Paroissien’s in Paris

I have just been experimenting with sending comments - it is a little tricky.

Write your comment in the box, including your name;  then

sign comment as “Anonymous Commenter”.   

A confirmation code will come up in a box - just type this in the box below, exactly as given, and then hit “publish’.

I will receive this comment through my email.      And I can delete off the site if appropriate - I think.
Hope that helps.

And the story of the week:

As you know Karen was in Paris with Maree - she arrived home to Melbourne, unpacked her case - and then one day later wondered where all her Harrods chocolates were - well, a big whoops!!  Honeycomb, the Maltese/Poodle and very intelligent dog, has pushed the chocs under the bed and subsequently eaten them - very discerning of quality is our Honeycomb!!!

The last leg of our sojourn through Scandinavia …

Our impressions:   
     there is a lot of water surrounding this city
     there are many many islands making up the country - about 24 000 give or take a couple of rocks
     it is a very old city - think The Vikings
     it has a population of 9 million and a high standard of living with a strong welfare  system;  however they
         do have a GST of 25% - which makes for a high cost of living;(we can’t complain about our 10%!!
     there are numerous castles and palaces and a huge number of museums - about 70 apparently, and of the
         few we have visited, they are an excellent standard
    
Our favourites in this city:
      The old city of Gamla Stan - narrow, cobbled streets and alleyways - with one ’street’ being only 900 mm wide, and about 100 steps;

The Vasa Museum - this represents the story of the Viking warship, built 330 years ago, pride of the Swedish fleet, which sank about 1.2 kms from its launch on its maiden voyage - and was only salvaged aout 30 years ago.   It was bought to the surface, having survived its time under the water because this part of the sea is less salty and the worms which would have eaten the wood, do not flourish here.    So after 21 painstaking years, it has been totally reconstructed and is splendidly adored with hundreds of carved sculptures.  
It is the most amazing museum - giving an indication of life in Sweden in the 1600’s and a credit to all those involved in the project.

We also went to the Museum of Cultural History - this is in a most beautiful palace and has exhibits on table settings, furniture, shoes and fashion - also a great museum and one we could have spent more time at.

Another special museum was that of the Nobel Prize - which houses photos, memorabilia and the names of all recipients.    And an ‘interesting’ fact:

As you are probably aware, the Nobel Prizes are presented each December for Science, Economics, Medicine, etc.
But, did you know that the Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Oslo - this was apparently a stipulation in Alfred Nobel’s Will - and at the time he died, in 1896, Sweden and Norway were one country - Norway only gained its Independence in 1905.

Back to Paris tomorrow - Julie has been looking after our apartment and is promising us dinner will be ready - after 2 weeks away we are lookking forward to a home cooked meal.

More later
Barb

The last leg of our sojourn through Scandinavia…

Our impressions:   
     there is a lot of water surrounding this city
     there are many many islands making up the country - about 24 000 give or take a couple of rocks
     it is a very old city - think The Vikings
     it has a population of 9 million and a high standard of living with a welfare centre system;  however they
         do have a GST of 25% - which makes for a high cost of living;
     there are numerous castles and palaces and a huge number of museums - about 70 apparently, and of the
         few we have visited, they are an excellent standard
    
Our favourites in this city:
      The old city of Gamla Stan - narrow, cobbled streets and alleyways - with one ’street’ being only 900 mm wide, and about 100 steps;

The Vasa Museum - this represents the story of the Viking warship, built 330 years ago, pride of the Swedish fleet, which sank about 1.2 kms from its launch on its maiden voyage - and was only salvaged aout 30 years ago.   It was bought to the surface, having survived its time under the water because this part of the sea is less salty and the worms which would have eaten the wood, do not flourish here.    So after 21 painstaking years, it has been totally reconstructed and is splendidly adored with hundreds of carved sculptures.  
It is the most amazing museum - giving an indication of life in Sweden in the 1600’s and a credit to all those involved in the project.

We also went to the Museum of Cultural History - this is in a most beautiful palace and has exhibits on table settings, furniture, shoes and fashion - also a great museum and one we could have spent more time at.

