Gay Paris!
Hello!
Back to normal, English keyboarding again, although it sounded like you were enjoying the French qs and zs (indeed, maybe it could catch on and become a type of blog-language.. maybe not)
First, we have to say that Massive Attack are AMAZING! Saw them last night in Le Bataclan and were both rendered speechless at the quality of the show - but more of that later, we have a whole week to blog about first...
So.
We had a lovely time in le Sud de France, with goodish weather (cloudy-sun-cloudy) and marvellous company. On Friday, a gang of Renwick friends arrived to the house, consisting of Penny, Joe and Linda - very nice people with a taste for good food and fine wine. Needless to say, for the next few days we ate like horses and drank like the fish we caught on Saturday..
Following that smooth linkage, on the Saturday, we travelled to a small fish farm near Beziers to catch our supper - a first for the both of us. Rods are loaned to the visitors, who, armed with sweetcorn, attempt to catch a trout - it's not particularly difficult, as the pool is swarming with fish (although they seem to be quite intelligent trout and have mastered the skill of stealing the bait without getting caught). Nevertheless, within minutes of casting off, (or is that a knitting term?) and declaring "this is the first time I've ever held a fishing rod", Amalia reeled in the first catch of the day (true beginner's luck). Everyone managed to catch their own fish (except Penny, who retired early and left the job to Joe), H apologising to hers before it was carted off to be electrified (very humanely).
The fish proved to be very tasty indeed and was complemented by lashings of a variety of delicious local wines (apart from the Swiss one which is, in fact, Swiss). A healthy debate around the dinner table about current employment issues (nothing was concluded!!) prepared us for a swift enjoyable midnight game of boules/petanque with Maxwell and Linda (they won).
The next day, we made our way in a convoy of cars, to Banyuls-sur-Mer; a gorgeous seaside town near the Spanish border, with a view of the Pyrenees - where Penny and Joe have an apartment. We spent the afternoon lazing on the nearby beach (which has fish and clear water with which to see them, which we didn't see, but Maxwell and Joe donned the snorkels and braced the water to have a look) before a delicious fishy supper (lots of fish in the south of France) which set us up for our first European night train experience.
After saying Au Revoir to the troop, we were driven (thank you, Pierre) to Perpignan train station, through the most colourful sunset we have ever seen (enormous turquoise sky fading to yellows, oranges and rusty reds, silhouetting the Pyrenees mountains and clifftop towns, and a piercing crescent moon). After saying goodbye to Pierre at the station, we patiently waited for our (20 mins late) train, next to two crazy guys (you know the kind, they appear drunk, talking loudly, running around and acting odd) - Pierre, remember the man who was walking in the middle of the road on the way to the station? He was one of them...
Praying they wouldn't be in our carriage, we boarded the train (and yes, they were in our carriage). In the carriage, we had all the people you secretly hope you won't have to sit next to - crazy people, children, giggling teenage girls and a SNORER. Not just any old snorer, but a 'rattle-your-bones', 'wake the entire neighbourhood' kind of snorer. As all the couchettes had been taken, we had to sleep in reclining seats in a communal carriage, which gave the crazy guys free reign to run up and down the aisles, talking to random passengers, eliciting 'shushes' from irritated 'trying-to-sleepers', ignoring them and talking louder. We slept approximately 2 hours between us, also due to arctic air-conditioning and unreclinable seats (men with unsquishable long legs behind). It was an experience!
We were glad to finally arrive in Paris at 8am - we freshened up in the station bathrooms (which were truly luxurious) and braved the appalling weather outside to seek out Gare de Lyon (a bigger station with a tourist office) and find somewhere to stay. We were allocated a hotel by a rather sniffy Parisien in the tourist office and caught the metro, hoping we wouldn't be repeating the Belgrade nightmare. But it's lovely, with ensuite bathrooms and TV (although why must the French dub everything - we English need subtitles!) AND minibar!!! All in a very affordable 2* hotel (which is only a couple of euros dearer than a hostel..) which is quite central and close to the Bataclan.
The weather was still appalling on Tuesday, but we managed to visit Notre Dame de Paris (which, although soggy, was incredible - we arrived during Mass so it was quieter than usual - the interior is spectacular and although we didn't see the hunchback, we did see a man with a limp, which was good enough for us.
