Paris Week 3

No time to think about leaving Sainte Suzanne behind, we were going out! It took us 14 minutes from disboarding the train to getting in the taxi - we were at the other end!

We were a bit hungry so a snack of Japonnaise, shower and off to Sainte Chapelle. A concert and dinner. We queued, went through security- strong, as this is within the Palais du Justice. We chatted to a NZ couple as this was a half hour wait, then up the stairs and into Saint Chapelle.

Pretty impressive. The concert was a chamber group, with a woman mezzo soprano, Ghislaine Roux. She sang 8 versions of Ave Maria - amazing.

And then we walked to the dinner venue, about 20 minutes, on the Ile de France - Fous d’Iles. Well, you know what it’s like when you do a dinner show - cheap ordinary food. In this case wrong, wrong wrong. And who would believe that we were seated next to the NZ couple, Jennie and Neil. Another serendipity moment...

An absolutely delicious meal, one of the best, we splurged on some nice wine and had a great night. We walked home. We’d like to go back there.

It is Blanch Nuit, when Paris is a walking city and the arts are happening all night. It is a happening city. And amazingly, it has been

so warm today I am in summer clothes - and this is 10 pm. October 6th, it’s autumn.

I feel safe, I feel part of the city. As does James.

Oh these late nights, morning comes ... but it’s dark and cold ... and when we finally get underway to go to the art market it starts to rain. Woozes we are, decided we would find something to eat, then s9me coffee and get dry and warm. Reality is that the art market is restricted on wet days. We can have (part of) a day off. And I’m doing this.

Sitting having a Denis Frezier champagne before we consider our options. It continues grey and cold - so glad I bought my 20E cardigan coat at H&M (free advertising, it has been my saviour). Tomorrow will be sunny.

Well ... we tried the Tunisian restaurant we had seen the other night. Not terrific, maybe you need to know what to order but a Tagine is a Tagine ... and I think we do better and James’ harissa is nicer ... it was nice enough but not exciting and I think was ‘dumbed down’. Anyway.

In some streets with wide footpaths, around the trees there are gardens - about 2m x 2m, just 2 logs high. These are available for residents to plant and you see veggies in some and flowers in others. Some are well kept, some a big daggy. But a great and easy idea.

Monday as predicted came with sunshine, lovely: cold so rugged up and off to explore the Elevated Walkway and some more of Jardin des Plantes. Very strange for autumn I would have thought, but the pollen count is high and I am sneezing and my nose is a tap, James a bit too.

A beautiful day, icy in the wind and out of the sun, but by the time we’re halfway through the Jardin the trustee coat is off, James has shed his jacket and were in full stride.

And again, we find some interesting sights along the way. We find a Bottier, an orthopedic shoe maker, with two delightful window displays. You can get up onto the walkway/old railway at most major streets but underneath is a plethora of artisan workshops - for those who know it, they are situated like the workshops between Milton’s Point and North Sydney.

These are where the real artisans work, generally with some small shop as part of it; it is not a tourist showplace. Wonderful to see.

Leather - chairs, handbags, other furniture; jewellery, crafted on the spot - a necklace for me; paintings; restoration of paintings; piano restoration; glass in all forms; wood, again in all forms; lighting; furniture; architecture; fair trade items. Really interesting and went for about 1 km.

We grabbed a wrap and sandwich at the health food store (and bought nice muesli) and headed up the stairs. A beautiful series of gardens stretching 5 km; where we came to it a couple of ponds. We sat in the sun and ate of lunch and then took off towards Bastille. How pleasant, and a different view of Paris - similar to the elevated walkway in New York except no shops just lots of benches to sit down and a few quirky side areas. Used by lots of people - sitting having lunch, running, chatting, catching up on social media ... Very pleasant.

We walked home, and were more than satisfied with another great day. The mundane ... laundry.

I had seen an Italian restaurant that looked interesting so off we went - not a pizza or frites in sight! Beautiful food, and we will go back.

Off to do some shopping for James - Galleries La Fayette no less! It’s where we bought him silk socks in 2008 and time to return. We took a different route this time, and found all sorts of small streets to wander along. Always triple the length of time Google Maps says!

As we cross a bridge there we see an area along the Seine where there has been set up tables and benches, where people can take their lunch and relax.

At just the time the tummy was starting to rumble we found a place with dumplings (called raviolis) so had these - beautiful! James was sure I had us lost with all our twists and turns - I actually used a paper map! And then we found an arcade, much like the Strand Arcade in Sydney but not as flash.

GLF has not changed: every brand you can think of, masses of people. The women’s store is more ornate and larger than the men’s. Pretty flash. We found a nice sweater and some t-shirts and then the socks. Good shopping! Happy boy!

We returned to a favourite restaurant, Au Pied de Fouet in rue Babylon (there are 3 of them), that we had been told about and frequented in 2008. It is a “local” place, basic food and lots of it for not much money. I had always had Duck Confit so of course had that again, and James had his favourite of Bavette, flank steak. So simple this food, just served with mashed potatoes. The sausage to start is

delicious and just served on a plate, no frills. The return did not disappoint. We sat at the bar and had a drink with the owner - same guy, and he was generous with the Armangac just as he used to be once we got to know him. He said he remembered us vaguely...

We had thought an Uber home would be a good idea ... none available so we walked home: probably the best to digest the food and alcool.

And to Paris Garnier to see the Opera Berenice. We had fabulous seats, in a box! A nice American man came in and took our pic. A modern opera, it is powerful, short, only 8 in the cast, wearing ‘street’ clothes, the same staging throughout. Barbara Hannigan, Berenice, has a beautiful and strong voice. In fact everyone is perfect. The orchestra played what we think would be a very hard piece of music. A fantastic experience, and if you get a chance go to Paris Opera website and watch the trailer.

Another night when it is warm enough to wear ‘nearly summer’.

To Musée Cluny today. It was really interesting with what they had done, and more importantly that they hadn’t tried to do some great recreation and ruin it. So much history. Art Students from several schools were there sketching. A bonus, at the moment the Unicorn Tapestries are there and they were simply spectacular (being a person who did tapestries many years ago, I can relate to the effort).

For me tonight Art Class, and for James a drink with the Sans Clue Hash people. My class was challenging and I have a painting to take home to finish. Vero, our teacher, had the boxes set up with a plinth and mine had a white oragami boat on it, with a tube of paint resting on the plinth. The exercise was all about tones: using two colours - brown and white and mixing the tones in between. Blocking in the darks and whites and then working in the other tones. Another great night and I wish I could do her whole series of classes.

James arrived and we walked outside, me not realising it was pouring with rain - and had been for over 2 hours! And blowing ... oh well. Back to the restaurant where last week we heard the jazz and we weren’t disappointed. Food good, music good. Not too far from home so a nice walk to finish the night, and finish this 3rd week in Paris. Yikes, time is flying by.