I booked an awesome photowalk in Paris today with Welly (short for Wellington) who is in his 20s and has set up Parisplore as a tour business, after leaving his career in accountancy because he didn’t love it. He loves history, and meeting people, and he loves his city, and his tour is wonderful. He took me to rooftops that are free to access, but probably unknown to tourists, hidden parts of the city, and beautiful places. And he shared his love of Paris through stories, snippets of history, and laughter. Such a talented young guy, with a Kiwi name 🙂 I have told him he must come to NZ because it is the most beautiful country in the world, and because he loves photography I showed him pictures of some of our amazing landscapes online. “If NZ looks like this, why are you here?” he asked. I tell him I like to see the world, and he says, “well you are in the most beautiful city right now”. And I have to agree.
The Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris covers 44 hectares, and is the final resting place for many famous and wealthy people. There are over 70,000 burial sites here so a map is needed, and some good walking shoes. I had booked a tour of the cemetery, but the transport strike has made it hard for guides to get into the city so it wasn’t able to go ahead. Instead I picked up a free map from the tourist office inside the cemetery and walked up to the very top of the hill to see who I could find. It is quite a beautiful place to walk through on a cloudy winters day (with or without a map), and the large black crows sitting atop the mossy tombs adds to the atmosphere. Jim Morrison from the Doors is buried here and his grave is the most popular; a little too popular perhaps because so many people stopped by to see him and pour him a beer or whisky that it is now fenced off. Oscar Wilde’s tomb also is partially fenced, with a note asking people not to write messages on it. Chopin looks very stately in marble. Victor Noir, a journalist who was shot by the cousin of Napoleon, has become a sex/fertility god in the afterlife. Atop his grave a life sized bronze statue shows him as he lay dead, and it has a rather large bulge in his trousers that people come to rub (along with his shoes and lips) in the hope that his virility will pass on to them. At one stage a fence was also erected (pardon the pun) around his grave, but there was such a huge protest from the female population that it was taken down! Some graves have been carefully tended and are easy to find even by a poor map reader. Others are in such disrepair you cannot tell who resides there. Delacroix, Proust, Marcel Marceau, Molliere and many others are visited only by the seasons now as their tomb sites are too weathered to be recognised. But maybe that is ok. Soundtrack for the day is La Vie En Rose by Edith Piaf, who is also buried here with her family.
The Marche d’Aligre outdoor market is right on my doorstep and I love walking through it, checking out the fruit and vegetables, cheeses, spices, flowers and on some days there is a vintage flea market. I don’t take photos when I go because I want to experience it as a shopper, not a tourist. The stall holders are there every day from 9am – 1pm, and 4-7:30pm, so that people can choose the best ingredients for lunch and dinner, and they are world class sales people. Make eye contact, or let your glance linger on something for more than a moment, and it is proffered for you to inspect. Stop to look and it is put in your hands. Hold it and a bag is wrapped around it (sometimes with your hand also in it) and you’re expected to buy. Tourists who come to take photos or in a tour group can be subject to innocent fun – one American woman asked for three onions in semi-passable French only to be given three kilos of them (while the stall holder tried not to smile and called out to his mates that he had the best customer in all of Paris). She tried again to say she only wanted three, only to be presented with another three kilos 🙂 Then, taking pity on her, he quickly wrapped three in a paper bag and she paid and moved on, smiling and laughing at her charming experience. At the moment tiny leeks are in season; delicious browned with some butter and served with crusty bread. Clementines are also plentiful, a sweet orange that is small like a mandarin and easy to peel. Small vine tomatoes like grapes are piled high, as are giant ones the size of a fist. Endives, eggplant, dates, lemons, green beans, and tiny potatoes. And onions 🙂 So many recipes run through my head! Clementines are the winner today though, and I manage to buy 5 without mishap 🙂 I really love this style of shopping for fresh produce and eating it that day.
