Friday, September 22, 2006
Friday 15 September 2006
I've just realised that it's a year today since I left the office! Anyway, on to more interesting things – I was very relieved when Caroline arrived safely from Evreux last Sunday evening; I met her at the bus stop by the church when the whole village was silent but very warm, surprisingly as in the previous few days the evenings were beginning to get chilly. The weather has stayed very warm – 25/28 degrees ever since.
We had a nice day pottering around the house and village on Monday: the market, boulangerie and traiteur, a sunny lunch in the garden, looking round the house and outbuildings to see what had changed since her last visit, and - by special request – a game of French Monopoly on the verandah table. (This is a set I have had for a very long time, but not played for years; C was far better practised.) C cooked dinner, chicken breasts stuffed with an interesting mixture of things, and we began by digging up carrots and picking beans in the vegetable garden, and fetching potatoes and onions from the outhouse. At about nine in the evening she remembered I had mentioned the suitcase of old photos in the cupboard, so we started on them then, and finished looking at them all at about eleven.
I was up early on Tuesday morning, ready to do all the "leaving the house" jobs that we normally do after lunch; packing a bag, turning off hot water, emptying kitchen bin and compost bin, closing shutters, unplugging TV and computer. We set off well in time for the 10.19 bus to L'Aigle, collecting my latest photos from the paper shop on the way. I was pleased after all these months finally to be taking someone with me on this route! It also meant that C had done the entire bus route Evreux – L'Aigle, and had thus seen a very large number of Normandy villages.
After buying our train tickets we had a drink in the bar at the not very aptly named Hotel du Paradis over the road, and got the train to Paris Montparnasse Vaugirard. It was a very smart modern train but crowded, and took a little longer than from Evreux to St Lazare, and was a bit more expensive. It got in at 12.50, and we left the station to look for somewhere to eat, and found a Breton restaurant nearby, a little shabby but authentic, and had turkey with mushroom sauce and far too many chips. Once back in the station it took ages to reach the metro, which made me think perhaps this route was definitely not as good as Evreux to St Lazare, as the metro journey itself was longer too, almost half an hour to Saint-Denis, although direct.
This meant that by the time we reached the apartment we were very tired and very hot, and collapsed on the sofa with a drink and watched a very interesting TV programme about the building of the channel tunnel, before setting off to Carrefour to get in supplies for dinner and so that C could have a look and buy things to take home.
Wednesday was our "day in Paris", once again very hot. On the way to the bus stop we called in at the Conservatoire de Musique in the next street to find out when the Chorale would be starting up again after the rentrée; we had been told mid-September and I hoped I would be able to go on the two Thursdays I was to be in Saint-Denis; the next day, the 14th and also the 21st. Was very disappointed to hear it was not starting until the 28th! Anyway, C and I began our day out by getting a bus from Saint-Denis station all the way to La Défense; it took a lot longer then I remembered, via Gennevilliers, Asnières and Bois Colombes. La Défense is usually very bleak and open, so it was a good place to be on a warm day; we had a look round and took photos and then got another bus down the Champs Elysées and round the Arc de Triomphe and Place de la Concorde, getting off near the Boulevard Saint Germain, as C wanted to go to the Grande Epicerie and Bon Marché again. It took some time to choose and pay for items for a picnic lunch, but was well worth it; we ate outside in the garden where I had eaten a sandwich in January, but unlike then now full of people taking a lunch break outside. It was almost too hot but not quite, and very enjoyable.
Afterwards we spent a long time in the Grande Epicerie, choosing and buying things and eating some of them, and then another long time in Bon Marché where C managed to discover a good toy and greeting-card department in the basement, which we hadn't seen before. We then took the metro to Opéra, so that she could visit the big Monoprix, as there were still some items she wanted to take home. We discovered a good food department there too, which I hadn't seen when visiting it after Tuesday lunchtime concerts at the Eglise Saint Roch. Although that was really all that was planned we walked as far as Galeries Lafayette, C by this time looking for a watch for herself, which she didn't find, but ending up at the toy department on the top floor of Galeries Lafayette, where I sat down in a café with a cup of wonderful tea while she looked round, mainly at a do-it-yourself-teddy bear shop; chose your bear, stuff him, name him and take him home. By the time we got home, without bears but with some bear clothes, it was gone 8 o'clock.
