Bon voyage Paris. No, let's make it au revoir, definitely!

Our last full day in Paris. Paul and I breakfasted earlier, and were nearly finished when Amelia came down.
The two of us headed out for a romantic walk together, so nice. Down past Notre Dame and through the flower and bird markets. I have visited these so many times - with Lynette, then with Lynette and Mel, then this time with Amelia, and then all the kids, and lastly today. They're nothing fantastic, although the colours of both the birds and flowers are vibrant. It's hard to see the birds in cages though. Today we saw quite a few being purchased which was good. It remains a very authentic part of Paris, with the smells and sounds that stay in my memory.

Back to the hotel to collect Amelia, and then off to an international mass at Notre Dame. We weren't sure what to expect, and watched the full incense and processional with interest.

After the service

 As we entered we were given candles, that we lit from each others, and then held during the service. For me, I found it a challenge to get past the man-made activities to experience what I was looking for. It probably didn't help that I couldn't understand over half of it! But I was delighted to find that I could participate in a lot of both the singing and the responses. There were several Bible readings that I knew well in English, so could easily follow.   It wasn't something I would do frequently, but certainly I'm glad we went today. It was weird being in the congregation while tourists walked round the perimeter of the church taking photos - some with flashes (which is expressly prohibited).
After church we wandered for a while, looking for a restaurant deemed to be significant enough for our last meal out. We wanted small, non-expensive and authentic, and we found it in a back street off Place Saint-Michel. A lovely way to while away several hours as we reminisced over our last 3 months. Of course one of the brightest crazy memories is of Amelia's 21st.
 
Back to the hotel to change out of church clothes and shoes, and off we set for our final big walk of the holiday. Why do we feel the need to revisit and check that everything is still there?! But we do, so first it was Les Jardins du Luxembourg, and I remembered right at the start of our trip when Amelia and I went - it was mid autumn and I took a lovely photo of her throwing leaves up in the air - she still has it on FB. Today it is mid-winter - beautifully sunny, a chill in the air, and lots of families out for a Sunday stroll.

On down to the Seine, and over Pont Neuf - the oldest bridge in Paris (which is funny as pont neuf means new bridge!) The bells of Notre Dame were ringing, so we stopped to enjoy, and Amelia recorded it on her camera.

Across Ile de la Cite, and past the little garden square where we all hid behind trees and lamp-posts when the kids were over for Amelia's birthday. Such dumb, funny, family games!
On to the right bank, and down Rue de Rivoli with all its shops and sales. Past the ice skating at Hotel de Ville. Up Rue de Temple, and we are in familiar territory now, this was our daily environment when staying in the 3rd for our month. Of course, being Sunday, many of the little cobbled streets are closed to vehicles, and crammed with all generations of Parisiens. Down Rambuteau - stopping to look at 'our' apartment. Finally reaching Place des Vosges, one of our most favourite squares, and we sat on a bench in the sun for a while, absorbing the beauty of a winter Sunday late afternoon in Paris.

Sitting in the sun at Place des Vosges

Through the little hidden door and Hotel Sully's lovely garden, then out to Village St Paul and back down to the Seine. We realised how much at home we feel, and just relish the familiarity that means we can wander at will, knowing if we find ourselves in a strange street it is easy to re-centre ourselves to keep going. How magic is that?!
Across the Seine again, this time going through Ile St Louis, and back up Boulevard Saint Germaine, then up Rue des Ecoles and so arriving at our hotel. About 10km in all, and our feet are tired and sore, and we hope to sleep well tonight!
Nothing remains to be done except to pack - we fold and stuff and cram and sit on suitcases and finally it is done.
The wake-up call is booked for the morning, and the taxi ordered.
Paris, you have been so good to us, thank you.  

