whilst I definitely don't.
It's partially dark here and I can't see the keyboard hence the spelling mistakes.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
eek! eeek! eeeeek! My iPhopne has turned into a blackberry
I foolishly tried to update my iPhone to ios5 on Saturday night in Geneva; it's now locked and can't be recognised by iTunes which tells me I need to visit my carrier store and get a new sim.
My carrier store is Telstra at Lithgow Valley; I won't be visiting until 17 or 18 November. So no iPhon e and hence no iPad connection (via iPhone because nothing can tell me the number of my iPad sim which naturally I didn't write down before leaving Australia because I thought I had, I thought, bought sim cards with UK numbers from a company in Melbourne – which of course refuse to work)
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!
So no handy computer on the go; no calls (which is fine).
Techno disaster (also ANZ Travel Cards don't work if you forget the ridiculously long and unneccessarily complicated pin numbers). But there's (so far) cash advances on Visa and Mastercard,
Ho hum; the problems of travel (like a back after four days of Turinoise cobblestones and dodging cars, vans, bicycle riders on the long long streets of Turin).
Travel is not without it downside.
My carrier store is Telstra at Lithgow Valley; I won't be visiting until 17 or 18 November. So no iPhon e and hence no iPad connection (via iPhone because nothing can tell me the number of my iPad sim which naturally I didn't write down before leaving Australia because I thought I had, I thought, bought sim cards with UK numbers from a company in Melbourne – which of course refuse to work)
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!
So no handy computer on the go; no calls (which is fine).
Techno disaster (also ANZ Travel Cards don't work if you forget the ridiculously long and unneccessarily complicated pin numbers). But there's (so far) cash advances on Visa and Mastercard,
Ho hum; the problems of travel (like a back after four days of Turinoise cobblestones and dodging cars, vans, bicycle riders on the long long streets of Turin).
Travel is not without it downside.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Laduree wins!
As if there was any doubt, Laduree wins my personal Paris- Macaron-Fest.
I’ve just finished eating seven out of a little black Laduree box of eight macarons (at one earlier as an hor’s d’oeuvere to my Gerald Mulot in bed supper of une tranche de pizza (ok ish); a jambon et gruyere on tradititonal Polain style bread (better than I’d find in Sydney but needed both more butter and mustard) and a sensational Tart Tatin made with a thick base of long cooked apples topped with caramised apple slices.
I didn’t realize when I was in the bakery in the rue de Seine that Gerald Mulot is some people’s favourite lemon tart maker, and I’m not going to have time this visit to get back there (source of this information was a photo in the Paris Breakfasts blog).
I’ve also been eating my way through 16 or so macarons from Jean Paul Hevin, bought the other day from his rue St Honore store after I had walked out in Parisisan irritation from Laduree at 18 rue Royale (the store not tea rooms) after having not realised that I had broken the French rule about queing ie start by joining at the back of the store when I was trying to buy some Marron Glaces as a birthday present for my mother. So the staff, who turned out to be very English speaking, ignored me and served people who had arrived after me before me.
As it turned out they only had a small size; apparently I would have to go to the Champs Elysee store to get the big size I wanted. As I had already been to the stores in what is now called “Le” Printemps (the “Au” seems to have gone to Ibizia for the winter). Life being full of compromises I took two small sized boxes instead and will look for other examples as we trip across Europe.
The Laudree examples are crisper and tastier than M Hervin’s, although M Hervin has very cute inside wrapping paper of ladies in various costumes carrying boxes marked “Hervin” along Paris streets with an especially cute scooter and trailer being driven by a young miss (Good luck to them: the streets are more perilious than ever, with bicycles, scooters, roadworks, bits “en course du travail”, parked cars and vans all over the place and rarely very wide to begin with, not to mention mobile telephone clutching frenchies of all ages skittering along rapidly, and me staggering slowly – although people are very helpful in the metro offering seats and sometimes arms to help, not forgetting the odd bits of dirty water left over from the morning street hosing [a shock to an Australian’s eyes that there is that much water in the world]).
