Paris
28th December
6.25 p.m.
Ann is busy peeling potatoes and I have been delegated to write, so here goes. On Boxing Day we decided to take a trip to Kew Gardens, for which the entry fee is still only 1p. It's about the only thing that never goes up! We thoroughly enjoyed it even though most of the trees and gardens were dormant. The hothouses are always worth a visit. When we got back to the Charnock's they had two couples extra to lunch - Australian friends, so we had very interesting chats, and a delicious lunch of left-overs. We managed to get to Victoria Station just in time to buy the tickets and catch the train (Ann was in a mild state of panic!); the train was absolutely packed, so just as well Margaret had reserved our seats. The ferry trip from Dover to Dunkirk took two hours and was most unpleasant and the central heating inside the ferry was like a furnace! It was about 2.00 a.m. before we were on the train to Paris and then arrived in Paris at 8.40 a.m. It was a most uncomfortable journey as the train was, once again, full and as a result we didn't sleep all night. Once in Paris we had a continental breakfast at a café and then tried to contact the Lamontaignes, unsuccessfully. Paris has hundreds of public phones, about 2% of which actually work. We had a delightful lunch at a restaurant (for about R$4.00 each) and finally got hold of Michèle at about 2.30 p.m. She said she would pick us up outside the Louvre at 6.00 p.m. Well, as we were dead on our feet and I was unshaven, the last thing we wanted to do was to go over the Louvre. We did so, nevertheless. It was full, as usual, but we were able to stagger from one room to the next, flopping into any available chair to view what was in front of us. Jean Claude and Michèle were delayed by traffic, and when they finally did pick us up at 6.30 p.m. it was so bad that they decided we should pop into a café for a drink. We walked for miles to get to the particular café they had in mind!
We finally got to the Lamontaignes' at about 8.30 p.m. We could have climbed straight into bed, but were entertained first to a delicious meal. To start with, a delightful champagne cocktail made with blackcurrant liqueur, champagne and a few other ingredients. Then snails, heavily disguised in garlic and butter - a first for me, and totally divine! Then an exotic Malay curried prawn dish accompanied by rice with a cheese omlette and salads (done the French way, of course). Next came frozen pears with Père William liqueur, and finally a large selection of cheeses. We collapsed drunkenly into our beds in the loft of Michèle's study at 11.13 p.m.
We were up again at 7.30 a.m. on Friday 29th December, and Jean Claude took us out to Versailles, from where we caught the train to Chartres, the cathedral there being our destination. The stained glass windows were exquisite, as was the exterior. Unfortunately it was raining (what we might call heavy guti) and blowing great guns, which made it unpleasant walking outside.
West front, Chartres.
Assumption into heaven of the Blessed Virgin Mary: the marble altar sculpture by Charles-Antoine Bridan.
Desecration by early Protestants?
Above and below, windows in Chartres (below showing the altar).
We then caught the train back to Versailles at about 12.30 p.m. We walked down to Louis XIV's Palace at Versailles where we were beaten to it by six tourist buses, so the place was crowded, not unbearably as it could easily swallow six tourist buses! Once again because of the rain and winds blowing a gale we did not walk extensively in the gardens, which was a great pity as they were lovely. As we were leaving we counted twenty tourist buses arriving with their contents being herded in at the entrance. Thank goodness we arrived earlier!
Ornate fence bordering the Palace at
Versailles.
"A TOUTES LES GLOIRES DE LA FRANCE".
Another view of the palace.
Above and below, the palace gardens.
Above and below, the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles.
When we got back to Paris it was 4.00 p.m. so we decided to go to the Cluny Museum housing mainly tapestries, carpets and religious artefacts, very interesting and some of them breathtakingly beautiful. Supper here at the Lamontaignes' is coming on apace. Ann has finished her potatoes, but all sorts of other things are happening to them (cream and garlic for a start). In fact, there's garlic all over the place, so we are in for another gourmet's dinner!
Paris, 29th December.
Saturday 30th December
9.00 a.m.