Saturday in Paris

Today is the 1st of February - this month I go home. I have put off thinking about it - both because I wanted to make the most of every minute away; and I knew once I started dwelling on thoughts of home I would want to be there right now!
Walking around Paris today has been emotional. I love Paris differently now: no longer an infatuation that is born from books and movies and is unaware of the low points and the reality of the negatives; but a deeper love that embraces the beauty and the drawbacks, the grand ornate architecture and the shabby uncared for back-streets.
This time we are staying in the 5th - the old Latin quarter. It is an area we deliberately skirted round last time (except when we were lost) as we knew we had these 3 days to explore at the end of our holiday. Our hotel is a treat to finish our trip - we have 2 rooms and Amelia has scored the larger - she has a couch and a shower that is huge - the head is the size of a dinner plate! However, she is on the first floor - Paul and I are on the 5th and have a balcony with a view down the boulevard.

There is an old-fashioned painting covering 1 entire wall, we have a double set of windows with drapes held to the side by elegant cords. The ceiling has carved plaster cornices, and the double entry doors have brass fittings. It is everything Amelia and I wanted when we searched for a Paris hotel, and the reason we discounted dozens that proudly advertised their renovated rooms which could then have been anywhere in the world.
We went down to the basement for breakfast this morning in the best French style, and were seated by a well dressed Parisienne woman who brought us a basket of pastries, and little jars of preserves - quince, rhubarb, cherry, guava, honey. Mmmmm. Plus of course café au lait, which came in a coffee pot plus a heated jug of milk. Yum, what a way to start the day. Amelia joined us towards the end which gave us an extra reason to dawdle and have a second cup.
Then it was off to explore. Up the road to La Sorbonne, past the Pantheon (looking sad under miles of scaffolding), and down Boulevard St Germaine to eye all the wonderful shops. We were tempted (and fell) and little bags of scarves, gloves, ties, and necklaces were added to our haul.
A lady stopped me to say she admired my coat - I was thrilled - a genuine Parisienne likes my coat, oh la la!
We entered an arts and crafts shop and all of a sudden a wav of grief swept over me as I ached to share it with Lynette. Amelia's cuddles were so welcome.

Scrapbook supplies - and on sale! Lynette would've loved this.

We walked down a little passage to view the oldest restaurant in Paris, then to a square that was meant to be the most beautiful in Paris (it wasn't), then found a typical restaurant to rest our tired feet and enjoy our customary relaxed lengthy dejourner. Today it was formule de jour (formula of the day) which, for 19 Euros each gave us 3 courses: green salad; 1/4 of a roast chicken, salad and chips; caramel custard and sauce. Very nice, and primed us for another few hours walking.

Up to Boulevard Saint-Michel for some more window shopping - I must say Paul is the perfect husband on these occasions, being delighted with every discovery no matter who it is for.
We wandered down along beside the Seine, but it was rather chilly, so crossed to Ile de la Cite to find the memorial to the 100,000s of people incarcerated from 1933 - 1945. Very sobering.

Getting towards sundown, so crossed from the island to the 3rd, wallowing in familiarity, and watched the ice-skating by Hotel de Ville. It was nearly 6pm and we were cold, so sought the warmth of a café for hot drinks. We were overlooking Hotel de Ville and became aware of a greatly increased police presence (and for Paris that is a lot!). As we left the café we saw crowds at the end of La Place, and closed roads, flashing lights etc, so of course we went to see what was happening. It was a huge protest of French motorcyclists, hundreds and hundreds of them, and nearly as many police - all armed of course. Rather exciting.
We watched for a while - actually we couldn't do anything else because of the crowds and closed streets.

Demonstration time, couldn't get any closer unless we were in it!

Eventually the protest finished, we started for home, and were sidetracked by, of all things (the day before flying out), a bookstore! Amelia bought Les Miserables, which she has been searching for since we arrived, plus Roald Dahl, and for that she was given a free book, so she has 4 more books to fit into someone's (by that I mean Paul's) luggage.

Sunset - the Notre Dame bells were ringing, and a piano-accordion busker was playing.

Back to the hotel for Paul to watch the England/French rugby which is on here in Paris tonight. Unfortunately we got the time wrong, and only caught the second half, but France won in the last 2 minutes and Paul thoroughly enjoyed what he saw.
Down to Amelia's room for fruit and crackers, and then off to bed.
A wonderful day in my favourite city in the world.

