To Paris, friendship and dreams


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Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris
October 7th 2008
Published: October 7th 2008
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Dinning in Le MaraisDinning in Le MaraisDinning in Le Marais

Fine food, fine wine and fine friends
About 40 years ago, two long haired teenagers dared to dream. As they pondered their future and how to escape the working class suburb of Mt Wellington, the area in which their friendship had developed through school, rugby and other commonalities. They dreamed of travel, in fact 105 countries if my memory is correct.

The adventure was to start in the mines of Australia, in Western Ozzie, where fit young men could earn a fortune or enough to travel to 105 countries. Sadly to say we didn't get to the mines, Sydney, Melbourne and as our money slowly dimished so did our dreams of travel. Life moves on, at different stages we moved back to Aotearoa, fell in love, had children and pursued different careers and paths but we never lost touch. Bruce and I have been close friends for a little over 50 years and last week we meet up in Paris (with our beautiful lovers) to live a little of the dream we had talked about back in the 60s.

Bruce and Julie had traveled from NZ and they were on the first leg of a 6 week trip through France, Italy and Switzerland. As you know
Great photoGreat photoGreat photo

Taken from Musee Orsay look through the clock and see Bastique on Montmartre hill.
Anita and I are living in London and a 2 and 1/2hr trip by Eurostar was all it took. The Eurostar in great, it sure beats airports. 30 minutes to get to the station, 30 minutes to wait and then a comfortable journey to your destination, it really is hassle free, except when there is a fire in the tunnel of course.

Bruce is very organised, which I really appreciated because he had the 3 days planned and what a magical 3 days it was. We stayed in the very fashionable area of Le Marais in a 17th century 2 star hotel with rickety stair, uneven floors and lots of character.We took in the sights Montmartre including the Basilique du Sacre-Coeurl and Moulin Rouge (I'm sure 40 years ago we would have been looking for different sights in Montmartre).

We walked through the grounds of the Louve to the Musee d Orsay (a truly amazing treasure of modern and old art). We viewed the Hotel des Invalides
and of course the Eiffel Tower and many of the other sights. We went cruising on the canals, strolling up the Champes-Elysees to the top of the Arc de Triomphe. In
The city of LoveThe city of LoveThe city of Love

Anita and I share a cuddle in Paris
fact we did that at sunset and it was amazing watching the day change to night transforming Paris into a city of lights.

Paris really is an amazing city (a 4 day opinion), its a sensous city, a city with vibrance and a lot less crowded than London. The women were well dressed and appeared very feminine, the men almost pretty, the gays a little gayer and the people friendly. I love the accent, every greets you with Bonjour and everyone says Merci to you. The food was fresh and to die for but is was expensive. On Sunday after Bruce and Julie had gone Anita and I skipped breakfast for an early start at Notre Dame and the on to du Louvre. Feeling a little peckish around 11am we stopped at a cafe that looked nice, and it was, the food was gorgeos but 26 euros ($60) for 3 coffees, 2 baguttes and a piece of cheese cake was a bit steep. But we loved Paris, it was great catching up with Bruce and Julie and sometimes if you really believe in your dreams (and give them time to mature) they do come true.






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Bruce and Jules in marble
Two icons of ParisTwo icons of Paris
Two icons of Paris

Sensuous, sexy Paris, the Eiffel tower and me.


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