Paris - La Deuxième Partie

As promised last week here is part two of our recent trip to Paris.  

"I want to step out down the Champs-Elysées from the Arc de Triomphe...

Me risking life and limb to get a picture
of the Arc de Triomphe in the background

to the Petit Palais - that's for me... Bonjour Paris!" 

The Petit Palais

Sorry about that - I feel much better now! Do feel free to click on the link for the original (and some may argue superior) version of this famous song from one of my favourite Audrey Hepburn films 'Funny Face'.

We were very lucky that there was a brocante being held right in the centre of Paris on the day of our 10th wedding anniversary.  It was situated in picturesque surroundings along the Seine under the Pont Alexandre III and although most of the trucs were well out of our price range it was so refreshing to see some genuinely beautiful antiques.

This obviously unimpressed lion (well he is a Parisian) begrudgingly pointed us in the right direction...

et voila! a perfect scene of a charming little brocante market in Paris complete with a stunning view the Eiffel Tower in the background.

I was determined to buy something so after sifting through the wares of numerous stalls I did eventually invest in a a little sugar sifter and berry spoon with beautiful Paris Metro style Art Nouveau detailing on them and...

as modelled by my lovely vintage mannequin (also from Paris but bought locally) - a hat (I can't resist a good hat and this one spoke to me!)

My lovely Girard of Paris mannequin

After the brocante we set off over the bridge with the intention of catching a train from Les Invalides to Notre Dame Cathedral but unfortunately the trains weren't running that day so we had to walk.

Because it was just a day trip with the need to get home to the host of animals we have in order to feed them that evening (especially our beagle Oscar who has been known to get an attack of the vapours if his dinner is late) it was more of a schlep than a gentle stroll along the Seine but eventually we reached the Latin Quarter and headed through the narrow streets to our pre-booked lunch destination opposite the Jardin du Luxenbourg. 

I was a little disappointed with the Latin Quarter because I had romantic notions of it being like a 1950's Hollywood film - home of poets and beret wearing beatniks - but it has become a bit of a cheap and nasty tourist trap full of people like me looking for the beret wearing beatniks that no longer exist (either that or they've all found an alternative bohemian quarter of Paris that's not so crowded).  

Once we reached the Bistrot Au Petit Suisse we were back into a quarter of Paris that had some real charm.  We had decided on simple lunch because we were pushed for time and I had set my heart on trying the traditional home-made onion soup.

The Bistrot Au Petit Suisse (Spike is half Swiss so it seemed a fitting choice)

The interior of the bistrot was bijou and wonderfully authentic and the atmosphere revived me after stress of dodging through the busy streets of the Latin Quarter.  It also revived my desire to launch a one woman campaign to bring back anaglypta wallpaper (I have controversial plans to paper the ceiling of my future bistrot style kitchen with it).    

Spike and me on the mezzanine as I strive to capture the wonders of
anaglypta wallpaper in all it's bumpy glory

We had booked a little table for two on the mezzanine which was away from the bustle downstairs and charmingly intimate (although I wouldn't recommend it to anyone over 6ft).  

The onion soup didn't disappoint although any thoughts of having a light healthy meal went out of the window when I found myself digging through a large layer of melted cheese to find it (not complaining though v. yummy).

My cheese and onion soup

Continuing the theme of enjoying a low fat healthy meal I perused the dessert cabinet from my mezzanine seat and decided on...

My view of the dessert cabinet

the most enormous crème brûlée I have ever had the pleasure of eating. It was home-made and delicious but probably didn't do my waistline any good so it was fortuitous that the train wasn't running that day and we had been forced into such a long hurried walk. 

The photo doesn't really show the scale of the crème brûlée

After lunch we waddled across the road to the Jardin du Luxembourg to see the famous Medici Fountain.  A beautiful fountain that's very hard to photograph because it was so crowded with tourists (like ourselves).  We would like to go back to see it out of high season because like many beautiful destinations it has become a victim of it's own success (I don't like sharing).

My best shot of the Medici Fountain without
other camera toting visitors in it

We passed a super formal pond where children could hire little yachts with sails that depicted the flag of their country of origin. It was wonderful to see the utterly timeless scene of children running around the perimeter of the pond with sticks to push their yachts away from the edge. I'd never actually seen first hand pond yachts in action and was surprised how quick they were when the sails caught the wind.