We did the 'touristy' thing (which we've actually been doing all the way around Europe..) and visited la Tour d'Eiffel, which was big. Didn't go up as it was windy (so the tower looked quite unstable - you never know!!) and very busy. Had a baguette in le Champ de Mars (the green bit by the tower) and made our way to the Musee de Rodin. H visited here with school, many moons ago (not that many really) and having really enjoyed it (and gained much inspiration) wanted to come back. It's housed in picturesque grounds, which we were able to enjoy (about time) as we had sun!
Enfin, in the evening, we went to see a little-known band called Massive Attack. The venue was tiny, with space for just over 1000 people, and we were lucky enough to start queuing early and get seats in the perfect spot (on the balcony, just above the band). The performance was wicked/awesome/fantastic/perfect (delete as appropriate), with an amazing light show which made it truly atmospheric. Singers from past albums were doing a one-off tour with the band so, for anybody who knows MA, we had Elizabeth Fraser (Teardrop woman) and Horace Andy (Angel + others) - it was amasing! We don't have great photos, as our cameras were confiscated before we went in, but we have some on A's phone + a bit of video...
Today, very tired, we spent a couple of hours in the Louvre (had a bit of a strange moment - a woman walked up to us in the internet cafe with developing hairdye on her hair and big glasses - Paris is officially an odd place to be) which was very cultural and very big - saw the Mona Lisa (has to be done) and Venus de Milo - tried to find some Impressionists but they were hiding - maybe another time.
So that, friends, is our tale up to now. And possibly, our last post from abroad. It's quite sad, knowing that we're ending this experience to come home and be like you lot (i.e back to the grind) - it's been quite a journey, and one we've enjoyed (almost) every moment of. (Although even Scary Sighisoara and the Belgrade terrors have blended into the two months seamlessly, to provide us with lots of interesting memories)
We hope you've enjoyed our running commentary - we've really enjoyed using this as a means to keep in touch with all of you, and hopefully to aid the writing of the book (which you all have to promise to buy!!!). We will post again when we're back in Blighty, a final summary to conclude our tour! But, fingers crossed, we will resurrect the 'Intrepid Travellers' for our 'American Adventure' in 2008 (?) - Watch this space!!!
That's All Folks!
Back to normal, English keyboarding again, although it sounded like you were enjoying the French qs and zs (indeed, maybe it could catch on and become a type of blog-language.. maybe not)
First, we have to say that Massive Attack are AMAZING! Saw them last night in Le Bataclan and were both rendered speechless at the quality of the show - but more of that later, we have a whole week to blog about first...
So.
We had a lovely time in le Sud de France, with goodish weather (cloudy-sun-cloudy) and marvellous company. On Friday, a gang of Renwick friends arrived to the house, consisting of Penny, Joe and Linda - very nice people with a taste for good food and fine wine. Needless to say, for the next few days we ate like horses and drank like the fish we caught on Saturday..
Following that smooth linkage, on the Saturday, we travelled to a small fish farm near Beziers to catch our supper - a first for the both of us. Rods are loaned to the visitors, who, armed with sweetcorn, attempt to catch a trout - it's not particularly difficult, as the pool is swarming with fish (although they seem to be quite intelligent trout and have mastered the skill of stealing the bait without getting caught). Nevertheless, within minutes of casting off, (or is that a knitting term?) and declaring "this is the first time I've ever held a fishing rod", Amalia reeled in the first catch of the day (true beginner's luck). Everyone managed to catch their own fish (except Penny, who retired early and left the job to Joe), H apologising to hers before it was carted off to be electrified (very humanely).
The fish proved to be very tasty indeed and was complemented by lashings of a variety of delicious local wines (apart from the Swiss one which is, in fact, Swiss). A healthy debate around the dinner table about current employment issues (nothing was concluded!!) prepared us for a swift enjoyable midnight game of boules/petanque with Maxwell and Linda (they won).
The next day, we made our way in a convoy of cars, to Banyuls-sur-Mer; a gorgeous seaside town near the Spanish border, with a view of the Pyrenees - where Penny and Joe have an apartment. We spent the afternoon lazing on the nearby beach (which has fish and clear water with which to see them, which we didn't see, but Maxwell and Joe donned the snorkels and braced the water to have a look) before a delicious fishy supper (lots of fish in the south of France) which set us up for our first European night train experience.