Another special museum was that of the Nobel Prize - which houses photos, memorabilia and the names of all recipients.    And an ‘interesting’ fact:

As you are probably aware, the Nobel Prizes are presented each December for Science, Economics, Medicine, etc.
But, did you know that the Nobel Peace Prize is presented in Oslo - this was apparently a stipulation in Alfred Nobel’s Will - and at the time he died, in 1896, Sweden and Norway were one country - Norway only gained its Independence in 1905.

Back to Paris tomorrow - Julie has been looking after our apartment and is promising us dinner will be ready - after 2 weeks away we are lookking forward to a home cooked meal.

More later
Barb

The last leg of our sojourn through Scandinavia…

Our impressions:

So much we have seen in the last few days - I will try not to ramble too too much!!!

Interesting fact - Norway only separated from Sweden in 1905.   It was also occupied during World War 11.

Well last night we ate Reindeer - with apologies to Rudolph.    I felt we had to try it - of course in other countries it is usually called deer, or venison so the emotions don’t strike the heart so much.    It was very tasty - a little gamey, but it was served with Cowberries which are a little like red currants and had a slightly tart taste which went so well with the deer.

We left Oslo on a 5 hour trip towards to west - arrived at a small station, Myrdal where we were to take the small Flam railway - a delay of a couple of hours because of rocks on the track;   however the ferry at the other end agreed to wait for us - otherwise we had visions of sleeping on a park bench somewhere.     The train winds through spectacular scenery - and drops about 1.2 kms in about 40 minutes.    We stopped at a magnicifent waterfall - complete with Norwegian ‘nymphs’ singing way up high on the waterfall - quite surreal - and very cold.

Ian’s comments on the train trip - there are a serious number of old/retired - (read ‘really old’ here) - on these trips - it makes us feel young!!!

We finally arrived at Ballestrand, on the fjord, in time for a beautiful buffet dinner in the wonderfully old Kviknes Hotel - mentioned in ‘1000 Places to see before you die” book.     Wonderful old timber buildings (pity about a concrete extension);    in fact the whole village is a wonderful collection of old timber houses, set right arlound the fjord harbour.
The next day we took the boat up to the top of the fjord and a short bus ride out to the glaciers - we didn’t realise the significance or the size until we saw a fabulous film at the glacier Museum - these glaciers extend for miles andmiles and are so beautiful - and important for our global climate.

We left Ballestrand on another ferry the next day, and arrived in bergen on a brilliant warm and sunny afternoon.   Our hotel is right on the harbour, overlooking Bryggen, the old town and a Unesco World Heritage site.     Wejoined a walking tour and discovered the lovely old town of small timber houses, and tiny cobbled streets - even have the original cobbles laid at right angles so the horse and carts could get up the steep hills.    This town was in existence about 1000 years ago, and became successful when cod fish and its important properties were discovered by the Europeans - at one stage it was actually illegal in Germany to eat meat on a Friday - so the Germans set up a trading centre here - an amazing museum of the original houses which we had a look at this morning -= tough life though - because of the danger of fire, the Germans wouldn’t allow any heating or light in their working areas - ut sensible nevertheless as fires were the cause of much of the town buring at various intervals over the centuries.

We enjoyed some fish and chips at the Fish Market - there  swere about 5 cruise ships in and the town was swarming with tourists - the fish and chip lady was rubbing her hands with glee. 

discovered a great tapas bar for dinner - asparagus with prosciutto, scallops and some lamb, with a great Chillean red.    Then up the funicular to the top of the mountain.    What a fantastic view of a very beautiful city.

Breakfast is again an interesting experience.      some cornflakes and plenty of yoghurts, but no fruit.   However lots and lots of salad - and with only one small toaster between us and 60 of our new best visitor friends from the tour group, we opted for a couple of hard boiled eggs and some coffee.!!  

We did go the Aquarium this morning - but a big disappointment with a few penguins, lots of crocodiles in hot and steamy ponds and some lovely tropical fish, otherwise not a lot to offer,  although the local kindergarden chkildren were highly entertained by a couple of seals.

Another interesting aside:    had a great open sandwich at a local deli - there on the shelf were the bottles of Figaro capers that I buy in Melbourne.    Out of curiosity I looked at the label to discover that they are spanish capers, imported and bottled by a company in Moorabbin - and are then exported to, among other places no doubt, Norway - that’s globalisation for you.

