Moving on to Nancy.....

Friday 11/05/2012 - This morning it was time to say Au Revoir to Paris as we were moving on to meet Marg and Peter in Nancy.  Here we were join them on their barge, Matilda, for a couple of weeks exploring the French Canals.  We packed and after a last look at our wonderful view, checked out and caught a cab to Gare D'Est where we had to catch our train.  

We arrived at Nancy at 1.44 and found Marg and Peter waiting right where our carriage stopped.  It was so good to see them again and we were very excited to be beginning the next part of our holiday.  We caught a tram around to the port and turned the corner and saw Matilda for the first time in real life.  What a wonderful vessel she is.  As we had seen many photo's of her along the way it was like finally meeting an old friend.  And she along with Marg and Peter made us feel very welcome.

We were spending our first night in the little forward cabin as Pete's Sister Pam and her husband, Geoffrey were on board already and leaving the next day.  It was very exciting climbing through the hatch and down the ladder that night and we slept like babes once our heads hit the pillow.  But before that we spent many hours catching up, eating a delicious dinner cooked by Marg and of course marking our reunion with a drink or two.  We had a wonderful night.

Saturday 12/05/2102 -  Nancy - A tale of three towns

The next morning we woke up to a beautiful day and once breakfast was over Bill and I left the others to their packing and walked into town to explore.  Nancy is a large town comprising an 'old town and a new town' .  The old town dates back to the 11th century and has been destroyed and subsequently rebuilt.

The new town grew throughout the 16th century to accommodate a growing population and the 18th century town was built to link the two existing towns and the historic city centre.  Nancy has a lovely Cathedral in the new town and a bit further round the corner an equally lovely basilica, La Basilica Saint Epvre, in the old town.  

The most spectacular spot was Stanislan Square, considered one of the most beautiful places in Europe, the 18th century square consists of The City Hall, the theatre and Opera house and the fine arts museum.  Fenced in gold embossed fencing and beautiful fountains we marveled at the workmanship here. 

As we wandered further we came across a Military expo and watched some displays of fighting and dog handling, before continuing on through to the old town where we stopped and had a coffee in the square, which was was once the site of the Saint Nicholas postern gate.  Coming back to the main street we found a market and wandered through here both inside and outside salivating over the many different cheeses on sale but didn't buy any.

 Once back at home we all had lunch together before Pam and Geoffrey said goodbye and Peter took them to the station to continue on their trip to Paris and London.  I'm sure they will enjoy the next few weeks.  We moved into the guest cabin and then wandered back into town to buy a hat at the market and a bit later on went to a wonderful old secondhand bric a brac shop with Marg.  If only there was no weight limits on suitcases!

That night we had some more visitors come to stay but prior to that we were invited to drinks on our neighbors barge.  Ann and Rod from the UK have been traveling for a long time and we had a such great time over drinks and nibbles that when it was time to go they came with us, along with the potato dish she was cooking and with that and Marg's veal we had a wonderful meal and a great night that went on until quite late.  So much for an early night.   Our new visitors, Bob and Nairee, enjoyed themselves as well and it was their turn to sleep in the little forward cabin.  Like us the night before they slept very well.  

We too had a good sleep in our new bed and look forward to continuing our adventure tomorrow.  

Sunday 13/05/2012 - The streets of Nancy.

Blue sky and sunshine lulled us into thinking summer had arrived and on our walk this morning we definitely needed another layer on but still managed to wander the streets and see Nancy come to life.  We walked back to the square and through to the old town to check out the flea market there.  Lots of stalls and lots of wonderful things for sale but again no room in the suitcase so we weren't tempted to buy.  

Today we walked through many different streets of the old town and discovered many different old buildings and lots of interesting corners.Back on the main street we caught the tram to the garden suburb of Saurupt Park where there are many examples of  the Art Nouveau  buildings Nancy is famous for.

 From there we returned to the canal to have a look at a bridge a little further on from us.  This is a road bridge that actually lifts the whole section of the road straight up sliding on four poles.  With boom gates either end to stop the cars the road slides up until the barges pass through, slides down again and the cars then continue on.  We watched it operate from Matilda last night as a barge came down the canal and we were keen to have a closer look.  No boats passed while we were there but an interesting structure.  As we made out our way there we found a lovely garden, Jardin Godron, which was the original botanic gardens and is now a nursery of sorts growing plants for other municipal gardens.  A lovely tranquil spot for the locals to rest and take timeout.

Once home everyone settled in for some quite time/nana naps before the evening meal.  We had a surprise visitor, this time a young French man, Thomas, who has helped Marg and Peter with some translation items in the past.  He dropped in say hello and practice his English and we all had a wonderful time learning more about the local area and general life in Nancy.  We were all enjoying his company so much Marg invited him for dinner which he accepted and our multicultural evening continued with us all having a wonderful time.  After Thomas had gone we all retired for the night as we had a big day ahead, we were leaving Nancy to begin life on the canal.

