Only in Paris

Yesterday we decided to jump on the 69 bus to Champs de Mars to ogle the tourists at the Eiffel Tower - it's a great bus trip as it cuts through the Louvre and around Invalides (Napoleon's tomb) before arriving at it's destination. The tower as usual was most impressive and the flowers in the gardens nearby were magnificent. Afterwards we got the 42 bus to the peripherique where we changed to the PC1 (one of the buses/trams which circle around the city of Paris just inside the Peripherique - the main road which circles Paris and, from memory, is about 25kms across). About three stops later a lady got on and started having a discussion with the driver about the fare. Refusing to validate her ticket she moved to a seat while continuing her discussion with the driver. At this point another four passengers seated near her joined in and it became a major debate between them and with the driver so the driver pulled over, opened the door and got out of his seat to stand on the platform suggesting that the woman either validate her ticket or get off the bus. She eventually capitulated and validated her ticket after which the driver got back into his seat and continued the journey. The discussion however, continued unabated amongst the passengers for the next 10 minutes. There were obviously no hard feelings because when the lady finally got off the bus she walked up to the driver and thanked him with a big smile. Only in France would you find such a spirit of community amongst strangers on a bus - or a bus driver who takes such a practical, non aggresive solution.
When we arrived in Paris the plaza outside the Hotel de Ville (the Town Hall) had been converted into an ephemeral forest with hills, trees, grasses and shrubs and information about the various habitats and their importance to the environment. Then it was converted into a rock stadium for four days and now it is being changed once more - into a beach, complete with sand, beach volley courts and children's play area. During the French Open they build a tennis court for people to play on and an open grassed area with a large screen where the people can sit to watch the matches relayed from Rolan Garros. Nowhere else in the world have we seen a government go to so much trouble to create interactive spaces for the population - we suspect it is because most people live in small apartments and the government recognises the need to provide a living space for them (but then again perhaps it is more like ancient Rome).
There is also an interesting exhibition in the Hotel de Ville called, "Paris in the time of the Impressionists" which not only includes work from the Musee d'Orsay but also has rarely exhibited artist's drawings as well as architectural drawings and models - quite fascinating.
Another unusual thing is the way the French 'wrap' buildings under renovation and paint an image of the building on the outside of the material - this way the view is not disfigured by ugly scaffolding - it also adds an air of mystery as you don't really know what's going on behind the screen.
Work is progressing slowly and we are off to London tomorrow for a few days to dig around in the V&A and Kew Garden archives - perhaps we will find something unexpected and interesting to add to the puzzle.

Things Parisienne

In 2009 Marcia had read that the oldest house in Paris was located in the 3rd arrondissment near the Musee Arts et Metiers so, since this was not far from a beautiful Metro entrance at Temple which I wanted to photograph (near Place de la Republique) we decided we would make the effort this time (there is also a magnificent building by Paul Auscher for the businesman Felix Potin nearby (which is now a Monoprix store). The house was built in 1407 for Nicolas Flamel (some may remember the name from the first Harry Potter) a scrivener and manuscript maker (and reputed alchemist). It is very hard to get a decent photograph as the building is in a very narrow street and we were surprised to discover that the whole area was full of Chinese shops and businesses. We remarked that the house was very similar to a couple just near the Cite and have since discovered that they do indeed date from the same period but cannot be definitely dated. There are quite a number of remnants of this early period in Paris in the 3rd and 4th arrondissments because these areas were not considered fashionable and thus escaped the wreckers ball.
Did not visit the Musee des Arts et Metiers this time but have done so before to see Foucault's famous pendulum (which was damaged when the cable snapped in 2010 - an exact copy has now been moved back to the Pantheon on the left bank).
The Potin store was still as beautiful as we remembered and we actually did some shopping in the Monoprix store before heading home. Potin was a forunner of the Woolworths "five and dime" chain store business model who opened his first store in Paris in 1844 at the age of 24. It was obviously a good business model because the business continued in it's same form until 1956 when they were converted into mini-markets.
We discovered that the Marche des Enfants Rouge (the oldest surviving market in Paris) which we had set out to discover the previous Sunday was only a short walk from this area in the Marais (it's actually now mainly filled with cafes and exotic food stalls although a few market stall like the flower seller still exist). As we walk around we are constantly surprised at how close the various sights of Paris are. Although it seems to take a long while to get from place to place by Metro or on the buses which twist and turn their way through the narrow streets many places in central Paris are within easy walking distance of each other. For convenience we have basically divided the city up into four areas - two on the left bank and two on this side of the river. This means that we can catch a bus or train to an area then walk around discovering each section.
Also on our Sunday walk around the Marais we came across a group of baltic singers whom we had last heard in 2009 in the metro tunnels - as well as a hat for donations they also have a lady who goes among the crowd selling CDs (they have three for sale but we were resistant to her charms). They must be doing ok with this communal busking to still be going and doing the same stuff.
On our way home we were stopped at the traffic lights as a very large group of roller skaters came racing down the road on their way to central Paris. Roller blades seem to be a popular means of transport here and, although they occasionally race along on the road amongst the traffic they generally share the bike paths with the cyclists. As you are probably aware cycling is a way of life here and many areas have cycle tracks built into the footpaths. There are "Velib" self service cycle hire stations all over Paris. For between 29-39 Euro per year people can pick up a bike at one point and drop of at another anywhere in Paris. It's a great system and makes life much easier for people who generally live in small apartments with very little spare space to store bicycles.