Must away - time for a drink and dinner - I did try the Akvavit the other night - very delicious but at 38% proof, I am being a little bit cautious!!

Cheers for now  -  and if you can’t comment through the blog, then just send an email

Barbxxx

Copenhagen - last or lasting impressions:
     - bicycles, bicycles, everywhere - no helmets, girls off to work in high heels, all riding at breakneck
            speed in special bike lanes - very effective way of getting around the city.
     - very windy
     - lovely canals - built by a Dane who had been living in Holland for a while (many moons ago of course!)
     -  old, old cobblestones - look great but hard to talk on.
     -   blue skies with white fluffy clouds
     -  Ida Davidsen open Danish sandwiches 
     -  the D’Angleterre hotel - for morning coffee and luscious chocolates 

Oslo:    We left on the Crown of Scandinavia at 5pm - what a great way to travel, if only for a night.   Lovely restaurant, with Beaujolais and scallops for dinner,  watching the coast of Sweden glide by.    

Breakfast - can much be told about a Nation from their breakfast - and whilst the boat does not necessarily give a true indication of Norwegian fare, it can give a basic idea.    It was the huge platters of cold meats and sausages, terrines and salami, and of course the herring and tuna (raw).    I did try these but there is a sense of sweetness about them which I did not find appealing - and not to forget the bread, dark and grainy, and the inimitable Danish pastries.  I think the metabolism of the Northern Europeans must be very different to ours - all those calories and carbs - [perhaps it’s the cold weather!!

Of, and still speaking of breakfast - our waiter passed by with a trolley, offering us Schnappes - and it’s only 7.30am!!

Oslo - first Impressions:
     -  blue skies and huge, white, fluffy clouds which seem to hover between earth and heaven
     -  a beautiful harbour - like Sydney
     -  high standard of living - and expensive.  $5.50 to send a postcard to Australia!!! (Hope Grandma Dot likes hers)
     -  beer - Ian says beer is good everywhere - and here it is pretty good.
     -  population of 550,000
     -  very green, and lots of outdoor restaurants.
 
Yesterday, we went on the ferry to the Kon Tiki Museum and the Viking Museum.      The Kon Tiki museum is excellent - they have Thor Heyerdahl’s actual raft from his expedition across the Atlantic - 30 plus years ago, plus wonderful photos and stories of his explorations.     I read his first book - in 1962 and have always found his travels to be fascinating
Today it is grey, raining and quite cold.     Yesterday was warm and sunny and I think the whole population was out, enjoying the cafes and harbour, eating icecream and walking their dogs - and children.
I think they have to be quick to enjoy their warm days.

tomorrow we leave Oslo on the train for a 5 hour trip across to the west coast and the fjords.

God natt - 
Barb

    

What a lovely city - wide boulevards, trams, the Little Mermaid and Ida Davidsen’s amazing Danish sandwiches.   We have been here now a couple of days and have walked and walked.     The city is flat and well laid out with some beautiful old buildings.

The lovely and very old ’Marble Church’ sits just down the road from the Amelianborg Palace and has the most beautiful organ I have ever seen - small but deliciously decorated - and whilst we were there, admiring the painted dome, the organist arrived to do some practice - just lovely.

We visisted the Rosenborg Castle - lovely gardens and a wonderful roofline - spires and round towers everywhere;  didn’t see Mary and Frederic - apparently they live in another palace - there are a lot of them.    We then wandered across to find Ida Davidsen’s special sandwich shop - I had read about this in the book “1000 places to see before you die” - I’m trying to work my way through them all!!!    Well, it was fantastic.   The most amazing selection of open sandwiches - all set out for us to choose - lucky we got in - 10 minutes later and long queue.   I chose salmon, prawns and lobster with a very generous helping of a ’seaweed caviar’ - and Ian chose salmon, egg, potato and tiny prawns - mayonnaise etc.      The best open sandwiches we have every tasted so we have booked for lunch tomorrow before we leave for oslo.    And even better was when we paid the bill and they gave us her small recipe book!!
And this morning we took the local train to Helsingor, about an hour north of copenhagen where the Helsingor Castle sits on the point, protecting the Danish coastline - it was the castle written by Shakespeare for Hamlet - Elsinor - and one can imagine the plot suiting the area.      It’s a lovely town, small streets with the houses painted in different pastel colours.
Off to the Nyvorn Port now for dinner - a very colourful  area on the canal with lots of boats and outdoor restaurants.  
Then on the boat tomorrow night, bound for Oslo.  