After saying Au Revoir to the troop, we were driven (thank you, Pierre) to Perpignan train station, through the most colourful sunset we have ever seen (enormous turquoise sky fading to yellows, oranges and rusty reds, silhouetting the Pyrenees mountains and clifftop towns, and a piercing crescent moon). After saying goodbye to Pierre at the station, we patiently waited for our (20 mins late) train, next to two crazy guys (you know the kind, they appear drunk, talking loudly, running around and acting odd) - Pierre, remember the man who was walking in the middle of the road on the way to the station? He was one of them...
Praying they wouldn't be in our carriage, we boarded the train (and yes, they were in our carriage). In the carriage, we had all the people you secretly hope you won't have to sit next to - crazy people, children, giggling teenage girls and a SNORER. Not just any old snorer, but a 'rattle-your-bones', 'wake the entire neighbourhood' kind of snorer. As all the couchettes had been taken, we had to sleep in reclining seats in a communal carriage, which gave the crazy guys free reign to run up and down the aisles, talking to random passengers, eliciting 'shushes' from irritated 'trying-to-sleepers', ignoring them and talking louder. We slept approximately 2 hours between us, also due to arctic air-conditioning and unreclinable seats (men with unsquishable long legs behind). It was an experience!
We were glad to finally arrive in Paris at 8am - we freshened up in the station bathrooms (which were truly luxurious) and braved the appalling weather outside to seek out Gare de Lyon (a bigger station with a tourist office) and find somewhere to stay. We were allocated a hotel by a rather sniffy Parisien in the tourist office and caught the metro, hoping we wouldn't be repeating the Belgrade nightmare. But it's lovely, with ensuite bathrooms and TV (although why must the French dub everything - we English need subtitles!) AND minibar!!! All in a very affordable 2* hotel (which is only a couple of euros dearer than a hostel..) which is quite central and close to the Bataclan.
The weather was still appalling on Tuesday, but we managed to visit Notre Dame de Paris (which, although soggy, was incredible - we arrived during Mass so it was quieter than usual - the interior is spectacular and although we didn't see the hunchback, we did see a man with a limp, which was good enough for us.
We did the 'touristy' thing (which we've actually been doing all the way around Europe..) and visited la Tour d'Eiffel, which was big. Didn't go up as it was windy (so the tower looked quite unstable - you never know!!) and very busy. Had a baguette in le Champ de Mars (the green bit by the tower) and made our way to the Musee de Rodin. H visited here with school, many moons ago (not that many really) and having really enjoyed it (and gained much inspiration) wanted to come back. It's housed in picturesque grounds, which we were able to enjoy (about time) as we had sun!
Enfin, in the evening, we went to see a little-known band called Massive Attack. The venue was tiny, with space for just over 1000 people, and we were lucky enough to start queuing early and get seats in the perfect spot (on the balcony, just above the band). The performance was wicked/awesome/fantastic/perfect (delete as appropriate), with an amazing light show which made it truly atmospheric. Singers from past albums were doing a one-off tour with the band so, for anybody who knows MA, we had Elizabeth Fraser (Teardrop woman) and Horace Andy (Angel + others) - it was amasing! We don't have great photos, as our cameras were confiscated before we went in, but we have some on A's phone + a bit of video...
Today, very tired, we spent a couple of hours in the Louvre (had a bit of a strange moment - a woman walked up to us in the internet cafe with developing hairdye on her hair and big glasses - Paris is officially an odd place to be) which was very cultural and very big - saw the Mona Lisa (has to be done) and Venus de Milo - tried to find some Impressionists but they were hiding - maybe another time.
So that, friends, is our tale up to now. And possibly, our last post from abroad. It's quite sad, knowing that we're ending this experience to come home and be like you lot (i.e back to the grind) - it's been quite a journey, and one we've enjoyed (almost) every moment of. (Although even Scary Sighisoara and the Belgrade terrors have blended into the two months seamlessly, to provide us with lots of interesting memories)
We hope you've enjoyed our running commentary - we've really enjoyed using this as a means to keep in touch with all of you, and hopefully to aid the writing of the book (which you all have to promise to buy!!!). We will post again when we're back in Blighty, a final summary to conclude our tour! But, fingers crossed, we will resurrect the 'Intrepid Travellers' for our 'American Adventure' in 2008 (?) - Watch this space!!!
That's All Folks!
posted by the travellers at 2:21 pm
3 comments
