Paris day 8 (23 July)
An exciting morning was had by all working out how to use a French self-serve laundromat. Fortunately 2 very nice young men turned up to take away their washing and helped us navigate the instructions and machines. Mission accomplished and after depositing clean clothes back at hotel we walked to Ile St Louis to locate a Boutique de peche. (Wording not quite right as no French accents on keyboard). Quite enjoyed respite from the heat, while Stephen pottered around the shop checking out the French fishing flies. Decided was not a day for long walks (high 30's) so caught metro to 1st arrondisement and went for lunch at a place we have visited before - Willi's Wine Bar. Very much enjoyed a plate of fresh pasta and glass of crisp white wine. Wandered in and out of some shops around Willi's as is a nice part of town. The large international brands haven't taken over all of Paris as yet. Still some very cute shops around. A few of the buildings are still decorated from Bastille Day. The Bourse's columns are wrapped in bright colours and the Town Hall, which we saw yesterday, has red, white and blue rosettes decorating its front. Forgotten what a stunningly beautiful building their Town Hall is.
Escaped the heat of the day back at hotel. Ventured out around 8pm for dinner at local restaurant/cafe on the corner of our street (called "District Corner"). Really nice light meal - shared some calamari and Stephen had a tomato mozzarella salad which had slices of mozzarella with a whole peeled tomato perched on each slice . He said was delicious. Was 37 degrees but the humidity is nowhere near as high as what we get in Sydney so we didn't find it too bad even sitting in a cafe with no air con.
Came back and giggled over a you tube clip of Pam Ayres doing a piece on her deciding to learn French from an online programme for some 3 months as she was sick of being unable to communicate when over there. Her descriptions of the often useless phrases she slavishly practised before her trip such as 'the boy caught the rake' and 'the fish swim' had us in stitches as I have been doing just this with an online french lesson course. She also lamented the fact that the presenter of the lessons spoke each word distinctly but in France the french speak with the rapidity of a kalishnikov. Her experience was so like mine - straining my ears during conversations to pick out the odd word. But I have persevered and enjoyed recognising more words than previously. Have also resorted to google translate on my phone sometimes although especially with restaurant meals it is very hit and miss. A crepe was translated as a "square hump" yesterday.
On a completely unrelated note Stephen says I have to record that he finally got to see what a gold Napoleon looks like (being a term for a former French gold coin). He had read about them in adventure books during his misspent youth but had never managed to see one. But now he has. They were struck during the reign of Napoleon III (1852-1870). We came across a run of coin shops around the Galerie Vivienne yesterday. Should probably also have mentioned that the Passage Panoramas had some stamp shops. Didn't know collecting stamps still went on but I guess it does.
Escaped the heat of the day back at hotel. Ventured out around 8pm for dinner at local restaurant/cafe on the corner of our street (called "District Corner"). Really nice light meal - shared some calamari and Stephen had a tomato mozzarella salad which had slices of mozzarella with a whole peeled tomato perched on each slice . He said was delicious. Was 37 degrees but the humidity is nowhere near as high as what we get in Sydney so we didn't find it too bad even sitting in a cafe with no air con.
Came back and giggled over a you tube clip of Pam Ayres doing a piece on her deciding to learn French from an online programme for some 3 months as she was sick of being unable to communicate when over there. Her descriptions of the often useless phrases she slavishly practised before her trip such as 'the boy caught the rake' and 'the fish swim' had us in stitches as I have been doing just this with an online french lesson course. She also lamented the fact that the presenter of the lessons spoke each word distinctly but in France the french speak with the rapidity of a kalishnikov. Her experience was so like mine - straining my ears during conversations to pick out the odd word. But I have persevered and enjoyed recognising more words than previously. Have also resorted to google translate on my phone sometimes although especially with restaurant meals it is very hit and miss. A crepe was translated as a "square hump" yesterday.
On a completely unrelated note Stephen says I have to record that he finally got to see what a gold Napoleon looks like (being a term for a former French gold coin). He had read about them in adventure books during his misspent youth but had never managed to see one. But now he has. They were struck during the reign of Napoleon III (1852-1870). We came across a run of coin shops around the Galerie Vivienne yesterday. Should probably also have mentioned that the Passage Panoramas had some stamp shops. Didn't know collecting stamps still went on but I guess it does.
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