Day 31: Romance & Ritz in Paris

We start our exploring early today, setting off at 9 up the green metro line to Montmartre, but first we stop for a cheeky pastry at Poilane bakery nearby to the hotel. So good. Can't get enough baked goods. 

 

We get off at Abbesses metro station, it's one of the original ones with the Hector Guamand art nouveau glass canopies over the station entry. We head along rue Lepic, and find a sunny cafe on the corner for breakfast. Sim is very excited as they have soft boiled eggs and toast, she orders 2. I order an assortment of breads and pastries that come with lots of different spreads. True to form I proceed to get hazelnut chocolate spread all over myself. I was furious! The french lady sitting behind us probably thought I had Tourettes from all my cursing and frustration.  

 

After breakfast we wander around the streets of Montmartre, heading up the steps to a small tree filled square. It's very atmospheric, an old man is playing accordion, artists are painting in the market stalls and many people in the cafes and bistros look on, watching it all unfold over their cafe cremes as Parisians do. I remember this place from previous trip but it's much busier today. Lots of old painters are exhibiting work, prepping canvasses and painting new works in the street. Quite a nostalgic and romantic setting really. 

We wander over to Sacre Cour. We used our local knowledge from previously and entered from the top on the side, thus avoiding the coloured string hawkers down the bottom who annoyed us last time we came. The view from the top of the the steps captures a great expanse of Paris. It's the highest point in the city. You can see the Eiffel Tower, just, and then it spreads all the way across up to Parc Villette. You really appreciate the impact of Haussmann on the street and urban configuration of Paris from up here. Of course the monumental buildings pierce the milieu of 6-7 storey buildings, notably Notre dame, the Pompidou, the opera house, and the pantheon in the distance.

 

We head inside Sacre Cour. There's service taking place and we get to experience the sound of the large organ bellowing through the church. It's quite interesting coming back to this church having now the opportunity to compare it to other giant basilicas and churches we've seen. It's more on the smaller side but still very beautiful. 

Sims keen to climb to the top although I'm not so keen to climb another dome.

We explore Montmartre some more , reading the many historical plaques that are scattered amongst the streets. They're filled with stories from the past, dropping names like Van Gogh, Toulouse le trec and Renoir, and tell stories of their lives in Montmartre. It's quite interesting again for the sense of nostalgia and the romantic in you. 

 

We head down the hill again, passing the old man still playing accordion and down to boulevard de clichy. The sound of an accordion will forever remind me if Paris. We wander the streets some more without any intention as to where we're heading really so we decide to jump on the metro and head over to boulevard Saint Germain. 

We catch the metro all the way to Maubet-Mutualité and start at the institut de monde Arabe end of Blvd St Germain. We pop into the original Dyptique store and check out the fragrances and candles for sim. I check out the fit out in the meanwhile. I love the French shop fitouts. So beautifully detailed and sophisticated. I guess they have that old and classic retail shop feel about them. It's the same feeling you get walking through the Strand in Sydney. 

 

Sim gets a few things and we head up along the boulevard. It's a sunny day today and great to be strolling the streets. We head down rue Severin for a cheap lunch as dinner tonight is gonna be big and expensive. I get a gyro from one of the many kebab stores and sim some frites. 

 

We continue up rue Severin and then back onto Blvd Saint Germain. It's such a pretty street to walk. Lots of shopping, movie theatres, charming bistros, and lush trees. We head up to our hotel in Saint Sulpice, passing so many bistros along the way. It baffles me how these places all seem to be full, and nearly all the time too. It can't be all tourists. Do Parisians work? Surely they are working to pay for their €4.50 coffees?

 

We have a rest at the hotel before heading out to catch some sun in the Jardin d'luxembourg. Thankfully the gardens are open today, although the nice sun of earlier disappears just as we arrive behind the clouds and it becomes a grey old afternoon.

We pull up some loose chairs in the park and sit near the large fountain which is filled with sail boats. Lots of kids and even some adults are pushing them around with large sticks, nudging them away from the edge of the pond. It's quite cool. The kids seem to be loving it, as the wind has picked up now and the little boats are zipping all over the place. 

We chill for a good hour or so doing some journal writing and just relaxing really. It's a nice thing to do. 

