Paris, Ahh Paris; 2

The French have a number of public holidays for religious feast days, so Pentecost Sunday requires a holiday on the Monday. This means that most stores are closed and Monday is not a good museum day either. So perhaps Chateau Vincennes?? Oui!
We purchased our Navigo Decouverte transport card for the week (E23.75 including the E5 cost of the card). This means we need to make about 22 trips on public transport to better the cost of buying a carnet of tickets at E1.10 each. We shall see.
The chateau is quite a fortress with a tall donjon and encircling walls, a pretty chapel and some renaissance wings that were not open to visit. E8.00 to see the donjon and chapel with a small printed leaflet included. Nothing is furnished but there are explanatory signs in many of the rooms about their past uses, including as both castle and prison.

The donjon and walls The rose and tracery

The soaring chapel based on Sainte Chapelle in Paris The vaulting and boss, beautifully restored

The chapel is empty. It has six nave windows that were destroyed by a storm and they have just been replaced with a formal patterned stained glass. The magnificent apse windows are of the Apocalypse and will be restored shortly. The stonework and vaulting inside has also been restored and is plain except around the peak of the vaulting where the bosses are elaborated with painting. Very lovely indeed.
The donjon was a challenge as the stairs spiral up and up and up, but we took it slowly and visited all the rooms. The room the king used as his study was quite tiny and plain, just a fireplace and a niche for his books and some treasure. He was a learned man and had books copied, reading each day and taking counsel from experts as required.
Back into town and we visited the Palais Royal again. I had not seen the pretty gardens which were very restful with their arcades of trees, fountain and gardens for sitting in, plus a nice cafe on the edges  that looked very Parisienne. I suggested lunch at Angelinas, famed for its chocolate, but when we got there (further than I thought) the queues were long. We grabbed a bite nearby but returned later just to buy something, both choosing a rather decadent chocolate sweet.

Courtyard, Palais Royal The beautiful colonnade

A very Parisienne cafe in the garden Goodies at Angelinas

We revisited Place de la Concorde which has always had scaffolding and seating for parades when we were there  last and enjoyed the fountains, the view down the Champs Elysees, the obelisk with its gold descriptions about how it came to Paris, and the rather mysterious Paris meridian line which runs up to it, about which I can find almost nothing and the tiny plaque was too small for me to read. I think it may have something to do with the Arago markers which commemorate the original calculator of the line, at one time a rival to Greenwich as meridian zero.

One of the fountains at Concorde Grand vista down the Champs Elysees

The Luxor obelisk and instructions on how to transport an obelisk should you need The Paris Meridian and the marker at the obelisk

The following day we were to have a meeting and walk with our Paris Greeter, a volunteer who would show us her part of the city. We met up with Catherine who was born in the 15th, and spent a delightful time looking at some of the sights, the art deco architecture and the wonderful markets of the area which were Catherine’s markets, a place of meeting and socialising, getting the freshest food and catching up with the local news.
In particular we finally saw the small Statue of Liberty, given to France by America as a thank-you for the original, the tethered balloon which rises from the site of the old Citroen factory and the church of St Christopher, built by the parish and assisted by Citroen, from iron and pre-cast concrete panels, beautifully and very softly lit inside and with walls covered with paintings done in coloured wax on fabric.
The Paris Greeter program allowed us to see an area we would not have otherwise experienced from someone who was passionate about “her” Paris. Very worthwhile.

Liberty on the tip of Isle des Cygnes

The softly glowing St Christopher’s church

Later, we revisited the Marmottan Museum, famed for its Impressionist paintings. I enjoy the feel of being in a sumptuous house here and the paintings upstairs were beautifully displayed but the Impressionists usually in the huge basement rooms had given way to an exhibition about the Dufy brothers, Jean and Raoul. It was unexpected but we made the most of it. I enjoyed particularly the seaside ones in joyful shades of blues and the parallels that were drawn by the curator between their works even though they were often estranged. No pictures of course.

Still to come: Visiting the covered passageways and dinner at Guy Savoy.

Paris, Paris, Ahh! Paris; 1

The trip to Paris was necessarily rather direct, to be in on time for the apartment rental, though we did get some odd directions from the GPS that had us heading south for a while. Nick had mapped a course into the Gare du Nord to return the car and despite heavy traffic and a few further odd directions from the GPS, we eventually got the car returned and signed off, contacted the greeter for the apartment and took a taxi to the Rue des Martyrs in Montmartre and our “Rooftop Vista” www.perfectlyparis.com/Rooftop Vista.html . On the sixth floor and with a fairly reliable looking lift, it has views over the rooftops and chimney pots of Paris and of Sacre Coeur. It is an exceedingly odd shape but has a good bed, a reasonable living room and kitchen  and good security. It is also blessedly clean and with decent linen and household items. Our welcome was warm and included a great book of instructions and recommendations and a bottle of wine. Fantastic!

View from the window

And by night

So that afternoon we wandered Montmartre, doing a bit of shopping, poking into the pretty shops and buying a bunch of peonies which look gorgeous on the coffee table. We sat in a cafe and had an expensive beer and ate at a local restaurant.

One of my peonies

Roses in a rose shop in Montmartre. Love the ice cream colours.

Next morning looked fine so we headed for the markets near Bastille. They were gorgeous with lots of fruit and vegetables, fish, meat, cheese, flowers, clothes and wine.

Plants for sale Baskets of red and black currants

All sorts of bread Piled langoustines

As we intended to walk later we didn’t buy any supplies but set off, past the Opera Bastille, to the Promenade Plantee, an old elevated railway line with a garden replacing the lines up above and artists shops in the arches below. Lots of people running as it is a straight length of several kilometres but for us, walking some distance above and then dropping down to street level and walking back was a good move.

