Days 12-14

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Day 12: Paris – Marais, meals, museums

Again the weather is so warm that we have broken out the shorts, T-shirts and sunblock. Most unusual for the weather to be so hot so early in spring. The air conditioning doesn’t work in the hotel, and Easter is not the time to find an air con mechanic, but with the window open at night it’s cool enough.

We tried to visit Notre Dame, but there were long queues so we gave it a miss for the time being. Wandered around the Marais area, where the shops and atmosphere were great, much quieter than the Ile area, and a pleasure just to wander and observe the crowds and soak up the history. The preservation of the Paris architecture is amazing and a credit to the government and city planners over the centuries.

At lunchtime we happened by chance on a little place, Aux Anysetiers du Roy, in a building dating back to 1650, that cooks provincial dishes that are just superb. We later found reviews on the web that accorded with our impressions. The chicken Provencal was gorgeous.

At the Musee D’Orsay we spent time queuing to finally get in with one hour to see the museum (but let in for free because so little time was left). The Manet exhibition is on at the moment, which it was too late to see, but we did renew acquaintance with some impressionists we had first admired in Canberra last year.

At night we went to a restaurant that we found in Lonely Planet, Robert et Louise, and it was terrific. The steak is cut off the side on demand, then cooked over an open fire in the front room. And the carrot puree is to die for – just a little cream and butter added, we were told. Paris certainly has cornered evening promenades along the Seine – a great way to wander back. There were some crazy street performers, such as the high-leaping skater in the photo – if only I could tell them about knee damage from landing on skates from eight feet up.

The metro is a fantastic system, but with so many stairs! Again, thirty years ago I don’t think we even noticed. I’m sure we do the equivalent of hundreds of step exercise thingies each day.

– Helen


Day 13: Paris – Reunion, restaurant, royals

After a visit to the mediaeval Cluny Museum in the morning, we had an extended lunch with Andrew’s old school friend Suzanne, a longtime Colac/Parisienne (now there’s a rare combo). It was great to catch up on forty years or so, and Suzanne generously spent a lot of time with us giving valuable insider info on things Parisian, not least the Amorino ice-cream chain. Thanks, Suzanne!

The restaurant recommendation from Ross was terrific: the very Parisian Mon Vieil Ami, where again some great food and wine were consumed. We listened to the conversations of nearby Americans, which is pretty much unavoidable (“Are you in finance or in legal?”), and made acquaintance one couple next to us, partly because the girl Cameron (wouldn’t you know that was her name?) spilt red wine over my dress. A conversation took place, strangely no offer of dry cleaning, but a lively discussion about their jobs in London. It seemed there was never a time when they thought about doing anything else – they were very career-focused, to say the least. They live in London and come over to the likes of Paris for weekends.

Apparently this week in London the whole finance world is on go-slow for the royal wedding, and Her Maj’s British subjects have a public holiday for the wedding: Aussies have been royally ripped off.

- Andrew & Helen


Day 14: Paris – Cathedral, culture, chocolate

Up bright and early – well, sort of… Walked past Notre Dame and noticed that the crowds seemed to have vanished – the end of Easter and a degree of accessibility restored to the sights. The cathedral is as impressive as ever and the windows just amazing.

Off to the Virgin store in the Champs Elysees to buy tickets to the Louvre – just had to have a look at some of the shops along the way, beyond our reach but gorgeous to visit. Dropped by the Louvre to see what the crowd situation was like … again, it was doable, and we spent the rest of the day admiring everything the museum offers. We didn’t remember it being quite so BIG – maybe we are not so fit? We do realise that people spend days wandering through it. Each day we have walked many kms and my knee stands up well, if sore at night – all absolutely worth it. The Louvre has its own design, which no doubt seems logical to the designers, but is hard to follow. The rooms are enormous and after a while we found a sometimes-there lift system which was great. Of course we found and spent time admiring the Mona Lisa, along with many others. She is impressive, but so are so many other beautiful works. It is also impressive to see and admire the tour couriers taking around groups of people, seemingly calm and collected and apparently not losing people – just like a school excursion. We found and re-charged at the famous Café Angelina, THE most delicious hot chocolate (with added cream for extra calories, and we also added an éclair and citrus tart for good measure) … thanks for the recommendation, Robyn! Very old-world and just down from the Louvre. We also managed to have dinner … much later.

- Helen

(More photos - scroll right to bottom)

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Comments

[Lachlan]

Seems like a good title for a movie...