 

 

It's nearing 6 and we head back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. We're heading to the very classy L'Arpege. Alain Passard, the head chef since it opened 30years ago is meant to be a magician with vegetables. Since 2000 he's been devoted to vegetable menus. I'm excited to try and sim is very excited.

We head out up rue Varenne and arrive slightly early for our 8pm booking. It's a very understated and unassuming interior. It's quiet inside but very warm and cosy. We're seated at our table and shortly after Alain Passard himself comes over for a chat. He welcomes us and asks where were from. Replying, "we're from Sydney in Australia," he says, "we get a lot of Australians, many, many."

We Aussies are a well travelled nation it seems. I guess we get really good holiday leave entitlements. 

Alain continues, saying they have a lot of very special things for us tonight, beautiful fish, lobster, vegetables. His manner is very soft and gentle, like an old grandfather, yet you can tell he is somewhat different and creative. Honestly, it's like Willy Wonka is talking to us. Sim, grinning, replies "I'm very much looking forward to the vegetables", "good!" replies Alain, "because we have many, many vegetables from our large garden just outside of Paris"

After some champagne and canapé tartllettes, which we were lucky enough to be served doubles of as the waiter I'm sure delivered it to the wrong table but instead of admitting his mistake he passed it off as intentional and generous. We appreciated the generosity. The vegetable extravaganza then began, starting with a cucumber gazpacho with a quenelle of mustard ice cream. Bizarre but yummy!

Sa

Next is a dish of fresh strawberries served interestingly with Spanish onion, olive oil, chives, salt and Parmesan cheese. It's very fresh. Again odd, but works.

This is followed by a vegetable consommé with 3 delicate raviolis of pea, radish and asparagus. 

More dishes follow, as does more beautiful French wines. All in all I think we had 9 or 10 savoury dishes. Although really they were mixtures of savoury, sweet, salty and sour.

One of the great things was that everything was edible. There was one dish with a small flowers on it called Tuborog, honestly they tasted like little petals of garlic. So great!

Dessert starts and the first thing we're offered is an assortment of sweet baked good little morsels, each with something interesting from the garden in or on them. There's a small palmier with rosemary in it, and of course lots of butter, as well as little macron, glazed tarts and caremels. 

After this plate we get a Mille fuiele filled with fresh strawberries and berries which is accompanied by a very creamy mint ice cream. 

Next up was a classic creme brûlée although the creme was a garlic creme and when torched it gave it a roasted flavour. What an amazing flavour, it tasted just like that soft gooey roasted garlic you have with roast dinners, but as a dessert with caramelised sugar on top. Last was a small mint pudding that was very refreshing.

After nearly 4 hours of wining and dining sim and I were both full to the point of nearly sickly full. Who knew vegetables would do that to you. 

What a great night. The service was great, the food was like nothing we've ever had and the wine was delicious. Once in a lifetime experience, at least that's what the bank balance is hoping!!!

There's a funny moment when I go to pay the bill and pull out my credit card. The maitre de is fixing the eftpos machine. Another waiter says the machine is not working at the moment. "Not a problem, I'll just come back tomorrow," I say, and head towards the door. The man laughs and the maitre de, who didn't quite get my Australian humour I feel, replies, "I'm a very fast runner!"

It's midnight and we consider heading out for a stroll up to the Eiffel Tower. It's a 1.5km walk away, but with sims heels, a few drinks under our belt and many, many vegetables in our bellies we give it a miss and head back to the hotel. Wise move it turns out as it was somewhat of a struggle getting home. 

What a day, full of French romanticism and topped off with a bit of haute French ritziness. A real highlight. 

The sad part is that its €3 paninis and Coke from here on in after this dinner. 

mat + sim

Day 30: 's wonderful! 's marvelous!

Another slow start to the day in Paris. We wake up, pack our things and check out leaving our bags at the hotel. We stroll down rue de Turbigo. We're heading to this old pastry shop we read about called Stohrer on the market street, rue Montorgueil. It's a great little street, full of cheese shops, bakeries, green grocers and bistros. After getting some pastries from Stohrer we get a juice and some fruit salad from another store and sit for a bit watching the morning go by. 