Saturday 16 September 2006
After a leisurely Thursday morning at home I saw C off at the Gare du Nord in time for her 1 o'clock train, and then set off towards Palais Royale to do some research on the Journées du Patrimoine. These always take place on the third Saturday and Sunday in September (I just missed them last year) and many historic sites and buildings normally closed to the public open their doors and give guided tours. There are also various other special events too. I had already looked at their website before leaving La Neuve-Lyre, and discovered that the whole programme was available at the Ministry of Culture in the rue St Honoré, and this was where I went.
It was full of people picking up brochures and leaflets and everybody seemed to have a copy of a special blue edition of Le Parisien detailing all the events in the Ile de France. I picked up information about Les Passages Couverts, various historical buildings and the metro, having decided that the parliament buildings and state apartments would be just too busy. I sat down and had a pancake for lunch at a nearly café while studying all the literature. I was particularly interested in Les Passages Couverts – nineteenth century galleries full of little shops which link larger streets – as I had wanted to take Caroline there, having visited several of them some years ago with N, but couldn't remember exactly where to start, and in the end there wasn't time. Also, as they are by definition under cover, they are good places to visit when it's cold and wet, not in the wonderful warm weather we were having. I also liked the look of several things organised by the RATP (Paris transport) including Mozart in a railway shed, a historic tour on an ancient bus and the RATP orchestra itself (with which N used to play) playing in a bus depot at Nanterre, although that was rather far out of the city. In the end I decided to leave studying everything again till I got home and went back towards the big Monoprix as it was nearby, stopping for some time at the large bookshop near Palais Royale where I found not only the first volume of Georges Sand's life, but also a new and interesting little book called "Proust Fantôme." (I have since finished La Nauseé and started the Proust book, mainly an account of visits and researches to various places connected with Proust and his contemporaries, not a lot of text but very sparse and rich French, the effort of which is doing me good.)
After Monoprix I took a new and interesting bus route from Opéra to Châtelet and discovered I could go and see the new Gérard Depardieu film at 6 o'clock, which I did, after a cup of lapsang souchong and a slice of lemon tart at Tarte Julie, a lovely café at the Forum des Halles. I enjoyed the film: "Quand j'étais Chanteur" very much, in fact the whole day; it's a long time since I've had a day completely on my own in Paris.
On Friday I thought I'd better have a day at home catching up and having a break, having been out in Paris most of all of the three previous days. I caught up on washing and ironing, and local shopping – managed to have my eyebrows done! -watched TV, read my new book and went to bed early. I also decided to start Saturday morning with one of the guided tours round Les Passages Couverts – there was a choice of three – and then think what else to do after that.
The tour started at 10 am from the courtyard behind Palais Royale; when I arrived lots of people were already waiting there with their blue newspapers and their brochures, it reminded me of Cambridge during Alumni weekend, everybody deciding which activity to do next, in fact it's very much the same time of year, must be good weather for visiting. I enjoyed the tour very much, even before we got to any Passages; it's good to be made to look up at historic features on buildings and know their history. The Passages were built in the early 1800s to act as short cuts between various areas of Paris at a time when the surrounding streets were crowded and dangerous, and became the first opportunities for window-shopping as before that there weren’t even any pavements. We visited La Rue des Colonnes, full of Egyptian-looking columns and built as a result of Napoleon's Egyptian campaign and an early blueprint for the Rue de Rivoli. I though perhaps I would come back again in the afternoon and do another different tour, although as time went on (the tour lasted a good two hours) I realised that would not be very good on the feet. And as the brochure had details of all the tours it would be quite possible to do the itineraries on one's own another day; without the commentary of course, but it's not something normally closed to the public. Towards the end we visited the galleries I remembered from before, the Passage Jouffroy and the Passage des Panoramas, near the Musée Grevin and the Hôtel Chopin, so as soon as the tour finished the first thing I wanted to do (apart from sitting down and having lunch) was to go back and visit all the little shops I had just seen; the toy shops and postcard shops I had wanted to show Caroline. At least now I know exactly where they are and how to get to them.
