall in love with Paris...

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Comments

[C.Helfet]

Talk about nostalgia! It was very many years ago that we visited Paris (1964!!) but I am reminded of our trip by your reminiscences, especially the night trip that we did down the Seine on the "Bateau Mouche"(sp). We only went up the Eiffel Tower as far as the restaurant. We stayed a couple of blocks from the Opera House. I am amazed that you are still able to walk after all the walking you have done. What an education for the boys!Pity that Dean wont remember. I am sure that you will be ready for the TLC that you will get in Thailand. Cant wait to see you all. Keep well and be careful - there are so many of our enemies in Paris. All my love Nana