 

We then wander along Rue de Reaumur, another long boulevard in the Right Bank of Paris, typical of the Haussmann Parisian model. We end up at the Place de la Opera, a large junction with the grand old opera house at its centre. We head to the nearby museum of perfume. Its part of the perfume house Fragonard. It's great because it's free, although I have a sneaky suspicion they're relying on you buying something at the end. We join the guided tour that takes you through the museum. I'm the only guy amongst the group of 8 ladies and young girls. Should be fun! It's actually a really interesting museum as it goes into great depth the history of perfume, how it was made and all the different bottles through the years and how it has come to be the industry it is today. One thing I learnt is that perfume or parfume in French, means 'through the smoke', and goes back to Egyptian times when flowers were burned and the fragrant smoke was sent as a signal to the gods.

[French Fact]!!!

We then get a chance to smell and sample the perfumes, a chance to act as the 'noise' like a perfumer. It's quite difficult to smell the different notes and what they are. I'm actually quite fascinated by it. 

 

 

 

We then inevitably get the sales pitch, but to our surprise it's quite reasonable and actually quite cheap as we are buying it at factory prices. 

 

Sim loads up and we make our way up to galleries Lafayette. Not feeling like eating at the food hall, we catch the metro across town to Chemin Vert and walk back into the Marais area for another falafel sandwich, this time at L'as Du Falafel. We join the lengthy but not as lengthy as Sunday line. A man with a fat stack of cash and what appear to be raffle tickets asks me what I want. I'm confused as were at the back of the line. With great reluctance I hand over €14 for 2 falafel sandwiches and a Coke, hoping this guy is legit. He is. Sim laughs. I seem to have lost my trust and faith in people. Damn you Naples. The falafel is good, but boy is it filling! 

 

 

Still we manage to find space for dessert. I saw this amazing lemon meringue on a food blog which is only down the road at the end of rue de Rosier, had to try it. Sim gets annoyed as I do my typical thing, ordering something else as well, a rhubarb and apple pie, as you gotta try that too right? So Yum. After spending €24 on cake, coffee and an iced tea (this place is nuts) we are well and truly full and head back to the hotel to grab our bags before catching the metro across town and over the river to St Sulpice in St Germain des Pres. 

We arrive at our hotel just after 4. It's not as nice as our previous place which is a bit of a downer but the funny part is the tiny lift. It's ridiculously small. Can really only fit 2 people standing and those two people would want to be related, married or very good friends as its tight. Sim goes up first with the luggage. After 5 minutes she returns down, still with the luggage, as she cannot physical move out of the tiny opening. She's wedged!  The door wouldn't open with her and both our luggage in the lift. It's very funny. I take one bag and wait while she heads up. Very comical. It's so tight. 

After a short freshen up and a rest we head out for the evening. We head up the street to the Jardin d'luxembourg, a grand public park we visited last time in winter and were interested in seeing again in the summer time. We head past St Sulpice church and up to the park. This particular entry gate is shut. We walk along the fence line and past the palais du Luxembourg. It's heavily guarded and a little further up the road are about 30 riot squad police vans with officers suited up looking like ice hockey goalies. Bizarre. Needless to say the park is closed for the day due to a private event. 

Our plans of relaxing in the gardens in the evening and writing some journals spilt, we head down Blvd Saint Michel, along the streets and past the hotel we stayed at over 2 years ago. It's nice to reminisce about old travels, even if not that long ago. We then head up boulevard Saint Germain which is bustling with people finishing work, having drinks and heading out for the evening. We detour down into Rue de Buci, a little eat street towards the river and take a seat at one of the bistros for a drink. It's nice just sitting and watching the city pass you by. I love how all the wicker chairs are lined up and arranged to face the street. It's such a simple gesture but it creates a relationship and sense of interaction between people sitting in the bars and bistros and those walking along. 

After a good 45minutes we move along but not very far. Next stop is gelato at the Turin based gelato shop, Grom. Sim gets a granita while I get a scoop of pistachio and salted caramel. It's nice. Very creamy, I still think I prefer Berthillon. We head back up on the Blvd Saint Germain and stop for another drink at bistro Mondrian. It's happy hour and the drinks are more reasonably priced. Enjoying the little plates of olives that come with a drink too. Gotta get all ya euros worth!

It's now nearing 9 and we're both again not that hungry. Big lunches seem to do us in everyday. Also the late setting sun just has not sat well with our stomachs. Feels strange eating dinner in vivid daylight.