So will see you then from somewhere along the canal......

Our big day out in France

Thursday - 10/05/2012 - Wow, what a day.  After two days of wandering around Paris we decided that we would like to get out a bit further and have a look at two more famous sights France is known for.  I had always wanted to see Monet's garden at Giverny and the Palace of Versailles.  We decided that winging it ourselves might not be possible in the one day we had left so we booked a tour and this morning we were up early to meet our bus.  

Our Metro lessons from yesterday worked well and at 7.45 we were on our first train and soon after changed to our second.  We reached our destination with 10 mins to spare.  How good was that, almost true locals!

Once on the bus, top deck by the window, we left Paris for Giverny, seeing some lovely scenery along the way.  Once we got out of the city obviously.  At the bus car park in the other side of the village we were given our instructions and followed our guide, a very cute little French boy with a closed red umbrella that he like to embellish important points with, under the road and to the entrance of the garden.

  From here we had about 2 hours in which we could wander at leisure in the gardens, house and village.  We started in the house having a quick walk through and loved it.  Monet lived in the village for half his life and raised his family of 8 children here. 

 It certainly was an artist's home with many of the rooms painted in vivid colours that I imagine would have been quite unusual then.  From the windows upstairs he would have looked over the extensive gardens and today they have replanted as they were then.  Being here in springtime meant that we saw lots of flowers and colour.  

We then crossed the road to see his famous Water gardens.  While the other garden was lovely this was the one I was wanting to see and it didn't disappoint.  I still can't believe I have seen it and stood on the bridge seen in so many pictures.  It was lovely! 

 Of course there were many people there as we were only one of many more tour buses both large and small but it was still beautiful and we even managed to get a couple of pictures without too many people in them.  Bill did well.  After we left the garden we had a wander up the very small main street of the village stopping at a little cafe for a coffee before getting back on the bus.  

Our next stop was for lunch at Le Moulin de Fourges.  An 18th century watermill is the setting for this lovely restaurant which serves traditional French cuisines.  It was a lovely spring day and a local artist had set up his impressionist canvasses for sale  on the lawn so you could get a real feel for how it might have been in Monet's time.  A nice little extra touch and he did sell some though not to us.  And lunch was very nice and the glass of red, while lovely had us all dozing on the bus for our next leg.  Perhaps that was the idea.  But not before we drove through some wonderful scenery and little villages before joining the major roads for our trip to Versailles.  But first an unexpected stop.

Our very large bus decided to try to pass a parked car in a very tiny street only big enough for 2 small cars to pass.  He was doing very well when we heard a scrape and discovered that the top of the bus had hit one of the street lights. They had a little ornate ball on the bottom of them and this had caught on the trim on the bus and pulled it off.  So after a short while we proceeded on down the road with this trim hanging and blowing in the breeze until we came across some road workers with a large front end loader.  

Our bus stopped and the driver got out and had a chat to the other driver and the next minute he is in the bucket and being lifted up to the top of the bus where he proceeded to fix the strip back in place.  This had to be done in a few positions but it made great photo opportunities and I'm sure some one will already have it on YouTube!  Of course he got a huge applause before setting off again to our next stop.  A real unexpected adventure in France.

We arrived at Versailles soon after and once again followed our red umbrella to our starting point.  Our first sight of this amazing place just takes your breath away.  I knew it was big but until you actually see it you can not imagine the sheer size and opulence of this place.  We followed our leader on a tour of the Palace and saw the Kings grand apartments, the Kings chamber, the Queens grand apartments, and of course the famous Hall of Mirrors.

The sheer size of this place is overwhelming and a one hour walk though does it no justice at all but that is all the time we had and I'm glad we did it.  The history of the palace was very interesting but far too much for me to relate here other than to say that it was his father's hunting lodge before Louis 14th  enlarged it to a palace!  Some renovation eh!  

We then spent about an hour looking over the gardens but our little bus adventure had cut our time short so we could not even begin to wander through them.  No matter I think you would need a week to see it all properly and really what we did see was wonderful so no complaints at all.  

I can now leave Paris happy after experiencing the two 'want to see' places I have always thought about and I have walked along the Seine River with Bill.  See it doesn't really take much to make me happy.

Once back in Paris we said goodbye to our tour guides and hit the streets for one last walk home.  We passed the Louvre and Notre Dame again before jumping on the Metro for a quick ride home.  A little later we walked down the road for our dinner of cheese and wine before taking a train back to Trocadero for one last look at the Eiffel Tower at Midnight.  From there we said goodnight to Paris and walked home to bed.  Tomorrow we are off to Nancy for another adventure.  Can't wait.

