Paroissien’s in Paris

 

Such an old old city, with so much drama over the years, including being bombed by the Allies during the 2^nd world war.   It is so hard to imagine for us, living in Australia and of a different generation, but it must have been so horrific for everyone.

 

Why Vienna – it was on Ian’s ‘to do’ list, so we flew over last week for a few days.  And we now know why Europe doesn’t seem too concerned about water - it rained and rained and rained for 2 days - but that’s why the gardens and parks are so beautiful and green.  However  you are not allowed to walk on the grass in Vienna - even 40 years ago when I was camping through Europe, my girlfriends and I were having our salad roll sitting on the grass - as one does in Australia.   Along came the policeman and asked for our passports - you can imagine our reaction.  We very hastily gathered up our picnic and headed for the seats. - so nothing has changed.

 

Of course Vienna is so associated with the Spanish Riding School – nothing to do with Spain apparently, just that originally the horses came from there, back about 500 years ago!!!.  Because  it is summer  the horses are on holiday at Piber, east of Vienna .    However we did tour the great riding hall and the stables. (and they were also the same as 40 years ago!)

Vienna is also Graham Greene’s stamping ground - and in the cinema next to our hotel they were showing The Third Man - set in vienna at the end of the war, so you saw all the bombing rubble etc. And of course a great story.
 

Other highlights included:

-         the Opera House – renovated and restored and very popular - they sell out their entire Opera Season;  and we even went on the stage;  they have 4 stages which can be dropped or lowered for each set - a huge area and quite amazing;

-         the Sisi museum – named for the Empress Elisabeth of the Habsburg Monarchy.  This was a tour through the royal apartments and the silver and porcelain collections - so beautiful and well presented;

-         a walking tour through the Habsburg Palace area

-         the National Biblioteque – stunning – certainly a highlight and on a par with the library at Trinity college in Dublin – its paintings and sculptures are superb.

-         Churches – an organ recital at St Peters – the most decorated church we have ever been in – and totally over the top! – but the acoustics were terrific – the organ was very loud. (see photo above)

-         St Stephens – the centre of Vienna – it lost its roof during the war and was retiled with green and white tiles in the pattern of an Asian carpet – quite unusual really and certainly a talking point.

-         St Augustins – the private chapel of the Habsburg royal Family.

-         The Hundetwasser – a village along the lines of Gaudi’s work in Barcelona – very different (see photo above)

-         Schonbrunn Palace – we caught the local train – a dry day at last.   Toured the royal apartments, very sumptious..  But the gardens were the highlight – including a zoo, an orangery and a glass house with, among other things, Australian palms.The glass house was the most amazing structure (see photo)

-         The tour de France – each afternoon we would race back to our hotel to watch the last 30 minutes, especially Cadel Evans.  Amazing how being in the same time zone develops ones interest in an event which we know nothing about – except it seems pretty tough!!

-         A special evening – with a dinner beforehand, a ride in a fiacre (horse and carriage) to the Koncerthaus for an evening of Mozart –popular songs from  Mozart’s operas.  And at interval we met the singers and the conductor and talked about singing in Europe .     The fun part of this was the horse and carriage ride – with Ian vowing and declaring that he would never do this. And certainly won’t again!!

-         But the big  highlight was listening to Mozart’s Requiem at the Karlskirche (St Charles church) one evening – quite magical.

 

So a wonderful 5 days – completed with seeing Mama Mia at the cinema next door - great music to liven up one’s spirit, notwithstanding it had nothing to do with Vienna or Mozart and Strauss.  But then again, we had done that bit too.

Back to Paris :  and a day in the country.
A colleague of Ian’s and his wife Corinne invited us to spend a day at their country home - first time on the RER (suburban train network in Paris) and then a car ride from Etampe. 

So lovely to be in the countryside.  Like many Parisians, Stephen and Corinne have an apartment in Paris and then a house inthe country which is easy to get to for weekends.   They have lots of garden with fruit trees, pines and deciduous plane and elm trees - and it must look very pretty during the winter with snow on the ground.   They also have a swimming pool with a glass roof over the top - quite ingenuous.   
We enjoyed a lovely bbq lunch of special saussicon - local specialty sausage - and lamb, and a great ratatouille.  And a chance to practice my very basic French - or at least get a few pronunciations corrected - it’s a challenge.

Au revoir again - we leave for London shortly.

Barb

 

 

 

Ian has just served dinner - it’s a beautiful summer evening in Paris - the setting sun is shining on La Tour Eiffel, my most favourite icon in Paris, and evening shadows are getting longer.