We head back to the hotel and do some journals before hopefully getting a good nights rest. Fingers crossed, the beds tiny and the pillows are non existent. 

Au revoir

mat + sim

Day 29: The Azzurri in Les Blues!

A slow start to the morning today. It's cloudy skies outside and, well, we're a bit tired from yesterday's walk. We set off around 11 from our hotel and catch the Metro to Trocadero. We head out into the large plaza, which unfortunately is half closed with hoarding due to maintenance work. We get our first up close views of the Eiffel Tower. 

 

It's such a funny place, so many tourists, so many hawkers yet so beautiful. It's not great weather today, gloomy with a threat of rain. 

We head to the Australian embassy which is not far from the Eiffel Tower. It's our voting day. The building is a Harry seidler building in collaboration with marcel Breuers office. Very much in the same vein as Grosvenor place in Sydney. We head in to vote. 

 

 

Surprisingly theres over 25 other Aussies doing the same thing. We were expecting to be the only ones here. It's quite a good way to vote, no lines and really easy. I was tempted to ask where the sausage sizzle was but I held my tongue. Didn't want to be rude. That didn't stop another lady though. She asked the polling lady where she could find the australian newspapers. The polling lady said she would get someone to show her. The old Aussie lady was shocked, "I thought they would be readily available".

What a bitch she was. Where does she think she is? It's Paris for Christs sake. Plus the women she was asking worked for the electoral commission not the embassy. I felt like telling her to get an iPad, had she heard of them?  Was a reminder for us of the rudeness of Australians. You forget sometimes when travelling as its usually Brits and Americans being the ignorant and rude ones, but we're up there with them. 

 

 

Voting done we head back to the base of the tower along the river and cross back over into the Trocadero. We visit the Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine museum. My boss said I had to visit. Entering in and it's a large and long space, more than 3 storeys in height. Inside on the lower floor it is filled with full scale 1:1 casts of many of the facades, reliefs and sculptures from the cathedrals and monuments around Paris and France. It's quite interesting. Most were done in the late 19th century for a comparative exhibition with Roman monuments. It's interesting because often these sculptural works are high up on buildings, cathedrals and gateways. These casts show the astounding level of detail sculptors went to back in the Renaissance even for works that would rarely be seen from the ground. Quite amazing. Sim makes the comment, why would you travel to see them you could just come here. Quite true. As well as the casts there are amazing scale models of many cathedrals as well as sectional models showing detail of interiors. Really is a cool gallery. 

 

 

 

Upstairs is the 20th century modern architecture section. There's some interesting models but the highlight is the full scale construction of an apartment from Le Corbusiers groundbreaking housing project of the 40s, the Unite d'Habitation. It's furnished and fitted out as it was in the middle of the century. Amazing to experience the spatial proportions and open plan apartment living, which is still the predominant form used today. 

 

 

We wander some more through the exhibits before heading out into the streets surrounding the Trocadero in search of lunch. We head up avenue Kléber looking at all the bistro menus. Again there's not a great deal on offer for sim and the prices are crazy for what you get. I really don't understand how people do this everyday. €15-20 a day for lunch. Yet somehow these bistros which are ubiquitous across Paris are full and thriving. We struggle to find somewhere, walking all the way up to the Arc de Triomphe. Knowing things won't be any cheaper or better here we head down avenue de Friedland which turns into boulevard Haussmann. We finally find a bistro with a reasonable price and salad for sim. Still not cheap but by now we're starving and it's drizzling with rain so we settle on this place. I order a croque Monsieur and some foie gras with toast. It's ok. Nothing to write home about so I will stop there. 

 

After lunch we continue down along boulevard Haussmann all the way down to the famous department stores Printemps and Galleries Lafayette. We head in for a quick wander before stopping at the food hall in galleries Lafayette for some afternoon desserts. We get an eclair from L'eclaire d'Genie by Christophe Adam, some macarons and an awesome sorbet macaron sandwich from Pierre Herme. Really rich and decadent, but good. We stop for coffee and then realise it's nearly 4:30pm. Time to head to the football. 