After lunch (more pancakes, but really authentic Breton ones with cider) and the Galeries I decided that the buses and music at Nanterre were too far away, (and the Mozart not starting till 8 o'clock) but that the Gare de Lyon – where the historic tour on the ancient bus was starting from outside the RATP building – was nearby, so set off on the metro, figuring also that having spent the morning on my feet it would make sense to spend the afternoon sitting down.
As soon as I came out of the Gare de Lyon I saw the bus, a very old green and cream one with a completely open platform at the back; I never did find out how old it was, but it looked older than the buses I remembered from my first visit to Paris in 1963. I got on board straight away, having ascertained from the guide that there was room, as it looked as though it might start any minute; in fact we sat there some 5 or 10 minutes more, and I noticed other people seemed to have bought tickets, but no-one checked. It was so old it didn't have a number, just the route AB, from Passy to the Champs Elysées. It was very uncomfortable, with a wooden slatted floor and seats which were at right angles to their backs, and very little suspension; I immediately felt sorry for the passengers who'd had to travel on it every day. Once we set off the brakes screeched regularly, and I felt the vibrations right though my body; the lady next to me said she kept feeling it would break down completely and that she'd have to get off and get the metro home. The driver was in a completely separate little compartment at the front – with little red indicators which swung up and down when he turned corners - and the only way on and off for the passengers was via the back platform.
It soon became apparent that we weren't following the planned historic itinerary – later we found out this was because of a political demonstration in the centre of the city, a familiar Parisian problem – and passengers resorted to tapping on the driver's window to find out where the next stop would be. A lady opposite asked if we'd mind having the window open, not at all as it was so hot, so we managed to pull it down and later saw that it had shut itself again with the vibrations. The best thing of all however were the expressions on the faces of the people we drove past, from a little girl whose mouth fell open in amazement, to older people looking, pointing and smiling in recognition. The first thing I did once I got off was to take photos of the front and back.
It lasted about an hour and quarter in all, back to the Gare de Lyon by about 4.30 and I decided what I wanted to do next was to get on a modern bus; the number 24 as far as the Gare St Lazare and from there go the rest of the way home by metro. The buses on this route were also affected by the demonstration, and after going in and out of the Gare de Lyon and hanging about for a while I eventually got one – wonderfully spacious and comfortable! – and ended up doing much of the same route as earlier in the afternoon, along the Left Bank again, past all the bouquinistes. In fact my knowledge of Paris had improved dramatically over the past few days; rather like a jigsaw puzzle I discovered little patches I knew well were linked or in some cases adjacent to each other, making far larger familiar areas.
Once I got home and was enjoying supper while watching television, the screen suddenly went black and resisted all attempts to get any picture or sound back again!
Tuesday 19 September 2006
Although there was more Patrimoine to be seen on Sunday, I thought I had better stay in Saint-Denis and stock up with shopping and get dinner ready for N's return from Switzerland in the afternoon. It was only while out that I remembered that the supermarket was closed on Sundays, but managed to get most of what was needed from the market. There was our also own local bit of Patrimoine to be seen here in the Convent; guided tours and a little concert of renaissance music in the courtyard starting at 6 p.m. N arrived in good time at about 2.40 in the afternoon, with lots of interesting musical anecdotes; pictures, maps and leaflets and food and drink shopping, surprised that I was not out sight-seeing.
We went down for the concert, a group of four singers including the daughter of the organiser of "Les Amis du Couvent", he who had put us in touch with Nigel Palmer. Once it was over we found N Palmer sitting behind us, with wife and son further back. I also exchanged a few words with a lady I recognised from the local chorale, and told her when it was due to restart. N asked the Palmers to come up for a drink, but then rather slowly tables, drinks and nibbles were produced in the courtyard, and we talked to the singers, the Palmers and to other neighbours. NP asked about our musical house party and then he did come up for a drink – Apfel liqueur N had just brought back from Switzerland - to see the photos. We asked them to come to LNL for a weekend in October.
It was a surprisingly nice event; surprising as we hadn't expected so many people to chat to, and I began to feel - after a year - that I was slowly making some acquaintances. The weather was still warm and pleasant, all the more so as by Monday morning it was raining hard, and all of a sudden, after the past ten days or so, it felt exactly like when I was first here at Saint-Denis last autumn, and the house at LNL and all we had done to it almost a distant memory.
