Day 17 - back to Paris

This was a travelling day. We went back to Paris and checked into the Mercure next to the Garden du Nord. We took a taxi from Austerlitz to Nord, rather than struggle with the suitcases through the Metro again.

The Gard du Nord area is very very different to St Germaine and we had just spent about a week in the country so we were suffering a bit of culture shock. We had to mail some stuff home, so we set off in search of packing tape. In, probably, the wrong direction. Eventually, with the help of a friendly news vendor, we found the Virgin Megastore which had a stationery department.

That was our excitement for the day.

Day 9 - more dead people / Day 10 - Aurevoir Paree, Bon Jour Nantes

Day 9

Our last full day in Paris and what better way to celebrate our joie de vivre then a visit to Pere Chaise Cemetery.

This was a completely different exercise to the Catacombs as:

- it was above ground (well, mostly)

- all the dead had names. Some of them very famous names.

Also Pere Chaise was a breath of fresh air. Literally. It was quiet and tree lined and a beautiful place to walk around.

Especially if you weren't scared of famous dead people. 

After lunch at a nearby bistro we went back to St Michel to visit Shakespeare and Company - the legendary English language bookstore that was a home away from home for many expatriate writers. It is one of those marvelous places with books crammed into every possible space, a bit like our lounge room.

Upstairs is a reading library with a view of Notre Dame. 

We had our last dinner in Paris around the corner from our flat. It was our last night there for we were off to Nantes the next day.  

Day 10

We meet up with our landlady (who we found was an author) who offered the flat to us for the next time we're in Paris. An offer we plan on taking up where possible. 

Our last breakfast at the Neo Cafe and then off to Montparnasse Station to catch the TGV to Nantes.

Only one barrier was in our way.

Lots and lots and lots of stairs. We believe that this is how the French stay fit despite their cuisine.  

Stairs.  

Fortunately we had given ourselves plenty of time to get to the train and soon we were able to wrangle our luggage onto the train and try for the two hour trip to Nantes.   We were both impressed by the TGV, we're now firm supporters of a high speed train for Australia - it's like flying at ground level. The only problem was, we were moving so fast it was hard to take pictures out the window.   


And then, suddenly, Nantes. We've come to Nantes for a very specific reason (which will be revealed in the next entry) so I wasn't sure how easy it would be to get around and he much of my appallingly stunted French I would have to emit in public.

It turns out Nantes is quite easy to get around (except for the point where we got lost walking home after dinner) and even if it appears that we don't share a common language it seems that every one still remembers a little Cro-Magnon.   

Day 7 - Le Anniversary / Day 8 - Le Musees

Day 7 - Le Anniversary

Yes, finally the day that we had arranged years ago to spend in Paris had arrived. And so we decided to spend our 10th anniversary like everyone else, and tramp through underground tunnels looking at piles of dead bodies.

In other words, we visited the Paris Catacombs. And I can tell you, it's not for the faint of heart - the piles of bones and skulls in the Ossuary are fine it's the spiral staircase at the end that's a killer. Probably literally too, as I noticed they had a defibrillator unit on standby at the exit.

Here are some photos that were salvageable under the light conditions:

We had lunch in a nearby Montparnasse bistro - the word "nearby" is fairly superfluous when applied to Paris bistros, in fact I'm sure there's more on the street outside now, then there was when we arrived. Hopefully a spore will find its way into our luggage, and escape Quarantine when we get home.

After the passion and romance of the Catacombs we thought we should balance our day with a boat tour of the Seine, or rather the bits that don't have public housing. In retrospect, we were lucky the day was overcast as our eyes may have thought that they'd seen all the beauty they were ever going to see and end their own existence in despair.

Let's see if your eyes suffer the same existential nightmare, shall we?

Finally it was off to the brasserie we discovered on our second day for sumptious meal with as much champagne as we could stand (i.e. half a bottle.)

I will draw a veil over the last hours of our 10th anniversary as the champagne had extended to us that very same courtesy.



Day 8 - Le Musees

Today we walked around the block to find another cluster of bistros had broken out. We would have notified the authorities, but they were already there, helping themselves to brioches, pain au chocolat and other comestibles my spell check fails to accommodate.

Today was a herculean challenge: we were going to attempt two museums in the one day. The Musee d'Orsay and the Musee de l'Orangerie. One is a converted railway station and the other is a converted, um, orangerie.