      

Chateau Chenonceau

Today we drove to the tiny village of Chenonceau, with the chateau of the same name. First we stopped at Montrichard, a little village we picked off the map, headed for the 'main' square, parked, and walked into a beautiful, authentic little restaurant where no-one spoke English and the food was divine. We're getting good at this, gotta love it!

Lunchtime!

Paul and I had been to Chenonceau years ago, and remembered it as being 'the ladies' chateau, mainly but not exclusively owned by women. In actual fact, 5 queens of France lived here. At one stage the chateau was given to the king's mistress in perpetuity, but when the king died, his wife kicked the mistress out and reclaimed the chateau for herself, and who can blame her.

There is also an interesting was history - the chateau bridges a river at a time when on one side France was occupied by Germany, and on the other ruled by the Vichy. The priest of the chateau led the keys for the secret passage and refused to give them up, letting Jews and other resistance workers through to safety as he could. We have learnt about bravery and selfless acts of extreme courage again and again on this trip.

The chateau today was not grand in the sense that Versailles was. It was furnished according to the era in which it was dwelt, and was in many places dark - dark bedcovers, tapestries on the walls to keep out the drafts, dark ceilings and floor tiles. So not flamboyant and no gilt! I think Amelia was a little disappointed, and for me too, it wasn't up to my expectations. But it was so interesting, we used audio guides and learnt an amazing amount (most of which I have already forgotten - hopefully some of it has stuck).
I especially enjoyed exploring the kitchens, in the part spanning the river, at the bottom, so periodically will flood, poor servants!

The kitchens

After spending a few hours nearly by ourselves, we wandered the gardens, which are huge and symmetrical. 

The stables were larger than most schools, and the authentic carriages were inspiring.
Altogether a beautiful afternoon, and we were blessed with the weather - it rained on the way there and back, but our window of 4 hours or so when we were out and about were fine. Thank you! It seemed a long drive home in the dark, and on the long wet road from Bourges to la Charite. We found out it is an old Roman road (hence the straightness) and goes through to Switzerland!!! Our NZ history does look just a trifle new by comparison!

la Charite sur Loire, and exploring Sancerre

So here we are, at la Charite sur Loire. The trip from Nontron took about 5 hours, with a break, of course, for our mid-day meal en route.

Toll booth - normal on the motorway, but brilliant roads with little traffic

No sooner had we arrived in the Centre Ville than we were approached by our lovely hosts, who walked us the 20 meters or so to our new home. The spiral stone staircases were pretty daunting, and Paul started muttering about repacking all our clothes into little bags instead of hauling the big ones up. Sorry, darling, no chance.

It might look quaint, but it's a challenge!

We are 2 floors up in a 16th century building, next to the old catholic church (it's not a cathedral, if it was then this would be a city). After bidding farewell to our hosts, we unpacked the car and began the exhausting task of getting our luggage into the apartment. And then taking Paul's and mine the even narrower spiral staircase to our bedroom in the attic. It is absolutely beautiful and authentic, but if we'd known.....!!!!!

Our bedroom, it took 3 days to warm up.

So that was Saturday. Sunday morning Amelia and I climbed out of my bedroom, up a ladder, pushed open a steel cover, and emerged onto a TINY little terrace, from which we could hear the organ and singing from the church next door.

Up to the tower.

Neighbours - the bells ring every 1/4 hour, nice.

Stunning 360 degree views, nearly worth the climb. Time to explore the town, which was amazingly active. It seems everyone comes to church, great, and the few that don't, open their shops until noon. There's no figuring out the French! We walked down to the Loire River - we are right by an island in the middle so can only see half, but even that is powerful and somewhat flooded. 

The town is yet another example of stone buildings, pretty shutters, cobbled streets, etc etc, but somehow each village has its own character.

Today (Monday) we visited Sancerre - this village is famous because of its fierce loyalty to the Resistance movement during the 2nd world war. The Germans surrounded the town and announced that every week they would shoot either a man, woman or child, until the villagers surrendered up their resistance members. 50 weeks passed, 50 villagers were shot, and no-one admitted a word. Wow. There is a statue of a woman and child, the only war statues of non-males in France. That sobering news being said, today it is of course a gorgeous village on top of a hill. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch (dinner) at a local restaurant (with a very nice local red), then followed a walking trail through the town.