On another occasion we set off to reconoitre the developments of the "Paris Plage" which is a seaside set up for about two kilometres along the banks of the Seine just opposite the Cite. This has been happening since 2002 and includes sandy beaches, deck chairs, beach umbrellas, sand sculptures, swimming pool, boules, beach volley ball, dance stages, rock concerts and of course cafes and ice cream sellers. We had earlier visited an exhibition in the Hotel de Ville about the history of water activities along the Seine so were interested to see how this would turn out. We were fortunate to visit during an hour of sunshine and so could really get the feel of the place and enjoy the spectacle of people doing seaside things (although we didn't see anyone in swimmers - perhaps if we had gone the other way to the swimming pool). It's a pity that it has been mostly rainy since they opened on the 21st but we can still hear the noise of people playing there from our studio window so perhaps they take it all in their stride.

Another thing we discovered walking around the back streets to Bastille was the home of the horses who woke us up  that Sunday morning. We had thought that their home was at Invalides up near the Eiffel Tower and were curious as to why they would come riding past the Cite. We have discovered that they are in fact the Republican Guard (part of the Gendarmerie) and are housed in a very large structure called the Caserne des Célestins built in 1895-1901 on the Boulevarde Henry IV. These are the elite forces who guard the President's Elysee Palace and all other major government buildings. At least now we know where they were going that Sunday and why some of them seemed a little frisky (looking forward to getting home to their stables).

Rain again. Not only has it been raining for the past week (with occasional clear patches and, once or twice, a glimpse of the sun) but the internet connection has also been intermittent - now it has finally dropped out altogether and we have been off the air for nearly 24 hours. This means that, although I can keep writing it is not possible to check or look up references. The rain means that it is difficult to get out and about and one needs to - both to stretch the legs and to get away from the confines of one room (no matter how good the outlook). I keep thinking of the song, "The sun will come out tomorrow..." but unfortunately I know from the weather forecast that it is going to be rainy or showers for at last the next three days (one of the bad things about the internet) and everything always looks worse when the sun is not shining.

Milan and Joy arrived last week after spending a week in London. They both looked well although a little exhausted from dragging their bags through the Chatalet Metro interchange (you seem to be walking forever, up and down stairs, along tunnels and moving footways - to avoid this we caught a taxi from Gare du Nord to the Cite). Anyway, they have now settled in and are busy trying to get to everything before Joy returns to work next week - a pleasant evening sharing cheese and wine in the refurbished McCulloch studio last Sunday. We were amazed to see how much the studio has been changed. Apart from the painting etc the kitchen has been rebuilt and now has more cupboards and bench space ( as well as a good supply of china etc) and the original tall windows and wooden shutters have been replaced with double glazed windows and curtains (very nice and necessary but it some how changes the character of the place - just the romantic in me I suppose).

It was exciting to be part of Bastille Day even though we did not see a lot of the parade because we chose to stay at the back where we had a seat to rest our weary bones (I really don't know how people stood for four hours waiting for the action to begin - although the soldiers, sailors etc were standing in formation on the Champs Elysees even before we arrived at 8am). It was an experience just to be part of the proceedings and to watch everybody getting organised. We were astounded to discover some of the troops doing a Haka on the Champs while they were waiting but read later that these were troops from the Pacific and other islands and that it was performed as part of the Bastille Day celebrations.
While filming the horse parade I managed to capure President Sarkozy riding by in a jeep as he reviewed the troops.

One unexpected benefit of being at the back was to catch the march of the Foreign Legionaires who came down a back road to join their compatriots at Concorde. We heard the beating of the drums and raced over to see strange, bearded men with leather aprons and axes on their shoulders marching by. We discovered later that the reason they march separately or at the rear of the others is because they march to a different beat - 80 steps per minute as opposed to the modern army's 120 (this is to do with their heritage as part of the Ancien Regime). The bearded men were sapeurs who are responsible for clearing a path for the advancing army (a role going back to the time of the Assyrians) and, because they have the shortest life expectancy of all the armed forces, are allowed to grow beards.