We are both dressed and ready to go, hoping someone will eventually get up and take us to the station. In some ways yesterday was rather disappointing. We slept late (which I was very glad about) and then Michèle took us and Catherine and Steph, her German penfriend, to the station to catch the train to Paris. Catherine had never been to Paris by herself so it was a bit like the blind leading the blind. We went to the Museum of National Life which is new and which we enjoyed. We left Catherine and Steph there and went to Concorde intending to go to the Jeu de Paume, but thought that as today was Saturday there might be early closing, so we went shopping instead. In fact, we bought nothing! We went to Boulevard Haussman and started off in Au Printemps. Unfortunately the sales are all on so the shops are packed and the central heating is stifling (the weather is still wet, but warm). We had lunch, but not as good as yesterday's! Eventually we came back to the Lamontaignes' in the thick of rush hour. Jean Claude always produces an aperatif, each more potent than that of the evening before! Last night's was mind-boggling. Ray kept on emptying his glass into mine with the result that I had practically two! Ray is rather disenchanted with the French way of life! I don't remember if I was horrified at breakfast when I first came here; I know what to expect, but Ray found a saucerless cup of coffee plonked on the table, no plate, one knife and one spoon between the two of us, and stale bits of bread all a bit much for him!
30th December
On the train to London (but still in France)
10.45 p.m.
We had a lovely last day in Paris, having left the Lamontaignes' at about 10.30 a.m.. We first dropped our suitcases at Gare du Nord and then went on to Notre Dame. It was raining heavily when we went in, but we were able to walk around the church when we came out again. Then we went to Fnac's where I bought twenty-four records! (For Gerald, they were a complete I Musici Vivaldi set, Bach Violin Partitas and baroque trumpet concerti.) Then we had lunch at a café where we watched a brief altercation going on outside between a gendarme and a motorist he had just ticketed.
Rose window, Notre Dame.
Above and below, inside Notre Dame.
Above and the following two photographs, aspects of the exterior, Notre Dame.
After lunch we headed for Saint Chapelle, which has some of the prettiest stained glass windows I have seen. Practically the whole church is stained glass and it has a rather gothic looking exterior.
The Sein, looking towards the Palais
de Justice and Saint Chapelle.
Gates of the Palais de Justice.
Windows in Saint Chapelle.
Saint Chapelle.
After Saint Chapelle we went back to the Gare du Nord to dump the records with the other luggage and then it was off to the Jeu de Paume, a gallery Impressionist paintings. Again it was crowded and far too hot inside, but we really enjoyed it all the same.
Place de la Concorde from Jeu de Paume.
Renoir: "At the Piano" (detail) in Jeu
de Paume.
We then walked down the Champs Elysées in the rain, and had supper at a restaurant there (Paté, Trout Meuniere, Orange Gateau and finally Camembert). Then a lightning trip to the Bastille and Place Pigalle, making it back to Gare du Nord at 9.25 p.m.. The train is absolutely full, and in our compartment which uncomfortably seats eight we have two Rhodesians (us), two British, two Africans (from Ghana, we think) and two Indians. The corridors of all the coaches are packed with people making the most of what, for them, is going to be a rather cold and very uncomfortable journey. Fortunately we had reserved seats, or we would be out there too, having arrived as late as we did!
Champs Elysées with the Arc de
Triomphe.
31st December
Dunkirk!!!
9.30 a.m.
This has been quite the worst journey I have ever had. We should have been in London long ago, but what should have been a four hour trip from Paris to Calais took us twelve hours. Heavy snow and frozen points, we believe, caused the delays. That does not excuse the fact that the heating worked only sporadically during the trip and at times we had ice on the inside of our windows! Oh - I've just realised that I've already put my watch back to U.K. time, so the time above should read 10.30 a.m. in Calais. We've been sitting here for an hour already.
We've now been on a voyage of exploration. There are queues miles long at the restaurant. We found a bar which served cocoa so that will have to suffice for breakfast and, I suspect, lunch! And the ferry only sails at 12.10. We will be very glad to get to Margaret's!