Laudree is as usual, very superior and ignores everybody else. Breakfast at Angelina, the chocolate aside, yesterday was a disappointment although the cake display at the front of the store looked very bright and had interesting cakes to look at. The rest of the store was faded and badly needed a refit, unlike Laduree which looks fresh and glittering.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Harry away (Day 1 ish of trip)
(emails sent to Sydney)
Have buggered off to foreign until 16 November.
We had the usual flight with a rather boring wait in Singapore; it was very hot and I couldn't find a branch of Jim Thomson in Terminal 1 to buy new elephant handkerchiefs which is my usual occupation on stop overs at Changi.
The plane was a fairly new BA 777 although I miss the old first class cabin of the 747's which used to be exclusively ours with the others only taking envious peaks (now they can walk through and see that it's not that special; the new seats are ok, no more hunting around on the floor for missed bits when bed time comes). The food was quite good out of Sydney but Singapore dreadful out of Changi (although good scrambled eggs – better than those I had for my second breakfast in Picadilly – cooked on board by the BA staff, who as usual were more helpful than Qantas).
We arrived late at Heathrow although still quite early (5.30 am) and were, after a very very long walk (we have a little too much luggage as you may have noticed) were through customs and immigration and in the taxi (with the assistance of a porter and trolley) by just after 6 am and here at St Pancras after a long ride just after 7 am.
The hotel is very grand and smart inside it's rennovated heritage building, with a lot of restored original 1860's Sir Gilbert Scott features; the ordinary rooms, which we are in, are in a modern wing between the hotel and the station (we look out onto the very tall roof of the station and that is in fact all we can see, although one of the station spires is visible at the extreme right if one stands right at the window). The hotel kindly made the rooms available a bit after 11 am, although we were out.
We went out to breakfast at The Wolsley in Picadilly (an old haunt) and then I went out to Green & Stome the art store in King's Road; after this I was very tired and came back here and semi slept the afternoon with UK television blaring in the background and still very sleepy went to dinner at the Sir Gilbert Scott Restaurant in the old station dining rooms, allegedly run by Marcus Waring from The Berkeley. The bar and dining room are fairly spectacular and I faded quite spectacularly only staying awake to eat some room temperature (and it was a very hot room) Scottish smoked salmon before coming back to bed at 9 pm and sleeping until I woke up with a bump at 2.05 am. It was a typical fashionable London restaurant: very crowded, very busy, very noisy, very big English style menu with a lot of almost non English speaking wait staff, one of whom very kindly helped me down the stairs at the front so I could go back into the hotel through the main entrance which is up a slope but level and has a ramp inside for those of us who are not very good with our walking.
So I've been up since 2.05 am finding things and playing with my new watercolour set painting watercolours of the furniture (getting watercolours on the sheets – I'm sure that they've already had much worse. I've just ordered fish cakes and lemon tart as a sort of a pre breakfast and to make up for the lack of dinner last night. Room service menu quite limited and cheaper than the Australian hotel equivalent. The bathrooms are not well designed which has annoyed my mother who considers the whole hotel a wasted opportunity which I probably have to agree. There's a lot of ok looking but not good quality furniture crowded into a fairly small room; it's under resourced by Australian standards with a limited mini bar and bathroom cosmetics (shower stuff and cotton wool buds etc only). It's more expensive than an average equiva;ent hotel room and indeed quite a bit dearer than my usual room at The Berkeley (although I usually get rooms at the original rate from my first stay there). The staff are helpful although extremely slow in answering the telephone – it usually takes several attempts to reach anyone.
Breakfast of very nice Scottish salmon in fish cakes, toast, coffee and lemon tart with pinkish ?redcurrant and yoghurt ice cream has just arrived delivered by the usual escaped Chinese peasant boy (just like The Menzies. although the food is much, much better) and been consumed and I'm about to jettison the trolley outside the door. The butter is very good (from the Netherlands according to the wrapper although I can't read the fine print in this lowish light so it maybe from an English farm called "Netherlands Farm", which is not impossible); toast and coffee are better than in the past, everything was carefully cooked and served although the lemon tart was a bit pallid with undercooked pastry (a very common problem). Marcus Waring would be proud of the food as it was very close to the specified standard.
