Not So Gay Paris!
This story is the most shared this morning on the BBC’s web site. here’s the first paragraph.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Paris over plans to give gay couples in France the right to marry and adopt children.
France seems to be getting in more and more messes, what with the taxes, jobs and the economy in general. Will they come to regret their incursion into Mali.
Cambridge to Nice by Train
I was dropped at Cambridge early, as since my stroke I get almost paranoid about missing anything. It’s probably that I’m insecure. But then I always was a bit! I’m just moreso now. But I really had no worries as my credit card and the reference number from Eurostar got the tickets issues without any fuss.
The outcome was that I got the 7:15 out of Cambridge instead of the 7:45 and sat comfortably in First Class. I should say that the extra two single tickets from Kings Cross to Cambridge cost me just £15 for the pair. And as I’m travelling First all the way to Nice, I get First to London. First Capital Connect are not always praised for their service and punctuality, but I had no problems and arrived in London on time.
But of course it was into the main station at Kings Cross, rather than the old surburban one which is just a short walk from St. Pancras International.
Kings Cross Station
As I knew I had a fully flexible ticket, was thirty minutes early and I had to pick my tickets up from the station, I decided to see if I could catch an earlier train. It’s the paranoia again, as I was rather worried that I might miss the connection in Paris, so a few extra minutes might be welcome.
Let’s say the flexible ticket worked and instead of being on the 9:32, I was on the 8:55. But I was told there might be a problem with my gluten-free meal, so would I mention it at the gate. I think the paranoia ruled the stomach and I preferred to be early and hungry, rather than full and late. It was just as well.
The guy on the gate made a note and said that he’d try to get it sorted.
He did and the first thing the steward said when I boarded was that they had the gluten-free breakfast.
That in itself felt that at least someone was looking after me!
The trip was uneventful and I tried yet again to take a picture of the Dartford Bridge from the train. At least this time I was ready for it, not like when I took the journey a couple of months ago on a Javelin.
Dartford Bridge from Eurostar
The only other new feature of note on the English side of the Channel is the station at Stratford. For my liking it is too stark and nothing but concrete at the moment. Surely not something for the entrance point to the London 2012 Olympics. But then, I suspect it hasn’t been properly finished and a good bit of colour helps most things.
On the other side of the Channel the train rolled along as it should across the flat open countryside of Northern France.
Flat France
You can understand why they didn’t have much trouble building this high speed line, as except for Lille, it missed out all the towns and villages. But then France has a lot more space than we do.
Gare du Nord, Paris
I arrived on time into Gare du Nord or Gare Nord, as they call it now, and had ninety minutes or get to the Gare de Lyon. I had been intending to take a taxi, but as I had the extra time I took the RER D from under the station.
It was a wise choice.
A young lad about eighteen or so was by the ticket machines, dressed in a vest which said that he was there to help. He showed me how to use the machines and told me that I needed track 44. Paris is certainly trying to make sure that they welcome visitors! But then tourism is a cut-throat business these days and personal service is something that always works.
Paris RER
Note the double deck! Will Crossrail be that way? I doubt it.
Gare de Lyon, Paris
But then I had an hour to spend in the Gare de Lyon.
Le Train Bleu, Gare de Lyon, Paris
Le Train Bleu Restaurant, that evokes pre-war travel and glamour, is still there, although it does have an Express version as well. Perhaps, we don’t have as much time as we used to.
The station is being upgraded and probably not before time, as such as St. Pancras, Milan, Berlin and even dear old Liverpool Street show that a good station creates the right experience.
The train left on time for the long haul to Nice. To say it is a large train would be an understatement. It is two TGV Duplex or double-deck units coupled together. Short of a boat, it must be one of the largest people carriers around. According to Wikipedia each set carries 545 people.
You do wonder about trains though!
A friend is joining me at Nice for a few days and they have just phoned me from Lyon. Their plane has diverted there because is on the ground there because of mist at Nice! Do I hear herds of thundering tortoises?
Now I’m the tortoise, as the train threads its slow way through Toulon and all stations to Nice. Not the best.
Neither was the snack I got. Despite asking several times in my worst French, I ended up with a fish thing clearly labelled gluten. So I picked out a few bits of fish and potatoes and left the rest. I hope I’m OK. Why didn’t the silly woman show me the packet and I could have read it?
We’re barely walking pace at the moment and my friend has just arrived in Nice. Perhaps this train is always late, as it was the last time I caught it. That was between Antibes and Nice in 2007 on one of the last holidays with my late wife. It seemed strange to use it as a local train then, but everybody does.
Still the countryside is all green and it’s sunny.