Promenade Plantee

It was Sunday, so many of the artists’ shops were closed, but we window shopped. One place had sheets of printed, embossed leather, like wall paper, amazing stuff. We had a drink at a cafe, before moving on to Place des Vosges which I have always wanted to visit. A very pretty square surrounded by apartments, all alike of course, (this IS Paris and one must make a visual statement). The square had a gorgeous garden in the centre where people sat (or lay and kissed), ate picnics and let the children play while we wandered around under the arched loggias looking for a cafe for lunch. Very French and lovely.

Entry gate, Place des Vosges

The pretty lawn of the Place with people enjoying their Sunday

We thoroughly enjoyed some of the art galleries under the arches, including one showing  an amazing exhibition by this couple. The batty man was hard to photograph through glass. He had big wings and was just delightful. He was also already sold!

After returning to the markets we bought enough supplies for dinner in our apartment (maybe every second night) and headed home.

Wow! We are really in Paris.

More to come folks.

Brittany and beyond 2: Churches and cairns

Into the trusty car and off again the next morning, this time to Ploumanac’h via a few fascinating church enclosures. An enclosure was a church and graveyard, a charnel house, an exterior calvary and a wall around the lot. Most date from the 16th century and the figures and decorations often reflect that age, so you might get a scene of the crucifixion with people in something approximating Elizabethan dress.

We visited Lampaul-Guimilian,  Guimilian (a local saint) and St Thegonnec (another local saint). I loved the first for the interior decorated and carved altars and the astounding life sized deposition made in 1676.

Rood screen Lampaul-Guimilian Very busy carved altar scene

Gargoyle waterspout (with a cute smile) The beautiful deposition scene

The second had an excellent Calvary outside but the lean on the supporting columns inside didn’t augur well for the future of the back wall. Lovely organ and carved baptistry though and a charming altar to St Joseph.

The flight into Egypt (love the hat) I am a bit worried that there seem to be 13 apostles at the washing of the feet

Detail of snail on carved baptistry columns A nice, young St Joseph for a change

The final one had very expressive faces on the granite carvings of the passion on the calvary and another deposition with beautiful faces.

On the carved Calvary in the churchyard, Christ tormented Lovely organ

St Thegonnec. You can see part of the calvary just through the arch The deposition

From Christianity and its expression in the 16-17th century we moved on to a prehistoric burial cairn built in two stages between 4500BC and 3900BC. This amazing, stepped cairn is 75metres long by 28 metres wide and contained 11 burial chambers. It sits on top of a hill at Barnenez and was neglected for a very long time, only really coming to light again in about 1850 and preserved in 1955.

Onwards to the Cote de Granit Rose and our hotel. The pink granite boulders have been carved by wind and water into extraordinary forms, often huge. You might see a house with a rock behind it that is larger in all dimensions. Most of the buildings are faced with the rock and the blue sea against it is an amazing colour contrast.

The very weird rocks close up

House, lighthouse and lifeboat ramp

Our hotel was right on the harbour again, with a view out over the boats and a small walk to the beach area all around the rocks. Many people walk the headlands as the scenery is quite stunning. This used to be smuggling coast though the area is quite dangerous and the rescue boats are nearby.

Tide’s out A boat grounded by low tide

All afloat. Same boat, same position, high tide Rose granite chateau on its rose granite island

Our excursion from Ploumanac’h was to Beauport Abbey, mostly ruined now but once very rich and prosperous, so much so that they got a bit lax and had to be called to order again. It used to be right by the sea for trade, but as with many places, the sea has retreated. A pretty place to explore, as was nearby Painpol harbour.

Beauport Abbey Oyster boat, Painpol

The huge fireplace at Beauport Painpol harbour

On then, to Honfleur, stopping on the way at Cancale for oysters. I had a dozen for lunch, but at a cafe, not from the waterfront vendors. Behind the tents is a midden of oyster shells from those who bought lunch here. The cafe over the road even sells wine by the glass to go with the shellfish picnics.

Honfleur turned out to be a city of half timbered houses centred on a port that opened off the Seine. Very historic and I was interested to see that it was from Honfleur that Champlain sailed to found Quebec. (Remember Champlain, we found his birthplace way back when we visited the fortress town Brouages from Mosnac)

Ancient half timbering

A yacht prepares to leave the inner harbour

We stayed in an old convent tastefully renovated (Coeur St Catherine) though the sounds of patrons as they walked across the floor in the room above rather kept us awake. However the place was very beautifully presented and its history explained.

View from our sliding door

The harbour was pretty. We appreciated the old wooden church of St Catherine, built by the shipbuilders, so built in wood and like upturned keels. It was temporary several hundred years ago. Nearby, a separate belltower because the strength of the wooden church could not have supported the weight of the bells.

The separate wooden belfry

How ironic that so many brick or stone churches burn and these are still intact. Mind you, in 1944, a shell penetrated the church but did not explode. Had it detonated the church would have perished.

A separate “Festival of the Seas” was about to happen on the Sunday/Monday of Pentecost so the town was decorated with flags and rosettes, a naval ship was in port and lots of yachts arrived through the opening bridge to shelter in the inner harbour. The tall buildings surrounding the harbour reflected in the mirror like water.

The tall houses reflect in the still waters

More reflections Outer port leading to the Seine

We wandered down the outer port, all decorated for the Festival, before going for dinner. More oysters for me.

And so we prepared to move on to Paris. The next morning we crossed the Pont de Normandie and were on our way.

The interesting upwards and sideways curve of the Pont de Normandie

Through the windshield

Next stop: Paris for 9 nights.