The flyover by jets, propeller aircraft and helicopters was pretty spectacular but we had in fact seen them from our balcony the previous week when they did a practice run - that was probably more spectacular because it was totally unexpected.
Afterwards we walked all the way back to the Cite as much of the transport was not running or on reduced operations. Near Concorde we mingled with the troops who were waitng for transport back to their barracks and it was good to see how happy everyone was (even posing happily for photos). This is of course the major French holiday and a celebration of an event which formed the basis of their whole way of life - unlike contrived holidays like Australia Day.

After the parade there were two concerts in the Champs du Mars (the park alongside the Eiffel Tower followed by fireworks at 1130pm. Being old fogeys we decide it would be much more civilised to celebrate in the studio with a bottle of champagne and an early night (although we did hear the noise of the fireworks).

On Friday we finally got to go the Parc des Buttes Chaumont (an old quarry which was made over by Baron Haussmann - the man responsible for the makeover of Paris and the introduction of all the major boulevardes). On the way we stopped off at the famous Canal st Martin which connect the waterways of...... with the Seine. Construction of the canal was ordered by Napoleon I in 1802, in order to create an artificial waterway for supplying Paris with fresh water to support a growing population and to help avoid diseases such as dysentry and cholera. The canal was also used to supply Paris with food (grain), building materials, and other goods, carried on canal boats. Although this used to be a major highway it is now used primarily as a tourist attraction - one can take a trip from Parc de Villette along the canal to the Seine or, for the more adventurous, a day trip from the Seine via canal saint Martin and Villette and into the countryside via the canal l'Ourcq for a picnic. This canal is 108 km long and has 10 locks.  It begins at Bassin de la Villette and goes through the woodlands in the northeast of Paris. It was originally built to divert water from the river l’Ourcq into Paris.

Chaumont was quite amazing. It was strange to find this rugged parkland with paths and roads winding up and down hills and around a large lake only ten minutes from the heart of Paris. Lots of joggers and walkers and people just lazing around on the grass and spectacular views back over Paris (it was recommended as a good place to watch the fireworks on Bastille Day). There were also lots of family groups enjoying the open spaces (maybe they knew it was about to start raining for days on end!). We climbed one of the hills and enjoyed a picnic looking back toward Sacre Coeur through the surrounding trees - a very pleasant and relaxed escape from everything

In search of...

Time is flying, I can't believe that it is nearly two weeks since we arrived but then so much has happened in that time.
My previous work using images from our first stay in 2009 have sold well so I have been searching for other interesting scenes to use (perhaps one in 200 from the old ones was ok - this time I am hoping to do better). Mostly this means getting up at a reasonable hour and strolling about when the streets are less crowded so we have been out and about most mornings by 7.30-8.00.

Had to dash off for a shower - the hot water has been intermittent since Thursday (Bastille Day) and we have had to do with APC's (they were very fast showers because we had the threat of the water turning cold hanging over our heads.) Was then interrupted by lunch consisting of blanched brocolli and capsicum (straight from the market) with spiced olives, four different cheeses, olive baguette and a plain baguette (we are trying to work our way through the 340 varieties of cheese excluding the blue's) and so far we have found nothing that we do not like.




On our way back from the markets we noticed that the preparations have begun for the Plage du Seine (beaches with palm trees etc alongside the Seine) so are looking forward to seeing this amazing sight in the next few days (provided the weather clears up - it was 38 before we arrived but in the past two weeks it has only gone over 30 once and has remained in the low 20's the rest of the time and the next few days are supposed to be 21/19/21 with showers).
In Paris there is a competition each year to find the best baguette. This year the winner is located in a small pattisserie at Abbesses near Sacre Coeur on the other side of the city (fortunately for us the bus that runs past the Cite goes to Pigalle which is a short walk down the hill from Abesses so we have made two trips to sample the winning baguette, breads and tartes (one citron and one chocolate) and everything was brilliant.
We usually buy from the small traditional pattisserie just up the road which bakes several times a day so has the freshest baguettes as well as succulent quiches and tartes (we are definitely not watching our weight while we are here).
Just in case you think we are living at the pattisserie I will add that we have been to the markets twice a week and stocked up on the freshest fruit and vegetables you can imagine (I don't know why Australia can't get stuff to the shops in this condition). Not only that but the prices are as good or better than at home e.g. tomatoes $1.20, large mangoes 2 for $1.60, broccoli $2.00, peaches and nectarines $2.00, lettuce (fancy) $1.20 and the cheese - $16 - $38 but like nothing you've eaten at home (it's mostly made from unpasteurised milk -cow, goat and ewe - and the flavour is amazing). As a comparison Comte cheese sells for $98/kg at home and here it is from $24-$38. We even managed to buy a beautiful potted Basil plant for $4.50 which we pick fresh to add to our salads.
Despite how it may sound we are not spending all our time shopping and eating there has also been plenty of time for exploring and working. My plan was to write up all my notes from my previous visit and then see what still needs to be done to fill in any gaps and I have been speding at least a couple of hours a day on this. So far I have managed to collate the various records from the jardin des Plantes into five separate spreadsheets which will allow me to quickly access statistics for seeds collected and sown between 1885 and 1907. There is about the same amount of information to input covering plants distributed to other Botanical gardens and, crucially, the Australian plants growing in the Orangerie in August/September 1888 (the only reference in the one hundred years of material I looked at). Then I will write up all the references to the artists and the links between them. This will then be the basis to develop my theory and hopefully, complete my paper.

