Sacré-Coeur encore

Basilique du Sacré-Coeur  Saturday 31 March 2012
We walked to and from the Sacré Coeur. Misty day as you can see from the photos. We actually walked up the steps to the church. Usually we have caught the funicular or we have walked along the top of the hill in the Montmartre area to the church. The walk down is fine but walking up is a whole lot different. On the way up the steps, a fellow from Guinea, a previous French colony in West Africa, grabbed me by the thumb  and plaited a wrist band for me. I could not say no as it gave me a bit of a breather and had a bit of a chat. 

Wedding Anniversary 43 Years

29 mars 2012 anniversaire de mariage 43 ans

7 red roses

Marie Antoinette

Dinner at La Fontaine de Mars 127 rue Saint-Dominique 75007. This is the same place that we had our anniversary dinner last year.
Geoffrey had Celiarac with Sea Snails followed by Cassoulet. I had White Asparagus with Bernaise Sauce and the Roast Duck Breast with Condiments and Cream Polenta.
Unfortunately, we did not have someone take a photo of the 2 of us. Maybe, next year!

at the restaurant

Michael Connelly in Paris



Went to a book promotion for 'Les Neuf Dragons' to listen to the author Michael Connelly. He is the author of the Harry Bosch novels. This particular book 'The Nine Dragons' was published in English in 2011. The French translation of 'The Reversal' is not due until May 2012 and the the French translation of 'The Fifth Witness'is not due until May 2013. So how lucky are we!

The book promotion was at a bookstore about a 10 minute walk from our place.

Librairie de Paris

Place de Clichy

Michael Connelly with interpreter

A Beer in the Warm Sunshine 26 March 2012



on our balcony

Underground Tour of the Sewers 25 March 2012

This was another Paris Walks 2 hour tour.
Cost was 16 euros each which included entrance fee.
Métro: Alma-Morceau

24 kilometres of sewers. They were created in mid 19 Century under Napoleon III and have not changed much since then.

There's 200,000 dogs in Paris - that is 10,000 tonnes of dog poo each day and most of it is flushed down into the sewers. The majority of Parisians have voted that dog poo in Paris is the worst problem the city has. The fine at the moment is 457 euros for not "picking up". We all believe it needs to be increased and dog poo bags freely available along the foot paths.






Eiffel Tower - constructed 1889.

The Eiffel Tower is going to be closed in 2015. It is going to be stripped of its layers of paint. Each layer weights 18 tonnes. the colour is patented -Eiffel Tower Brown. To create an optical illusion the paint is dark at the bottom and light as you go up.

Flamme de la Liberte at Place de l' Alma.
The Pont d'Alma is to the left of this monument.
It was under this bridge that Princess Diana's mercedes crashed.

Entrance to the Sewers of Paris is on the Left bank

There is a Museum down in the 'stinky part'. It is part of the working sewers to this day. The exhibits are 1st class, fascinating and comprehensive. They are contained in suspended glass boxes. In the event of a flood, the display boxes and poster displays can be lifted up to ceiling height to avoid inundation.

The exhibits are contained in suspended glass boxes

Fresh Air!

Paris Weather 16 March 2012

On the day we took the films of the apartment it was a beautiful warm sunny morning.

The weather had suddenly changed from colder than we have ever known, like in early February, minus 9 degrees felt like minus 9, but  today, warm and typical of a an Australian hot spring day, I think the numbers are misleading - minus 9 certainly felt like minus 9 but our 16 degrees in Paris today, felt like a 25 degrees in Melbourne. Suddenly everyone is in shirt sleeves and bar partitions to the street are open.

Our Apartment Bathroom and 2nd Bedroom

Our Apartment Main Bedroom 16 March 2012

Our Apartment Kitchen 16 March 2012

Our Apartment Entrance Hall 16 March 2012

Our Apartment Living Area 16 March 2012

Our Apartment Balcony 19 March 2012

Le Jardin du Luxembourg Monday 19 March

This is our visit to the Luxembourg Gardens this trip. The gardens are on the Left Bank in the Latin Quarter.

Medici Fountain in the Luxembourg Gardens.
This ornate 17 Century fountain with a  pond was built for Marie de Médicis

Statue of Mary Stuart - Mary Queen of Scots

Mary Queen of Scots was raised in France and married the Dauphin in 1558. He ascended the throne as François II in 1559.

 Palais du Luxembourg

Sitting on the broad terrace that circles the central octagonal pool

Trees are still looking a bit bare.

Playing boules.

On the way home we went past L' Église St-Sulpice

le Parc Monceau Sunday 18 March

Parc Monceau is a favourite place for us this trip. It is only 5 minutes from us.

The photo below is  the main entrance to the park and usually, when we go there, there are too many people hanging around.

On this day it was very light drizzle, so it was a good day to take a photo without other tourists. By the time we returned home, the drizzle had become a whole lot heavier. I think we were the only people out in the streets that day.

The Chartres Pavilion - the rotunda at the main entrance to Parc Monceau

Gardening in Paris 24 March 2012

Our local weekly market is the Marché Batignolles. A few minutes walk from where we live. We try to go there every Saturday. I have a freshly cooked potato, onion and cheese galette. Absolutely delicious.

We have been eyeing off the oysters, but we never ever quite knew where to start. There's a huge variety, all from different areas, different sizes and different prices. Last Saturday we bought a dozen and a shucking knife. Geoffrey can now shuck oysters. The stall owners will happily shuck them for you and they were only too happy to show Geoffrey how to do it.

