What else did we do?

Well, we went up the Eiffel, and we went to Notre Dame.... but firstly!

One thing I need to mention... we'd so been warned by everyone about how rude the Parisians could be, and I don't think that I can agree with that statement- While one or two people probably weren't as smiley as your average Disneyland employee, no one was rude to us, and I would have thought that the majority of people were pleasant and polite as you would find elsewhere... but that's just based on my one trip to the city. What else did we do? We decided to climb up the Eiffel Tower. In my last post, I mentioned that the tower looked beautiful, in the distance... but up close, my only thought is that it's just HUGE... The lines to the lift from the ground were rather long, and Matt decides that we should walk up the stairs. Which we do, round and round an enclosed set of stairs. We get onto the first platform of the tower, and the view's pretty good. After wondering around for a bit, we are then forced to take the elevator from there, to the top of the tower *phew*.

View was... okay... not that great. In fact, I think that they were the first photos to be deleted, as we were running out of camera memory...

On our last day in Paris, we decided to check out Notre Dame....
Went to the little island (Ile de la Cite) and there it was! I would say that Notre Dame isn't the most beautiful cathedral that we've ever been into, nor is it the largest one, either.

However, when we learnt that it contains two relics of the Christian world- one being a splinter from the cross that Christ was crucified on, and the second being a portion of the crown of thorns... We were intrigued. Matt got bored of listening to the audioguide, but when I heard it mention that the splinter was kept in the cathedral's treasury, I made sure I pulled him along with me.

The crown of thorns only gets brought out into the public on religious occasions, but we managed to see the splinter, kept in a sealed capsule, in the treasury. It's bizzare... you read about Christ being the son of God, performing miracles and it never seems to be 'real'- Seeing that little piece of wood (I can't confirm this, but I think they did carbon date this to be from that time that Christ was cruicified) was a reminder(?) of him actually existing, and if the man existed..... maybe the miracles did happen, and maybe there's a little kernel of salvation for us all, yet!

After Notre Dame, we had a really mediocre meal in a cafe on the same island- overpriced and just plain yuck. We then decided to check out St Germain, and wandered into the foodie bit of the arrondisement- cafe after shop after takeaway place full of delicious smelling and looking food! I was soooo disappointed that we did eat before we went there... but Matt consoled me with a Berthilon ice cream, which we shared, sitting on the banks of the river Seine. Lovely. That finished, we bid Paris adieu, and made our way to the Gard du Nord, and caught the eurostar home.

Oo La La... Gay Paree, part two.

After the hectic first day, we aimed to get to the Louvre early in the morning to hopefully miss out on the crowds. Walking and more walking, we finally get into the Louvre- After reading DanBrown's 'Da Vinci Code', it was rather cool to see the glass pyramids.

We got into line, andas you can see, it really wasn't too long. Bought our tickets and our guide earphones and went hunting for the Mona Lisa.

Again, at 10am, it wasn't very busy, and we got up to the front of the barricades where Ms Lisa was and got an eyeful of the famous lady.

The actual picture itself is rather small. While I don't quite know what all the fanfare is about... I do think that she has quite a sad smile.We then wondered about the rest of the Louvre. It is SO BIG- We went into a couple of rooms which contained paintings which would just about cover an entire wall (and more) of your regular bedrooms.

I was very glad to have the audioguide- I think that part of the draw of appreciating art is finding out the story behind it. Maybe I've only just come to this realisation late in my life- but while it's all well and good to say - nice colours, great modelling of the human body... it's better yet, when you learn about the artist's motives, and what they were trying to achieve- and if there are any additional stories attached to the subject. It becomes more...real(?) to me.

Anyway, we trundled up and down the Louvre for a few hours, before the grumblings of my stomach drew us to more pressing matters. We decided to head across the river Seine and go into St Germain.

I had read of the most wonderful maker of 'macarons'- that's French for mouthfuls of heaven- think flavoured meringue-y ground almond biscuits, sandwiched by a flavoured creme. I don't do them justice- you can find out more, over here: http://travelerslunchbox.com/journal/2005/12/5/gluttony-101-three-days-in-paris.html
Anyway, we found the Pierre Hermes shop and walked in- a jewel of a shop, with the cakes, pastries and macarrons displayed under glass cases like multicoloured jewels. I horrified Matt by choosing 15 macarrons in 2 minutes. Packed in tissue and into a box with a ribbon around it (ah, only in Paris), we walked out in search of lunch. Matt exclaiming over the amount of Euros I spent in the shop, and me being oblivious to the scolding.

The weather that day was WEIRD. One minute the sun would be blazing down, and the next, it would be pouring down (really, I kid you not) with rain. The whole day, it just went from sunny, to pissing down and back.... We were walking really quickly and decided to duck into this bistrot to have a bite of lunch.

Matt had a roast duck meal.. and I ordered an oven baked venison stew, with preserved lemons. While I remembered Matt's dish as being really yummy, I was in love with my meal- tender meat, melting bits of aubergine/eggplant and the salty tang of the preserved lemon skins cutting through everything. I don't THINK we ordered any desert, we were so full... but if they were half as good as our mains were, maybe we should have ordered ahead! We broke out the macarrons- Matt had a peanut butter one, and I had a salted caramel- *bliss*. I ask Matt what he thinks.. "Not bad". Finally rolling ourselves out the door with a "Merci, au revoir!" We head back out to wander the streets, lined with canvases and one art gallery after another.

Gay Paree! Part one.

Matt took me to Paris for my birthday.... Am I not a lucky girl?!

We left on the day itself, a day where I had one too many drinks at work for lunch, and then yet more, when someone set up an 'off-site meeting'! Barely made it to the Eurostar in time for the train...