View over the Loire from Sancerre

Sancerre

Sancerre

The history is amazing and humbling, reminding us yet again of how new NZ is.

Lounge/dining room (note the rather large chandelier!)

Back up to our apartment, where we have had the heat pumps on for 3 days, and the 2 foot thick walls are just starting to warm up so our toes can thaw. The weather is growing chillier, and wouldn't you know it, the forecast is for snow on Saturday, but we leave for Paris on Friday! Grrrrr. And apparently the snow is waist deep in Yorkshire where we spent Christmas! Not fair!!!!! But seriously, we are incredibly grateful for all our blessings to date, and have made the most of every minute.

At the hairdresser in Nontron

Today in Nontron I had my hair done. When I made the appointment earlier in the week I was with Amelia, and I didn’t find the lady very friendly, so was a bit apprehensive at returning by myself. Also, when flustered I tend to get my words muddled, plus the word for hair (chevaux) is very similar to the word for horses (chevals) so I had visions of confusing people when asking for green horses…….

I was tempted to wake Amelia to accompany me, but decided to get over it and go alone.

There were 3 ladies waiting for me – the owner, a junior, and an in-between. They all seemed very keen to communicate, one big worry off my mind. Between them they had maybe 3 words of English, and thus began my challenge.

Colour was easy enough to explain – basically ‘je ne l’aime pas le gris’ (I don’t like the grey). The type of cut was a bit trickier, and involved lots of puzzled hesitations on all our parts. Eventually I was offered pictures in a magazine (‘vous regardez, oui?’) and with much hilarity we managed to come to some sort of agreement to all parties that I really had little idea of. Never mind, if the worst came to the worst, I decided I could wear a hat for the remainder of the holiday.

And so it began. The senior lady applied some colour over my grey – not foils as I am used to, but what looked like a type of cartridge paper. Then the intermediate lady applied colour to the remainder of my hair – I hadn’t realised I was getting that, and wondered what colour it was.

Time to sit with a wonderful cup of coffee and a magazine, and eavesdrop on conversations with other clients to practise my French.

Examination of the colouring process took much consultation between the 3 ladies, with hand gestures and dramatic vocab, and I wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad sign. On removing the foils my head seemed to me to be distinctly orange. However I was moved over to the basin, and the next step was an experience in itself. I lay back in the chair, which was then lowered at the back and raised at the feet. It was switched on, and began a full body massage from my calves right up to my shoulders – bliss! Above my head was an oval contraption going from one shoulder to the other (kind of like a mini MRI), and this emitted both soft lights and classical music. During this my hair was washed, toned, conditioned, my head was massaged – it could have been shaved for all I would have known, lulled into stress free nirvana in my little cocoon.

I came back to earth when requested by sign language to move back to the chair in front of the mirror. Nearly keeled over when I stood up, and the ladies watched anxiously as I grabbed the bench to steady myself. I was quite unable to explain dizziness, vertigo or inner ear problems, so goodness knows what they thought – could they think I was drunk at 10am?

So, the serious job of cutting began, during which we attempted to converse. I had practiced for this, and explained I had 6 children, where they lived and what they did. C’est bon! In turn, she explained the local politics and the upcoming mayoral elections, and how lazy one of the candidates is for the money he is paid. This was tied up with how she used to work in Paris where there was an employee whose only job was to sweep the floor – I couldn’t quite see the connection, but agreed enthusiastically, mais oui, bien sur!

I was slightly concerned at the one handed cutting technique but reassured myself that she must know what she was doing if she had worked in Paris. Faulty logic of course, as maybe she had been fired, and so the mind games continued.

Eventually she stopped cutting, drying, straightening and razoring, and I took a good look. Hmmmm, no orange in sight, and a very stylish look.

Je l’aime, merci beaucoup. Phew, no hat required!

A la Francais

Les Baux de Provence

Blue skies - a day to take off and explore!

First we Facebook chatted with Si and Chloe and caught up on all their news. So good to see them and hear their voices.

Then - onwards and upwards - literally

Today we went to Les Baux de Provence - one of those little hillside villages you see on calendars and never dream of visiting.