My mother has already got annoyed with the taxi rates; this hotel is very isolated from the fashionable parts of the city (ie Mayfair/Picadailly/Regent Street and basically a £20 taxi ride is involved to get to and from here; we are staying here another two times before we return to the recently renovated Citadines in Gloucester Road for our last 10 days in London (although I did most of my rounds in a couple of hours this morning – the art supply store was out of stock of most of their own brand watercolour pads which I came to get and as usual Parker's in Sydney has a bigger and better range of stock). There's only two more art supply places to go too; Cornelliessen's near the British Museum and the Royal Watercolour Society for watercolour pads near the Tate Modern at Bankside.
I'm going back to bed for (I hope a brief sleep before packing everything up to go to Paris on the 11.30 am Eurostar from 6 floors below; hope this is achieved without the usual Eurostar trauma; tickets were bought, to my mother's shock at the prices (it's a Sydney/Melbourne Sydney/Brisbane return business class air fare for a Business Premium – ƒirst has been abolished even though it's only half the distance; I'm sure Qantas could make a go of high speed trains in the Brisbane/Sydney/Canberra/Melbourne corridor once they're built, based on these fairs, which are fare from cheap).
London is as usual very busy and full of people including lots of visiting Europeans (and no doubt lot's of Australian's – the plane was fairly full when it left Sydney and filled up with both UK and Australian nationals in Singapore), and yesterday was the hottest September day ever recorded with the temperature in the north London suburbs reaching 30 C (at Hendon, according to the BBC television news) in the afternoon; it's going to be just as hot today in Paris; cool weather isn't coming until Sunday so we're in for a few warm days in countries that don't have proper air conditioning in many public buildings (or any at all in some places in Paris). The air con however works well enough in the bedrooms here where it has remained on 20 C since I arrived and now it's quite cool.
The phone cards with UK number's I had sent from Melbourne have refused to connect to the UK phone system so I'm relying on hotel room internet connection and what expensive Telstra roaming I already have (which has worked on iPhone and iPad although I've turned off Mail collection to save money); no doubt I'll work out the UK connection bit when I'm back in London at the end of the trip. In the meantime we can be reached on our usual Australian mobile numbers, or best by email to my usual adress, which is simply like going back to pre iPhone/iPad times and only being able to check email when I'm in the hotel.
I was just too tired to deal with the Apple Store in Regent Street and calling the phone card people although they have a UK number and the above will have too do.
I and my mother are already regretting the amount of stuff which we have brought with us and to which I have added a few art store, Burlington Arcade (looking a bit folorn) and Fortnum's (staff as daffy as ever) purchases.
Mail doesn't seem to be going out this morning although I successfully sent one to Barry late yesterday afternoon, so no doubt you'll get this eventually.
Didn't make the Rothko's at the Tate Modern on my first days as is my usual practice but will no doubt eventually make; Degas at the Ballet exhibition at Royal Academy which I will visit on retrun to London; doesn't seem to be very much on of note in Paris but will finally try and make it to Jeu de Paume to see whatever impressionists are there.
[the themes for the trip have already emerged: telephone trouble and too much bagage; they'res more aircon in Paris than there used to be and it's more efficient; the baggage is about to be reorganised at considerable expenses with a visit to the Tumi section in Bon Marche when it re opens on Monday morning; typing is also going to be a problem as it's 4.52 am local and I can't see all that well when I type ....
Have buggered off to foreign until 16 November.
We had the usual flight with a rather boring wait in Singapore; it was very hot and I couldn't find a branch of Jim Thomson in Terminal 1 to buy new elephant handkerchiefs which is my usual occupation on stop overs at Changi.
The plane was a fairly new BA 777 although I miss the old first class cabin of the 747's which used to be exclusively ours with the others only taking envious peaks (now they can walk through and see that it's not that special; the new seats are ok, no more hunting around on the floor for missed bits when bed time comes). The food was quite good out of Sydney but Singapore dreadful out of Changi (although good scrambled eggs – better than those I had for my second breakfast in Picadilly – cooked on board by the BA staff, who as usual were more helpful than Qantas).