The Musee D’Orsay contains a powerhouse of art that is actually more impressive to me than the art in the Louvre. Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, Gaugin, Cezanne. Amazing. This museum is well worth a visit when you are in Paris, across the river from the Jardin des Tuilleries and the Louvre. I bought a ticket to also see the Musee Orangerie, which I’ll go to on another day. The restaurant on Level 2 is awesome, set up in a stately mirrored room adorned with gilt and frescoes that would be at home in Versailles. You will be waited on attentively while you sit and absorb the amazing art your eyes have feasted on, and the food is really good. Outside is chaotic again today as the transport strike drags on, roads are blocked due to more expected protests, the police are out again in force, and pedestrians are looking fed up. It is hard to see how this will end as both sides have their heels firmly dug in, but it must be hard for the workers who are losing days of pay. Public opinion is mostly in favour of those on strike, with people saying what they are fighting for is important and they should continue. Tomorrow will be significant because the Government is expected to present the proposed reforms (all of this union action and the proposal isn’t even out yet!), so things will either flare up or calm down. I would prefer the latter.
My daughter Jen sent me a link to the NZ Herald online news site early this morning, and I read with a heavy heart about the eruption on White Island and the tragic loss of life. I am sure that in the days ahead there will be questions and recriminations, as people look for answers and who is to blame. As a New Zealander far from home, and an adventurous traveller, I feel hugely sad reading about this. No one sets out on an adventure, or helps others to experience adventures, for it to end this way. Sometimes the desire to see or experience things outweighs the potential for a risky outcome. It doesn’t make it a bad decision, but in this case it was hugely unlucky. I too have signed waivers acknowledging I accept risks and responsibilities, so there but for the grace of the universe go I.
There are so many things to do on a Sunday in Paris, but I was in the mood to avoid the big crowds and to be outside as much as possible, even though the rain had settled in. A friend in NZ had suggested I go to the bird market (Marche aux Oiseaux), which is on every Sunday on the Ile de la Cite, close to Notre Dame. During the week there is a flower market here, and as well as bunches of flowers you can find rare and expensive orchids. Some are so rare, they are hidden behind curtains and you can only see them on request if you are a serious buyer. But on Sundays, the flower vendors take a break and the bird-sellers move in. It is apparently one of the last remaining street pet markets in Europe, and you can hear the chorus of bird-song from a block away. There is every size and colour of bird you could want here, and every type of cage to house them. And there were serious collectors this morning when I visited, haggling over the price, putting a bird back in its cage because its personality wasn’t up to scratch, before finally settling on the perfect one (or a pair, which would set you back between 40 to 400 euros, depending how rare it is). Maybe 20 minutes walk from the market is the Palais du Luxembourg and the gardens, which cover 25 hectares of land and were created in 1612. Beautiful, even in winter. Then, as it was close and I hadn’t been able to go inside when I saw it a couple of days ago, I went back to the Pantheon. Inside is amazing, decorated with grand paintings, housing Foucault’s pendulum which was installed in 1851 to prove the Earth’s rotation, and underneath in the crypt several important French people are buried, including Voltaire, Alexandre Dumas, Marie Curie, Louis Braille and Antoine de Saint-Exupery who wrote the Little Prince. Walking back home there are Christmas markets in every arrondissement, selling hot wine 🙂 and beignets (like a filled doughnut), roasted chestnuts, and other goodies. I love hot wine so stopped for a cup, and also bought some more socks. With all my walking I have worn out three pairs, so I bought three more. These ones are made of Mongolian Yak wool 🙂 and apparently guaranteed to keep my feet warm and dry. Fingers crossed.
I’m quite taken with the Louvre pyramid, it is really beautiful and not at all out of place amongst the historic stone and marble buildings. I saw a quote from Ming Pei, the architect who designed it, in a museum in Amsterdam, and it came to mind today when I went to line up to go into the Louvre. A dear friend who had supported and cheered him on through the difficult project, had died before it was finished, and in the eulogy he gave he said, “We have created something significantly beautiful, to be seen from the heavens; but I did not expect it would be seen so soon by you”. What he has created is more than beautiful, and he was an architectural genius. Some of the galleries were not open today due to the transport strike and having less available staff, but I covered a lot of ground, thanks mostly to a really helpful blog I found online, with tips to make the most out of your visit. The Louvre has more than 60,000 square metres of floor space, so a plan is recommended! The one I liked (by Luke Slattery from traveller.com.au) outlined a simple route through the maze of corridors to see the big four exhibits (statues of The Winged Nike and Venus de Milo, The Mona Lisa, and Rembrandt’s Bathsheba)in just 15 minutes, plus suggestions on other important pieces to then go and see, and where to find them. I wrote it down and took it with me, and although it took me twice as long to complete my mission, I am quite poor with directions, so I thought that wasn’t too bad 🙂 The rest of the time I followed the suggestions from the blog and saw pretty much everything I wanted to find. The pyramid was the real winner for me though, and worth the entry fee just to see that up close. While I was in the neighbourhood, I wandered up the Champs-Elysees, and bought a ticket to go to the top of the Arc de Triomphe on the way (to save waiting in line). Amazing views from the top, and I loved it! Well worth 12 Euros to go up if you don’t mind a few stairs.
