PARIS - First Impressions

It’s my third night in Paris, its 10pm and I’m about to have dinner cooked by my personal chef.  I’m not sure how I arrived at this scene so sit back and relax and I’ll see if I can retrace our steps to this exact spot.

This is not an ad for Singapore airlines but it was smooth, efficient and very polite service followed by a wonderful moment choreographed by Naomi wanting to surprise and embarrass her Dad for his recent birthday.  A small tray arrived complete with a small chocolate cake, 2 glasses of champers and a cup bubbling with dry ice (no candles allowed mid-air).  Very tasty and very nice.

Naomi's surprise, mid-air birthday cake

Getting to our lovely, quirky apartment on the 5^th floor on the edge of the Marais district was a piece of gateau thanks to the wonderful Metro..  My goodness, Paris has changed her spots since I was here in the 70’s, none of this ‘get lost if you won’t speak French’ attitude.  Almost all and sundry are happy to give English a go; neither Mark nor I speak the lingo so this is a welcome blessing.  However, the Parisian attitude is still like being one of the chosen & elite, especially when draped with the mandatory silk scarf from infancy.

At the Seine

We have been settling in, resetting the body clock and walking our 20,000+ steps/day.  The first 2 days were cool and wet at times but the excitement of just being in Paris triumphed over inclement weather and with the sun emerging since then, it’s Parisian heaven and still light until almost 10:00pm - plenty of time to explore. 

We’ve both been here before but not together so we’re not heading for the A List.  The crowds around the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower are off-putting – it looked like an army of ants scrambling over a wonderful mechano construction.  Navigating online booking sites is almost as bad.  Grrrrh!

Crowd pleaser

 So we’ve tramped the pavements, rode the Metro and used the hop on hop off river boats and crawl into bed each night, vowing to take it easier the next day.  But in Paris, such vows are meant to be broken.

Louvre in the background

 The Marais is beguiling - narrow streets, with bars, bistros, cafes and restaurants interspersed with chic shops and a few museums, plus the less salubrious flea markets (Rick L would be at home).  There’s a small street with 7 falafel outlets – it was the Jewish Quarter after all. 

Ruth in Tulleries

Notre-Dame is stunning but getting through the crowd on Saturday was more than we could bear so we’ll head back for a proper look.  Almost everything was closed on Sunday so we walked around the Left bank, the Sorbonne, the Pantheon and the Luxembourg Gardens.  We took refuge in the St Sulpice Church where American students from Julliard School of music and the Yale choir were rehearsing a Beethoven Mass.  While the church was unimpressive the music was lovely.

Rehearsal at St Sulpice

We still had some energy left and headed to a museum that HW had recommended - Musee Carnavalet, the museum of the history of Paris.  There was a special exhibit about Napoleon.  It’s about time I learnt something of French history and this was a great starter (at least for me, Mark filled in several gaps).  It appears Napoleon was instrumental in the layout of Paris and Tamara could learn from the master and study Urban planning French style.

I want to dance the Can Can

We joined a walking tour of Montmartre.  Our guide (Louise) was brilliant and knew her stuff or at least we fell under her spell and believed every word as gospel.  We started at the Moulin Rouge, walked up the little side streets past the café where Amelie was filmed.  There is a large photo of her on the wall.  Louise filled us in on anecdotes about the artists and characters who frequented the area - Toulouse Lautrec, Picasso and Renoir. 

 

Cafe where "Amelie" was filmed

Sadly, gentrification is creeping in and it’s becoming too expensive for the artists or odd bods who made the area famous.  One studio loft recently sold for 12m Euro, in a building where Dalida (a famous Egyptian born, Italian/French/Hebrew/Japanese/Spanish +5 other languages singer lived).  We walked past all these tempting fruit shops with sumptuous strawberries and bought some to take home – they were delicious and sweet.  In fact the aroma of the food stalls wafted throughout the neighbourhood.  The tour ended at Sacre Coeur with a great view of Paris below.

Sacre Coeur

Deciding where to eat is pot luck weighing up the clientele, the price and the charm of the staff.  French food is delicious and with tables so close together, you start conversing with fellow diners.  An odd coincidence was that on the 2 nights we ate o.ut, we ended up talking to 2 mother/daughter combinations.  We’ve also eaten in, – hence the need for a personal chef.

Street art in Montmartre