We arrived late at Heathrow although still quite early (5.30 am) and were, after a very very long walk (we have a little too much luggage as you may have noticed) were through customs and immigration and in the taxi (with the assistance of a porter and trolley) by just after 6 am and here at St Pancras after a long ride just after 7 am.
The hotel is very grand and smart inside it's rennovated heritage building, with a lot of restored original 1860's Sir Gilbert Scott features; the ordinary rooms, which we are in, are in a modern wing between the hotel and the station (we look out onto the very tall roof of the station and that is in fact all we can see, although one of the station spires is visible at the extreme right if one stands right at the window). The hotel kindly made the rooms available a bit after 11 am, although we were out.
We went out to breakfast at The Wolsley in Picadilly (an old haunt) and then I went out to Green & Stome the art store in King's Road; after this I was very tired and came back here and semi slept the afternoon with UK television blaring in the background and still very sleepy went to dinner at the Sir Gilbert Scott Restaurant in the old station dining rooms, allegedly run by Marcus Waring from The Berkeley. The bar and dining room are fairly spectacular and I faded quite spectacularly only staying awake to eat some room temperature (and it was a very hot room) Scottish smoked salmon before coming back to bed at 9 pm and sleeping until I woke up with a bump at 2.05 am. It was a typical fashionable London restaurant: very crowded, very busy, very noisy, very big English style menu with a lot of almost non English speaking wait staff, one of whom very kindly helped me down the stairs at the front so I could go back into the hotel through the main entrance which is up a slope but level and has a ramp inside for those of us who are not very good with our walking.
So I've been up since 2.05 am finding things and playing with my new watercolour set painting watercolours of the furniture (getting watercolours on the sheets – I'm sure that they've already had much worse. I've just ordered fish cakes and lemon tart as a sort of a pre breakfast and to make up for the lack of dinner last night. Room service menu quite limited and cheaper than the Australian hotel equivalent. The bathrooms are not well designed which has annoyed my mother who considers the whole hotel a wasted opportunity which I probably have to agree. There's a lot of ok looking but not good quality furniture crowded into a fairly small room; it's under resourced by Australian standards with a limited mini bar and bathroom cosmetics (shower stuff and cotton wool buds etc only). It's more expensive than an average equiva;ent hotel room and indeed quite a bit dearer than my usual room at The Berkeley (although I usually get rooms at the original rate from my first stay there). The staff are helpful although extremely slow in answering the telephone – it usually takes several attempts to reach anyone.
Breakfast of very nice Scottish salmon in fish cakes, toast, coffee and lemon tart with pinkish ?redcurrant and yoghurt ice cream has just arrived delivered by the usual escaped Chinese peasant boy (just like The Menzies. although the food is much, much better) and been consumed and I'm about to jettison the trolley outside the door. The butter is very good (from the Netherlands according to the wrapper although I can't read the fine print in this lowish light so it maybe from an English farm called "Netherlands Farm", which is not impossible); toast and coffee are better than in the past, everything was carefully cooked and served although the lemon tart was a bit pallid with undercooked pastry (a very common problem). Marcus Waring would be proud of the food as it was very close to the specified standard.
My mother has already got annoyed with the taxi rates; this hotel is very isolated from the fashionable parts of the city (ie Mayfair/Picadailly/Regent Street and basically a £20 taxi ride is involved to get to and from here; we are staying here another two times before we return to the recently renovated Citadines in Gloucester Road for our last 10 days in London (although I did most of my rounds in a couple of hours this morning – the art supply store was out of stock of most of their own brand watercolour pads which I came to get and as usual Parker's in Sydney has a bigger and better range of stock). There's only two more art supply places to go too; Cornelliessen's near the British Museum and the Royal Watercolour Society for watercolour pads near the Tate Modern at Bankside.
