Sunday 25th January

Flea market

Our Sunday started with a wander round the flea market
under the metro arches at our local station

Fox fur anyone?

After browsing for a while in the cold we walked up to La Place D'Italie and hopped on a bus which took us within a few minutes of the rue de Monceau.  We've been here before to the Musée Camondo but we wanted to see no. 81 rue de Monceau because Peter is reading 'Hare with  Amber Eyes' and this is the house where Charles Ephrussi lived.  Charles collected the netsukes which feature in the book.

Outside Hotel Ephrussi - no visible clues as to its history

Then round the corner to the Parc Monceau

Strange unexplained objects in the park

Back home across the bridge

Philharmonie de Paris

Last night we took the metro to the Cité de la Musique, a complex in north east Paris given over to music and dance.  We couldn't quite work it out but we think that one or both of the buildings on the site opened recently.  At least around Christmas we saw a flurry of advertising for the Philharmonie de Paris and the absence of signs telling you where to go suggests a recent opening.

Inside the main concert hall Philharmonie 1

Surrounding an open plain are a conservatoire for music and dance, two concert hall complexes with multiple auditoria (Philharmonie 1 and Philharmonie 2), a museum and an exhibition space.

We didn't see inside the main concert hall which looks intriguing - almost as though people might tip out of their seats and land on the orchestra below.    We were in the ampitheater in Philharmonie 2

Phiharmonie 2

Philharmonie 1

We heard a concert given by two very young men - an English pianist and a Bulgarian cellist - a good programme (apart from a  modern piece which required a lot of concentration) very well played.  A great pleasure.

A walk in the 6th

Today I met up with Brigitte - a German married to a Frenchman - who I met on the first Meetup outing.  She showed me round the  6th, skirting the Jardin de Luxembourg.   We started out with a trip to Bon Marché.  I don't know how I have managed not to go there before.   Very pricey and with an abolutely fabulous food section. 

Inside Bon Marché

Saint Sulpice

Then we had lunch in a brasserie followed by another walk to see the church of St. Sulpice with its colonaded exterior.  We wandered round inside and then walked down rue Férou passed a poem by Rimbaud painted on the wall.  Then across the square in front of the Pantheon to find another church,  Saint-Etienne-du-Mont which has fine carved stonework and the tomb of St. Genevieve.

Part of the poem - The Drunken Ship

The Pantheon

Saint-Etienne-du-Mont

An excellent walk around an area that I haven't explored before. 

Covered passages

Today a member of the BCWA took 10 or so of us on a walking tour of some of the covered passages in Paris.  They are all private thoroughfares and were the forerunner of the shopping mall providing a place for people to shop away from the filth in the streets!   We were in the 2nd and 10th arrondissements around the rue Saint-Denis.   We wandered in and out of a wide variety of passages - different styles, different sorts of businesses being conducted.  We also wandered down the Parisian version of Brick Lane with Indian restaurants on either side.   Although it was a rather cold day, it was an interesting morning - followed by a warming lunch with a couple of members.    I have now found the official Paris guide to the passages and hope to explore some more.

Yum.  Couldn't resist a photo!

Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum was my destination today.  I walked part of the way there to get some exercise and then explored inside.  An interesting old building with a constantly changing pattern of lighting which was atmospheric I suppose, but the lighting levels were so low in general that it was very hard to see smaller exhibits like beetles and shells inside their cases.  Maybe it's a preservation issue, but wandering round in the dark makes for a gloomy visit.  I noticed a lot of bored small children which was a shame, but understandable.  It took some effort to go up to cases and peer in to see the contents.  Just as I was preparing to go there was a 'thunderstorm' with flashing lights and rolls of thunder and a heavy rain soundtrack.   The silly selfies are for the grandchildren!

I walked all the way home!  About 1.5 miles. 

A stroll round the neighbourhood

Someone at the club, when I told her where I lived, asked me if I'd seen the Alsation houses.  Today I decided to go and look for them.  It's a small development of houses in the Alsace style built round a square with a gated entrance.  They were designed and built in 1912, originally for families with more than 12 children!  There are instructions to visitors not to go beyond the letter boxes in order to preserve the privacy of the residents.  And who can blame them.

Across the road from La Petite Alsace was a narrow cul-de-sac with a turning circle at the bottom line with houses with small front gardens.  Most unlike the rest of the neighbourhood.   I felt, as I walked down the road and was eyed by two men talking outside a house, just like the people who wander up Chester Place and get stared at!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After my architectural pause I continued on around the block and came to a huge artists' materials shop that I hadn't noticed before.  I enjoyed 15 minutes or so inside thinking about how wonderful it would be to be able to paint - the tubes of colour and the collections of brushes were so enticing.