Vive le France!

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Another hearty breakfast at the Hotel Stern included two coffees for Damian who wanted to claw back some value out of the stay in Schweiz (three coffees might have been overdoing it and probably not good for his bladder on the long train trip ahead). Emily also stole some bread as she was desperate to find a way to feed the swans.

The day was even cloudier than yesterday with a light drizzle and we made our short walk to the train station, via "Swan Lake". A Japanese tourist was so enamored by Emily feeding the bird life that he wanted to take a photo of her. She'll probably end up on some billboard in Japan.

With a bit of time before our train was due to depart, we did some shopping at the station supermarket for some snacks for the train and to get rid of the last of our Swiss Francs currency.

The train departed from Luzern Banhof right on time at 10:54am to take us to Basel for our connection with the very fast train (TGV) at 12:34. The trip was typically easy, quiet and relaxing and the connection at Basel equally efficient and on time.

There were two stops on the way to Gare Lyon in Paris - Mulhouse Ville and Belfort-Montb TGV. After Belfort, the VFT really hit its straps - up to 318 km/h!!

We travelled through lovely, green countryside, occasionally interrupted by huge fields of golden daffodils. Overall an easy trip and the enfants enjoyed their iPods, music and movies.

After arriving at Paris-Gare de Lyon, we left for our apartment which was only two Metro stops away at Rue Mahler in the 4th arrondissement - Marais - which is supposed to be one of the two precincts which is right in the thick of the action in Paris. Perfect for a family of five...

We were there in no time and were greeted by Catarina who showed us in. Everything looks good except the washing machine is not working. They assure us it will be fixed tomorrow. It better be or we start turning our underwear inside out.

Being Sunday there were two extra special treats in store for us. First, supermarkets are shut so we ate out - again!. Although, this time we found a local Traiteur (Chinois Gourmet!) and took the food back to our apartment. It wasn't traditional French food but the flavours made a nice change from pizza and pasta and it wasn't at Switzerland prices. Second, the apartment owners charged us an extra Euro 50 for checking in on Sunday (of course, they showed us the ultra fine print in the contract). Luckily the wine we bought from the local merchant, a Chiroubles from the Beaujolis region was well-recommended - and exceptional - and we forgot about it soon enough.

We also managed to find a bakery to buy some bread and croissants and a fruit stall for some fruit for breakfast tomorrow.

For the evening we settled into our cosy apartment, listened to some jazz music from Putumayo and relaxed. Just perfect. Tomorrow is a big day for the enfants - Euro Disney. It looks like being the only good day of weather in Paris for the week so we our taking our opportunity.

So far, Sue has mentioned nothing about the fact she is finally in Paris with the love of her life, Damian. We shall see what the week ahead has in store.

For his part, Damian is impressed with the French femmes. Very elegant and they smoke those long, thin cigarettes. In fact, a lot of people smoke. And lots of people throw their unextinguished butts on the ground. Didn't that stop happening in the 80's in Australia?

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Photos

Chiroubles
Chiroubles is a wine appellation in the Beaujolais region of France producing elegant red wines made from the Gamay grape. There are three levels of Beaujolais wines. Chiroubes is in third level, where the finest wines are made (Brouilly, Chénas, Chiroubles, Fleurie, Morgon, Moulin-à-Vent, Saint-Amour, Juliénas, Côte de Brouilly and Régnié).

I did it my way!!!!!
Yes, Minna has finally made it to Paris where all her dreams will come true.

Comments

[Suzy]

Romantic guys...I'm sure the Paris air is rubbing off on Sue! Really really can't wait to hear all about the whole trip...sorry we missed hooking up on FaceTime. You will be at Paris Disney right now so hope your having a ball xxx

[BeltramiBunch]

Romance in Paris
Yes, Suzy, the romance in the air is unlike anything we have ever experienced. Disneyland was great - a long day and les enfants are in bed fully asleep. Missing you all!!

[Bob Bonson]

Paris in Springtime
That is the ideal is it not? To celebrate a spring in Paris. You are fortunate to be doing this. I stayed in the Marais district too near one of the big railway stations - I think it was the one near Place D'Italie but the memory is perhaps faulty. I think the food is the thing that I best remember. The beauty of finding a charming little bistro somewhere near the Seine quite by accident and enjoying something really tasty. I am not sure whether the children will enjoy them as much but the Louvre and the Musee D'Orsay are well worth it. If you have the opportunity to dine in the restaurant in the Orsay do it. You can see the beautiful ceilings and hark back to a bye gone era when the building served an entirely different purpose. Also if you are into Picasso, there is a museum devoted solely to him. It is perhaps an acquired taste particularly with children. Finally I hope you are enjoying the excellent train system as long as the workers don't go on strike. The contrast with the London one is amazing. A blog paragraph on transport options in Paris would not go amiss. Toodle Pip Beltramis.

[BeltramiBunch]

Trop nombreux pour choisir parmi
Dear Bob, Yes there are many places to enjoy the local food. Also, in Paris, there seems to be a wide variety of ethnic foods which is a nice change from Italy. Don't get me wrong, we love the Italian food but you are limited when you eat out. We will be trying to visit the museums. Le Louvre is not open today (Tuesday) which is a shame as the weather outside is extremely poor - wind, rain and cold.