Singapore redux

We are back in Singapore after an uneventful flight from Paris.  It is nice to have air-conditioning again, something we really missed in Paris during an unseasonable heat wave.  Having arrived, we went to sleep, waking long enough for a sandwich and then another nap.  Although our flight left Paris at noon and the arrival time in Singapore is 6:00 AM, our body clocks tell us that it was about 2:00 AM when we reached the hotel.

Enough said.  Tomorrow we go on to Melbourne.

Our last day in Paris

This is the last day in Paris so we are going to do a bit of a “Remembrance of Things Past.”  We walked to the other are of Montmartre where we have spent so many months and had the best coffee in Paris at the cafe, le Nord-Sud adjacent to Jules Joffrin Metro station. The price of the coffee is less than half of what we paid on the Champs des Elysees.

Le NordSud

The warm weather has brought out flowers all over the city and many windows are redolent with flowers reminding one of the Indian summer which is coming to an end.

Flowers

This is a very non-tourist, working-class area, which we know very well and where we  feel comfortable and at home.  We walked on to Monoprix, a large grocery store, the equivalent of Publix  or Food Fair in the United States and Woolworths or Coles in Australia.  Only here can we buy marvellous zip-lock bags with slide closures.  What a funny thing to buy to take back to Australia, but it does make for an interesting answer to the question, “what did you buy while you were in Paris?”

We wandered around old haunts, shops we knew and we chatted to acquaintances before going to the Butte to meet our French friend from Australia for a long, late, leisurely lunch at one of our favourite restaurants, Chez Plumeau.

Chez Plumeau is on the Butte but not in the centre of the tourist area.  We got up to the Butte on the funicular and waited there for our friend.  Just above us loomed the dome of Sacre Coeur and just below us were the peddlers selling outrageous junk for equally outrageous prices to tourists.

Sacre Coeur

Bag and Souvenir Sellers below Save Coeur

Later, in the early evening, we walked through the sleazy sex district of Pigalle.  Furtive middle-aged men were trying to make themselves invisible as they wandered in and out of the sex shows and sex shops.
After an early supper (baguette, pear, Roquefort and wine) we completed our packing for an early departure on the morrow.

End of Holiday Blues

A Street in Montmartre

The weather seems to have turned a bit cooler and after a slowish start, we went and had coffee and did a fair bit of people watching until Virginia had her appointment with the podiatrist - well known to her from previous visits.

Artist at work in Place du Tertre

Tourists in the Place du Tertre

After her treatment we went to a nearby cafe for a very nice lunch and then wasted most of the afternoon.  Well, that seemed reasonable after a bottle of wine with lunch.  I think the "end of holiday" blues has begun to set in. Getting our boarding passes for the Paris to Singapore flight just brought home how little time we have left here.

In the later afternoon we went for a drink on the Butte and met our friend, the silhouette cutter.  A long chat on life, the universe and just about everything else followed when he introduced us to his female friend.  We asked him whether a licence was necessary in his work and he said, "no," but the police did tend to harass those who work the Butte.  "Anyway, I tell them to take me and put me in jail where it will be warm in the winter and I will be well fed."

Walking back we passed the last remaining vineyard in Montmartre.   In 1929, the painter Francisque Poulbot and some friends saved a municipal ground from property developers planting some vines there. In 1933, three thousand seedling of Thomery and three seedling of Morgon were planted. The Grape-Harvest’s Party  was celebrated for the first time the following year. It is still celebrated today. Many important people are invited including stars, delegations and Les Chevaliers du Taste-Vin   (the knights of Wine Tasting) from different provinces. All profits from the sale of this wine goes to help local charities. Sadly, the celebration which lasts for four days, begins on the day we leave Paris.

The Vineyard

Advertisement for the Grape Harvest's Party

L'avenue des Champs-Élysées

L'avenue des Champs-Élysées

Today the weather seemed a little bit cooler so we decided that a pleasant walk along L'avenue des Champs-Élysées was in order. We noticed that it was especially quiet this morning and the French talking heads on the television attributed this to the success of  Nuit Blanche and the warm weather which contributed to the all-nighter.  We caught the Number 80 bus down to the Rond Point and walked up to the Arc de Triomphe with a short stop for coffee on the way.

On L'avenue des Champs-Élysées

Despite this being perhaps the most elegant avenue in Paris, there are still beggars and street people to be found. We have never been able to figure it out although we are sure that some are Romany who may not be entitled to French benefits.