I'm going back to bed for (I hope a brief sleep before packing everything up to go to Paris on the 11.30 am Eurostar from 6 floors below; hope this is achieved without the usual Eurostar trauma; tickets were bought, to my mother's shock at the prices (it's a Sydney/Melbourne Sydney/Brisbane return business class air fare for a Business Premium – ƒirst has been abolished even though it's only half the distance; I'm sure Qantas could make a go of high speed trains in the Brisbane/Sydney/Canberra/Melbourne corridor once they're built, based on these fairs, which are fare from cheap).
London is as usual very busy and full of people including lots of visiting Europeans (and no doubt lot's of Australian's – the plane was fairly full when it left Sydney and filled up with both UK and Australian nationals in Singapore), and yesterday was the hottest September day ever recorded with the temperature in the north London suburbs reaching 30 C (at Hendon, according to the BBC television news) in the afternoon; it's going to be just as hot today in Paris; cool weather isn't coming until Sunday so we're in for a few warm days in countries that don't have proper air conditioning in many public buildings (or any at all in some places in Paris). The air con however works well enough in the bedrooms here where it has remained on 20 C since I arrived and now it's quite cool.
The phone cards with UK number's I had sent from Melbourne have refused to connect to the UK phone system so I'm relying on hotel room internet connection and what expensive Telstra roaming I already have (which has worked on iPhone and iPad although I've turned off Mail collection to save money); no doubt I'll work out the UK connection bit when I'm back in London at the end of the trip. In the meantime we can be reached on our usual Australian mobile numbers, or best by email to my usual adress, which is simply like going back to pre iPhone/iPad times and only being able to check email when I'm in the hotel.
I was just too tired to deal with the Apple Store in Regent Street and calling the phone card people although they have a UK number and the above will have too do.
I and my mother are already regretting the amount of stuff which we have brought with us and to which I have added a few art store, Burlington Arcade (looking a bit folorn) and Fortnum's (staff as daffy as ever) purchases.
Mail doesn't seem to be going out this morning although I successfully sent one to Barry late yesterday afternoon, so no doubt you'll get this eventually.
Didn't make the Rothko's at the Tate Modern on my first days as is my usual practice but will no doubt eventually make; Degas at the Ballet exhibition at Royal Academy which I will visit on retrun to London; doesn't seem to be very much on of note in Paris but will finally try and make it to Jeu de Paume to see whatever impressionists are there.
[the themes for the trip have already emerged: telephone trouble and too much bagage; they'res more aircon in Paris than there used to be and it's more efficient; the baggage is about to be reorganised at considerable expenses with a visit to the Tumi section in Bon Marche when it re opens on Monday morning; typing is also going to be a problem as it's 4.52 am local and I can't see all that well when I type ....
Greetings from Paris, France (Day 2 of trip)
Thanks for dinner last night; tonight looks like being a repeat although there's a big room service menu here but it has to be ordered by 1.30 am.
Very, very hot, although aircon working ok; travel accomplished with lots of well paid for help. Too many euroids talking furiously into iPhones and stinkberries on train; they need to have a QUIET carriage for those who have retired. Also usual obnoxious party of well off Queenslanders travelling and telling the world about it at top of their voice.
Hotel ok, my mother took little and better room I was going to take; I'm in bigger (about one third size of St Pancras) room facing street with shower over bath (in spite of emailing and getting a reply that all rooms have separate shower – this is going to be a continuous theme; the euroids don't seem to get that we don't want to have to clamber in and out over bath walls).
Area is ok, off Bvd St Germain not far from Boul Mich intersection; some good bookstores/shops, some of which we visited this afternoon and then had a sweet snack at the cafe in the square in front of the Theatre de l'Odeon (which has an impressively busy and mixed season coming up over the winter (on a big poster hanging down over pillars outside). Sweet snacks very average; location of cafe ok.
Forgot to change 500 euro notes of which I have several before banks closed for weekends; as I pointed out to people in Sydney no one has change for them since most purchases are achieved with a 20 euro note, so there will be an edgy weekend ahead (and a hot one if iPhone weather is anything to go buy; not cool here until Wednesday).
Come over on Wednesday when it gets cooler.
