Sunday 24th October
There & back
Following another restful nights sleep Nick again headed off to locate breakfast. He returned ten minutes later empty handed. He reported that the city was like a ghost town. He had to make do with one of my bananas until we had packed and checked out.
Fortunately we managed to locate a crepe vendor before the poor wee mite starved to death. He made do with a banana and nutella crepe as a late breakfast.
We decided we would continue our art theme today and as most of the shops were shut we had very little choice! We headed towards Musée d'Orsay. The museum showcases art from 1848-1914. This means it encompasses a number of schools including Impressionism, Naturalism and Art Nouveau. I was particularly pleased to be visiting as I have a soft spot for Monet, Cezanne, Degas and Co.
We hopped on our favourite lines the blue B and mustard C to arrive at the Musée d'Orsay stop. The building itself is very impressive and the sculpture outside interesting. There is an elephant, a rhinoceros and a horse. (I later discovered there are also busts on the other side - but they are not nearly so imposing as a giant elephant or rhino).
Having queued for a short while and being admitted as under-26 for five euros rather than 7, (the cashiers assumption not our cheek!) we made our way into the great hall. A giant clock dominates one wall and the ceiling soars above you. The building was originally a station and hotel, but was later decommissioned. It was only saved when a concern arose about the destruction of iron architecture. The interior really does feel like a grand old station. The central hall is filled with sculptures, including a polar bear, but we decided to start with the Impressionist masters.
The Museum is home to many famous paintings including several of Van Gogh's self portraits, Whistler's Mother, a Monet water lily painting, Degas' ballerinas and many more. However, it is the less well known works that steal the show as they allow you to study the brushwork at close quarters. We were glad we had gone to this floor first thing as when Nick popped back later in the day to the cafe he said it was packed and you couldn't really spend any significant amount of time looking at the works or get an unobstructed view.
There is a relatively large collection of Monet's work covering a wide range of his subject matter and I really enjoyed seeing them all in one place. We plan a return visit to Paris to see Monet's garden in Giverny - japanese bridge and all!
We throughly enjoyed seeing the works but found ourselves getting hungry. As we were inside the museum, had checked the bag with the food supply and couldn't leave without paying to be readmitted we checked out the cafe and 'fast food' area, as usual these proved un-Hayley friendly. The restaurant however was a different story. I could eat here, the prices weren't too exorbitant and the setting was certainly something. The restaurant is housed what was once the hotel's main dining hall. The roof is ornately decorated with frescoes and huge chandeliers light the room. It wasn't too hard to imagine ourselves back 100 years or so. The portions when they came were huge so that certainly filled the gap. We set out for some more art viewing with very full tummies.
I have to say we enjoyed the other two floors less than the top floor. I don't know if this was because we were museumed out or because we had really enjoyed the impressionists. All up though we spent around five hours at the museum so I think we gave it a fair spin!
It was time to head for the airport, we returned to the hotel, collected the bag and jumped back on the RER. The journey was uneventful again. However, we think Charles de Gaule is the worst designed airport in the world. You can check-in automatically before they check your passport or queue to do so after passport control - odd! Then there is a milling around area with shops but NO seats and you can't go and sit down (in an area with no shops or bars/cafes/restaurants) until you know your gate number - which they don't tell you for ages. There is also nowhere decent to eat - poor Nick couldn't even get a sandwich when we were there. Once you know your gate, you go through security which is very thorough. Then you can finally sit down. While we were waiting for our flight we saw our first rain in Paris - it started pouring down. Paris was obviously sad to see us go.
Posted by Hayley, photos by Nick
Saturday 23rd October
Around & about
We were rather slow to start this morning, our busy day yesterday having taken its toll. As a result I sent Nick off to find himself breakfast while I got organised. He came back half an hour later having found a beautiful boulangerie. He brought back a Jambon Fromage Pan (Ham and Cheese Roll) and a raspberry tart. Both of which he ate with enthusiasm.
We decided we would visit, Notre Dame this morning. It was just a quick hop on the RER to St Michel-Notre Dame. We went into the Cathedral for a look around. The stained-glass was spectacular. Most intriguingly, the panels revolve for cleaning so that the colours stay sharp and bright. There were a number of priests taking confession, one in French, English and Chinese!!
Having completed a circuit of the church accompanied by organ music from the gigantic organ we went to the garden behind the Cathedral. This was largely so I could see the flying buttresses which I had been promised by the guidebooks. Nick also assured me that the best view was from the building. He was, as usual, correct. The intricacies of the building are much more apparent than what can be seen from the front.