The first task on Monday morning was to phone a TV repair company – after enquiries and advice from NP the evening before – and in the afternoon a man came to take the set away. The TV news is such a large part of our – and particularly N's -life that it was quite strange without it. I wondered if we should buy a newspaper, but N pointed out he had just brought back several from his journey, in both German and French.
Life has settled into its familiar routine here, and the summer seems a little distant. N has taken the car to the garage for a check-up, and is dealing again with the problem of no garage over the road; he has received official notice that the garages are to be demolished, but there may be a chance of a place in the future. Meanwhile it will be back to the Parking Municipal. I have been shopping at Carrefour, and to get an application form for membership of the cinema, very favourable rates compared with the Arts in Cambridge! Last night we watched a DVD on the computer, and did a lot more reading than usual and this morning we have been to Auchan and to Castorama, to the latter to see about new carpet for Saint-Denis and blinds for LNL. It is good to see a DIY store full of things we no longer need buy! This afternoon we had a call from the TV repair man to say he will bring back the TV tomorrow morning (originally it was to have been Friday). This means delaying going out until he has been; tomorrow is N's birthday and the plan is to go into Paris for lunch, shopping and an antiques exhibition at the Grand Palais.
Thursday 21 September 2006
In the evening we watched another DVD on the computer, the film of "In the Name of The Rose", which I had not seen but had always meant to read. Very thought provoking.
Yesterday was a good day; the sunshine came back and we had a lovely day out in Paris. The TV didn't arrive until about 11.50, and then we went out on the train to Châtelet, straight to a restaurant called Au Pied de Cochon, where I had only been once before, the first time I had ever been in Paris with N. We had Kir as an apéritif and a whole bottle of Beaujolais; N had duck and I had tartare of salmon, just as at Alençon, then we finished with rhum baba and red summer fruits respectively, and went out into the sunshine, deciding Birthdays were a Very Good Thing.
We had a long walk to settle the lunch, along the rue St Honoré, past the Elysée Palace and other very important buildings and then crossed the Champs Elysées to the Grand Palais, to the antiques exhibition. This was the first time I had been to the Grand Palais, in fact it had been closed for some while to be renovated, and I was very impressed by the design circa 1900, and the cleanliness. It was divided for the purposes of the exhibition into little stands for the different dealers; as N said no actual prices on anything, but obviously a great deal of money in the air, and lots of very well-heeled people to watch and listen to. I was interested in watching the well-dressed women, thinking about a little book I'd bought last week: "How to Become a Real Parisienne" (a book I read at home rather than on the metro.) Apart from a few real originalities the majority were wearing plain black, brown, beige or cream linen, so I was pleased to think I might be starting to blend in. N was interested in the manuscripts; I liked the paintings, books and china, and was given a free catalogue of Belgian paintings about which I knew nothing but liked very much. We had tea at a very stylish makeshift café; it made me think of a cross between the Opéra and the East of England Show and then walked back to the nearest metro and home. We had both eaten and drunk so much so late that the planned birthday dinner had to be postponed, and we just had prawn cocktail in front of the TV, itself a bit of novelty after the few days' absence.
Today has been even warmer, 28 degrees in Paris, this surely must be the last day of summer, and rain is forecast for tomorrow. We went to Truffaut, our local garden centre, this morning, where N bought a new grass trimmer for his little garden here, plus other odds and ends and bulbs to take back to LNL. On the way back we called in at Leroy Merlin for the first time in ages where I got two blinds, one to go over the kitchen sink at LNL and the other for the door to the verandah. This means that when it gets dark early – as it will do soon! – I can shut out the dark from the garden completely. This afternoon N duly cut the grass and did other garden tidying while I went into Paris, mainly to FNAC at Châtelet to get (very expensive) ink cartridges for the computer at LNL and sticky labels for N's library labelling here. I then went as far as Bastille in search of large pieces of foam cut to measure – something we have been trying to track down for some time, for the saggy Cambridge sofa at LNL. The proprietor gave me a quotation and said I should bring the covers themselves for them to fit, which will probably result in a more professional job, and at least saved me having to get them home on the metro.
We have decided this evening to go back to Normandy tomorrow instead of Saturday, and have taken a small stepladder, the last thing of any value, out of the lock-up garage over the road, as tomorrow we will take the car out of it for the last time. There is a lot to pack – in particular left-over food! – although we have now eaten most of the birthday dinner.