But made it we did. The train ride to Paris took about 2 hours... Was very weird when we had the 20 mins of total darkness outside while we were under the English Channel. We got into the Gard du Nord station at about 10pm Paris time and walked to our hotel. More a motel. Located in the 16th arrondissement, on a bustling street. Not much else to say, except the bed had one of those polyester, non-descript floral-patterned bedspreads on it. (i dunno, I just had to remark on it) We crashed out pretty quickly, that night.

Next day: Paris! we're in Paris! Rushed out after getting ready and had a good wander down the street. First stop on the tourist map-the Arc de Triomph. The streets were rather full of people- LOTS of little dogs everywhere (Le Chien- seemed like each suburb had it's particular breed of dog!). Went into a French Bakery and got a baguette (oo la la!) to share. Pretty yummy. It's such a sunny day- Paris has really pretty buildings- all sand coloured stone and wrought-iron railings. Not many parks or flora, but cobblestones abounded.

On our way to the Arc, we nearly got run over by some cars. It's really as they say- Parisian drivers are nuts! Not very good road signage, and you think that you should be safe from them crazy drivers coz you're in a no-car area... but where you're standing is actually the middle of the path for cars to zoom in and out of underground carparks!

Anyway, still alive, we make our way towards the Arc, and I turn my head, and see the Eiffel tower, standing tall and proud, in the distance. That view, just encapsulated what the whole idea of Paris was- I wasn't watching it on TV, and it wasn't a postcard, but the real thing. However, the sandy/pebbly walk that was the last bit of the trek to the Arc was hell on my poor feet. I know that everyone walks everywhere in Paris, but really, not when I'm trying to look tres chic, in my little green shoes (going the minimalist look- minimal cushioning and support)! We see the Arc, took some photos, but didn't get to go up there. We had the 1pm reservation at
Hiramatsu to go to!

Were early, so we duck into this bistro, and have a glass of wine each, standing at the bar- very reminiscent of the bars in Spain- ciggie butts and ash on the ground. Broad range of characters. Grumpy barmen.

At 1- we trouped out of the bistro and into Hiramatsu- michelin starred restaurant that (regardless of what the name suggests) specialises in modern french cuisine. We walked into this oasis of calm- lush indoor plants and flower arrangements... there were cool coffee tables with different spices embedded in the glass table top. (photos are courtesy of the restaurant's website)


The restaurant was empty. Which brought the atmosphere down, but that also meant we had pretty much all the waiters' attention (which matt would argue wasn't necessarily a good thing, either). Looking at the menu, Matt went for the 3 course lunch special, and I decided to go for the 'delice gastronomique' menu. I wasn't
going to eat it all myself! My intention was to share with Matt, the whole time! Not THAT much of a guts!

We both started off with some still-warm cheese puffs. yummy. Salty, cheesy and buttery flakes of pastry. I THINK I had some sort of gazpacho in a teeney tea cup, but I've forgotten... My next course was then some medallions of lobster, with slices of truffles on top, some grilled asparagus, with hollondaise sauce and some truffle oil. Very yummy- mix of lighter lobster with the truffles... and the hollondaise.... really fluffy.

I think I liked the next course the best- I had a couple of ravioli stuffed with foie gras and they had morel (wrinkly looking mushroom) froth over the top of it. EEEYUM! you wouldn't think that a froth could have such strength of taste, would you? It was PERFECT. Went really well with the silky pasta and neither the morels nor the foie gras tastes overpowered each other. I
didn't want that dish to end.

Then came the salmon. Says that it was smoked ever so slightly- It's salmon. I don't think I have an opinion on the taste of the fish- but it was pink in the middle, and very tender and I liked the artichoke hearts in orange that it came with.

Matt, at this time was eating his main- lamb. I can't remember how it was cooked.... hang on... grilled or panfried lamb ribs with some sort of potato cream and roasted cherry tomatoes? Matt??? It was yummy, compared to my salmon and pigeon.

Next came a 'supreme' of pigeon- I think that's when they have the breast and the second joint of a bird. ANYWAY- it came rolled up and very lightly fried on the outside, and pink in the middle. Also on the plate were cubes of foie gras, lightly seared, and crushed coffee beans and some cocoa powder. At that point, Matt and I had already had the majority of a bottle of wine, and so I don't think I could adequately describe the pigeon, but I liked the cocoa and coffee tastes with it, and the foie gras was yum.

Then had a cheese platter. They wheeled out this trolley, the top being covered by cheeses of all shapes and sizes.... soft squidgey bries and camemberts, smelly washed rinds, monstrous slabs of cheddars, blues with varying amounts of growth... and we got to have 4 different cheeses! Not big pieces, but enough for two to taste and enjoy. Asked for a French blue, english cheddar, swiss holey cheese and a smoked cheddar.

THEN, we both had a fresh fruit salad with a pinapple granita on it.

I think it was about 3, when we finally trundled out of the restaurant.

What did I think? Um. Small portions. Lovely pairings of tastes and textures. Though I wouldn't have said that I thought that of every single dish. LOVED the cheese platter.... and I guess I would have prefered to have something a little more elaborate for dessert- though I probably
wouldn't have been able to fit anything else in! to tell you the truth, I think I would have preferred to go to the restaurant that I originally wanted to go to, regardless of the higher prices. But, Paris is only two hours away, and I can't imagine leaving the UK without ever heading back to it.

Anyway, we decided to head up the Eiffel tower after lunch. It was huge, though heading up there was not as awe-inspiring as seeing it as part of the scenery. hehehe. I guess you all know my priorities, no?

I'll tell you what the view was like, from up the Eiffel tower, in the next post!