Paroissien’s in Paris

I have been practising putting pictures on the blog - wow, thanks Ben.    I thought you would like the Pizza machine - seen in Louviers -a country town west of Paris.  This is a machine which dispenses pizzas for E3.    Amazing - are they hot or not - needless to say we didn’t try it, but I did linger for a while hoping someone else would come along and try it!!

I think I will start from yesterday and work backwards - it was a very wet day- soggy in fact, so thought I would go to see Ste Chapelle just behind the Notre Dame - - queues a mile long, and too long for me, but did spy a Vivaldi concert to be held that night; what a great opportunity, especially as Ian had a business dinner.    Had to take two metro rides to Galleries Layfayette to get a ticket, and quite by chance my friend Eileen from Melb. was in Paris and decided to join me.

Well, Ste Chapelle has to be on the top of the ‘must see’ in Paris - and what a way to see it - a chamber music concert in the most beautiful stained glass I have ever seen - including a huge rose window.   Built by Louis IX, the lower chapel is for the parishioners and the upper chapel, where the concert was held, connected to the palace where Louis resided - now the Palce de Justice.     And the concert was superb - The Four Seasons with violins, violin cello, double base and a clarichord.   We then walked back to the St Germain area and found the Moroccon restaurant suggested by Sue Barr - family run and the tagine was mouthwatering together with wonderfully warm atmosphere in a small cafe surrounded by Moroccan culture - thanks for that tip Sue.

But, back to London - the Eurostar train is terrific - drops you right in the middle of London, how easy.    I was able to stay at Eileen’s flat in chelsea, which has the most wonderful view over the rose gardens of St Luke’s church.  
My ticket for the Flower show eventually turned up - ordered back in March from Melb. and arrived 5 days before to Linda in UK!!! at double the cost of the ‘normal’ tickets through the Horticultural society - the joys of ordering on the internet!!

 Linda Speddy, ex PNG and Jakarta days came up from the Cotswolds and her daughter Jess joined us for dinner - lovely to catch up on all the family news.    
Next day, bright an early we were at the Flower Show - they get about 9000 visitors a day!!.      Perfect day - 20 degrees, no wind and no rain - how lucky.     The Show case gardens were superb - very green, lots of water, quite simple, some with just white flowers, and of course the australian one - very Aust. and big indigenous theme - I think it has been in all the papers in Melb.    A small water course, the beautiful Kimberley stone (like the colours in Fed Square for Melb. people), a seating area with cushions around a campfire - they had to keep explaining that no, it wasn’t a bbq.   Whilst they didn’t win the overall top of the show, they certainly deserved one of the gold medals - huge amount of effort and so very different and refreshing to the other gardens.

There were many stalls selling everything from floral gumboots to ride on mowers - and a marquee with all the wonderful floral decorations - this area is obviously not  seen as a major part of the show - relatively small compared with ours, but nevertheless well worth while seeing. 
so by 3pm we had ’seen it all’ - and wandered back to the flat for a well earned cup of tea - one of my dreams having come to fruition.

Over the next few days I had dinner with Amy King who is nursing in London (known Amy since she started kindy with Andrew), then lunch at The Orangerie in Kensington Palace Gardens with 2 of my oldest friends - Colleen from NZ(we met when I lived in Auckland when I was 18)  and Yvonne from Uppingham (we worked together in Corby in the Midlands in the late 60’s - was it really that long ago).    

I can really recommend The Orangerie  the building is so beautiful with its high ceilings and the archways at each end, and the patio which looks over the beautifully manicured lawns and topiaried(?) trees - a real oasis in the middle of busy London.    And was it busy, I couldn’t believe the number of people around.

So back in Paris, and looking forward to seeing Helen and Doug Saunderson today - on their way back to Aus, then Julie Bladon and Mim arrive tomorrow on their way to Nice - they will be back later, and then my sister Jill will be here for a few days next week.    maree and Karen will be packing up as we speak, they will be here at the end of next week - it’s all happening but we are really looking forward to seeing everyone.

I think that’s about enough for today - I will continue later with Geneva .

Oh, and I dropped my mobile phone (French one) on the Eurostar going to London, reported it missing by email when I got back to paris and they have just let me know that it was handed in - how’s that for honesty in the big city!!  Only problem is it will cost me more to get it sent to Paris Gare du Nord than the phone and card cost - but hey,if someone has gone to the trouble of handing it in, I can hardly be churlish and not claim it!!

Au revoir - am off for a coffee before meeting Helen and Doug.
Barbxxx
  

A little more experimenting with uploading photos - but, I think I’ve got it!!   

We have just a hectic 2 weeks in Melbourne and it was lovely to catch up with all our friends and family.   
The really special day was my sister Jill’s 60th birthday - she had an afternoon tea at a nearby restaurant, with her many friends from different aspects of her life.      And we celebrated with cake, candles and me giving a speech, with of course all those stories one stores up over the years.  A very happy afternoon.

And now she is half way through her ‘trip of a lifetime’ with her friend Jan - they are somewhere in Germany as we speak and next week when they are in Paris, we will meet them for dinner.   Then after another tour around Ireland and Britain, Jill will come to paris for a few days - I’m really looking forward to showing her my favourite places in this magical city.
It was great to see David again - he and Johanna are looking after the house really well (helps to have cleaners!!).  He is enjoying his running again this year, and is training hard for the Melbourne Marathon later in the year.
So after many dinners and coffees in church Street,  we are back here in Paris for the next 6 months - with many friends coming to visit.

I had to laugh yesterday when I went shopping and bought Fuji apples from New Zealand -  and of course a lot of their fruit and vegies come from Italy and North Africa.    
We are off to Geneva tomorrow as Ian has a meeting on Monday.    So, more news next week.

Au revoir  -  bon journee    (have a good day!)
Barb

This is an experiment - to see how it looks.