I've just realised that it's a year today since I left the office! Anyway, on to more interesting things – I was very relieved when Caroline arrived safely from Evreux last Sunday evening; I met her at the bus stop by the church when the whole village was silent but very warm, surprisingly as in the previous few days the evenings were beginning to get chilly. The weather has stayed very warm – 25/28 degrees ever since.
We had a nice day pottering around the house and village on Monday: the market, boulangerie and traiteur, a sunny lunch in the garden, looking round the house and outbuildings to see what had changed since her last visit, and - by special request – a game of French Monopoly on the verandah table. (This is a set I have had for a very long time, but not played for years; C was far better practised.) C cooked dinner, chicken breasts stuffed with an interesting mixture of things, and we began by digging up carrots and picking beans in the vegetable garden, and fetching potatoes and onions from the outhouse. At about nine in the evening she remembered I had mentioned the suitcase of old photos in the cupboard, so we started on them then, and finished looking at them all at about eleven.
I was up early on Tuesday morning, ready to do all the "leaving the house" jobs that we normally do after lunch; packing a bag, turning off hot water, emptying kitchen bin and compost bin, closing shutters, unplugging TV and computer. We set off well in time for the 10.19 bus to L'Aigle, collecting my latest photos from the paper shop on the way. I was pleased after all these months finally to be taking someone with me on this route! It also meant that C had done the entire bus route Evreux – L'Aigle, and had thus seen a very large number of Normandy villages.
After buying our train tickets we had a drink in the bar at the not very aptly named Hotel du Paradis over the road, and got the train to Paris Montparnasse Vaugirard. It was a very smart modern train but crowded, and took a little longer than from Evreux to St Lazare, and was a bit more expensive. It got in at 12.50, and we left the station to look for somewhere to eat, and found a Breton restaurant nearby, a little shabby but authentic, and had turkey with mushroom sauce and far too many chips. Once back in the station it took ages to reach the metro, which made me think perhaps this route was definitely not as good as Evreux to St Lazare, as the metro journey itself was longer too, almost half an hour to Saint-Denis, although direct.
This meant that by the time we reached the apartment we were very tired and very hot, and collapsed on the sofa with a drink and watched a very interesting TV programme about the building of the channel tunnel, before setting off to Carrefour to get in supplies for dinner and so that C could have a look and buy things to take home.
Wednesday was our "day in Paris", once again very hot. On the way to the bus stop we called in at the Conservatoire de Musique in the next street to find out when the Chorale would be starting up again after the rentrée; we had been told mid-September and I hoped I would be able to go on the two Thursdays I was to be in Saint-Denis; the next day, the 14th and also the 21st. Was very disappointed to hear it was not starting until the 28th! Anyway, C and I began our day out by getting a bus from Saint-Denis station all the way to La Défense; it took a lot longer then I remembered, via Gennevilliers, Asnières and Bois Colombes. La Défense is usually very bleak and open, so it was a good place to be on a warm day; we had a look round and took photos and then got another bus down the Champs Elysées and round the Arc de Triomphe and Place de la Concorde, getting off near the Boulevard Saint Germain, as C wanted to go to the Grande Epicerie and Bon Marché again. It took some time to choose and pay for items for a picnic lunch, but was well worth it; we ate outside in the garden where I had eaten a sandwich in January, but unlike then now full of people taking a lunch break outside. It was almost too hot but not quite, and very enjoyable.
Afterwards we spent a long time in the Grande Epicerie, choosing and buying things and eating some of them, and then another long time in Bon Marché where C managed to discover a good toy and greeting-card department in the basement, which we hadn't seen before. We then took the metro to Opéra, so that she could visit the big Monoprix, as there were still some items she wanted to take home. We discovered a good food department there too, which I hadn't seen when visiting it after Tuesday lunchtime concerts at the Eglise Saint Roch. Although that was really all that was planned we walked as far as Galeries Lafayette, C by this time looking for a watch for herself, which she didn't find, but ending up at the toy department on the top floor of Galeries Lafayette, where I sat down in a café with a cup of wonderful tea while she looked round, mainly at a do-it-yourself-teddy bear shop; chose your bear, stuff him, name him and take him home. By the time we got home, without bears but with some bear clothes, it was gone 8 o'clock.
