After hunting down yet another great coffee, we said farewell to Gay Paris and caught the Metro to the Gare de Lyon. It’s no mean feat dragging suitcases up & down stairs & along the tunnels in the Paris Metro, but we conquered the task.
The TGV arrived in Avignon on schedule and then we caught a local train into the town centre, found our hotel, and headed straight out to explore.
Dinner in the touristy area of Place d’horloge. Paella + Rose. Edible.
These daily journals really must be recorded at the end of each day. We cover so much ground in 16 hours, that it’s easy to forget when & what & how if it’s left too long. Taking photos is an absolute must as it helps jog my memory about where we have been.
Our hunt for good Melbourne Style coffee took us to Papilles, 77 Rue de Rochechouart, near Pigalle and walking distance to Montmartre.
Montmarte/Sacre Coeur
Souvenir shopping
Caricature drawing - so much fun
Walk – seedy Pigalle; Moulin Rouge
Tea - seedy cafe
St Trinite Church
Sandwiches from Monop’ which we ate outside Galeries Lafayette on a stone block, it’s absolutely bloody freezing, my fingers have turned to ice.
Shopping in Galeries Lafayette to warm up. I tried on a georgous blazer for 500 Euros ! Just for fun !
Seconds shop - I bought a really funky green denim jacket for 20 Euros! That’s better 😎.
Walk back to hotel to recharge.
Afternoon explore of the Arcade.
We are exhausted.
Dinner across the road at La Comete - Pain, Champagne (OMG it’s divine), Hoegaarden for hubby, Confit de Canard with sauteed pommes de terre, and a carafe of Cote Du Rhone (OMG it’s all divine).
Glaces from up the road (Choc & Pistachio for hubby, Coffee for moi… OMG, really, too divine for words).
That’s it, we’re done!
Crossing the road from St
Trinite to Rue de Monadour, heading towards Galeries Lafayette & Opera.
From our hotel window, the corner of Rue Geoffroy Marie and Rue du Faubourg Montmartre. La Comete straight ahead with the blue light, and Mamie on the right.
Good morning Paris! We wandered the streets and found a random cafe where we had a pretty rough breakfast of “cappuccino and tartines” (bitter coffee, rock-hard bread, butter and jam), we caught the bus down to Chatelet and meandered along the river to Notre Dame. She looks very sad under scaffolding, but the incredibly talented team of artisans and experts are working hard to have her completed by the 2024 Paris Olympics. Oh belle Notre Dame, come back to us!
We purchased a few souvenirs (scarves – the wind is bitter!), enjoyed the sunshine, queued at our favourite Boulangerie at the end of Rue Lagrange (5th) and ate our Baguette (Jambon Fromage) and Quiche (tomate courgette) next to the Seine in the sun and watched the ducks and boats float past.
We found an average but passable takeaway coffee and fresh chocolate/hazelnut croissant to finish off our lunch, then meandered back over the river to Rive Droit, allowing ourselves to get lost in the back streets.
We fell upon the beautiful Église Saint-Gervais, on Place Saint-Gervais (4th) entering by the back entrance not realising the majesty of the building until inside. She is magnificent and beckons a feeling of deep reverence in all who enter.
Passing by the Hotel de Ville and up through busy shopping streets in the 3ieme, we went into the Louise XVI and Marie-Antoinette exhibition in the Musee des Archives. After sitting in the sun for a bit, we eventually made our way back to Hotel Panache on the 74 bus.
Feet up and body horizontal for a well-earned rest before heading out for dinner. We expected a period of searching for a suitable restaurant, only to find Mamie’s bistro across the road had two seats in the window so we didn’t have to go far at all. The couple next to us were very friendly and we chatted and laughed. They had lived in Paris for 45 years and now reside in Provence, which is our next port of call! A very pleasant night. Hubby ate salmon and fresh salad/vegetables, and I ate ‘demi-poulet with pommes graisseur and salad’, which was, you guessed it, half a chook which I have to say I didn’t finish! The potatoes and salad were delicious, as was the glass of Cote du Rhone.
We ate dessert in the hotel because we had purchased a tarte-aux-pommes from the Boulangerie this morning, which we ate with a little Creme Fraiche from the mini Monoprix next door (these mini supermarkets are now called Monop’).
We watched some TV, then I did some work and slept, dreaming of Paris. Oh, that’s right, we are actually here!
We dragged our suitcases onto the Victoria Line and travelled the one stop to Kings Cross. I’ve gotta say, this tube trip between Highbury & Kings Cross is so fast, and so loud - think metal-on-metal at 80km/hr. I have never liked it. I’m the one sitting there holding my hands over my ears.