The charming yacht pond

We then whizzed past the Palais du Luxembourg...

and the beautiful Orangerie

before heading off past the Eglise St. Sulpice to the metro that took us back to Gare Montparnasse and home. 

The Elgise St. Sulpice

Visiting Paris was a wonderful way of celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary and has made us determined to find some animal sitters next time so that we can stay overnight and avoid the clock watching we experienced because we had a train to catch (you'll be releaved to hear that we were home in time for dinner so we didn't have to break out the smelling salts to revive Oscar).  

I still have four tickets for the metro left to use (due the the cancelled train) and with any luck we will be back in the autumn for another, slightly longer and hopefully less crowded visit.  Although I was sad to say au revoir to Paris it was heavenly after such a hectic day to be back home and say rebonjour to Cognac.

Bonjour Paris!

To mark the occasion of our 10th wedding anniversary last Monday Spike and myself decided to take a day trip on the train to the romantic capital of the world - Paris.  

I am currently drowning in the numerous trucs I purchased at a flea market on the following day in Hiersac (a special brocante held for the Fête Nationale) so I am posting just a few photos from our lovely day out. But never fear I will be boring you with the whole story another time when I don't have quite so much to do!

I have decided to publish my pictures in black and white because it gives them a charming vintage quality and shows off the Paris I love at it's best. 

We start with a view of the Tour Eiffel from the Art Nouveau Pont Alexandre III 

then pass the amazing clocks of the Musée d'Orsay

before reaching the unmistakable cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris

and a traditional Parisian café near the beautiful Jardin du Luxembourg

 

As promised a very brief post this week but I hope you enjoyed the pics - Nx

Park Life

It's been a while since my last post because I have been busy enjoying myself.  This is the first year I have been to the Blues Passion Festival in my (now) home town of Cognac and it was amazing. Even though we had a veritable heatwave last week with humid temperatures well above 35°C we still managed to have a great time.

My friend Sally came over from England to visit because we had booked tickets on the Thursday night to see Lenny Kravitz and we spent much of the time she was with us wandering around the centre of town and visiting the Jardin Public where the best part of the festival was taking place with three stages and numerous free concerts during the day.  

Sally in Cognac old town

It's lucky that the park and the town centre is just a five minute walk from my house because being fair I did struggle a bit with the heat (obviously made for more northern climes - although I hate being cold too so what can you do?)

Me looking a bit pink in front of a lovely town house
(I do have feet by the way -
the street was very narrow... apparently!)

So rather than blather on about how brilliant (and hot) it all was here are just a few photos to give you a taster of the week:-

I wish I knew who this band were because the lead singer played a mean harmonica and on such a very hot day (that I won't go on about) just exuded energy and joy.

I loved Benjamin Booker who was the first act on the Thursday night (Lenny Kravitz night).  Benjamin Booker has a really individual voice and style that was so refreshing and the three of them played an impressive variety of instruments.  They might be big one day so click on the link to have a listen.

I did feel a bit sorry for them though because I'm sure that these young performers from New Orleans are used to a slightly more responsive audience but it was hot (I know I've mentioned it again) and most of us were just enjoying a lazy evening sitting on the grass (also I can't speak for anyone else but I was saving my energy for later).  

This was the moment we had been waiting for as Lenny Kravitz and his band were about to appear on the stage (v. exciting!).  I didn't want to take too many photos as it would have spoilt the experience (some people were virtually (and I mean virtually) watching the concert on their video phones!) 

The alarmingly full to bursting amphitheatre in the park!

At one point Lenny Kravitz made his way through the crowd and managed to make it back unscathed (a brave move appreciated by the people at the back... he was surrounded by very big men and much of the crowd were middle aged so I'm guessing it was a calculated risk although he was lucky that Sally wasn't down there!)

With Lenny Kravitz's performance, the brilliant musicians and the magical venue it was truly amazing!. The crowd were good humoured and relaxed and his music took me back to my early twenties and my time living in London.... in fact I can't wait to find out who's playing next year!

The following day (which was the hottest of them all - I nearly died... honestly) we went back to the park to see what was happening and it was hard to believe that the night before all those people were crowded into such a small space.  

The usually sleepy little public park where we often take the dogs for a walk and visit our (ex) ducks will always have a second identity to me now and I consider myself to be very lucky to have such a vibrant little town to call home.