Saturday 16 September 2006
After a leisurely Thursday morning at home I saw C off at the Gare du Nord in time for her 1 o'clock train, and then set off towards Palais Royale to do some research on the Journées du Patrimoine. These always take place on the third Saturday and Sunday in September (I just missed them last year) and many historic sites and buildings normally closed to the public open their doors and give guided tours. There are also various other special events too. I had already looked at their website before leaving La Neuve-Lyre, and discovered that the whole programme was available at the Ministry of Culture in the rue St Honoré, and this was where I went.
It was full of people picking up brochures and leaflets and everybody seemed to have a copy of a special blue edition of Le Parisien detailing all the events in the Ile de France. I picked up information about Les Passages Couverts, various historical buildings and the metro, having decided that the parliament buildings and state apartments would be just too busy. I sat down and had a pancake for lunch at a nearly café while studying all the literature. I was particularly interested in Les Passages Couverts – nineteenth century galleries full of little shops which link larger streets – as I had wanted to take Caroline there, having visited several of them some years ago with N, but couldn't remember exactly where to start, and in the end there wasn't time. Also, as they are by definition under cover, they are good places to visit when it's cold and wet, not in the wonderful warm weather we were having. I also liked the look of several things organised by the RATP (Paris transport) including Mozart in a railway shed, a historic tour on an ancient bus and the RATP orchestra itself (with which N used to play) playing in a bus depot at Nanterre, although that was rather far out of the city. In the end I decided to leave studying everything again till I got home and went back towards the big Monoprix as it was nearby, stopping for some time at the large bookshop near Palais Royale where I found not only the first volume of Georges Sand's life, but also a new and interesting little book called "Proust Fantôme." (I have since finished La Nauseé and started the Proust book, mainly an account of visits and researches to various places connected with Proust and his contemporaries, not a lot of text but very sparse and rich French, the effort of which is doing me good.)
After Monoprix I took a new and interesting bus route from Opéra to Châtelet and discovered I could go and see the new Gérard Depardieu film at 6 o'clock, which I did, after a cup of lapsang souchong and a slice of lemon tart at Tarte Julie, a lovely café at the Forum des Halles. I enjoyed the film: "Quand j'étais Chanteur" very much, in fact the whole day; it's a long time since I've had a day completely on my own in Paris.
On Friday I thought I'd better have a day at home catching up and having a break, having been out in Paris most of all of the three previous days. I caught up on washing and ironing, and local shopping – managed to have my eyebrows done! -watched TV, read my new book and went to bed early. I also decided to start Saturday morning with one of the guided tours round Les Passages Couverts – there was a choice of three – and then think what else to do after that.
The tour started at 10 am from the courtyard behind Palais Royale; when I arrived lots of people were already waiting there with their blue newspapers and their brochures, it reminded me of Cambridge during Alumni weekend, everybody deciding which activity to do next, in fact it's very much the same time of year, must be good weather for visiting. I enjoyed the tour very much, even before we got to any Passages; it's good to be made to look up at historic features on buildings and know their history. The Passages were built in the early 1800s to act as short cuts between various areas of Paris at a time when the surrounding streets were crowded and dangerous, and became the first opportunities for window-shopping as before that there weren’t even any pavements. We visited La Rue des Colonnes, full of Egyptian-looking columns and built as a result of Napoleon's Egyptian campaign and an early blueprint for the Rue de Rivoli. I though perhaps I would come back again in the afternoon and do another different tour, although as time went on (the tour lasted a good two hours) I realised that would not be very good on the feet. And as the brochure had details of all the tours it would be quite possible to do the itineraries on one's own another day; without the commentary of course, but it's not something normally closed to the public. Towards the end we visited the galleries I remembered from before, the Passage Jouffroy and the Passage des Panoramas, near the Musée Grevin and the Hôtel Chopin, so as soon as the tour finished the first thing I wanted to do (apart from sitting down and having lunch) was to go back and visit all the little shops I had just seen; the toy shops and postcard shops I had wanted to show Caroline. At least now I know exactly where they are and how to get to them.
After lunch (more pancakes, but really authentic Breton ones with cider) and the Galeries I decided that the buses and music at Nanterre were too far away, (and the Mozart not starting till 8 o'clock) but that the Gare de Lyon – where the historic tour on the ancient bus was starting from outside the RATP building – was nearby, so set off on the metro, figuring also that having spent the morning on my feet it would make sense to spend the afternoon sitting down.