We are having a chicken risotto - with lemon, artichokes and celery, flavoured with rosemary.  A culinary delight. 

We have just had 5 days in vienna - a most beautiful and musical city and tomorrow we take the Eurostar to London, then the train to Kettering to stay for a few days with our friends Iain and yvonne - we will do some walkingin the Peak District (Derbyshire) and then go to their caravan on the Norfolk coast - it’s a very fancy caravan apparently with proper bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.!!

So, Vienna on the next blog

Au revoir

Toulouse is in the southern part of France, specifically in the Perigord province but close to the Languedoc and Pyrenees areas.
We were going down to visit Chris Cooper, a friend from Jakarta who, with her husband, another Ian,  own a lovely old farmhouse at Villafranche de Lauragais, so took the opportunity of spending a few days beforehand in Toulouse.  And quite by accident (although Ian was impressed that I had organised it so), the Tour de France was arriving on that Saturday - great excitement - hundreds of people lining the roads.   Unfortunately it rained and rained - not having rained for 3 weeks!! and in fact rained so steadily and consistently that I had to go and buy a rain jacket - another one!!

However we lined up for over an hour, umbrellas up, getting wetter and wetter, watching all the sponsors cars throwing out bottles of drink, blow up clapping hands, etc.    Eventually the riders were heard to come along the road, camera at the ready, settings set - press the button as they came whooshing along the road - whoops, pushed the ‘on/off’ button instead!!!  not only did I not get the photos, but they passed so quickly I nearly missed them - they were so quick - just a blur of lycra - and with only 500 metres to go, the excitement was intense - notwithstanding that we had no idea which rider was which!!

And then, by my amazingly good planning (called luck) - they were leaving the next day from right outside our hotel.    I found a bollard to stand on - great view and this time they rode quite slowly around the square before setting off on the next leg - towards the Pyranees.    Music parades, sunny day, blue skies, a great day.

And then to the business of exploring Toulouse - it is called the Pink City because of the colour of the bricks - a lovely well ‘pink’ colour really!!

 and of course the Canal du Midi.   In 1969 I sailed on a yacht down this canal, from Bordeaux on the Atlantic right across the south of France, through Toulouse and down to the Mediterranean at Sete -it was quite an adventure then and being back in Toulouse and Carcassonne brought back many memories. We didn’t have much money in those days and used to collect corn on the cob from fields along the canal  - the farmers were much amused, they grew it for their cattle!!!

The Canal du Midi, was completed in 1691 by Paul Riquet, in order  to join the River Garonne (Bordeaux to Toulouse) to the Med - an amazing engineering feat, and vitally important for the transporting of goods through the southern part of France.
And Paul Riquet is buried in the very unusual, one description is “whimsical” Les Jacobins cathedral - built over 5 centuries ago and has the most amazing vaulted roof described as “palm vaulting” - plus lovely stained glass and central pillars which is very unusual.
We explored the St Etienne Monastry - now the St Augustin museum - it is also quite extraordinary with a vegetable and herb garden in the centre of the cloisters.
all in all Toulouse is certainly worth a visit if you are ever in the area.

Monday, Christ collected us and we drove south east to her farmhouse  in a tiny village called Gibel, near Villafranche de Lauragais.    Chris and Ian are in the throes of renovating - lots of old barns and haylofts, etc. and the main entertainment that night was the arrival in the roof, over our bedroom, of the neighbourhood owl- chasing mice/birds, whatever it was the noise was phenomenal - and he took no notice of Ian banging on the ceiling!!!   Next day a bleary eyed chris was walking around the house with great determination and a roll of masking tape, filling up all the holes she coud find - and I am happy to report that the owl stayed home for the next two nights and we all got our sleep.

The house is surrounded by fields of wheat and sunflowers - and the garden is full of fruit trees and lavender - a place of peace and beauty.
Overall this part of France is so picturesque.  Chris drove us for miles - we visited Castelnaudray and more of the Canal du Midi and we especially enjoyed exploring Carcassonne - a medieval walled city.   Whilst full of tourists - school holidays in full swing! - we managed to walk around the parapet, toured the old castle and generally very much enjoyed this ancient place.   The French are not nearly as safety minded as us - many places didn’t even have guard rails - officials in Australia would have turned grey watching the kids run along the stone walls, but, no mishaps and presumably the issue of sueing is not an issue! (not sure how you spell sue - ing!)

Had a wonderful dinner at the farmhouse - outdoors under the stars, with friends visiting for dinner - they also work in Jakarta at the British school, so much reminiscing about life in Jakarta - and how different to France and Paris!!!

