Chapter 16

Hawker to Haute Cuisine

Our arrival in Paris in the early morning had us scrambling for a woolly!  The constant warm weather we left behind was far different to the 5 deg we encountered waiting for a cab at Charles De Gaulle airport.  It was a beautiful, clear and sunny 5 deg though.
Our tiny apartment was fine. Not as good as some we had stayed in before in
Paris, but fine. Location excellent.  

View from apartment

We did book this quite recently, so not as many on the list to choose from!  We were in the Marais (meaning marsh) district, adjacent to Place de Vosges.  Henri IV began building Place Royale (today's Place de Vosges) in 1605, and it is a true square, 140m x 140m, and the oldest square in Paris.  The floorboards in the apt were testament to the age of the building. Up, down and creaking!
Art galleries, boutiques, restaurants, the hub of Paris's gay community and the nucleus of Jewish life makes up today's Le Marais.  How colourful!
Once we had dragged our 4 suitcases up 2 flights of uneven, timbered stairs, we thought we would go for a long walk to get rid of flight cobwebs and adjust to the new time zone, and ended up walking about 6kms. 
Our first repast consisted of une tasse du thé, and une baguette avec jambon et emmental.  So nice! Walking past the food shops had us oohing and ahhing repeatedly. Watch out waistline!

Continuing our walk beside the river, we encountered an old lady, who just so happened to "find" a gold ring on the footpath as our paths crossed. She was happy to hand this over to us, as she did not need it.  A cyclist riding by, seeing what was going on told us of the real reason for her generosity, and told her to go away. Not used to con artists. Told brain to switch on "rascal radar".
We crossed the Pont des Arts and found it fascinating with the ornate iron work covered in all different types of padlocks with names of couples engraved or written on them. The locks are called cadenas d'amour, and there are over 2000 now. Apparently, after the lovers lock the padlock, the key is tossed into the river Seine as a sign of eternal love. Only the French could do something so romantic!  Sites mimicking this have now popped up all over the world.

Time for lunch..........Charcuterie platter and soup d'oignons in a tiny cafe,  where all the chairs face the street so you can "people watch"!  And we did!

We ended up using the Metro to return to the apt as our legs were getting weary.  At the ticket office Philip asked for what he thought was 2 carnet (2 packs of 10 tickets), but asked for 2 canard, which translates to 2 ducks! He realised his faux pas, and corrected himself.  The young ticket femme did not think it was funny at all.  We laughed all the way home. Told brain to switch on "French channel".
We decided on dinner in the apt, as we did not know what time we would "drop" so we bought some wine (still so cheap), poulet roti avec salade et pommes de terre roti. Perfect. We calculated that we had been awake for 44 hours with a 4 hour sleep on the plane. 

Batman Boppin' (or droppin') enjoying part of his 4 hours

Parisian markets are well renowned.  This little piggy went to market at L'Hotel de Ville on the wrong day...

People also had their shopping lists.  For those that didn't there were constant reminders to bring one...

Fontainebleau was on our "to do" last last time we were in France, but wet weather stopped us from visiting.  This time a sunny spring day greeted us, so we headed 55 kms from Paris, on a train from Gare de Lyon. 
Philip the Fair was born there in 1268, and Philip the Bald visited in 2013.  How royal.  The chateau sits in a parkland of 80 hectares, with lakes, fountains, manicured gardens and a 1200m man-made canal full of fish. The chateau itself consists of 1500 rooms, (who counted) and was continuously inhabited for seven centuries!   Each inhabitant added wings and rooms, so a bit of a maze inside. We had the best apricot tart here waiting for the bus when we left!

We have visited Paris about a dozen times, but never had we ventured up the Eiffel Tower or been to Notre Dame. This time we did both.  Another two ticks on the bucket list!

View from Eiffel Tower

Saint Germaine was an eclectic area we had not really explored before. We walked the 2 km from the apt for our pain aux raisin and coffee then explored.   We walked through the Luxembourg gardens on our way back, and came across the Pantheon, another treasure we had not seen before. Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris was buried at this site in 512AD.  In 1744, Louis XV attributed his recovery from a serious illness to prayers made to her, and pledged to dedicate a church to her name. It was absolutely beautiful. Victor Hugo is interred here; as is Voltaire and many others.

Inside the Pantheon

We decided on another day trip and, after some research, headed to Rouen. This city, like Paris, sits on the river Seine and is one and a half hours from the capital by train.  It too has its own Notre Dame Cathedral, (painted many times by Monet) and is the place where the French Grand Prix started. The most famous name associated with Rouen, is Joan of Arc.  It is here she ended up on a pyre, in 1431 aged 19!  It was a beautiful sunny day and the cherry blossoms planted around the city were bursting with blooms. It is also renowned for its half timbered houses, that defy gravity sometimes with the odd angles at which they now sit.  Coquilles St Jacques for lunch in a cute restaurant called Le P'tit Zinc sitting in the sun, in the square, overlooking the memorial to Joan.

Could you live upstairs?

Astronomical clock in Rouen dating back to the 16th century

We came to Paris to just relax, and enjoy the food and culture.  Not be mad tourists out all day. A couple of day trips, yes, but we mostly walked around leisurely absorbing the sights, sounds and people. Made easy by the temperate weather. A coffee and pastry here, and a Salade Nicoise or charcuterie platter there, etc.  Well we achieved this. 

Last days were just as relaxing.  Lunch and people watching...

... and a walk through the Tuileries en route to the Musée de l'Orangerie...

Of course, there's a different kind of tourist in Paris to that of Singapore.  You can't help but hear some of their loud comments, such as the one we heard whilst waiting to go up the Eiffel Tower..."why do those elevators go up on an angle like that" (errr... check out the shape of the tower, lady).

We move onto the UK now to find employment and get ourselves settled for the next chapter. Wherever that is.
We are about to board the Eurostar for London with our 80kgs of luggage!

Till the next blog
Love Annie (and Pip)
Xxxx