H
...... well it says "Odeon Theatre" on the stonework at the top which I can see by hanging out the window and looking what I think is south westish. In print ie on Google iPad map it's called Odeon Theatre de l'europe, which it,s programme certainly is with German plays, plays from Norway and England and no doubt France as well as I think a French version of a Streetcar Named Desire. Doubt whether I am brave enough to go and see anything and will sit outside at cafe.
Very, very hot, although aircon working ok; travel accomplished with lots of well paid for help. Too many euroids talking furiously into iPhones and stinkberries on train; they need to have a QUIET carriage for those who have retired. Also usual obnoxious party of well off Queenslanders travelling and telling the world about it at top of their voice.
Hotel ok, my mother took little and better room I was going to take; I'm in bigger (about one third size of St Pancras) room facing street with shower over bath (in spite of emailing and getting a reply that all rooms have separate shower – this is going to be a continuous theme; the euroids don't seem to get that we don't want to have to clamber in and out over bath walls).
Area is ok, off Bvd St Germain not far from Boul Mich intersection; some good bookstores/shops, some of which we visited this afternoon and then had a sweet snack at the cafe in the square in front of the Theatre de l'Odeon (which has an impressively busy and mixed season coming up over the winter (on a big poster hanging down over pillars outside). Sweet snacks very average; location of cafe ok.
Forgot to change 500 euro notes of which I have several before banks closed for weekends; as I pointed out to people in Sydney no one has change for them since most purchases are achieved with a 20 euro note, so there will be an edgy weekend ahead (and a hot one if iPhone weather is anything to go buy; not cool here until Wednesday).
Come over on Wednesday when it gets cooler.
H
...... well it says "Odeon Theatre" on the stonework at the top which I can see by hanging out the window and looking what I think is south westish. In print ie on Google iPad map it's called Odeon Theatre de l'europe, which it,s programme certainly is with German plays, plays from Norway and England and no doubt France as well as I think a French version of a Streetcar Named Desire. Doubt whether I am brave enough to go and see anything and will sit outside at cafe.
The blog speaks French; a pity I don't
The headline bits in blogger have started speaking in French which is quite disconcerting; the laptop (I can't master any other version of blogger – my pooor little head spins, which is mainly why there's been very little woird from me in this year of the iPad}. I had to keep clicking on them to get back here.
Soon I will try with photos, some from iPhone and some from newly bought camera (from Paxtons at Westfield Bondi Junction bought the afternoon before we left and already left on the plane in Singapore and retrieved by BA cabin crew and on Eurostar in Paris and retrieved by Eurostar ground staff and destined to be a burden in life to everyone who comes near it, although it's a Nikon and seems very easy to use (on auto)).
Soon I will try with photos, some from iPhone and some from newly bought camera (from Paxtons at Westfield Bondi Junction bought the afternoon before we left and already left on the plane in Singapore and retrieved by BA cabin crew and on Eurostar in Paris and retrieved by Eurostar ground staff and destined to be a burden in life to everyone who comes near it, although it's a Nikon and seems very easy to use (on auto)).
Paris when it sizzles
(an email to Tania, Paul and Tom who have been in Paris and moved on to Barcelona)
Hi Tania:
Hope you're all well and having a great time.
Paris is sizzling hot and won't cool down to 22 C from Wednesday, so we're having a classic visit the bits we already know few days.
Today we went by train from Cluny-Sorbonne to Madeleine to go to Cafe Pouchkine at Printemps, which certainly had some fabulous cakes, although we only had le petit dejuner. Then shopping in Printemps and at a big store next door (probably owned by Printemps) for a north Face back pack (lousy selection) for me as I left mine on bed at home, along with various other items I need to replace in the next few days.
Then over to Sennelier the art shop on the quay opposite the Louvre, during which I had the first of my taxi incidents of the day because I could 't give the street number; then to rue Cherche Midi where I had the same problem and the taxi driver either deliberately or by mistake (probably by mistake) took us to far end, as it turned out driving past the Robert Clegerie shoe shop and Polaine bakery where we wanted to go. I only realized what had happened after we had walked several crowded blocks past shops that didn't look right and saw the Bon marche buildings down the street. We then walked on to where we wanted to go.