Next day we drove to Ax les Thermes - in the Pyranees.    Did think of those cyclists riding up those mountains - whew!
We took a cable car and chair lift right to the top, overlooking Andorra on the border with Spain and France - such a beautiful and wild place. Must be quite amazing and so different in winter with its blanket of snow.

From there we went to Renne les Bains (see photo)  - a small town to the east of Toulouse, which is mentioned in the book “Sepulchre” by Kate Mosse - if you have read The Da Vinci Code, then you will love this book also.  I am saving it for the next plane trip to Australia!!
Chris also introduced us to the local ‘dish’ - cassolet.   It is made in huge quantities in this area, and generally sold in very large jars - mainly beans and the local Toulouse sausage, and very delicious.

And so, back to Paris after a wonderful 5 days - thank you Chris, it was terrific.

And in Paris, the sales are still on.    We are going to England in a couple of weeks to do a little walking in the Peak District, so Ian has just bought some walking shoes, whilst I have bought some saucepans - that’s exciting you might think - not.  However these have detachable handles, stack so well and even the knob on the lid is detachable and fits back on with a magnet.

Enough for now - we are off to the French countryside tomorrow and then vienna next week - more on the next blog.

And I will finish with a wonderful French saying I found in my Phrase book.  “He’s a pain in the arse” translates into French as “he is shitting”!!!

Au revoir
Barb

  

I hope I have sorted out the upload of photos.    This is our latest en famille - while Beth and Andrew were with us - so lovely tosee them again.   

The other two photos are from the Pompidou Centre - Paris’s Modern Art Museum.   We went on Sunday morning (which actually happened to be free Sunday) - many Paris museums are free on the 1st sunday of the month which is so terrific.

I was not terribly enthusiastic about going - I wasn’t too sure about too much modern art, Monet is more my style.    Well, firstly the building is fantastic - totally modern with the escalator going up the outside and completely built of glass and coloured pipes.     The art is arranged chronologically starting from turn of the century.    Well, I had to eat my words, the whole place is just fantastic and certainly should be on a list of ‘things to do and see in Paris’.     It is well laid out, and whilst there were hundreds of people there, it didn’t feel crowded as all the passages are wide and there are many doorways into each room so easy to get in and out.   All around the outside are sculptures and water and you get the most wonderful views of Paris.

This area is known as the Beaubourg area, and after a lunch at one of the ’see and be seen cafes’ nearby, we walked over to Les Halles and had a look at St Eustache - another beautiful Gothic church with flying buttresses, etc.

Then today Monday, Ian went to work, Andrew and I went for a quick look at the Musee Marmottan with all its Monet’s,
 and I then farewelled Andrew back to London where he will catch up with Amy King and other Melbourne friends before heading down to cornwall to work for the summer.

In need of exercise, I decided to walk to the Parc Andre Citroen - of car maker fame.   It is about a 40 minute walk from here, along the river and what a surprise - well, Paris does continually surprise me.

It is very large and laid out with lots of lawn - which people are allowed to walk on,(not always possible in Paris) and  lots of water features including a whole plaza of fountains coming straight out of the concrete and in differing heights.

It’s two major features are about 6 smallish garden areas, all planted in different colours - the jardin rouge has beautiful cherry trees, red roses, etc.      

But the biggest surprise was a huge conservatory/glasshouse - I wandered up to an open door, only to find that the whole place is planted in australian indigenous trees and shrubs, and not only that, the descriptions are also in English - which is very rare in Paris museums.    Everything looked really healthy and I did enjoy the smell of the eucalyptus leaves - I did have a little smile when I came across the doorman having a snooze on a seat at the end of the building.    I was the only visitor so perhaps he wasn’t busy today!!

It has just started raining again - with people scurrying for shelter - it has been continually changing today - sunny, cloudy, rain, repeatedly - and we thought Melbourne had changeable weather.

Tomorrow I will meet the Sheedy’s for a walk through St Germaine and up to the Grands Boulevard shops - Galleries Lafayette and Printemps - which both have the most beautiful stained glass domed rooves - quite stunning.

Off to get some dinner

Au revoir
Barb
 

I have no idea what picture I have inserted - pot luck.    Have changed a setting somewhere along the line, so am unable to insert pictures at present - a real pity as I have a great one with Andrew and Beth.   Will take the computer back to Melbourne in August - please don’t go on holiday Ben!!

Last thoughts on Scandinavia - seems ages since we were there, but only last week really.  