We had located what looked like an interesting museum underneath the Cathedral - the Crypte de Archeologique. This contains excavated remains of the island on which it lies, Île de la Cité. This island is the original centre of Paris and the place at which the city grew, receded and grew again. The remains include Gallo-Roman fortifications, a roman heating system, a hospital for foundlings and various layers of cellars.
The museum also contains works from a Japanese artist. These are of various parts of Paris. It all seemed a little strange. However, the explanation of the works and the artist was in French so there may have been more to it than met the eye.
It was interesting to compare the Roman remains with those we had seen in Bath. We also hadn't realised how much the shape of the island had altered over time, particularly the water line as evidenced by a Jetty which was now sitting well and truly high and dry!
We followed this visit with another to the park behind the Cathedral for a picnic lunch. Again the weather had obliged and we had another lovely day.
For our afternoon's entertainment we headed for the Centre de Pompidou, home to a large library and the Musée National d'Art Moderne. This museum houses one of the finest collections of modern art in the world.
The Centre de Pompidou itself isn't too shabby either. Designed to turn the inner workings of the building out. It is a glass structure that shows the inner construction of the building. It has elevators running up the outside that afford a beautiful view out over the city. Fortunately with the purchase of a ticket to the museum you get to traverse these escalators. We went up to the sixth floor for a view out over the city encompassing the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur, Notre Dame and the Arc de Triomphe. I enjoyed seeing how the various places we had visited fit together into a city.
We then headed back down to the fourth floor for the Museum proper. We had decided we couldn't leave Paris without sampling some art and decided that we felt like modern art today, as opposed to 'girly art' (as one of my colleagues terms it). My mother will be pleased to know that the museum was stacked full of artists I studied in seventh form art history Braque, Picasso, Robert Delaunay, Sonia Delaunay, Matisse, Mondrian, Brancusi and many more.
The galleries are split across two levels, with the upper display encomapssing 1905-1960 and the lower floor containing more recent acquisitions. The galleries divert off a long, narrow corridor that looks like it goes for miles, and in fact when you walk it, does go on for miles, and are grouped chronologically. I particularly enjoyed the selection of Braque's work. Although we are beginning to wonder a little about Picasso. There are so many of his works, how did he ever have time to complete them all?!
The galleries are beautifully light and airy and the art sublime. There were more than a couple of works we wanted to 'acquire' for our walls at home.
Some of the art in the lower galleries was a little more um, experimental but we enjoyed it nevertheless. For the second day running however, we were more than a little footsore.
We headed back to the hotel, via a creperié and a boulangerie and finally Agnès b. Nick bought a lemon/sugar crepe, a black forest gateaux and two shirts and a vest respectively. It was well and truly time for a rest.
We wandered down to a local Italian restaurant for dinner. I had grilled salmon and Nick had a Quatro Stagioni Pizza. When it came to dessert I had lemon sorbet served inside a frozen lemon skin, very novel!! Nick had chocolate soup, it was meant to be a chocolate sundae but wasn't. Fortunately they gave him another and when we asked for the bill two glasses of a liqueur arrived, very nice! We retired back to the hotel for French TV (well American TV dubbed in French) and bed.
Posted by Hayley, photos by Nick
Friday 22nd October
Up & down
Following a refreshing nights sleep Nick popped out to the local boulangerie for breakfast. He returned with an Emmental Bread and a Pain aux Raisin, which he ate with delight.
We decided we would go shopping this morning as sampling the delights of the Parisian shops had been high on the agenda. So armed with some vague directions from one of my colleagues we set off. Firstly, we wandered past Forum de Halle, a rather intriguing giant glass structure. However, we weren't having much luck finding clothes shops. We did find a beautiful olive oil shop full of Italian delights, including olive oil with truffles, sundried tomatoes, olive oil with mandarin and various types of Pasta. It all looked very tempting and was beautifully presented in various shapes and sizes of glass bottle. We also spotted the Stravinsky fountain, a fountain filled with sculptures representing his works that squirts water at unsuspecting passers-by. We did, following a long wander down Parisian lanes and boulevards, locate BHV, a department store. It is renowned for its DIY section, and while we had little interest in light switches, curtains or taps we did have some success with Nick purchasing a shirt.
We continued our wander and managed to locate some boutiques as well as some high street stores. I tried on a variety of clothes at a variety of prices!! Unfortunately, my taste tends towards the expensive, especially when it comes to winter coats. However, I did find two pairs of trousers and a beautiful woollen jersey at very reasonable prices at a shop named Chattawak.