 

 

We catch the RER out to Stade de France. The station is a good 15 minute walk from the ground. Going through the checkpoints and baggage searches we enter into the stadium, or so we'd thought. One last pat down and frisk. This takes forever. There's literally only 3 guys doing everyone at each gate. After a good 15-20minutes waiting to be groped and patted down by a sweaty and angry Frenchmen, we finally head to our seats. Our seats are great, from where we're sitting we can see out under the stadium roof and see Sacre Cour in the distance. Such a good atmosphere inside the ground. Spanish and Italian fans are everywhere. Red v blue. La Rioja v Azzurri! 

It's the two countries we've been in for the last month playing against each other. Sim sides with Spain but I stick to my Italian heritage and go for Italy.  

We're down the Italian end and the constant chant of E-TAL-YA goes up around the ground. 30 minutes into the game and the crowd goes off. A scrappy goal to Italy, but who cares. 1-0 Italia. 

The rest of the match is a battle between Spanish possession and skill versus Italian defensive grit and counterattack. In the last few minutes, after an hour of feeling like Spain would score to draw level, Italy swoop on a loose pass and put the ball in the back of the net. Game over. 

 

I really enjoyed that. 

Leaving the stadium I lead us astray in search of the alternate train station near the ground. Following the crowd we get a little lost but eventually find the station, only to find were in a huge mass of people being held back from entering in an attempt of crowd control. Again, it's not very well done. When they finally tell people to go there's a huge rush up to the platform. Not very safe really. I feel that Paris doesn't handle crowd management well. Way too over the top and it just frustrates people. 

We finally get back to Republique and then  our hotel. 

 

It's 10ish and we're both not overly hungry after lunch and sweets in the afternoon so we call it a day. 

mat + sim

Day 28: The Flaneur of Paris

We woke up early this morning and headed for the self serve lavandrie. Bizarrely I kind of enjoy doing laundry whilst on holiday, which is weird as I don't enjoy doing it at home. Perhaps it's the coin machines. Or maybe it's that it feels like you're a regular person in this foreign city, you're doing the mundane normal things Parisians do. 

We get some croissants and a juice from the Boulangerie and wait for our clothes to wash and dry. While waiting we stroll along the Canal St Martin. It's interesting up in this area. Quite boho with its designer stores and cafes but the canal itself is rather lame compared to the magic of the Seine. Still it's a pleasant Sunday morning stroll.

 

We finish our washing and head back to replenish the underwear supply and start our day in Paris. We head down into the Marais area again. We resist the temptation to get another falafel pocket and instead get in line for a savoury crepe, well sim lines up while I sit and mind a table watching the crepe maker. This guy is awesome. He's a one man show, cooking two crepes at a time, collecting money and cleaning the cooking equipment. He's methodical and precise. His demeanour is funny too, telling customers to move aside once they've ordered doing so with a whistle and then a wave of his flat crepe knife. He has seemingly what appears a friendly conversation to a French female customer but it still sounds hostile. I think this guy might be France's version of the soup nazi, "The crepe nazi". After a good 15minute wait our crepes get cooked and they're awesome. So delicious. The crepe is very thin. Mine has egg in between the layers and all the fillings too, cheese, ham, olives, grilled capsicum and more cheese. Yum. Comes with a nice mint tea too.

 

 

We stroll up to the haute Marais (upper side). There's lots of things happening on the streets today, people in parks, musicians and street buskers. The cafes are chockers. It's a great atmosphere. We head to visit Ol mate Pablo at the newly refurbished Museé Picasso. 

 

The exhibition is interesting particularly the temporary part which looks at his sculptural work, a lot we haven't seen before. In the last month alone I feel like I've seen more Picasso work than many see in a lifetime. His sculptures are impressive. I'll say one thing about Picasso, he was prolific. Would seem he didn't live a day without doing something. Incredible man.

The space itself is very interesting too. An enjoyable gallery visit.

 

 

We head out and wander the streets of the haute Marais, looking at all the eclectic shops and fashion boutiques. There's a sort of festival atmosphere in the air too. France are playing Ireland in the football and the bistros are packed with parochial French fans. They're not as drunk as the British though. Much more civilised. 

We stroll some more, wandering into a second hand bookstore which has some great design and architecture books. Many in French but a few in English. We head out again to rue de Rivoli and make our way for ice cream at Berthillon. Along the way the streets erupt with noise from the bistros. Griezman has just scored. A few minutes later and there's another roar. He's done it again. The delight and excitement is great to see. 