 

Walking along such elegant boulevards always makes me think of the term "flâneur," a stroller. Charles Baudelaire developed a derived meaning of flâneur—that of "a person who walks the city in order to experience it." I think Baudelaire would agree that we are flâneurs.

Near the Arc de Triomphe we went into the "Drugstore" which bears no resemblance whatsoever to any drugstore we may have visited. It sells books, food, magazines and has several restaurants, including the two Michelin star Atelier Etoile de Joël Robuchon. Very posh and very pricey. We walked on.

Of course, one must stroll in and out of shops and for some inexplicable reason we seem to stroll in and out of children's clothing shops and while there to look at clothes for little girls approaching two years of age. Ah well, that is a grandparenting privilege. One of the nicest children's shops is Petit Bateau and we seemed to be drawn to it. Funny that!!

For the fashionistas who may be reading this, the shoes this year are pretty much the same as last year although heels are blockier and the colour for the new season is "coral." And a very lovely colour it is too.

Back to the apartment to drop off a few items and then to lunch. We went back up the Butte to one of our favourite restaurants,1900 La Cremaillere where Bruce enjoyed Moules Mariniere served with a side of frites. For those unacquainted with this popular dish it is mussels steamed in white wine with onions and a few other goodies and a serve of French fries on the side. Bruce insists that you can eat as much of the Moules as you want since the work involved in removing them from the shell and getting them to the mouth actually takes more calories than are in the mussels. No comment on the frites!

1900 La Cremaillere

A quiet afternoon, laundry and a glass of wine at one of the local cafes rounded out the day. Along one of the streets we noticed an interesting shop which made wedding dresses in very old fashioned styles.  But what we thought was interesting was the "tape measure" by the front door.

Wedding Dresses and Tape Measure

Later we will have some pear,baguette and Roquefort before calling it a day.

La Nuit Blanche is coming...

Even though it is the first day of October and we are well into Autumn, the temperature remains high and it was over thirty degrees today.  Nonetheless we ventured forth on one of our favourite Paris outings.  We walked to the Place de Clichy and took the number 95 bus to the Palais Royal.  This short but magnificent bus ride takes one past the Opera Garnier and then onwards to the Palais Royal.

We walked eastwards along the rue de Rivoli for some while, did some shopping and then turned back to Place Colette.  This wonderful little square is situated between the Louvre and the Palais Royal and includes the  Comédie-Française. This is one of the few state theatres in France and is the only one with its own troupe of actors and a current repertoire of 3,000 works.

Comédie-Française

We had coffee at Cafe Nemours, one of Virginia's favourite watering holes and where Angelina Jolie appeared in the opening scenes of The Tourist.  Unfortunately, she wasn't there today!

Cafe Nemours

Even in the heat, walking along the rue de Rivoli is quite pleasant since much of it is colonnaded. Certainly the first part of our walk was through a less crowded area, but when we left the Cafe Nemours to continue our walk the pavements were very crowded.

Colonnades

 We walked westward stopping for a browse at the W. H. Smith bookstore.  Although not the actual founder of the company that bears his name, W. H. Smith is probably best known as "the ruler of the Queen's Navy." He was to enter politics in 1868 and to be made First Lord of the Admiralty in 1877 despite his total lack of Navy experience. Gilbert and Sullivan picked up on this and he was satirised in their H.M.S. Pinafore.  Not surprisingly he became known as Pinafore Smith.

At Concorde Metro we caught the number 12 back to Abbesses station.  From there we walked back to the apartment stopping nearby for a very pleasant lunch.  The restaurant is just off the square where the lovely Theatre de L'Atelier is located.

Theatre De L'Atelier

Now, in previous trips to Paris we have talked about the parking.  In fact we have included photographs showing how close to one another Parisians park.  Well, here is the challenge.  Tell us how in the world you would get your car out of this one.

Ouch!!!

After a bit of a rest in the afternoon we headed back up to the Sabot Rouge for our afternoon libations. From where we are staying this time, on the other side of the Butte de Montmartre, we go through an area with dozens of fabric shops where one can see hundreds of women picking over the various bits of cloth.

Buying Cloth

Tonight is La Nuit Blanche in Paris.  It is the tenth anniversary of the founding of this all-night festival of arts.  There will be much noise and excitement.  The good news from our point of view is that the windows to the flat are double-glazed.

La Nuit Blanche

Our First Full Day in Paris, Friday

Another hot night followed by a hot day.  We did more laundry.  We are becoming quite expert on the use of laundromats around the world.  We are thinking of writing a book, "You and Your European Laundromat: A User's Guide."