We continued wandering but were getting a little foot sore so following a rest in a beautiful square we decided to head back to the hotel to drop off the shopping and grab a bite to eat. On the way we passed Agnès b Homme. As this was a shop I had read about we popped in. Nick found a number of things he liked but ended up buying a gorgeous grey sweater.
Following a brief rest we headed for the RER to go to Le Tour Eiffel. We decided to walk up. It is a really good workout but the view over the city is amazing. It is fascinating to see how the city fits together, the shapes of the roads and where various famous places are in relation to each other. It is also interesting to see the way the landscape of the city changes as you rise higher. After 237 steps we reached the second platform, bought our tickets and joined the (rather long) queue for the lift to the top. I was surprised by how much further up you go in this lift. I thought it would be a mere hop, instead you have a reasonable length of time to gaze at the city. It was rather blustery at the top and we had to don jackets for warmth. However, the clear blue skies meant we could see well into the distance. We descended again, happy to have seen Paris from above.
As we were walking down the lights came on in the Tower. This meant we got to see it in daylight, in dusk and then as we were leaving at night.
It was time, we decided, for another crepe! This time a ham and cheese one. Nick again yummed this up. As we stood, and he ate the seven o'clock light display began flashing away. I think the most amazing thing about this is the way it reflects in the glass all around the area, off buildings, off trains and in the corners of our eye glasses - quite an impressive sight.
We walked back along the Seine to the railway station. When we exited the train at our stop we discovered that we were underground in the Forum de Halle. One of two enormous shopping malls in Paris - we are not sure how we missed it this morning but miss it we did!
We headed back to our room for a quick change before setting out for dinner. We ended up at a restaurant called Le Grillardin, established in 1827. I had lamb and Nick sampled frog's legs - not a dish he will be adding to his loved cuisines of the world! He did enjoy dessert however. We returned to our room for another well deserved rest.
Posted by Hayley, photos by Nick
Thursday 21st October
Paris, enchanté
Today started very early this morning. The taxi to Clapham Junction was booked for 3.30 am, so the cuckoo sounded at 3.15, leaving us just enough time to throw on some clothes and go and stand at the curb.
We arrived in good time to catch the 4.06 to Gatwick. While we waited at the airport we indulged in some breakfast. We boarded on time only to have a 45 minute wait on the runway. It seemed a little ironic that we actually spent more tome sitting still with the engine off than we did in the air! (The flight time to Paris is 40 minutes).
We landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport to beautifully fine weather. We are not sure that Charles de Gaulle has been designed with optimal flow in mind, as the immigration queues flow back into the terminal where other passengers are trying to find flights - all slightly odd. The RER into town isn't brilliantly well sign posted either but at least our rudimentary French got a work out.
Nick had booked us into a very central hotel, at a very reasonable price, leading me to fear we would be staying in a cupboard. But never fear the Trip Advisor reviews turned out to be correct and the hotel is indeed very nice, very clean and the room reasonably sized. (Certainly bigger than the room we had when we arrived in London, that cost about twice as much and wasn't really that central).
We decided as is tradition to go for a walk to locate the Tourist Information Centre. Conveniently, Rough Guide informed us, located on the Champs-Elysées. This meant we could kill a number of birds with one stone. So we set off for a walk through the city. Paris is beautiful and, as I remarked to Nick, 'not nearly as dirty as you expect'. We walked down Rue de Rivoli to the Champs-Elysées and therefore saw much grand architecture. The width of the footpath is something to be marveled at, even if motorbikes, and occasionally cars, seem to want to share it with you.
I was particularly taken with the Obélisque on Place de Concorde. This was home to the guillotine but now acts as a giant roundabout that links Rue de Rivoli to the Champs-Elysées. My French was good enough to figure out that it has something to do with Egypt, France and the 1800's, and also that Jacque Chirac and a whole host of other Ministers did something with it at some stage. I may have to do a little more digging to figure out the exact details as I couldn't find anything in either of the guide books we had with us. The roundabout also offered me my first glance of the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower.
And so onto the Champs-Elysées, conveniently and prettily lined with autumn trees. This walk was also a chance for Nick to sample a delicacy that he missed out on when last in Paris - crepes. It looked delicious and he assures me it was - just the right consistency and freshly made too! It is a fascinating process using a long thin spatula-thingy to spread the batter over an extremely hot element. I'm sure it takes some practice to get it just right!