We make our way to Ile Saint Louis and this time sit inside Maison Berthillon, ordering from the dessert menu. I honestly love this place. The salted caramel gelato here is one of the best things ive ever eaten. Amazing!

 

We head over into the Latin quarter briefly, strolling up boulevard St Germain.  We head to check out Dyptique for sim but it's closed on Sunday's. We then end up on the Saint Severin which is full of bars and cheap eateries. It's absolutely pumping after the French victory. Heading out into the main road along the river and people are tooting car horns, cheering and waving flags. This city will go crazy if they win the whole thing. 

 

 

We head over the Ponte des Artes, rudely brushing aside the gypsies with their clipboard petitions for you to sign. The bridge itself has changed since last time. They've gotten rid of the keychain balustrade fencing and all the love locks that were attached to them and replaced it with clear glass. Interesting. Sims not a fan.

 

We head into the Tulleries for a walk. It's a lazy sunny Sunday afternoon now, cue the Kinks. The grand scale of this area is great. I'm loving seeing Paris in summer. The formal gardens are filled with people relaxing and playing on the lawns. The informal casual seating around the fountains are packed with people too. It's one of the things I was looking forward to seeing and doing when coming here in summer. 

 

 

Along with all the crowds though come the hawkers. Here in Paris they predominantly seem to be of North African decent. Most seem to be selling different size mini Eiffel Tower souvenirs. They each have hundreds of them. 5 for €1 they say. Why? Who needs or more to the point wants 5 little Eiffel towers? My mind wanders to the factory where this crap is being made. A production line of junk Eiffel towers made in China churned out but the hundred thousand a day, only to be sold to Chinese tourists in Paris for what, €1? Crazy! To think that the tower itself was only meant to be temporary. 

One man approaches us and says Bonjour. Looking up I immediately say no thanks, waving my arms with the "no deal" gesture. He replies in English, "I was just saying hello" to which i reply "sorry but j just don't want one of those" pointing to the coloured red white and blue thread he is holding. Sim laughs as we walk off. Was quite rude on my part but as you may appreciate I'm over hawkers and scammers.

 

 

We leave the Tulleries at the place de la Concorde and head up into the Madeleine where we catch the metro back to Republique. My feet are killing. Been s pretty epic walk. Nonetheless it really is the best way to see Paris.

We have a short rest before heading out for dinner to the not so faraway Vietnamese place Le Petit Cambodge. Sim has an awesome vermicelli and vegetable soup while i have the bobun with prawns. Yummy. 

It feels good to eat something other than rich food for a change. Makes you realise how diverse our food options are in Sydney. Our diets are used to a good mix of lighter Asian meals I think. 

Another busy day of exploring Paris. Today felt great. Was like being a citizen of the city, soaking it up and leisurely wandering the streets, boulevards and bridges. A day where we lived the 'Flaneur' of Paris.

mat + sim

Day 27: Back in Paris

It's an early start to the the day, waking up at 4 for our 6:30am flight. Didn't get a great sleep either. 

We head to Seville airport and head for hopefully a sunny Paris. 

Touching down at Charles de Gaulle at 8:30am and it's a little on the chilly side. We get the RER into town, and then swap over to the metro to Republique before swapping again to go to metro stop Temple. Turns out Temple is literally only 150m down from Republique and we could've walked but oh well. We check into our hotel. Only 2 stars but nonetheless it's awesome. Was expecting a shoebox with a 600mm square for a shower. Happy to say it's much bigger. And there's a cool view down Rue Tuborg, a large boulevard. 

It's now 10:30 and we venture out to begin our French leg of the trip. I must say it feels great to be back in Paris. We were here only 28 months ago and it feels a little like coming back home to something familiar. That being said we slip up a few greetings with Ola instead of Bonjour and Gracias instead of Merci. In need of a coffee I stop at one of the typical cafe bistros and sit in the sun on the wicker chairs on the street reluctantly paying €4.50 for the privilege.

Oui Oui. It's all coming back now, Paris is expensive!!!!