As soon as I came out of the Gare de Lyon I saw the bus, a very old green and cream one with a completely open platform at the back; I never did find out how old it was, but it looked older than the buses I remembered from my first visit to Paris in 1963. I got on board straight away, having ascertained from the guide that there was room, as it looked as though it might start any minute; in fact we sat there some 5 or 10 minutes more, and I noticed other people seemed to have bought tickets, but no-one checked. It was so old it didn't have a number, just the route AB, from Passy to the Champs Elysées. It was very uncomfortable, with a wooden slatted floor and seats which were at right angles to their backs, and very little suspension; I immediately felt sorry for the passengers who'd had to travel on it every day. Once we set off the brakes screeched regularly, and I felt the vibrations right though my body; the lady next to me said she kept feeling it would break down completely and that she'd have to get off and get the metro home. The driver was in a completely separate little compartment at the front – with little red indicators which swung up and down when he turned corners - and the only way on and off for the passengers was via the back platform.
It soon became apparent that we weren't following the planned historic itinerary – later we found out this was because of a political demonstration in the centre of the city, a familiar Parisian problem – and passengers resorted to tapping on the driver's window to find out where the next stop would be. A lady opposite asked if we'd mind having the window open, not at all as it was so hot, so we managed to pull it down and later saw that it had shut itself again with the vibrations. The best thing of all however were the expressions on the faces of the people we drove past, from a little girl whose mouth fell open in amazement, to older people looking, pointing and smiling in recognition. The first thing I did once I got off was to take photos of the front and back.
It lasted about an hour and quarter in all, back to the Gare de Lyon by about 4.30 and I decided what I wanted to do next was to get on a modern bus; the number 24 as far as the Gare St Lazare and from there go the rest of the way home by metro. The buses on this route were also affected by the demonstration, and after going in and out of the Gare de Lyon and hanging about for a while I eventually got one – wonderfully spacious and comfortable! – and ended up doing much of the same route as earlier in the afternoon, along the Left Bank again, past all the bouquinistes. In fact my knowledge of Paris had improved dramatically over the past few days; rather like a jigsaw puzzle I discovered little patches I knew well were linked or in some cases adjacent to each other, making far larger familiar areas.
Once I got home and was enjoying supper while watching television, the screen suddenly went black and resisted all attempts to get any picture or sound back again!
Tuesday 19 September 2006
Although there was more Patrimoine to be seen on Sunday, I thought I had better stay in Saint-Denis and stock up with shopping and get dinner ready for N's return from Switzerland in the afternoon. It was only while out that I remembered that the supermarket was closed on Sundays, but managed to get most of what was needed from the market. There was our also own local bit of Patrimoine to be seen here in the Convent; guided tours and a little concert of renaissance music in the courtyard starting at 6 p.m. N arrived in good time at about 2.40 in the afternoon, with lots of interesting musical anecdotes; pictures, maps and leaflets and food and drink shopping, surprised that I was not out sight-seeing.
We went down for the concert, a group of four singers including the daughter of the organiser of "Les Amis du Couvent", he who had put us in touch with Nigel Palmer. Once it was over we found N Palmer sitting behind us, with wife and son further back. I also exchanged a few words with a lady I recognised from the local chorale, and told her when it was due to restart. N asked the Palmers to come up for a drink, but then rather slowly tables, drinks and nibbles were produced in the courtyard, and we talked to the singers, the Palmers and to other neighbours. NP asked about our musical house party and then he did come up for a drink – Apfel liqueur N had just brought back from Switzerland - to see the photos. We asked them to come to LNL for a weekend in October.
It was a surprisingly nice event; surprising as we hadn't expected so many people to chat to, and I began to feel - after a year - that I was slowly making some acquaintances. The weather was still warm and pleasant, all the more so as by Monday morning it was raining hard, and all of a sudden, after the past ten days or so, it felt exactly like when I was first here at Saint-Denis last autumn, and the house at LNL and all we had done to it almost a distant memory.
The first task on Monday morning was to phone a TV repair company – after enquiries and advice from NP the evening before – and in the afternoon a man came to take the set away. The TV news is such a large part of our – and particularly N's -life that it was quite strange without it. I wondered if we should buy a newspaper, but N pointed out he had just brought back several from his journey, in both German and French.