We continued on to the shopping part of the street. Most of the shops are familiar british high street names or tourist priced restaurants and cafes. However, you never know when you might get a bargain so we had to check them out. The Champs-Elysées leads inevitably to the Arc de Triomphe. It too is a very impressive structure, somewhat marred by the reconstruction/preservation work currently being undertaken. However, in some ways the work made Paris seem a little bit more real as up until now it had seemed a little like a fairy tale. We crossed to the middle and stared up at the impressive detail work on the arch of the Arc. We also went outside the arch and stared at the impressive recklessness of the drivers using the Arc roundabout, I have no idea how they know where they are going and how anybody gets out alive. I said to Nick if I was on a scooter like one couple we saw I would be terrified - he merely commented that some brave fools attempt it on push bikes!! I was very pleased to have seen the Arc, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and the eternal flame commemorating the dead of the two world wars, they seem so strong in the iconography of France around the world that it was nice to meet them in person.
We returned down the other side of the Champs-Elysées. We found our Tourist Information Centre but it had obviously been closed for some time and looked rather sad to be empty. We checked with the Time Out (published 2004 to Rough Guide's 2003) and discovered there was a newer, or perhaps merely still existing, one on Rue de Rivoli - the road down which we had to return.
We decided to walk back through Jardindes Tuileries, the park next to the Louvre. The garden was begun by Catherine de Medicis in 1564 and went through a number of changes with the various upheavals Paris has experienced. Today it is a garden filled with sculptures, some copies of works now housed in the Louvre but originally sited in the gardens. It has lovely park benches and a duck pond and we sat and gave our weary feet a rest. Visiting the garden also gave us a chance to see the Louvre pyramids. Again they are impressive architectural structures, quite different to much of the rest of Paris. Nick, in particular, enjoyed the chance to see them.
We headed out to Rue de Rivoli to look once again for the Tourist Information Centre. We located the spot where we thought it should be but no joy. We abandoned our search for the day, although really it was just an excuse to explore a bit of Paris on foot, and headed back to the hotel for a late afternoon nap. Dinner was at a conveyor belt Japanese restaurant. Yes my goal is take Nick around Europe and make him eat Japanese at every stop! I had sashimi and sushi and Nick had sushi, yakitori and tempura. We headed back through the still buzzing streets for an early night to make up for our early morning.
Posted by Hayley, photos by Nick
Tuesday 5th October
Time flies
On this day in 1998 Hayley and I got engaged. This date had slipped in to the fabric of the space time continuum only to be returned to our consciousness by an email from my mother. I don't think I have any point in bringing this up. I just felt that it should be noted somewhere. If anyone is searching for an excuse to send us a present or chocolates, consider this a rationale.
Posted by subtle Nick
Monday 4th October
Tired and sick
I'm currently ill. I took today off work to try and recuperate, and stay warm. This is only my second day of sick leave since I started at this job, so I don't feel guilty. Just sick.
I went for an opticians appointment at the beginning of September — something that could have been added to the September update, oh well — and arranged to get new glasses. New glasses have been a while coming for me as I broke my previous pair in April last year at Princes Waterski Club whilst visiting Duncan & Karen. Owing to my appalling vision, lenses would have to be ordered in for me — were I less myopic they would have been ready in one hour — this was going to take two weeks. During this two week period I decided that I wasn't sure about the frames that I had chosen and I wanted to have another look at their stock. I called up the optician and requested that when my lenses arrived they not be made up as I might be changing my mind. This I was assured would be no problem. Two days later I was phoned and informed that my glasses were ready to be collected. The lab had made them up without reading the bold and highlighted instructions requesting them not to do so. Still I was told there was no problem I could come down, have a look at frames and if I wanted another pair they would happily order me in another set of lenses. I did indeed choose a new frame and duly another set of lenses were ordered, again with a lead time of two weeks.
Over the weekend I went back to the optician to collect my glasses. At this point I have to say I'm well excited about getting a new pair of glasses as my contact lenses have been driving me a bit crazy (crazier?) with all the constant wear. I collected my new glasses and tried them on. Hmmmm, looking good. I gaze off into the distance, hmmmmm, not so good. My distance vision appears to be a little bit out of focus. I know that often when you get a new prescription it takes a little while for your eyes to adjust, but I don't remember it being like this. The next day I return with my glasses (old-broken and new) and ask them to check the prescriptions and find out why I can't see. The optician had written down the wrong prescription! I wasn't going mad (well not because of this anyway). Now I get to wait another two weeks while the new new lenses are ordered in. Then maybe I'll have a pair of glasses that can be worn in public. Maybe.
Posted by Nick