Early Morning View from our Window

We caught the number 85 bus to St Michel and walked down the boulevard to Virginia's favourite bookshop, Gibert.  Now this is a bookshop, one of the great ones!  It has five different stores all within a compact area and services the Sorbonne.  It has more books in English than most book stores in Australia.  The problem, of course, is weight.  If we bought all the books we wanted we wouldn't be able to pay for the excess baggage and shipping them is quite expensive.  So, it becomes a process of painful elimination deciding just which books one must have but Virginia bought several books to help her with her ongoing French language acquisition.

Fountain at St Michel

 To recover from  the psychological and emotional strain, we went to a cafe for coffee.  That and a "Pain au Chocolat" helped us back on track.  Of course the view from the cafe was pretty spectacular.  To our left were the booksellers on the banks of the Seine and to our right Notre Dame.

Book Stalls along the Seine

View of Notre Dame

We then headed over to Shakespeare and Co., one of the English language book stores and an institution in its own right.

By this time we were ready to have some lunch and went to the bus stop in order to return to our "quartier." Most Paris bus stops are quite good in that they display the amount of time until the next bus of a particular number will arrive.  So, there we were waiting for the number 85 and watching the display.  When we arrived it told us we had 17 minutes to wait.  Then 14 minutes.  Then 8 minutes.  Then 34 minutes.  Huh?  It actually makes sense since if there is a delay it will let you know.  Unfortunately previous experience had taught us that the 85 is often delayed so we decided to take the Metro.

We got off in one of the seedier sections of Paris and walked back to our flat.  Lunch was a bit of a disappointment but immediately following our meal Virginia went off to her hairdresser.  Yes, Virginia has a French hairdresser and whenever we are in Paris she goes to get her hair cut.  At least that is her story.  One of the teachers at his children's school did an exchange to Australia and has interested the children in the flora and fauna down under.  To keep the children's interest, Virginia sends them postcards with pictures of our native plants and animals.

Later we went back up to Sabot Rouge for a drink, going up to the Place du Tertre via the funicular and looking out over the wonderful view of Paris.

The Funicular looking down from Sacre Coeur

The View over Paris

We returned to our flat and  finished the day with our supper of baguette, pear, Roquefort and wine.  On the way to get the various things we needed for supper we passed one of my favourite houses.  It always reminds me of Ludwig Bemelman's wonderful poem which begins:

In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines, lived twelve little girls in two straight lines.

 We bought our baguette at the officially selected baker of the best baguettes in Paris.  This is no small honour as the winner of the competition receives both a financial reward and is selected to provide the baguettes to the Elysee Palace, the official residence of the President of the Republic.

The Winner!!

London to Paris, Thursday

Not surprisingly we were up early since we had to get across the city to St Pancras station to catch the Eurostar for Paris Gare du Nord.  We checked out of the hotel, walked up to Paddington and caught a taxi to the train.  St Pancras has been completely remodelled but it has retained many of the original nineteenth century elements.

Modern St Pancras Station

It was originally opened in 1868 by the Midland Railway as the southern terminus of that company's Midland Main Line, which connected London with the East Midlands and Yorkshire. When it opened, the arched Barlow train shed was the largest single-span roof in the world.

The Barlow Train Shed in Victorian Times

The undercroft of the station was used to store beer barrels brought by train from Burton-upon-Trent, a major brewing town served by the Midland Railway.

Beer Storage under St Pancras Station

Beer traffic was handled in the centre of the station between platforms 4 and 5. A central third track ended with a wagon hoist lowering wagons 20 feet (6 m) below rail level. Beer continued to be stored there until the middle of the 1960s.

We left at 12:28 PM from St Pancras and were in Paris in less than two and one-half hours.  We were actually under the Channel for approximately twenty minutes.

A taxi took us to the apartment-hotel where we are staying and after unpacking we headed up to the Place du Tertre for a drink at the Sabot Rouge.

Le Sabot Rouge

On the way back to the apartment we stopped to buy some Roquefort cheese, a baguette and a pear.  A delightful supper was followed by an early night.

Oh, yes, one last thought from London.  Although now-a-days the double decker busses are all very modern and they carry no conductors, there are still a very few of the old fashioned ones (including conductors).  These are largely for tourists, but they are still fun although you no longer have the conductors issuing trip slips or, as I remember from the 1960s, cranking out a long paper ticket.  Neither can you ride on the back area where we used to jump on the moving bus to get on or jump off when the bus slowed down.  It is undoubtedly safer now, but not nearly as much fun!

An Old Style Bus