There are galleries around the d'Orsay with their own work on display:

The Musee d'Orsay is my favourite museum in Paris. So far, as there are countless others that I've artfully hidden from Llyn (by re-editing websites, carefully removing guide book pages, and the application of large tarpaulins with bistro frontages printed on them.) It boasts the largest collection of impressionists and post-impressionists in the world. I have to say, I was underwhelmed by the post impressionists as they were just a bunch of guys in berets standing perfectly still.

The Musee d'Orsay is also civilized enough to open part of its roof to visitors, with a sandwich cart providing a cheap(ish) lunch.

After a small break to convince our feet to talk to us again, we marched them to the Musee de l'Orangerie, just over the river Seine.

There are two exhibitions at l'Orangerie but we only saw one. In fact, after the d'Orsay, I was getting worried that my eyes were once again considering they'd outlived their usefulness. It was a close run thing as lurking in l'Orangerie are two large rooms completely devoted to the proper display of Monet's Waterlilies. The effect set my eyes muttering darkly to each other as to whether there was any more beauty to perceive or whether they should just chuck it in now. Fortunately our feet were too far away to hear them. Especially after the long walk back to the flat.

Day 6 - the Louvre

We now have a favourite breakfast cafe. Yes, we've been living in Paris that long. We found out our friendly Parisian waiter had visited Australia but found us arrogant and rude.

 This morning we set of for the Louvre, which meant finally having to cross the Seine. This is what it looked like:

Unfortunately Waiting for us on the other side of the Pont Neuf was a gang of not so lovable urchins that proceeded to swarm us with pens and paper as if we were Wiggles.We finally managed to shake them off and made it to the Louvre missing only a packet of Neurofen.

We Had no problem getting into the Louvre, there was a small queue and we found that the bulk of visitors only go to one or two galleries leaving the rest of the Louvre fairly underpopulated. Unfortunately L still hasn't seen The Lacemaker as that section seems to be forever being renovated. We did see The Raft of the Medusa, but no Pogues.

Day 5

Paris

PARIS!

PARIS!

I love this city so much

We're staying in a flat (which is quite large by Parisian standards) smack dab in the middle of the Blvd St Germaine which puts us close to pretty much everything we want to see.

Here's a view from a cafe over the road.

One of many cafes. In Fact that's why the updates are going to be rather sporadic. We've been having too good a time.

Our flat is decorated in what i would call early 80s Surry Hills Bohemian. We think that most of the art in the flat is from  the owner.We
hope so, it's very good. Our first stop this morning was the Musée de Cluny or the National Museum of the Middle Ages - to give it its full title. The Museum is right in the middle of one of the busiest areas of the Latin Quarter but once you step into it you wouldn't notice it.
 It's most famous for the Unicorn Room, a room filled with the midst magnificently preserved tapestries of a maiden in a garden with a unicorn. Not suss at all if you ask me. We don't have any photos of it because we were frankly too stunned by it. Besides, we don't want to spoil the surprise for any one visiting Paris. Instead x here's a picture of one of the world's oldest speech balloons.

 and the coffins of some famous templars

 and the games they would have played:

The afternoon was spent wandering vaguely around the shops and were went to a nearby cinema to the museum in the evening that was showing a beautifully restored print of "The Sweet Smell of Success" which was only marred by some French text that popped up every time the characters spoke.

Day 3 and 4

Day 3 was our last day in Singapore and we were flying out that night to Paris.

A long, long day, especially as neither of us got any sleep on the plane.

Our last day in Singapore was spent  sightseeing on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour which was competing ferocioualy with a rival company that had the Hopper.  We were on the Hippo that meant we could change between the City tour (so I could check out Orchard Road) and  the Historic Tour which was far more interesting.

Here's the only photo I took. We'd  arrived during the Moon Festival  so the streets of Chinatown were featooned with lanterns.

 We saw enough to know that we wanted to spend more time in Singapore, even with the two full days we have on the trip back home. We were all sight seed out so we went to Changi Airport to hang around there until our flight was called. Changi is a hub, so offered gratefully received services like free Wi-Fi and more importantly, after a long hot sightseeing tour, showers.

Finally our flight was called and we wearily made our way to the plane. Neither of us could sleep properly on the plane so the entire trip was spent in a tortuous  half doze.


We eventually made it to Paris. Took the train in, which was very easy to do except for the ticket machines not accepting Euro notes. Waited In a nearby cafe until our landlady showed up.

 Found the apartment. Found the lift wasn't working so dragged our luggage up six flights of narrow Parisian stairs. After a small, deserved rest we went for a walk and the lift was working on our return. Tomorrow Will be our first full day in Paris - after some much needed sleep.