Marché Bastille Sunday 22 May

entertainment at the Marché Bastille

horse meat stall

                                            


Dot and Ivy suggested we go to the Marché Bastille and it is the best market we have ever been to. Better than the Vic Market. However, no snails there on the day we went. We usually go to the  Marché Grenelle on a Sunday and there is an excellent snail stall. The Marché Bastille is an open-air market with stalls of every description, fresh produce and variety, stretching between the Bastille and Boulevard Richard-Lenoir in the 11e.

produce from Corsica

à bientôt

Promenade Plantée Thursday 19 May

Bois de Vincennes Ferris Wheel

Kaye and Gordon are here in Paris. They are trekking around parts of France.

For a walk in Paris, the four of us walked along the Promenade Plantée to the Bois de Vincennes.
The Promenade Plantée or "walk with trees" is in the 12th  arrondissement. It is a 4.5 kilometre park where most of the way is above street level.
It is a rail trail on an abandoned 19th century viaduct. It runs from Operá Bastille to the eastern city limits ending up near a woodland, park area, the Bois de Vincennes.

Kaye and I in the Bois de Vincennes

Müenchen 13 May to 16 May

On the Friday, we went to Munich by train. Paris Est to Stuttgart took 3 and a half hours. Stuttgart to Munich took 2 and a quarter hours. There and back used up 2 of our Eurail pass days. 
We have now used only 3 days and they have already practically paid for themselves.
Our meals to Munich were included and also wine with dinner. We have a select pass (a group pass - and 2 people constitute a group - except we have to travel together!) and you travel 1st class. We bought the pass with an extra day included.


Had a wonderful time in Munich. Visited Adrian and Karina.They were great hosts.
We got off the train at Augsburg to meet up with Adrian.  He works for MAN Diesel at Augsburg. He showed us around the buildings and we did a  MAN Diesel museum tour. MAN Diesel make diesel engines for ships, buses etc.

Adrian drove us back to their place on the autobahn. We got up to 220 kilometres an hour a few times and I wasn't quite under the seat.

tunnel leading to elevator to Kehlsteinhaus

On Saturday morning, we visited Kehlsteinhaus, also known as Hitler's Eagle Nest, Alderhorst, the surviving part of Hitler's residence near Berchtesgaten, Upper Bavaria. It is about 5 kilometres from the Austrian border and 220 kilometre from Pasing, where Adrian and Karina live. The town of Berchtesgaten is set in beautiful Alpine scenery on the River Ache at the foot of the Watzmann mountain, which at 2713 metres is Germany's second highest peak.
To get to the Eagle's Nest which is on the summit of Mt Kehlstein, you wind your way up along hairpin bends to a height of 1600 metres. A shuttle bus then takes you further up the mountain. The views from the bus are stunning. The bus takes you to the entrance of a tunnel which leads to an elevator that takes you up to the house.
The elevator shaft is cut into the rock.

our view of the Bavarian Alps

The views from the house are magnificent. However, as you can see, when we were there it was a rather cloudy, cold, miserable morning.

our view of the Bavarian Alps

While we were in the restaurant, the clouds dropped for about  a minute and we caught a very short glimpse of the Alps.





 
In the afternoon, we then took a boat trip on
Lake Königssee in Berchtesgaden. A lake with crystal-clear water in a fjord-like setting between mountain ridges and is Bavaria's loveliest lake. It is part of a national park. The scenery is breathtaking with snow covered Alpine slopes, stunning rock formations, waterfalls and echoing cliffs. At a particular point, they stopped the boat and the captain played a trumpet and the cliffs echoed back the sounds. Quite eerie.

As you can see, the weather had cleared up by then.





 


The electric powered boat took us to the Pilgrimage church of Saint Bartholomä, built about 1700.









 

half a pork knuckle

On the Sunday, Adrian insisted that we had to have a pork knuckle meal so we had lunch at Haxnbauer in Müenchen.

Pork knuckle with Knödel which is a potato and flour ball with a crouton of bread in the middle.
A bowl of  sauerkraut was also served.
All rather delicious.

After lunch we went on a city sightseeing tour. The first bus tour we have ever had. It was excellent and because we had very little time in Munich, it was a good way to see the town hall, pubs, beer gardens, churches, monuments, museums and government buildings.

 

 

Schloss Nymphenburg "Nymph's Castle". 

Visited Nymphenburg Palace on the Monday morning. It was built around 1663. A Baroque palace. It was the main summer residence of the rulers of Bavaria.  The palace together with its park is one of the most famous sights in Munich. The grounds are huge and beautiful. It is one of the world's biggest  inner city parks.

 

.....and of course over the weekend we tasted numerous German beers.


auf wiedersehen

Le Havre Monday 9 May 

Bassin du Commerce dock Le Havre

Geoffrey and I are still having a wonderful stay in Paris. We are now doing a few day trips and enjoying the French countryside. In March, on the internet, we bought a 7 day Eurail Select Pass for 3 Countries. We used one day to go to Le Havre.  Le Havre is on the coast in Upper Normandy, a 2 hour, 205 kilometre train trip out of Paris (not the fast train).

Geoffrey had bought a book The Belly of Paris by Émile Zola. The book is about the old Marché des Innocents, which is now Les Halles and is where our apartment is. The book cover illustration is from a painting ''The Square in Front of Les Halle", 1880, by Victor-Gabriel Gilbert. The painting is part of the collection at Musée des Beaux-Artes Andre Malraux, Le Havre.
However, when we got there, the painting, at the moment, is not on exhibition. The same happened when Robert and I visited  the Musée d'Orsay with the painting Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. It wasn't on exhibition either. Luckily, I had seen it last time we were in Paris and also when it was at the National Gallery of Victoria.
Another thing about Le Havre is that Claude Monet lived there as a child and teenager and of course painted many paintings of that area such as Fishing Boats Leaving the Harbour, Le Havre, 1874.

Musée des Beaux-Artes Andre Malraux, Le Havre Portrait de Nini Lopez 1876
Auguste Renoir






 

Bois de Boulogne  Tuesday 10 May

We are now enjoying visiting places around Paris that an extended visit allows and loving it.

We had a lovely stroll around the Bois de Boulogne which is on the western edge of Paris. This is part of what used to be a natural forest in that part of France. It is a preserved piece of forest. There's ponds, lakes, gardens, sports areas and children's playgrounds.

Monet's Garden Giverny Wednesday 11 May

Dot and Ivy from down our way, are here in Paris at the moment. We had a ladies day out to Monet's Gardens at Giverny.  This was a beautiful sunny day and the gardens were magnificent.
It was such a pleasure to see the pond area that Monet used when painting his waterlily paintings.
I have been to the Musée de l'Orangerie each time I have been in Paris, which is only twice and it remains the highlight of each trip. Being there and being able to look at  Monet's Nymphéas is just so wonderful to me and then to actually be in his garden made me very happy.

Belleville Area  Thursday 12 May Sometimes we hop on the Metro and just have a look at a particular area. Édith Piaff was born in the Belleville area. We also had a wander around the Cimitière du Père Lanchaise with its cobbled lanes and large tombs. Édith Piaff is buried there, also Chopin, Proust, Delacroix and  Modigliani, to name but a few and also Molière, the French playwright is also buried there. à bientôt