See you all soon

More Adventures in Paris

Wednesday 09/05/2012 - After yesterday's busy day we took our time again this morning and didn't get out until about 10.00am again.  Definitely not a worry here as with the evening staying light until after 9.00pm there is plenty of time to see everything.  We stopped just down the road from home for a coffee and croissant before starting our walk for the day.

Today we walked over to Concorde and spent sometime admiring the very large and ornate fountains, the gold capped obelisk and the many grand buildings, now hotels bordering the square.  The whole area just looks so impressive and the hundreds of tourists there before us confirm this thought.  Leaving the crowds we walked on down The Avenue des Champs-Élysées.   

The avenue has 2 very distinctive personalities, the first half being a very gentle stroll through the parkland where we sucumbed to a yummy crepe at one of the many creperies along the way.

The second half becomes the famous avenue with it's many designer shops, cafes, cinemas and hotels which makes it all the more exciting to walk along. 

At the top of course is the  Arc de Triomphe.  This was commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 to commemorate his victories, but he was ousted before the arch was completed in 1836.The Arc de Triomphe is engraved with names of generals who commanded French troops during Napoleon's regime.  We spent some time here marveling at this giant structure and trying to interpret some of the historic plaques before leaving to go in search of a taxi.  

Our next stop was to see the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur.  Having never seen this before we were both blown away by the size of the building and it's location is a must see for any visitor to Paris.  It was a friend from work who recommended we go and see this amazing place and I am so glad we did.  In its location on the Montmartre hill, the basilica towers over the city, its highest point is even higher than the top of the Eiffel Tower. 

Thanks to this prominent location the Sacré-Coeur Basilica is one of the most  noticeable landmarks in Paris.  It's gleaming white towers can be seen from many vantage points across the city.    We spent some time inside and it is a beautiful place, equally spectacular and serene if such a thing can happen.  

Once outside we joined a little train for a unique tour through the Montmartre district.  We snaked through little lanes and main roads and we saw a great overview of the entire area.  We saw the oldest vineyard where the famous Champagne come from, the oldest Cabaret still going today, the huge Red light district and the Moulin Rouge.  Along with homes of many artists from yesteryear.  It was a fun way to see somewhere new. 

                                     

After we returned to the top we left the Basilique and started to climb down the many stairs this area is famous for to find somewhere we could sit for a while, coffee and recovery was needed.  We found a cute 5 way corner, all with cafes, and chilled for a while just watching life in Montmartre.

It was fun and our next adventure was to find the Metro, underground railway, and head for home.  We managed to work out our route, buy our tickets and succeeded in making our way home.  On route though we decided that we would get off at Trocadero Square and have at look at the Eiffel Tower and the wonderful fountains from above and below. 

We did this and had a lovely time in the pleasant sunshine and from there we walked back home where Bill had a Nana nap for a while and I just read.  A quick trip out for dinner and a stop at the local supermarket completed a very full but fun day and I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

See you tomorrow.

Lunch with a view - a gastronomic delight

Tuesday 08/05/2012 - After our late night we had a slower start to the day not waking till after 8.00am and we didn't have breakfast until nearly 10.00am. Afterwards we set out along our street to explore Paris.  A 15 min walk brought us to the Musee de l'Armee which was originally built for disabled soldiers by Louis 14th.  This was to be the first of many spectacular sights we saw for the day.
We crossed the road and came to the Pont Alexander across the Seine with it's 4 columns with gold statues of Cherubs, Nymphs and Winged Horses on top.   We could see why most people consider this the most beautiful bridge in Paris.  We crossed the bridge after taking particular notice of the many barges moored along side the walkway.  They are much larger than the canal boats we saw in England. 

A statue of Winston Churchill was the next sight we came across and right next door was the Petit Palace and over the road the Grand Palace which are now both Art Galleries.  We walked back home then enjoying the view from the bridge with the Eiffel Tower taking centre stage again.   Once home there was just time for a change of clothes as we were going to meet Cheryl and Shane from Melbourne for lunch at Le Jules Verne, a one star Michelin restaurant on the second level of the Eiffel Tower.  Shane had booked our table long before we left Melbourne and we had been looking forward to this day for a couple of months.

We met under the tower at 1.00pm and then avoiding all the tourist queues were taken by lift straight up to the restaurant.  What an amazing experience - the glass lift runs up the inside of the South pillar of the tower and as you ascend you can see the people climbing the stairs as they go up to the lookouts. Once inside we were taken to our table which was at the window overlooking a lot of the area we had walked past earlier this morning.  And much more of course.

The view was spectacular, the meal was magnifique and the company wonderful.  Cheryl and Shane had been in Paris for a few days after traveling through Italy for a couple of weeks.  There was lots to catch up on and we had a lovely time doing so.