We have also been checking out some of the art and events although not the usual places such as the Louvre and Musee D'Orsay. There are two amazing paintings by Delacroix in the Eglise Saint Sulpice in the Luxembourg Quarter which we didn't get to see last time because the church was closed for renovations. There is also an amazing 100 stop organ there and we are going back on Monday to hear a concert. The other reason for visiting the area was to check out the Macarons of Pierre Herme (the man who taught Adriana Zumbo) and we were not disappointed - like eating exquisitely flavoured bubbles of air.
Also in the area is the Jardin du Luxembourg, the second largest public park in Paris. The palace and garden were built for Marie de Medici in 1612 in imitation of the Pitti Palace in her native Florence.

This is a beautiful formal park and garden but, as usual, our reason for visiting is to hear the free concerts in the rotunda. Last year it was jazz and this year it is a series of piano concerts put on by the Polish government to celebrate 200 years since the birth of Chopin. The first was last sunday and there are two more to go (although we may not get to tomorrows if the rain keeps up). Anyway there are a lot of concerts on all over Paris over the next two months so we should be well catered for with music.
There is still horses and hiking and aircraft and marches and scooters and skaters and cyclists and skateboarders and so much more to cover but I had better close here and try to get back to it in a couple of days or you will tire with the reading.

Surprises

Back in Paris for almost a week and it has been a week of surprises. Firstly there was the very pleasant flight on Vietnam Airways (which we chose on price and because it code shares with Air France from Ho Chi Minh City) - the Air France sector was brilliant, great service, great food and great staff.

On arrival at the Cite we were astounded to be shown to a large studio on the second floor of the main building (approx 50m with seperate bathroom, kitchen and storeroom when we had been told it would be a petite atelier of 25m with a baby grand piano that could not be moved).

The studio overlooks the Quai de l'hotel de Ville, the river Seine and the Ile st Louis. The front wall is all glass and has two large doors which open onto a small balcony which extends the length of the room - with these open it is like sitting on a verandah overlooking the Seine (great for the summer weather - although we do need to close the curtains in the afternoon when the sun shines in to keep the heat out). Amazingly, this studio is even better than the UTAS studio we were in last time which overlooked a private garden - the trees along the Quai are another two stories higher than us so it is almost like being in a treehouse.

We have been surprised at how long it has taken us to get over the jetlag this time (perhaps it was because we stopped off in New York on our way here last time - absolutely nothing to do with getting older!). Anyway we are settled in, are stocked up from the market and the supermarket and I have even managed to make some headway with my work. There was one major problem with our internet connection - after we had been using it for less than 24 hours I found I could no longer connect despite spending hours trying to fix the problem. After a sleepless night worrying about how I was going to do my research (e.g.online access to the catalogue at the Musee des Arts Decoratif, data bases at Kew gardens and email exchanges)  Marcia suggested I try using her logon (what a silly idea, after all it is the same laptop!) IT WORKED - I'M ASTOUNDED. Women's intuition to the rescue once again. We have been out walking, busing and on the metro most days (usually twice) and have been eating extremely well (maybe too well - but the food is so fabulous it's hard to resist (especially the Lapin terrine).

There are things happening all over the city during the summer and we have managed to suss out a few that interest us starting with a free Mozart concert in the beautiful Luxembourg Gardens tomorrow so it will definitely not be all work and no play.

We have also been surprised by the weather which has mostly been fairly mild (23-25) with only one day in the 30's (tomorrow and the next day are supposed to be 26/28) so have been wearing the warmer clothes we brought along for Prague. At least all our surprises have been pleasant and, now that we are settled in, we feel as though we never left but have been here for months already.

The bells of Notre Dame are ringing the angelus so I guess it's time to knock off and settle back with a G&T.