Bye for now
Barb

Forgot to mention the famous Tivoli Gardens - right in the centre of the city.   Lovely gardens, lots of rides for children and some pretty ordinary fast food restaurants.  However we did find a new restaurant called Nimb - we sat on stools in front of the chefs - and ate delicious oysters and stuffed chicken.

The picture is from last night’s dinner at chez nous (our apartment!) - with Maree and Karen, Julie Bladon and Mim from Brisbane.    And the garden is at Giverney, Monet’s home.

Maree Eastgate and Karen Lynch have come and gone - and we seem to have ‘done’ Paris in just a few days.      Firstly we flew to Nice to see Jonathon Lynch who is crewing on one of these amazing boats - 160 feet long and crew of 12;   Explored Nice - and I had forgotten that the beach there is all pebbles - with people lying on their towels sunbaking!!!  .  Highlights were walking through the old city, dinner with Jonathon and Robbie Fisher (our boys all went to school together) which was very hilarious and cost us a huge amount for the Rose wine they all drank!!!   Then caught the train to Monaco where we were shown over the very beautiful and luxurious boat, a walk around the Casino, and a tour of the palace.     Then a bus to a small village, set high about the sea called Eze, very picturesque with small alley ways and lanes.  
Getting back to Nice involved waiting for a bus, eventually getting to the Monaco station.   Tried to buy our tickets on the automatic machine - maree was certain she could manage this - in French.    15 minutes later, with the queue behind her getting longer, she put in all her coins, only to have the machine gobble up the coins with no tickets.    Consternation, I was already in the queue for the booking office (I had foreshadowed this event), told the ticket man about our lost money (a whole E9 - about 13 dollars), who immediately sent a lady to open up the machine, explaining that it actually didn’t take coins at all, only notes!!!   But she very kindly, and very slowly opened up the machine and even more slowly fished out our coins - meanwhile our train was leaving….. we ran for the train, maree racing down the wrong escalator, turned halfway down and ran back up while we are falling about laughing as we watched our train glide out of the station!!!   Of course the irony was that there was another train 5 minutes later!!!    Maree’s only comment was that she had chipped her toenail whilst running up the down escalator - it was a very funny end to our day.
Back in Paris and with much red wine and more talking, we planned out their 5 days - I think we walked at least 10 kms every day.    Ste Chapelle took their breath away, Notre Dame is of course quite awesome and we found some
great little shops in the Ile St Louis.
Had lunch in the beautiful dome of Printemps, admired the dome at Galleries Lafayette, walked in the rain to the Louvre, plus the usual Eiffel tower etc. etc.     some shopping in between and altogether such a fun time.

Julie Bladon and Mim have arrived and will stay in our apartment whilst we go to Scandinavia - Julie has already made a good start on the shops in Passy - and she’s only been here 2 hours!!   We are off to Scandinavia, so hopefully next blog from the fjords of Norway - or somewhere!!!     Our trip includes a boat trip from Copenhagen to Oslo and then a train out to Ballestrand and Bergen

Hope you all keeping warm in Melbourne - and getting lots of rain.

Au revoir    Barb

I am beginning to think that paris’ weather is like Melbourne’s - very changeable.     Only 18 degrees today, with sunny intervals - which means mainly cloudy.
It’s Saturday morning and I have a long shopping list - but the shops don’t open until 10am - even the fruit shop!!! It’s a very interesting attitude to work - and on a Sunday morning the entire population of Paris, and probably France, sleeps in - other than the odd father/husband who has been sent to get the baguettes or croissants, there is not a soul in the streets - other than tourists of course, queueing up for the Eiffel Tower etc.

Found a great little Italian restaurant around the corner last night - Kerryn and Leigh Powell from Brighton were in Paris - part of their 7 week European bash - Kerryn’s itinerary was very impressive - very complex and very detailed and could probably be bound as a book for future tourists - her information on where to go and stay is terrific. 

We are hoping to visit the Cinque Terra in italy later this year - looks a really beautiful area.  You can either walk up through all 5 villages - or catch the little train if the knees start to give out.