The next taxi trip from outside the intersection of rue four and rue de Cherche midi, I asked for the street directory and showed where we wanted to go (marriages freres in rue DES grands augustins at rue savoie), explaining in terrible French.
After a reprise of many past lunches at marriages freres and with a big tea stock up downstairs we came back to hotel via the rue du buci and the (now carrefour) supermarket in the rue du seine, which is slightly improved although the seated check out chicks still fling groceries at one with alarming speed (I responded with a too large note which annoys them and gives me Change from euros from money change at Sydney Airport, a little piece of urban nastiness which Paris quickly forces on one).
We walked very slowly back with bench stops on Bvd St germain for rests and strawberries (from fruit shop opposite supermarket) up to hotel which is just down from the semi circular square in front of odeon theatre.
Fortunately hotel aircon functions well, so we retired for a rest at 5pm. I woke up at 10.15 pm by which time it was dark, 18 c outside and too late to do anything except eat plunder from rue du buci (not very good cakes from bakery and ok fruit and bio yoghurt - had to use a silver tea caddy spoon from mf because one of the things left at home was traveling cutlery sets bought many years ago from Susie).
Tomorrow will be breakfast on terrace at the fairly dreadful cafe marly then some retail therapy in the carousel de louvre then to biologique markets in Bvd raspail then to the Pompeii exhibition in museum near rue du bac metro (I have to sneak museums in) then into Luxembourg gardens if it's not too hot.
Love to you all from Harry
Sent from my iPad
Hi Tania:
Hope you're all well and having a great time.
Paris is sizzling hot and won't cool down to 22 C from Wednesday, so we're having a classic visit the bits we already know few days.
Today we went by train from Cluny-Sorbonne to Madeleine to go to Cafe Pouchkine at Printemps, which certainly had some fabulous cakes, although we only had le petit dejuner. Then shopping in Printemps and at a big store next door (probably owned by Printemps) for a north Face back pack (lousy selection) for me as I left mine on bed at home, along with various other items I need to replace in the next few days.
Then over to Sennelier the art shop on the quay opposite the Louvre, during which I had the first of my taxi incidents of the day because I could 't give the street number; then to rue Cherche Midi where I had the same problem and the taxi driver either deliberately or by mistake (probably by mistake) took us to far end, as it turned out driving past the Robert Clegerie shoe shop and Polaine bakery where we wanted to go. I only realized what had happened after we had walked several crowded blocks past shops that didn't look right and saw the Bon marche buildings down the street. We then walked on to where we wanted to go.
The next taxi trip from outside the intersection of rue four and rue de Cherche midi, I asked for the street directory and showed where we wanted to go (marriages freres in rue DES grands augustins at rue savoie), explaining in terrible French.
After a reprise of many past lunches at marriages freres and with a big tea stock up downstairs we came back to hotel via the rue du buci and the (now carrefour) supermarket in the rue du seine, which is slightly improved although the seated check out chicks still fling groceries at one with alarming speed (I responded with a too large note which annoys them and gives me Change from euros from money change at Sydney Airport, a little piece of urban nastiness which Paris quickly forces on one).
We walked very slowly back with bench stops on Bvd St germain for rests and strawberries (from fruit shop opposite supermarket) up to hotel which is just down from the semi circular square in front of odeon theatre.
Fortunately hotel aircon functions well, so we retired for a rest at 5pm. I woke up at 10.15 pm by which time it was dark, 18 c outside and too late to do anything except eat plunder from rue du buci (not very good cakes from bakery and ok fruit and bio yoghurt - had to use a silver tea caddy spoon from mf because one of the things left at home was traveling cutlery sets bought many years ago from Susie).
Tomorrow will be breakfast on terrace at the fairly dreadful cafe marly then some retail therapy in the carousel de louvre then to biologique markets in Bvd raspail then to the Pompeii exhibition in museum near rue du bac metro (I have to sneak museums in) then into Luxembourg gardens if it's not too hot.
Love to you all from Harry
Sent from my iPad
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