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Published: June 28th 2006
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Well I was at home for too long. My fingers started to feel itchy… had to travel a bit. I booked a ticket to Paris. And since this blog of mine tells my travel tales, I’ve got to tell this one too (even if a bit late).
I’ve been in Paris before. I’ve been there many times and I didn’t expect to see new places. I wanted to see my family there, and to see whether my passion for France will come back, after Australia took my heart big-time.
First miracle this weekend: I did see new places. Someone told me about a rising quarter called “Butte Aux Cailles”. It’s in the 13th arrondissement, south of Place D’Italie, and if you’ve never been there - go. It’s like a village within Paris. See the pictures. You would never believe such houses exist in Paris (well I’ve seen similar in Montmartre, yes, but more? No tourists around?) The neighbourhood’s main street is so charming, lovely shops and cafes and bars. The side streets are even nicer. And to remind me of one of the lovely corners of Australia, there’s a street called “rue de L’Espérance”. I walked around eyes wide open.
Superb. (Thanks Fabien).
And still in the 13th, I went to check Chinatown. Since I came back from Australia I was looking for a specific sort of Udon Noodles, and fortunately enough (second miracle), I did find them here. I stocked up for a few months… Other than that, Chinatown was boring, or maybe I didn’t see the “real things”. I should read more before the next time, or stick to real Asia.
After missing Paris for more than 2 years, my sweet tooth drew me to this great place: the best crêperie in Paris. In Boulevard de Montparnasse, opposite to Tour Montparnasse, they always make it fresh and never re-heat a crepe, and the crème de marron is delicious as always.
On the way I discovered a big miracle: “Trottoir roulant, très rapide” (fast rolling pavement), running at 9 km/h! God! That certainly makes connections at Montparnasse Bienvenue station a lot faster! (if you’ve been there you must remember the tedious long connections). I found that amazing. First you step on a special metal belt of rollers that accelerates you. And then you are “slided into” the fast section. I don’t know how nobody fells in the
transition… At the end you move again to the weird rollers belt that decelerates you. You can see a nice explanation for that here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3001182.stm (and according to this web site, some did fall).
On Sunday I went together with my cousins to the museum of modern art, Centre Pompidou. Even if in Australia I did like some modern art exhibitions that I wandered into only because they were free, here I didn’t feel the same. The exhibition of “The movement of images” was very popular, and as it was the first Sunday of the month (free entrance) there were thousands of people inside. I couldn’t really see why. Some exhibits were interesting. Mostly, they were strange. I didn’t relate. I went outside and discovered a branch of Amorino - the lovely Italian ice cream that I discovered in Paris 3 years ago, when I was here in the middle of a boiling summer. The lines here are always long, but for a reason. It’s delicious. And the way they fill the cone, like a flower. I should have taken a picture. Don’t forget to have a bite if you’re in the neighbourhood (and send me a picture).
Next miracle was discovered that evening at my cousin’s place. Two young girls eating “grown ups food”, in fact a Choucroute!!! And, they were freely using a knife in the process! My niece would never believe that. I had to take pictures of that (sorry about the quality, my camera wasn’t at its best). We the grown ups had dinner in a Chilean restaurant, which was quite good.
And then next miracle: Monday was a holiday, all the shops were supposed to be closed. But they weren’t. And so an innocent stroll in the area where my cousins live took me to Place de la République, where I found a shop called Camaïeu (god, so many vowels in a row!) and I bought about 10 singlets (ah yeah, that’s Aussie English for vest tops. I like the word better :-). Not bad for a short weekend.
After having completed my shopping duties, I decided to go to Montmartre. I climbed up the stairs to the church of Sacré-cœur and enjoyed looking at the crowds. I meandered around and on the way down discovered a small garden with a beautiful work of art, a wall covered with the words
“I love you” in so many languages. It’s kitsch, I agree, but a lovely kitsch.
My next destination was Galleries la Fayette, where I wanted to see the French branch of Arcafé. Well, it wasn’t bad but it didn’t tempt me try. It’s looks too much like back home, and I’m not on a long journey where you start to miss home. Instead, I kept my word to Rachie and went to Angelina, the famous café on rue de Rivoli. I didn’t see the cake she told me to take, so I ordered the very famous Chocolat Chaud. Thick and creamy, it was truly heavenly and assuming you do it once in your life then it worth every calorie…
My weekend was coming to an end. Have to go back, there’s school tomorrow. Counting my miracles, I didn’t mention the biggest miracle of the weekend: the weather forecast predicted plenty of rain for the entire duration of my stay. But it wasn’t so bad, except for a few showers it was all so fine. It wasn’t even too overcast except the last day. That was fantastic.
And to answer my original question: I still miss Australia, I
would still prefer an Australian wine… but the weekend did remind me of my old passion and revived it a bit. Paris mon vieil amour…
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