Windows on the world

On Monday, we went on a mission to buy Roger a new pair of Brooks running shoes - no he hasn't taken up running but the particular style suits his feet and he's worn out his original pair after 3 years on the road. The problem we have is that French men have very normal feet, constrained by their couture brand shoes that are the daily work wear requirement. On the other hand the tropical style - barefoot, thongs and a boat shoe for special occasions, gives our feet alot of room to spread so wide fittings are the norm. I'm guessing our feet are probably better of for the fresh air and room to move, but it precludes any of the Paris shoe stores from stocking 2E wide fitting shoes. Not to be defeated, a very helpful young lady steers us to the Brooks online and the appropriate runners were purchased once we got home. Just awaiting the delivery notice. An interlude discovering Le Jardin Anne Frank, was perfect to realise that Paris is full of surprises, many of them local green community spaces.

We had built up a thirst and a
hunger by now so we're headed towards the 1st arrondisement, where Roger had booked his 'sidekick', Charles's recommendation, Bistro Richelieu. It was a gorgeous sunny day, the heat has gone and mid 20's is the order of the day. Le Marais area was remarkably free of people, including tourists up until this point, but now en route to lunch we find the workers queued outside the trending cafes, a hamburger joint and a Japanese poke bowl style cafe. The lines were long. We had also observed a number of young people 'eating on the run', croissants on the metro, baguettes while they walk. This is just so 'un French', and seems a sad inditement of the universal world we live in. The french long lunch hour, even taken by our tradies on the building site, is potentially heading for the 'memory bank'.

Our lunch however, was traditional, little round tables, wicker chairs, and the bare minimum between the tables, which made for interesting people watching and listening, as we were surrounded by tourists, a Chinese couple in the midst of a domestic, tears and the lot, and a snooty American woman, and her young daughter, who pushed their way into the table next to us and ordered a hamburger and chips with a coke. We on the other hand, enjoyed confit canard and porc roti and they were both delicious. We had some time to kill, after lunch so we wandered down to sit by La Seine and watch the passing boat parade, some of which were sailing very close to the waterline. When that view became tiresome, we sought out a couple of the infamous green chairs in Jardin des Tuileres and watched a couple of young Asian 'influencers' spend a good 15 minutes creating the perfect image. Strange thing was they were sitting by a dirty green pond - the fountains were not working, and the background was a totally un known building, with some interesting detail at best.

Oh well, each to his own. Roger had suggested exploring another arrondisement of Paris, with a Paris Greeter, and although it was short notice - we only made the request on Friday, the delightful Philippe had picked up our details and we arranged our meetup outside Corvisart metro station in the 13th arrondisement. Philippe is a mature, retired French GP, who grew up in Le Marais but now lives on the Paris outskirts. He has grandchildren similar in age to ours, but even more amazing, he's been to Cairns, and almost made it to Lockhart River to visit his daughter who was living there (her husband was a teacher there), except the flight was turned back due to bad weather. And his best friend (a Parisian) has been living in Melbourne for the past 10 years and is moving to Cairns in 2027. It really is such a small world.

Philippe took us on a wonderful walk through the Butte-aux-Cailles area a small hill in Paris, far from the tourist crowds, but with a really fascinating history. It was the landing site of the first manned hot air balloon flight in 1783 from Le Bois de Bologne only 8 miles away. The small park is still there, now a children's playground and another beautiful green oasis in Paris. There's a delightful art deco building housing a public swimming pool in the centre of the village, and the water comes up from a spring, 600 metres below the ground. Naturally, because were in Paris, the main street is lined with little bistros, including one, Le Temp de Cerise, originally run as a cooperative by the Commune de Paris movement. This movement had a significant influence in the history of Paris following France's loss to Prussia in 1871. The uprising of the peasants- 'to the baricades' - resulted in the loss of many lives, and is remembered as France's second revolution. Street art features throughout the Butte-aux-Caille and adds just one more dimension to a very Parisian 'village' on the hill. The only thing missing are the windmills which gave the village its name.

After 18,800 steps, the next stop was our suburban retreat, in Chevilly Larue, where the GnT was well deserved.Читать далее

We had a 'stay at home' day on Tuesday, but were ready to pound the streets again on Wednesday, making the most of the beautiful summer weather in Paris. We'd booked a 'Cheese tasting with Max' which didn't start until 2.30pm so in order to justify our afternoon of indulgence, I had planned a visit to the Petit Palais, a delightful art museum with a wonderful collection of eclectic sculpture, and art from the Renaissance to the 20th century.

Our walk from the metro, is where the church came in. As we popped out of the metro, right in front of us was this very imposing, Greco Roman building, complete with towering greek columns - the Eglise de la Madeleine, designed by Napoleon as a monument to his army. You certainly couldn't miss it, and given it had very little resemblance to the more traditional church with steeples, bell towers and the like, we were drawn inside to look around. It was massive and impressive - yet another Paris surprise.

The Petit Palais was spectacular. It showcased 'bites' of art styles, plaster moulds of sculptures collected from basements around Paris, and saved from ultimate destruction, timber furniture - a complete dining room donated to the museum, and even a lesser known Monet, 'Sunset on the Seine at Lavacourt'. It was the perfect size and scale for a delightful overview of the arts in Paris, without all the crowds. Some people have described it as better than Le Louvre, but personally I think its more like a 'peoples gallery/museum' and just as an FYI, its FREE.

We crossed the Champs Elysée, which was all set up for the infamous Tour d'France arrival on Sunday afternoon, and made our way up the back streets of Montmatre to meet Max, our cheese guru. Max is a 27 year old entrepreneur type, who owned and managed a specialised Cheese shop in Montmartre for the past four years. His two hour cheese and wine gatherings (with a maximum of 12) have become so popular that he recently sold the shop to concentrate on his tasting sessions, and to be able to spend more time with his fiance and new baby daughter. There were nine of us tasting, two young travellers from Norway/Sweden, two girls from Chicago (who didnt really like cheese that much - go figure) and a mom and dad from the US who brought their 18 year old son with them, (but he didnt really like wine!) As you might have guessed we well and truly joined in, along with the Scandi girls and almost cleared our cheese platters, along with the generous pourings of complementary wine, all white, as white wine pairs better with cheese than red wine because its high acidity cuts through rich fats, and it lacks the tannins red wine has through being aged in oak barrels. These tannins can react with milk proteins in the cheese to create a bitter, metallic taste. Fascinating stuff...and we'd only just begun.

Max, was friendly, fun and full of knowledge and we learnt heaps about the production of cheese in France - the home of comte cheese, being just one small area up near the Swiss Alps, and the Tome, which is a smaller thicker wheel, from many areas in France, and named accordingly. We sampled goats, sheep and cows milk cheeses and also learnt the trick to selecting the correctly aged cheese, according to the season as the best milk production occurs when the cows are on the mountains in spring and summer, rather than in the sheds through winter. It was a brilliant afternoon, lots of fun and very educational.

We rolled down the hill back to our metro, but passing by La Terrase Hotel, decided a cleansing beverage was necessary in their rooftop bar. The view was impressive, the service nonchalant and the crowd, mostly American tourists, so we didnt stay long. And once again, Thursday was a recovery day.Читать далее