Gay Paris and more

2 days to see the sights of Paris before we pick up our car – Is it enough? Or is it too much?

Big cities are not why we came to Europe but there are some things you just have to do, and Paris is one of them. We picked out the pieces we felt we should do as part of the experience. Starting with Sacre Couer.

We booked a hotel very close to the Gare de l’Est on wotif.com and this made it easy to walk up to Sacre Couer. There were so many beggars and hawkers there, it felt like we were back in Bali. The church itself though was fabulous. Although there hundreds of people there it, the queues were actually quite short and we had a good opportunity to see inside and take in the fabulous artwork. Mark took the opportunity to light a candle for his mum – something he would do again at Notre Dame tomorrow. It was also interesting that they began a mass while we were there for quite a small (20ish) congregation, although there were hundreds walking around the main chapel. From there a wander through Montmartre (picking up a delightful tarte Citron and Camembert Baguette) and then down to (Manchester United have just scored in the Champuions League – Hooray!! – sorry for the distraction) Montmartre cemetery to see the grave of Oscar Wilde – Unfortunately it was the wrong cemetery to se Oscar but the crypts were interesting anyway.

From there a walk to downtown Paris and the Louvre, passing the Opera House on the way with its ornate gold Gargoyles adorning the building. The Louvre had so much to see that it was impossible to take it all in a couple of hours. We did get a feel (crowded) for the place and eventually we found our way to the Mona Lisa (and the 300 people standing in front of it) It was wonderful that it was not the tourist peak season as there would be no way to even move. However in the less popular galleries it was good to be able to see some amazing artwork without the crowds.

After more than 9 hours of walking during the day carrying a load of stuff including some 4 paperbacks bought in Paris a the American Bookstore (because the nights get quite long with nothing to read –in English or watch in English) we go to our hotel and then headed out again for dinner and the first wines of the trip. Jocelyn has decided that red Bordeaux is her thing and Mark has decided to try everything else (and red Bordeaux).

Our French is improving and the meals were what we expected not like in Belgium where we found on a couple of occasions that what we had thought we ordered was not quite what we had- Jocelyn received a white cheese on bread having thought she ordered a tart and Mark received Pasta when he though he had ordered pate. (Both were enjoyed anyway)

The weather had gradually deteriorated during the first day and the second was not much better with rain most of the day. However with the help of the underground and eventually a “parapluie” we were still able to get to Notre Dame (no queues and fabulous stained glass windows), the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower where we took the option to walk up the first two platforms (because the walking queue was much shorter –almost no queue) and it was cheaper! We were able to sneak into the lifts to get down though (better than having to walk down the 700+ stairs we had climbed up).


The history and agedness of Paris is breathtaking. When we first walked out of Gare du Nord train station, the Opera house and old churches that abound highlighted the significance of style in architecture. Looking out into the new areas of Paris one would think that the architecture was typical of any large city. But a trip to La Defense laid that to rest as the first thing to greet you as you leave the Metro is a replica modern Arc De Triomphe glass office building. More cleverly though is its placement so that you can see the old and new looking from each other. There were also other buildings of architectural flair including some interesting sculptures place in the many squares that were between the buildings (see the thumb). A visit to modern Paris is a must as well.

Well we are back in winter. 7 – 14 degrees. I am feeling the cold and rotating my two merino tops each day is getting boring. The best two items of clothing I added at the last minute were my scarf and puffer vest. But we have our car and a cutie it is too. Thank god we had “TOM” our GPS to get us out of Paris. What a nightmare it would have been without it. We did take one wrong turn but it was timely as we found a shopping centre and investigated our first large supermarket. Here we bought food for our lunches and breakfast. There is no hiding from the cake/bread and cheese/meat areas in these places. But as we noted in Belgium there are NO PLASTIC BAGS in the supermarkets. Everyone takes their own or has to buy a reusable bag. Why are we so negligent ii n NZ regarding plastic.

We found out way just south of Epernay, the heart of Champagne. To celebrate our arrival at our Hotel for the night, “Le Cheval Blanc” in Montmort, we shared a bottle of Pol Roger which was “tres magnifique”. Our meal that night was amazing not because of the food, which was very French and fine, but the Hotelier who was the Maitre’d, receptionist and only food and wine waitress for 10 tables. She was a machine.

With winter revisting us we made a slow start to the next part of the journey heading off late morning for Epernay, the heart of Champagne Country. Here our plan was to visit the Mercier Champagne House, Mercier being the most popular brand in France. An added attraction was the underground cellar. It was a very interesting place to visit as the underground cellar, which was 30m under the ground and holding a constant 10 degrees, had been excavated from chalks and was several km long, We rode in a little train to explore “Les Caves” and enjoyed the three tastings we had at the end of the trip. With our appetite for Champagne temporarily sated we headed off for Reims where we were to stay that night. Reims was a clean well organized city and we enjoyed wandering the town centre on a public holiday as people celebrated both May day and Ascension Thursday. People were selling flowers everywhere but we have yet to work out the significance of that. Everything was closed except for restaurants and flower shops. We finished the visit with a quick walk through Notre Dame Cathedral which whole large and with a lot of history, does not have the grandeur of Sacre Couer or Notre Dame in Paris. We are starting to get churched out already.

Our little 1.6 L diesel Peugeot is a pleasure to drive and this having together with Tom our navigator means we find we can go anywhere. Today heading out of Reims for Lorraine we decided to look for a coffee and Patisserie so wandered through a number of villages looking for these items. After finally finding what we were looking for we decided that the village back roads were more interesting and continued to do so all day. One freaky part saw us driving though hectare after hectare of crop, with no fences and the road not being visible far ahead. This made driving a bit disconcerting. This included two way one lane roads.

We targeted a lake on the map for our lunch stop. As it turned out so did half of Belgium who were enjoying a 4 day weekend holiday. This lake is man made and is the largest man-made lake in Western Europe and is constructed for flood management but is now a nature reserve and outdoor leisure area We saw a church that was the only relic of three towns flooded to achieve this lake, Lac du Der. Enjoyed the areas so much thought we would try and stay but the accommodation was all booked. So we carried on to look for an old Roman aqueduct that was on our map but it had mysteriously disappeared. We called in at a tourist office in the town of Joinville, and they had never heard of the aqueduct so we gave up. However the mountain biking around this area would appear to be well worth revisiting if we get a chance. We would have stayed but there was no accommodation there either. So have car will travel. Found a Logis hotel 40 minutes away and camped for the night. One of the interesting things in the two meals we have enjoyed in Logis restaurants is the idea of an “amuse bouche” which is a free small tasty dish served prior to the meal to stimulate the palette. Similarly in nearly every café, the coffee is accompanied by a small biscuit or chocolate. Very civilized!

Mark saw on TV recently that two glasses of wine keeps the cholesterol down and given the amount of cheese and fatty meats he is eating is taking the advice seriously.