It is certainly a land of continual daylight - would wake up and think it was morning, and was only 3.45am!!!
Was never really very hot, and we were tickled by the way the outdoor cafes all had blankets hanging on the backs of their chairs for their customers - what a great idea.    And what we would do without Ikea - Ian considers that putting together a piece of Ikea furniture is a test of manhood!! (how many would fail that!!!)

Their English was terrific.   When talking with a Norwegian tour guide, he explained that Norway only gets their tv programs in English, no dubbing, only sub-titles, therefore they hear everything in English - some of the accents are interesting !!
And so we leave Scandinavia - land of continual daylight, flowers everywhere and  water water and more water - a beautiful area.

Arrived back in Paris on Monday night – Julie had prepared a wonderful meal – chicken and mushrooms and loads of veggies, plus a tarte pomme (apple tart) for dessert, and then cheese to follow.   Much talking of course to catch up on all she had been doing – by the sound of it it was a lot of shopping, with the Paris sales being in full swing.

 

After the usual unpacking and 5 loads of washing, Julie and I spent the next day shopping – as one must do in paris during the sales.   It rained on and off, the umbrellas went up and down, but we were not deterred and covered a wide area, from Le Bon Marche, along the Rue Sevres and rue de Four, to Rue de Baci, some great little shops there, –   we had lunch at Laduree, like being in Paris in the early 1900’s – felt we should have had our gloves and little hats on!!,   then up to the Madeleine to Zara and Massimo Dutti.  Felt in dire need of a cup of tea, so over to Fauchon where we had a beautiful cup of tea at huge expense – like E10 per cup (A$16)!!!   But their shops are so fabulous – and must be on any visitors list of ‘things to experience’.

Finished off at Bernadaud – why are the things you like never on sale, and eventually caught a metro home – what a day, but Julie can go back to Australia with lots of paris fashions, absolutely suitable for Noosa!

 

Andrew and his girlfriend Beth arrived next day – complete with huge rucksacks, numerous bags and lots of washing!!!    We tackled the Louvre the next day, it continues to astound, amaze and astonish at the size and extent of the building itself – especially the painted ceilings. We  looked  especially at the sculptures of Venus de Milo and the Winged whatnot, and then took them to our favourite part, Richeleau gallery, plus coffee on the balcony.   Managed to find a short queue at the St Chapelle - it is by far the most beautiful chapel I have ever seen, and I love seeing people’s expressions of wonder as they come up from a tiny winding staircase to this beautiful place
 Then up through Palais Royale, lunch in the gardens and then a wander through Galleries Vivienne, around the Opera House and on to the Madeleine and  a spot of shopping  at Massimo dutti – couldn’t find anything for Andrew but Beth got lucky with some great tops, all on sale. (Ian should have shares in that company)   

 

Had a look inside the Eglise Madeleine –not  such an old church compared with Notre Dame, etc,  mainly used for concerts now and consisting of hundreds of columns – a bit like the pantheon and the Parthenon.    Ian then took me for another cup of tea at Fauchon – what a treat.

 

Julie’s last night in paris ,great fun with lots of reminisching on Brighton Primary days, and about how she always thought Andrew was the most well behaved little boy she had ever met - !!!

 

Sunday, Linda and Jim Sheedy and their daughters Megan and Catherine arrived – they are friends from Blairgowrie.   And with the Wimbledon final on that day, all sightseeing revolved around finding a tv in the afternoon.    Sunday, so most cafes are closed in our area and our tv was not working.    What an exciting match it was – I managed to get the radio broadcast on the computer whilst we spent the first couple of sets up at a café watching on the big screen – no commentary of course, it’s in French anyway.

Back for dinner = a very noisy and fun night, still listening – alternately groaning or cheering depending on who won and lost points.    An amazing match.

 

Andrew’s last day with us before he heads back to London, catches up with Melbourne friends for a few days and then back to Cornwall to work in the cafes for the summer.   

 

So today we opted to explore the Sewers of Paris.     And what an interesting tour it is – information well done, as only the Parisiens do, and there we were walking along under the roads of Paris with thousands of litres of water roaring past us, and explanations of how the system has evolved since it was first set up in the 14^th century.     It is quite remarkable and we happily enjoy drinking the Paris water which has certainly been through many filtration systems and is a great example of what can be done.    The work is of course ongoing,and  with the continual increase in population,  they are still working on trying to get the Seine less polluted and able to cope with flooding, but overall it’s a pretty good system.

 

 

Ian has just rung – he’s had a long walk around our Passy area with Andrew and they are now down at the corner Café with a cold beer in their hands – I shall go and join them for a pastise.

 

Au revoir

barb