 

We head down Rue du Temple before passing by a familiar face, the Pompidou. It's a Saturday morning and lots of people are out and about including lots of families. We then wander some more into the newly completed Les Halles station and shopping market. This was under construction last time we came and now that it's complete its a huge gold steel mesh structure that envelops the space below. 

 

The Lego store at Les Halles was awesome!

 

 

We've only been walking for an hour and already we've noticed quite a strong police and military presence on the streets. Much more than when we were last here. Wandering somewhat aimlessly we head back along the river and up to the Hotel de Ville, the Paris town hall. 

 

All the bistros and bars are filled with red jerseyed Brits, prepping for the Wales vs Northern Ireland game tonight. By prepping I mean getting off their face drunk! We head to a monoprix for some water and they are all in there loading up on 6packs and cases of beer. Drinking in the street here seems to be ok. 

 

It's now nearly 1 and we head into the Marais for lunch. Lunch in the Marais means only one thing, falafel in the Jewish quarter. We head into Rue des Rosiers to the place I went to last time we were here, L'as Du Falaffel, however it's a Saturday and they are closed Saturday's. Luckily there's a few other falafel options nearby. It's awesome. So filling!

 

We stroll up the street and peruse the shops as we eat. Sim struggles with the size of the sandwich, but in the end gets through it. We venture out along Rue de Rivoli before crossing the Seine and heading for our next Parisian eating highlight from last time, Maison Berthillon, on Ile Saint Louis. A scoop of Salted Caramel and a scoop of Roasted Pineapple and Basil. I love Paris!!!!!!

 

We head over to the Ile de la Cite to visit another familiar face, Notre Dame. Approaching from the east and it feels like a different place with the beautifully trimmed green trees in the park leading to the cathedral. We go to head in but it's closed until 4 due to a private ceremony being held there. We stroll some more heading back over the river over Ponte Notre Dame then up rue de Temple to our hotel. 

 

 

After a little rest (been a long day already after early start) we head out for the journey to our first euro game. The metro from Republique to Parc de princes is 21 stops so it takes a good 30 minutes. Slowly the train fills with more and more people going to the game. Many of them are the same if not similar drunk Welshman we saw earlier. It's a pretty raucous train ride as you could imagine. Lots of yahooing and mob mentality stuff. Finally we get off the metro and walk the 10 minute trip to the ground. Wow, the amount of rubbish and broken glass bottles lying around. Crazy, it's like circular quay on New Year's at 3am. We head to the gates, watching our step as we go. So much broken glass. Quite disgusting really. Fans have just trashed the streets. 

Getting into the ground proves to be quite the ordeal. First, riot police hold the already drunk and impatient crowd of spectators wanting to get in back, slowly releasing them to he next security check point intermittently. Once there you are frisked and man handled quite extensively. Next you get your ticket marked off before then entering the gate with your ticket where another search happens. Honestly, it's great they're going to these lengths with security but it's quite poorly done I feel. Not a great experience going to a football match. We get to our seats with only 10minutes left til kickoff. 

 

The atmosphere inside the ground is great. The Irish are going off and despite there being more Welshman in the ground I feel the Irish make more noise. After the kids finish the pre match show to the sound of that slightly annoying David Guetta theme song, the anthems get belted out and then it's game on. It's a tense first half followed by an even more tense second half. The quality is average I feel but the tension makes up for it. Finally a goal, an ugly own goal, but a goal nonetheless. Wales 1-0. 

The game ends with a spirited effort from Northern Ireland but ultimately an inevitable victory to Wales led by Bale. 

Leaving the ground and surprisingly everyone is in pretty good spirits. The Irish fans are congratulating welsh fans and commiserations and hard luck is being offered in return. Quite good to see. I must admit I was expecting some violence. We walk past the same dirty streets that we did prior to kickoff and the French authorities have miraculously cleaned most of it up. The log jam onto the metro however is painful and after a tight and unpleasant 10 minute squeeze we get on a crowded metro back to Republique. 

All in all it was an enjoyable experience. Glad we saw two British teams. The singing, banter and passion (even that of the drunken kind) was interesting to see in person. 

Back at Republique and we head out for a quick meal. I order a steak frites and sim a veggie stir fry. Both are pretty average which is annoying due to the price but we finish them needless to say before heading back to get some much needed rest. 

Bonsoir

mat + sim