Main entrance is through the pyramid
Winged Nike, Victory of Samothrace
Venus de Milo
Mona Lisa is a popular lady
Marble from the Parthenon (the rest are in the British Museum)
Yesterday was the first of a multi-day strike by the transport workers in France, which has knocked out most air, rail and bus services. The strike is in protest against planned pension reforms – France has 42+ active unions, each with their own pension rules, and the government wants to move to one scheme for everyone. As with any change proposal, a lot of people are unhappy. Yesterday more than 850,000 people across the country took to the streets in protest, and in Paris 6,000 police were deployed to keep the peace. I happened to be out walking and collecting some food when van after van of armed police in riot gear, with gas masks, rolled past, stopped, and started blocking off the streets. Too many to count. Sacre bleu! I saw in the news later that the protest erupted in violence in some places where other radical groups had infiltrated the march, and tear gas was used, and arrests made. Hence the heavy police presence. Many tourist attractions like the Eiffel tower, Arc de Triomphe, and some of the larger museums were closed because people could not get to work easily, and because police were diverted to support the protest. There is no end date yet for the strike, each side is standing-off in their respective corners. Luckily I am not in a rush to move on, and will see how it plays out later in the month when I need to head for Switzerland (and my white Christmas). In the meantime I am definitely experiencing life as a Parisian 🙂 Today the mood of the city was a lot calmer, although without public transport, the roads are jammed with cars and there are a lot more people out walking. I had planned a quiet morning (washing 🙂 ), and this afternoon ventured out to see Notre Dame, which is now behind a large fence as restoration work has begun. Even though it is damaged, it is an impressive building. Amazing. Around the corner from this is the Sainte-Chapelle, a medieval gothic chapel built by the French kings. Stunning glass windows maybe the prettiest I have seen so far. From there, winding through the Latin quarter, is the Pantheon and other impressive buildings. And some amazing patisseries 🙂 Tomorrow I’m going to the Louvre which will be awesome.
I was so looking forward to today, because I got to spend 2 hours walking with Juliette and her pack of 13 lovely dogs, through the Bois de Vincennes woodlands, on the eastern edge of Paris. The down-side to my travels is that I miss my own dog a lot, so spending quality time with 13 new four-legged friends was awesome. Juliette has been working as a dog-walker for 7 years, after moving to Paris from Bretagne in the north-west coast of France. She loves being outside every day with her pack, and I think she quite possibly has the best job in the world. It’s another sunny day in Paris, so I walk to our meeting point, at the edge of the woods. When Juliette arrives, the dogs are quivering with excitement for their walk, and they leap out of her van, one after the other, running and barking, and smiling (and cocking their legs 🙂 ). Each dog has their own unique personality and characteristics. Getting to know them, and seeing them bound through the grass and playing together will put a smile on your face that is almost as big as the smile on theirs. This is a unique experience in Paris, available to book through Air BnB. The Bois de Vincennes is the largest public park in the city, created in 1855 by Napoleon III. It is huge, perfect for off-leash dogs to run free, and a peaceful break from the crowds in the city.
This one likes to find balls in the grass, but doesn’t want to share them (just like Max)
Lots of dog packs out walking this morning
Nordic walkers eeeeek
These two are best friends
Oscar the dachshund is 3 and quite the cutie – and fiercely independent….like me 🙂
Juliette recommended a great bakery in my neighbourhood