The tennis has been terrific - 6 channels on my tv, believe it or not;  of course the French were disappointed that Monfils didn’t beat Federer, but he certainly gave it his best shot.    Should be a great final on sunday - and we can watch it in real time.   Except that I will be in Nice with Maree and Karen.   They are arriving tonight, and then with the usual change of plans, we are flying to Nice at 7am Sunday morning - can you believe it!!    Using Easyjet for the first time - Ian wondered if we needed our own parachutes - what a cheek!  - but hope not!!!

I have been searching the shops for the plant pots which hang on the balconies - they are looking so colourful at the moment.    But the funniest sight yesterday was watching a lady over the road, 5th floor, dead heading her geraniums - and just dropping them on to the street below - I couldn’t believe my eyes!!!     And when they water their plants, it runs straight off the balcony down to the street where everyone is walking!!!    I have been trying to explain to Ian that that is the main reason why the man should always walk on the outside of the ladey - then he gets wet whilst protecting his lady -  he doesn’t seem to get it though!!!

Okay, off for un cafe avec le lait a par - that’s coffee with the milk on the side!

Au revoir
Barb

Bonjour mon amis

I have had a lovely social time in the last week.  Helen and Doug Saunderson came from the airport, successfully finding their way via the RER (metropolitan) train service.  We enjoyed a French lunch - baguette and jambon (ham) etc and a walk around Passy area - they loved the view from the Trocadero which looks down through the Eiffel Tower to the Ecole Militaire and the champs de Mar, before returning to the airport for their long trip home to Melbourne - Helen will now be back at the gym, making up for all that holiday time!!!

Then Julie Bladon and Mim arrived for an overnight stay on their way to Cannes, Nice etc.  They will beback in 10 days time.   
Friday I attended a cooking school run by Susan Loomis (we attended her country lunch in Louviers a few weeks ago).  A group of 8 of us met in St Germaine, went to the market to buy the ingredients, then to a gorgeous cooking studio - with much chopping of vegetables, a beautiful rhubarb tarte, chicken, crudites and a garlic soup, this was indeed a hands on cooking class - I’ve always wondered what to do with those beautiful white round onions, and now I know that when you cook white asparagus, which is very popular here, then you must peel it twice!!!   

My sister Jill arrived from London on Sunday - what a joy to see her again.   I went to meet her at the main railway station - and just as well.   Tried to get her huge case and backpack through the barrier, only to have the gates close on her head and her glasses fall off!! - Never been seen before!!   I quickly put in another ticket to release the gates and by the time she picked up her glasses, the gates closed again - on her case.    So I had to put in another ticket - in retrospect it was very funny.    (She is going to the airport by taxi!!) 

She has been doing a Trafalgar tour around Europe with her friend Jan, and then a short tour around Eng. Scotland and Ireland.     We spent a lot of time talking and walking, and then went to Giverney to see Monet’s garden and house.   And true to the weather in Paris, it rained and rained - and that’s probably how Monet painted many of his works.   
Jill and Eric Barr are in town, so we all had dinner on Monday night - one of our favourite bistro’s - Bistro a La Muette - a mere 10 minute walk from our apartment, a great atmosphere, cheerful and charming waiters, and a set price of E39 pp which includes 3 courses and a bottle of wine for every 2 people - quite amazing.  And the food is excellent.

So now I have 2 days to change the beds before Maree and Karen arrive from Brighton - Maree and I run the Gadding about Melbourne tours which she is organising while I am away - now I will be showing her around Paris.    Jonathon (Karen’s son) is working on a yacht which is at present moored down at Nice, so we shall zip down there on Monday for a couple of days to see him - and hopefully Robbie Fisher will be there too (my son Andrew and the boys were all at school together and are good mates).

I have just spent all day on the internet - trying to book trains and planes and hotels for visits to Toulouse to seeChris Cooper (Jakarta) and Chamonix (near Geneva) to see Aubrey and Di Whitear -and to Nice with Maree and karen.    it is really a most time-consuming and boring job - it used to be so easy - go to the travel agent and it’s all done.  And it does have another facet to booking here - all the train websites are in French - what a challenge!!!

Well Ian has come home from the office and we are off for a walk and then we will have a Pastise at our local cafe -

Look for more photos in a few days -

Au revoir mon amis
Barbxxx