Life has settled into its familiar routine here, and the summer seems a little distant. N has taken the car to the garage for a check-up, and is dealing again with the problem of no garage over the road; he has received official notice that the garages are to be demolished, but there may be a chance of a place in the future. Meanwhile it will be back to the Parking Municipal. I have been shopping at Carrefour, and to get an application form for membership of the cinema, very favourable rates compared with the Arts in Cambridge! Last night we watched a DVD on the computer, and did a lot more reading than usual and this morning we have been to Auchan and to Castorama, to the latter to see about new carpet for Saint-Denis and blinds for LNL. It is good to see a DIY store full of things we no longer need buy! This afternoon we had a call from the TV repair man to say he will bring back the TV tomorrow morning (originally it was to have been Friday). This means delaying going out until he has been; tomorrow is N's birthday and the plan is to go into Paris for lunch, shopping and an antiques exhibition at the Grand Palais.
Thursday 21 September 2006
In the evening we watched another DVD on the computer, the film of "In the Name of The Rose", which I had not seen but had always meant to read. Very thought provoking.
Yesterday was a good day; the sunshine came back and we had a lovely day out in Paris. The TV didn't arrive until about 11.50, and then we went out on the train to Châtelet, straight to a restaurant called Au Pied de Cochon, where I had only been once before, the first time I had ever been in Paris with N. We had Kir as an apéritif and a whole bottle of Beaujolais; N had duck and I had tartare of salmon, just as at Alençon, then we finished with rhum baba and red summer fruits respectively, and went out into the sunshine, deciding Birthdays were a Very Good Thing.
We had a long walk to settle the lunch, along the rue St Honoré, past the Elysée Palace and other very important buildings and then crossed the Champs Elysées to the Grand Palais, to the antiques exhibition. This was the first time I had been to the Grand Palais, in fact it had been closed for some while to be renovated, and I was very impressed by the design circa 1900, and the cleanliness. It was divided for the purposes of the exhibition into little stands for the different dealers; as N said no actual prices on anything, but obviously a great deal of money in the air, and lots of very well-heeled people to watch and listen to. I was interested in watching the well-dressed women, thinking about a little book I'd bought last week: "How to Become a Real Parisienne" (a book I read at home rather than on the metro.) Apart from a few real originalities the majority were wearing plain black, brown, beige or cream linen, so I was pleased to think I might be starting to blend in. N was interested in the manuscripts; I liked the paintings, books and china, and was given a free catalogue of Belgian paintings about which I knew nothing but liked very much. We had tea at a very stylish makeshift café; it made me think of a cross between the Opéra and the East of England Show and then walked back to the nearest metro and home. We had both eaten and drunk so much so late that the planned birthday dinner had to be postponed, and we just had prawn cocktail in front of the TV, itself a bit of novelty after the few days' absence.
Today has been even warmer, 28 degrees in Paris, this surely must be the last day of summer, and rain is forecast for tomorrow. We went to Truffaut, our local garden centre, this morning, where N bought a new grass trimmer for his little garden here, plus other odds and ends and bulbs to take back to LNL. On the way back we called in at Leroy Merlin for the first time in ages where I got two blinds, one to go over the kitchen sink at LNL and the other for the door to the verandah. This means that when it gets dark early – as it will do soon! – I can shut out the dark from the garden completely. This afternoon N duly cut the grass and did other garden tidying while I went into Paris, mainly to FNAC at Châtelet to get (very expensive) ink cartridges for the computer at LNL and sticky labels for N's library labelling here. I then went as far as Bastille in search of large pieces of foam cut to measure – something we have been trying to track down for some time, for the saggy Cambridge sofa at LNL. The proprietor gave me a quotation and said I should bring the covers themselves for them to fit, which will probably result in a more professional job, and at least saved me having to get them home on the metro.
We have decided this evening to go back to Normandy tomorrow instead of Saturday, and have taken a small stepladder, the last thing of any value, out of the lock-up garage over the road, as tomorrow we will take the car out of it for the last time. There is a lot to pack – in particular left-over food! – although we have now eaten most of the birthday dinner.
# posted by Chez Katherine @ 12:40 AM 