It was about half an hour's drive, and the road became narrower and narrower. Paul was worried as our rental car is not little, and there wasn't much room for cars to pass.
Eventually we arrived at a series of carparks. Luckily we kept driving until the third lot - we would have had a long walk!
There is no vehicular access inside the village except for the 500 permanent inhabitants. We climbed steps and wound our way through cobbled lanes to the bottom of the village, then popped into the info office, and headed on up.

Les Baux de Provence

It was unbelievably beautiful. I tried to imagine how it would be in summer, when about 1.5 million visitors pass through. I think we saw 4 people all day!!!! Most of the shops were shut, and since it was by now 1 minute past 12 noon, we thought we should eat first, and explore later. We found the 1 open restaurant, so decided to chose that one! Lucky we did, as some locals and the other 4 visitors then arrived and the little place was full. The menu was sketchy to say the least, we had crepes, not great but ok. Amelia noticed some other guests struggling to read the menu (no English here!)
so went and helped them, they were very grateful.

Amelia helping out with the French menu

Then we continued up through the village, just gorgeous cobbled lanes, steps up to cottages each side, hard to put into words so hope the pictures do it justice.



At the top of the village is a partially ruined chateau from the 12th century. We collected audio guides and spent hours roaming and learning. Some of the chateau has been restored, and there are many illustrations scattered about to give a realistic picture of life in those times.

The views were stupendous! 

We saw the keep, the battlements, ramparts, and the village houses beside the castle - bakery, smith etc.



Around 4pm it started to become cold, so we retraced our steps back to the car and headed home. A quick stop at the Super-U for chips and nuts - we had been invited to drinks at 5pm.
Drinks was fun - we were at our hosts for the week, beside their roaring log fire. She is a kiwi, he is ozzie, a very nice and friendly couple.
Then the door opened and who should walk in but the other guests from the restaurant at lunchtime whom Amelia helped with the menu! They are the 2 couples staying upstairs from us. One couple live in Rome (he's with the UN), the other couple are from Lower Hutt. A lovely few hours ensued getting to know each other and swapping travel stories.
So another day ends - it has been full of new places, wonderful sights, and friendly people. Life is good.

St Remy de Provence

After a well deserved blob day yesterday at home in the rain, we woke to blue skies and decided to venture forth and explore one of Provence's beautiful villages.
St Remy de Provence is just gorgeous. Amelia did her navigation thing with the sat-nav and we found parking at the edge of the town then walked. 

We had no idea what to expect but were hoping for old stone houses, cobbled lanes, and what we imagined as 'French Provencal Character'. We weren't disappointed! 

The very centre of the town has been largely resurfaced with cobbled lanes and tiny shops. We walked along marvelling at the old buildings, then suddenly came across a gorgeous square with houses on 3 sides, a statue in the middle and a black cat, with whom Amelia of course immediately made friends.

It was 12 noon, and our surroundings turned into a ghost town. Shutters pulled, doors locked - displays still outside some shops, obviously a trusting community. We searched for a restaurant - the first few we found were astronomically expensive so we kept exploring until we reached the busier part of town and had a choice. A very nice meal, I loved my steak, Amelia had I think the biggest cheeseburger I've ever seen! The restaurant facilities (it would be lying to call it a bathroom) came straight off the dining room as often happens - no '2 door' between the loo and the public eating area in France. At the end of our meal Amelia came back from the toilet in fits of laughter - she had gone to use the loo, opened the door and walked in, but before she could close the door the waiter followed her in, walking backwards while talking to a customer. Amelia said 'excusez moi!', he turned and saw her and was absolutely horrified, said 'Mon Dieu!'and ran out of the room! we all had a good laugh. 

At right is the restaurant where we wiled away a few hours

After lunch we resumed our wandering, succumbed to some more linen, and finally headed home as it started to drizzle around 4pm.

A last wander before leaving

Arrived to find a note in the door inviting us to drinks tomorrow with our hosts, very nice.
Now Amelia is doing a jigsaw, Paul is reading the NZ Herald on-line, and I'm about to open my kindle and have a cuppa.
A great day!