At St Pancras, we queued up at Security and Border Control… the queue snaked for 7 rows. The passport officer stamped my passport with a flourish; ‘Welcome to France’ he said! Yay. (We are still on English soil, but technically we are now in Europe. Ha ha.)
The train trip was pleasant and uneventful. We arrived in Paris at around 3pm. Even without a map, we found the right bus to take us very close to our hotel. My sense of direction was a bit upside down, and hubby’s was right-side-up for once!
After we settled in to our room, hubby spontaneously decided to buy tickets to a jazz concert this very night. We walked all the way to the Seine (1.5 km), the full length of the Louvre to buy a map (I can’t believe I left my fantastic Paris map at home!!!) from Smith & Co bookshop up near Place de la Concorde (1.5 km), then back through the Jardin des Tuilieries to the Pont Neuf, our 2012 proposal site, (1.5 km), down Rue Dauphine to Rue de Buci (500 m) for dinner at Atlas restaurant (Steak aux Poivre for me and Blanquette de Veau for hubby + deux verres de vin (Cotes du Rhone, nothing less), then we walked back across the river to the Sunset-Sunside Jazz Club on Rue Lombardes near Chatelet (1 km).
The Jazz quartet (Alto Saxophone, Piano, Double Bass, Drums led by Jim Snidero on Sax) were incroyable. After the concert, we filled up on hot chocolate and managed to find a bus back to our hotel.
We are grateful to our feet for getting us through a magnificent day and a 6 km walk on Paris pavements !!
From Victoria Station to Westminster to have lunch with a dear friend that I worked with in Smith Square; taking in the Houses of Parliament, Deans Yard, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Whitehall.
We bought powerpoint adaptors in a hardware store in Great Peter Street on the way. It was nice to remember all these streets and shops that I frequented when we lived here.
We had Melbourne Style Coffee at Ravello cafe in Dean Bradley Street, Westminster (it’s the hole in the wall cafe next to the Marquis of Granby pub). I used to buy a coffee + a pain-aux-raisins here every morning before work. The coffee is still great - consistency, that’s what you want! The same Barista is still there… she remembered me and it was a pleasure to see her.
Spring: 10 degrees celcius, with wind gusts up to 32 km/hr… ‘not too cold’ according to the locals.
Seriously cold according to me.
We hopped on the bus (19 to Battersea Bridge Road) and explored Foyles, the flagship book store in Charing Cross Road, then we walked, shopped, walked, ate, and walked some more.
Caught the very end of a beautiful service in St Martin in the Field. The singing gave me goosebumps.
More exploration and thrift shopping further north to Crouch End. Good coffee in London is easier to find than it was a few years ago. We didn’t eat in The Queen’s pub, but it is so beautiful we just had to photograph it. We kept beating the rain, which poured down every time we stood undercover!
Dinner at Sofra in Shepherds Market, Mayfair. My dear father introduced me to Sofra… it is a high recommendation indeed when my discerning father returns to a restaurant many times. We now eat there each time we visit London. Do take a minute to read the owner’s story… it is inspiring.
We found a fabulous cafe in the Blackstock Road near Finsbury Park in the morning – Salt the Radish. The coffee is Melbourne Style coffee, and the food is obviously prepared with love. It looks almost too good to cut into. We ate lunch at home, then spent the afternoon relaxing in front of the fire listening to Schubert.
Dinner in Hammersmith with friends, followed by a spontaneous hot chocolate stopover in the Fitzroy Hotel, Russell Square.
Easter Sunday. A relaxing stay-at-home day and of course we ate hot cross buns for brekky, although my cousins thought that was a bit strange… buns are meant for tea-time. The bread here is moreish… good old-fashioned, hearty bread.
Easter Saturday: We took a leisurely walk along the canal in Canonbury, lunch in the local pub with family, then dinner with friends in Chelsea. Why didn’t I take photos of dinner?
It’s Good Friday, and London is surprisingly quiet. We said hello to the ducks in St James’s Park, had an OK coffee at Notes Cafe in St Martins Lane, a sub-standard lunch but necessary pit-stop at the Greene King pub in Arlington Street, and a strange night at the Jazz Cafe in Camden Town where the food was great but the band was late and not worth the wait!
From Sydney Kingsford-Smith Airport to home-away-from-home in North London. We were greeted by a sunny day. Travelling economy didn’t feel so bad when they presented us with Chocolate Paddlepops after lunch!
