18 Sept - Paris - Exhausted and Loving It

What can I say, it’s been amazing to come back with Mark after ten years and see it through his eyes and also through my other experiences. Naturally it’s a whole different perspective as I was a ‘poor student’ last time and this time I bought something on Avenue Montaigne (more about that later)!

Just to finish off the UK, after spending 2 lovely weeks in Dundee, we spent a final afternoon/ evening in Edinburgh and had a glorious 24 degree day. We had lunch in a nice restaurant www.centotre.com and had some really excellent Italian cuisine. It’s also in a restored old Bank building and they have tastefully redecorated it. That night we went on a tour of the underbelly of Edinburgh, learning about the ghosts, trade and horrors of being an Englishman in Edinburgh around 1630 (it’s not pretty. For those who want more information, I can explain separately).

Flying to Paris was mostly uneventful and we met up with our friends Lillian and Rod and spent 3.5 days together in the 10^th arrondissement (near Metro Republique). The apartment is in a quiet courtyard behind the Asian tailors (sweatshops of Paris). It’s really nicely done and probably bigger than our house! Set on two levels with a large kitchen (including imported 1950’s American oven) and unique decorative objet d’arts.

Kitchen, dining room and courtyard of our Paris apartment

That evening, we walked around the Quartier Latin and went to an authentic bar in Rue des Ecoles and then onto a very late dinner at Bar Grand Cluny and had excellent steak béarnaise. We arrived home close to midnight and Lillian/Rod were planning a 6AM rise for the train to Versailles (crazy), whilst we ended up walking for 5 hours around Le Marais district and had a lovely lunch at Le 3 in a gorgeous alleyway (Ste Croix de la Bretonnerie).

Arriving home exhausted, we thought we’d take it easy the following day and only walked SIX hours (who was I kidding). We caught a local food market with oysters on ice, really good looking fruit/veg, clothes and everything in between. Then we lined up for the Georges Pompidou centre (modern art).

Pompidou Centre

The centre opens at 11am and was already a 30-mins wait at 11am! This was the place Mark was really looking forward to and it didn’t disappoint. We spent an hour walking around just one floor. And quelle surprise, you are allowed to take pictures INSIDE the gallery with the security people watching! So Mark has one next to a Picasso and I have one next to Gilbert & George (who we actually saw in the Tate Modern!)

Tam with Gilbert & George and Mark with Picasso

Afterwards we had a slap up impromptu meal of half baguette, coke and sugar crepe on the steps leading to the Seine whilst smelling the urine of the last visitor to this spot. Finally, as if we hadn’t done enough walking, Mark suggested we walk all the way to the Louvre and then along the Right Bank of the Seine to the Arc de Triomphe. Believe me it took hours! Along that part of the Seine, there are endless book sellers with old magazines, special comics and posters/ small portraits.

Booksellers

Eventually we came home and had a shower before going out with Lillian and Rod for a special meal (for their last night in Paris). We went to Chez Michel which had been written up in The Age Travel section or The Australian which we’d been keeping clippings from prior to our departure. We managed to have 3 wonderful courses, a bottle of wine and a glass of dessert wine each for only 42 Euro each (approx $60 AUD) which was really top class. They have raved about this chef as having potential to open a Michelin-starred restaurant. Snails came out onto the table, instead of the usual olives and oil. He even ate two snails!

Lillian and Tam

On Thursday, Lillian and Rod went off on their Eurail ticket to Dijon, Lyon and places in the South of France and Mark and I put on some nice clothes (Although my shoes obviously weren’t good enough, according to one shop assistant) to walk down the two most expensive streets in Paris – Avenue Montaigne and Avenue du Faubourg St Honore. Whilst I was keeping my eye out for any rare bargains, I wasn’t really expecting to find/ buy anything there. Well when I walked into Max Mara to glance at their coats/ jackets, I found one that was really special and elegant. It was a really hot day (I was wearing a sleeveless top) and trying on a 100% wool jacket with shirt as well! You can imagine how sweaty I was after trying on about 10 jackets in four different stores. I kept coming back to the style, cut and elegance of the Max Mara one and although it’s a bit more than I wanted to spend, I’m really excited about the weather getting colder now!

Naturally, we don’t eat out all the time and enjoyed cooking one night with Lillian and Rod and by ourselves Thursday, Friday (to save some funds). On Friday we had our first rainy day but luckily it mostly stopped to a light drizzle by the time we left the apartment and we traveled to the Montmatre area to walk around the Sacre-Coeur and the quirky fashion shops, tacky sex shops and naturally found ‘Café Australien’ next door to a sex shop!

Sacre Coeur

Tomorrow we leave our apartment to meet up with Chris and his brother Mark who has been studying and living in Paris for quite a while. We’ll spend two nights with them before finally seeing our Citroen C4 and driving onto the ‘open road’.

Till our first ‘pit-stop’, keep trucking and don’t forget to leave a comment or write us an email.