So here we are in Paris. We are staying in a different area from where we have been before - close by, but different. We are in the Odéon in the 6th arrondissement (between the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Marché Saint Germain, just next to the Théâtre de l'Odéon); previously we have been in the Panthéon area (5th arrondissement).
It is a great spot. Indeed, we walked across via the Sorbonne university area back to our old haunt and found it to be somewhat over-run with tourists and not so appealing.
On the way, as we walked through "our" area, we remarked on how appealing it seems; and there was a restaurant attached to a wine shop on a corner that I said looked good for dinner (Note to self). More about this later.
To go back, we left Nancy on the 13.40 on the TGV train which swept along at times at 320 kms/hr: eat your heart out Australia!
We had had a lazy morning, not leaving the hotel until about 11.00 a.m. It was overcast and we packed (yet again!) and were grateful for the 12 p.m. check-out.
We wandered into town once more and bought some yummy-filled baguettes for lunch on the train, had a coffee and returned to the hotel to get our bags, to use the wi-fi once more (to confirm our return flights) and to walk to the station.
We arrived into Paris & managed to navigate the Metro from Gare de l'Est to Odéon - lots of stairs! My Friend's NAV app found the hotel successfully and by about 4.00 p.m. we were in and unpacked - and remarking on our good fortune in having negotiated another stage of our travels!
So, after our meander, we returned to where we had seen a potential place for dinner: it being only about 6.30 p.m. when we arrived back at the restaurant we had passed earlier, we sat at the wine shop next door and had a wine. I asked the owner of the wine shop what the restaurant was like and with a wave of his hand he said "Good - it's attached to the house" (meaning, I presume, that the wine shop and restaurant were one and the same business). I thought "That's not necessarily a recommendation" and we both shrugged & laughed (as you do...).
He said there was no hurry as people in France don't even think about starting the evening meal before 7 p.m. but there seemed to be a steady trickle of people arriving so just before 7 p.m. I went up and asked for a table "pour deux" - and the maitre d' said "fine" but that they didn't take reservations, so we went in.
What became apparent was that this was no run-of-the-mill place, as people continued to stream in. It is the Polidor and we were told "it is historic" and featured in Woody Allen's 2011 movie "A Midnight in Paris". Furthermore, it is said that Victor Hugo, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Henry Miller, Arthur Rimbaud - among many other leading lights - frequented this establishment. It was founded in 1845 and the interior of the restaurant has not changed for over 100 years, and the style of cooking remains that of the late 19th century.
We shared the foie gras which was delicious; and I had beef bourguignon which was yum and the tarte tatin; My Friend had confit de canard landais which he said was great.
Most diners sit at long, shared tables, with communal salt cellars and pots of mustard. We shared with a couple from LA; later, before they left, we were joined by a guy aged in his early 60s who was on his way home to San Francisco from his house in the south of France where he spends a month every year (as you do!). He speaks French fluently. He is an attorney and a "cycling tragic". He has just bought a new road bike and this is kept in the house in France; and he also rides regularly back home in California.
When we left the restaurant, there was a queue outside waiting to get in ...
So we had a good evening, topped off by a quick and very short stride through the nearby Luxembourg Gardens the gates of which the gendarmes were in the process of locking (9.30 p.m.).
Wednesday 26 June
Got up late as this is our last sleep-in for the holidays. We'll be up early tomorrow to get to the airport for a midday departure (but need to be there at 9 a.m. for check-in).
So today: what to do? Well, we have no agenda apart from the Chagall exhibition.
We leave the hotel about 11.00 a.m. and set off for the 3rd arrondissement on foot to visit le Marché des Enfants Rouges.
After the short visit to rue Mouffetard yesterday, which left us feeling a tad under-whelmed as far as markets go, we looked forward to a something new.
First off, a little history: Marguerite de Navarre, sister of King François the 1st and mother of King Henri the 4th (who was the one to end the religious wars that had been bloodying France), was a very well educated, politically engaged and charitable member of the royal family. In 1534 she had an orphanage constructed in what is now the Marais whose little pensioners were dressed in red as a symbol of their status. The orphanage was closed in the beginning of the 17th century and in 1615 was transformed into a market dubbed the Marché des Enfants Rouges (market of red children) to commemorate the charitable establishment that had occupied the site for almost a century.
We crossed over the Seine and passed the enormous queues of people waiting to get into Notre Dame (celebrating 850 years).
Past the Hôtel de Ville where, somewhat presciently (given he is currently ailing in hospital) there is an anti-apartheid exhibition on - "Nelson Mandela: Prisoner to President", & through to rue de Bretagne - via a small park where a group of children were performing in a brass band in a rotunda to the bemused entertainment of locals (and us) sitting in the sun eating their lunch.
We ate at the marché sitting amongst locals at the crowded tables. We had Moroccan food from an Afro-Antilles café which was very nice.
We continued walking through to one of my favourite spots, the Place des Vosges - the oldest planned square in Paris. It was built by Henry IV; no. 6 is la maison de Victor Hugo. We sat here awhile just watching kids play soccer, people eating (late) lunch and chatting, etc.
From here we went to have a look at the Port de l'Arsenal - which is near the Bastille - simply because we wanted to see where the barges moor when they are in Paris.
Moving on, we came to the Jardin des Plantes where lots of people were taking a keen interest in the gardens. The long, long avenues of enormous plane trees are quite delightful & provide lovely shade - it has actually been quite a warm day for the most part.
On we walked. As we were aiming for the Chagall Exhibition at the Musée du Luxembourg, we called back at the hotel which was sort of on the way, stopping for a lovely crepe from the "hole in the wall" place in rue Mouffetard as we went. We have been here before & they make THE BEST crepes!
On the way back past the Panthéon, I noticed a restaurant that looked like it could be good for dinner later so made another mental note to self of the street: rue des Fossés Saint Jacques.
It was now after 4 p.m. but we knew the Chagall was open until 7.30 p.m. so we had a break until 5 p.m. and then walked to the Jardin du Luxembourg to go to the Musée there. The exhibition illustrates four key periods in Chagall's life and we enjoyed it. We have become fans of his work since we saw the beautiful windows in the St Stephan's church at Mainz when we were on the Neckar bike/barge tour earlier this holiday.
We walked back towards the Panthéon via the Luxembourg Gardens which have had huge photos of the Tour de France attached to the outside of the perimeter fence. We spent at least half an hour looking at the wonderful photography of exploits and scenery dating from the 1920s to the modern day. Excellent!
And then back to pack - for the last time!
Thursday 27 June
Up early. Leave hotel about 7.15 a.m. and walk the 15 minutes to Gare du Luxembourg to catch line B to Charles de Gaulle Airport which we arrived at by about 8 a.m. Seamless - almost, except that there is a CDG 1 and 2 which meant a frantic searching amongst the ticket documentation to work out which: it was CDG 1, at which station there is a shuttle train service to the airport itself - it took a few minutes to work out & seemed to be a change from last time???
Anyway, apart from that all went fine. Plane left 1/2 an hour late.
Friday 28 June
Not a bad flight really. Here we are in Changi Airport (Singapore) - arrived about 6.30 a.m. A warm 26 deg C! Waiting for next flight which departs 9.55 a.m.
So. Holiday over. Many components to it. Probably a bit ambitious: combining a walking and cycling holiday requires an uncomfortable amount of luggage; and the weather, while we worked with it and didn't let it spoil anything, was certainly challenging at times: the cold and the wet.
Have to re-jig my head now back to reality. We arrive home to political turmoil with Kevin Rudd having ousted Julia Gillard 80 days prior to the election. Hmmm....
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