TGV Duplex Arrives at Nice
Finally we arrived in Nice about a quarter of an hour late.
And then I got ripped off by the taxi driver.
Who cares? There are worse things in life! But it’s probably why I avoid them like the plague.
Café de la Paix, Paris
The Cafe de la Paix is one of the most famous cafes in Paris. So much so, that the French declared it to be an historic site in 1975.
Cafe de la Paix, Paris
My late wife and I went there by accident. It was the only time we did too, but then it was also on the only day, that one of the horses we had bred, Diamond White, had won The Prix de l’Opera at the Arc meeting at Longchamp. We had hurried away from the racecourse and the crowds made it difficult to get anywhere, but by reason of some luck, we were able to get a bus to the Place de l’Opera.
So we just stumbled into this famous cafe and as we had little time to catch the Eurostar back to Ashford, we asked the waiter what could be served quickly.
Everybody in the cafe surpassed themselves and within an hour, we were on the Metro towards the Gare du Nord.
If there is a postscript to this trip it happened on the train home. The day had been disastrous for English punters and come the last race, The Prix de l’Opera, most had lost heavily. So they put what they had left on Diamond White at 12-1. And the rest as they say is history.
On the trip back, my late wife had needed a coffee and went to the buffet. When she interrupted the party and told them that she had bred the horse that had got them out of trouble, everybody wanted to buy her champagne.
But she didn’t drink bubbles!
So on this trip to Paris, when the guy I was to meet on business suggested that we meet in the Cafe de la Paix, I accepted.
I had a very good gluten meal too!
Smoked Salmon and Poached Egg
The picture shows the first course!
Incidentally, the wife of one of the waiters was a coeliac, so this made them even more careful.
Would I go again?
Yes!
Even if it is very expensive, but then the decor, the ambience, the food and the wine are worth it.
Ceiling of the Cafe de La Paix, Paris
Rolling on Rubber
Note that some of the trains on the Paris Metro run on rubber tyres.
Next thing someone will run buses in a tunnel to create a cheap metro. On seconds thoughts after the fiasco of the Cambridge Busway, it would be much more expensive.
Tickets on the Paris Metro
Since my last visit to Paris, they have brought in new ticket machines.
But why is it that they are slightly idiosyncratic, although once you realise that you touch the roller to start they are no problem. They also use such simple French, that I don’t need to change the machines to English. Surely, all ticket machines should follow similar rules on a world-wide basis.
But both London and Paris are streets ahead of Montreal and Rotterdam, which have developed systems that can only be used by locals who speak the native language.
Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris
The Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume is a museum in Paris, with a nasty past in the Second World War, which now is a museum of contemporary art.
Jeu de Paume is the French name for Real Tennis and that was the original purpose of the building. They must have been some courts!
Two Obelisks, Paris
As I said I didn’t have too much time, but I did go to the Place to the Concorde and then walk back to Opera for lunch.
The obelisk is called the Luxor Obelisk and is one of three in London, New York and Paris, although it comes from a different place to the other two, which are a pair. I must have seen the pair to the French one in Luxor.
The Place de la Concorde was where the guillotine was setup in the French Revolution. The most notable person in my view, who was executed there was the founder of modern chemistry, Antoine Lavoisier.
The Paris Metro does History
I have posted several articles about how the London Underground is making sure that it restores old stations sensitively and creates new ones of class.
So here’s two pictures from Paris.
Pigalle Metro Station, Paris
This shows the entrance to Pigalle station near Montmartre. The French have resisted any thoughts to change the design.
To match the Gillespie Road tiling, here’s the tiling at Concorde.
Tiling in Concorde Metro Station, Paris
Note too in the picture above that the instructions on how to use the Metro are shown. They’ve also started to put maps of the area around the station on the platform. This and putting maps upstairs should always be there. London always does the latter and I always use them when I visit an unfamiliar station.
Montmartre, Paris
The first foreign trip after my late wife’s skirmish with breast cancer had been to Paris in March 2005. We’d travelled by Eurostar from Waterloo and stayed in a very good hotel by the Champs Elysees. One of the places we visited was Montmartre and Basilica of Sacre Coeur, that sits on top of the hill and overlooks all of Paris.
Last week in Paris, I didn’t have much time for sightseeing, but I did have time to walk up to the top and take some pictures.
Last time I went, we took photographs of each other. So this time, I got a tourist to take one of me. It was not that good and I look tired, so I won’t show it.
Sylvie Vartan
When we were at school doing French we sometimes had French newspapers to read. They were full of stories about Johnny Halliday and Sylvie Vartan, who married about that time.
It would appear that she is still performing.
Sylvie Vartan at L'Olympia, Paris
The details are here.