Bon appétit!



Geoffrey has started a garden.
He has a pot of parsley, a pot of thyme, some basil, 3 pansies and a polyanthus.

 

Twechar 7-14 March

A Train Trip from Twechar to Glasgow Friday 9 March 2012

Geoffrey, Catherine and I went for lunch in Glasgow.

Glasgow is on the West Coast 

Twechar is 20 kilometres from Glasgow.

A train trip to Glasgow.

My cousin Catherine.

Lunched at Jamie Olivers Jamie's Italian with Geoffrey

The Glasgow Eye in George's Square with the monument of HM Queen Victoria

A Glasgow Eye. Where is the Melbourne Eye?

A Train Trip from Twechar to Edinburgh Saturday 10 March 2012

Geoffrey, Catherine and I went for lunch in Edinburgh.
Edinburgh is on the East Coast.
Twechar is 72 kilometres from Edinburgh.

Scott Monument in Princes Street Gardens. I am just outside the Edinburgh Waverley Railway Station.

Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott.

We had lunch at  the Royal McGregor which is just behind us at the start of the film.
The Royal McGregor is in High Street on the Royal Mile.
The Royal Mile connects Edinburgh Castle with the Palace of Holyrood House which is often used as a Royal Residence.

Me, Michael and Catherine in front of St Giles Cathedral

Versailles

4 March Sunday

French Revolution Paris Walks 3 March

We were so impressed with the Paris Walks Hemingway tour that we decided to go on another one the next day. By coincidence, it was the same guide - Chris.

Paris Walks tour: The French revolution on the Right Bank
Meeting place: Metro Palais Royal at Place du Palais Royal
12 euros each


We were told some  stories about Queen Marie Antoinette, Robespirre, Equality Phillip and Charlotte Corday.

Walked around the Palais Royal where new ideas were debated, the site of the rebel Jacobin club.

The ill-fated Tuileries Palace.

we ended up at la Place de la Concorde where the guillotine stood.

Paris Walks Hemingway's Paris

2 March 2012
Last year, friends of ours told us of these walks. This year, Geoffrey picked up their monthly pamphlet at the Red Wheelbarrow Bookstore. We chose to go on a walk called 'Hemingway's Paris' in the Latin Quarter. I had not read Hemingway's 'A Moveable Feast'  so in preparation for this walk, it was downloaded from Kindle and  I read it.

12 euros each. Tour was for 2 hours. Meeting place at le Métro Cardinal Lemoine, 5th arrondissement, Left bank.
Chris, the tour guide was excellent. It was enjoyable and informative. There are many writers who lived here including James Joyce, George Orwell, Victor Hugo, Verlaine

At times, it is good to be guided by people who know where to look.


This is a fragment of the medieval wall
3 metre thick at the base and 9 metres high.

This is part of Phillipe Auguste's wall in rue Jacques-Henri Lartigue.
Phillipe Auguste was Phillip 11 of France.
The wall was built between 1190 and 1220.
The wall had a walkway, battlements, fortified gates and round towers at regular intervals. It was built to have primarily a defensive function.
Bits of the wall can be seen in various locations around Paris. You just have to know where to look.

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These are the steps where Owen Wilson sat as the 1920 Peugot Landaulet,  the car used in the Woody Allen film, Midnight in Paris, drove up to him. Can you believe it! Our friend Marilyn suggested Geoffrey and I see this film and now here am I sitting on the steps.



This is the street the car drove up from in Midnight in Paris.
How good is that!
At Place de Abbe Basset, 53 Rue de la Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, on front of the steps of  Église Saint Etienne-Du-Mont. A scene is repeated throughout the movie where, as the church clock strikes midnight, Wilson is transported back in time to the magical age of Picasso, Gertrude Stein, Hemingway, and
F.Scott Fitzgerald.





The historic church of St Étienne-du-Mont
next to the Panthéon

Église St Étienne-du-Mont has the shrine of Ste-Geneviève, the patron saint of Paris.




This Rood screen in Église St Étienne-du-Mont, is the only complete Rood screen left in Paris.
The Rood screen was used to separate the elite from the the ordinary people in the 16th Century

We have just come from la Place de la Contra-Sharpe and on to rue Mouffetard.

Rue Mouffetard is at the top of the Roman road heading toward Lyon. It is an ancient section of the Roman road to Italy, via Lyon.

Rue Mouffetard is a semi-pedestrian street of 605 metres long and 6 metres wide. It is one of the oldest street markets in Paris and winds downhill through the Latin Quarter.




Had lunch here at St-Metard at the end of rue Mouffetard.
The bistro is at the bottom end of rue Mouffetard.



Me with Helen from Glen Iris. Helen was on the walk with us.

L'Arc de Triomphe

29 February 2012

Last time we were at Monceau Park, it was 12 February and the temperature was minus 6 degrees. The waterfall was frozen and also the lake. We returned there today and everything is back to normal.


There's a number of scaled down features in Parc Monceau An Egyptian pyramid, a Chinese fort, a Dutch windmill, Roman style columns and also this archway.

A Rose Garden at Monceau Parc

The lake, no longer frozen.

The waterfall no longer frozen.

As we were walking around, we saw the Arc de Triomphe from the Monceau Parc.

Arc de Triomphe

à bientôt