Our 3 course meal was delicious, mine was Asparagus for Entree, Beef tornadoes and Duck Foie Gras for main and a Citron Tart and Lemon sorbet for desert.  All quite small dishes but throughout the meal there had been other items brought to the table. An appetizer of puréed Pumpkin and Peas layered with Creme Fraiche.  Tiny but delicious, little bread rolls, and then after desert a taster plate of mini cakes and macaroons.  Then chocolate and marshmallows with coffee.  We did try a macaroon and a little chocolate but had to give up on the rest as none of us could manage to fit another morsel in.  The most amazing food and a real once in a lifetime experience.

The waiters were wonderful as well and when Shane had booked he had mentioned that we were celebrating Cheryl's and my birthdays.  Hers on the 7th and mine on the 17th so when our deserts came to the table they had written Happy Birthday on the plates, (in French so we didn't understand it), and there was a candle in each of our lemon sorbets.  A very special little touch that we will both remember for ever.  We left our table at 4.00pm feeling like we would never need to eat again and as we picked up our coats we were handed a little package with 3 more little cakes inside.  Still haven't manage to even look at them yet!

Once back on the ground we caught a taxi back to their place and then walked around to the Cafe Panin opposite Notre Dame where we had very loose arrangements to meet another couple from Qld.  Once inside we had a couple of drinks over the next 2 hours but they had either come early and given up on us or decided not to come.  It didn't matter we had a great time and it was 7pm when we went our separate ways.

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Being so close to Notre Dame Bill and I decided to have a look while up this end of town and spent the next hour doing just that.  What an amazing sight, how these buildings were ever constructed all those years ago is just beyond imagination and the fact they are still standing and visited by millions every year is a testament to those builders of old.

We walked from there along the river taking in the many other grand buildings and bridges along the way before coming to the Louvre and of course we had to wander through there.  Again an absolutely awe inspiring building with its many courtyards and halls.  And the latest additions out the front add another aspect to it.  The glass pyramid made famous in The Da Vinci Code, is an interesting addition and certainly a very different style to everything else around it.  There are four pyramids in total along with the reflection pools and they kept the many tourist busy with cameras again.  A quick look at the small Arch at the entrance told us it was L'arc de Triomphe la Carousel and from there we could look right up the road past Concorde to see the real Arc de Triumph in the far distance.  Perhaps we'll get  there tomorrow. 

We headed for home them and continued to walk for another hour before collapsing into a cafe for cheese, wine and coffee before taking ourselves home to bed for the night.  We have had a truly magnificent day and can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Goodnight all.

We're off to Paris

Monday 07/05/2012 - We are in Paris and I am sitting here writing this and looking out my window at the Eiffel Tower all lit up!  A very surreal moment as even though you expect to see this when you visit Paris actually staying within walking and seeing distance is the stuff of many daydreams.  And here we are in Paris living the dream!

We started our day in Little Leighs and soon after breakfast were on our way to Heathrow to return the hire car.  The  courtesy shuttle took us back to terminal 4 where we caught  the underground train to St Pancras station. 

We had a couple of hours to wait until our train left for Paris but we filled this time in nicely with lunch and a drink at the famous Champagne bar.  My strawberry Bellini was lovely.

We boarded the train and had a very easy ride across the Chanel, arriving at Gare Du Nord at almost 7.00pm.  We jumped in a taxi and were brought to our hotel which we just booked through wot if the night before.

The Le Walt Tour Eiffel  is just a 15 min walk from the tower and has a good view of the surrounding district, a lot of which seems residential.  Can't wait to get out and explore properly.  Once unpacked we went across the road to pick up some necessities and soon after were out again having dinner at a cafe on the opposite corner.  Very nice.

After dinner we walked through the local streets and very soon came across the main attraction.  The Eiffel Tower was front and centre and all lit up now.  There were people everywhere most with cameras and the whole area was just a spectacular place to be.  I had my little camera and of course joined in the photo frenzy but Bill had left his at the hotel.  We walked back to get it and returned a little while later.  This time there were not so many people making it easier to choose a spot to take some timed exposures.  We stayed for about an hour as just as we were about to leave at Midnight the whole tower started to sparkle.  An amazing sight with flashing lights that lasted for about 10 mins.  

We left then to walk home and were quite surprised at the number of people still out and about, cafes open though slowing down, all in all a lovely place to stay and look around.  Once home it wasn't long before we were tucked up in bed and just as I was about to close the eyes I had one last look out the window just in time to see the tower sparkling again but this time all the other lights had been turned off.   Obviously the Grand Finale for the night as all went dark then.  Wow, what a sight to see on our first night in Paris.

Can't talk anymore time for sleep, see you tomorrow......