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| Flying over Normandy |
As we stepped above ground from the Metro, we found ourselves miniaturised beside The Grand Arch.
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| La Défense Grande Arche |
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| l'Arc de Triomphe from La Défense |
Vassili intoduced us to his little flat then we all went out to dinner.
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| with Vassili |
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| Here's to our happy holidays |
Thurs 14th July 2011 (Bastille Day)
We settled comfortably into our Paris flat.
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| Ben shopping |
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| Ben slaving away in the kitchen |
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| A meal to enjoy |
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| ...and temptations nearby |
Lots of flags met us where-ever we went. It was Bastille Day.
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Champs Elysée
|
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| l'arc de Triomphe |
We were assured that the best place to view the Fireworks was from area near the Eiffel Tower. We were there with thousands of other people, from every country, and it was raining, but exciting to be part of it all.
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| Tour Eiffel |
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| Fireworks |
Fri 15th July 2011
We went exploring La Défense. The Grande Arch is 20 years old, so the area is pretty new for Paris. It is the Financial District and the buildings are spectacular.
A walk through the Tuilleries Garden seemed a good idea,
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| Tuileries Garden |
but the heat was a bit over-powering, even while eating an ice-cream.
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| Too hot |
The children cooled off sailing their boats....
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| Sailing boats in the Tuileres |
and we went walking along the bank of the Seine.....
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| The Seine |
....enjoying the family barges visiting Paris for the Summer Holidays.....
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| Family barges |
...complete with their gardens.......
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| Holiday transport! |
and transport!!
On the way home we found Rock and Roll at La Défense. We joined in of course.
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| Rock and Roll |
Sat 16th July 2011
l'Opéra
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| Facade of the Paris Opera House |
This legendary building, with its velvet and gold, the setting for Phantom, is always exciting to visit.
This time we were lucky to buy two tickets for the last night of the last opera of the season, Mozart's 'Cose Fan Tutte'.
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| Up the grand staircase |
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| Curtain |
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| Chagall's Dome |
....up at the Chagall dome....
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| Audience arriving |
.... and out at the gentle curve of this exquisite theatre.
Then allowed all the charm of Mozart to transport us.
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| Cose Fan Tutte |
Sun 17th July 2011
I spent the day in Notre Dame.
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| Notre Dame |
At first I was a tourist with the crowd......
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| Rose Window |
......taking care to see the details of the 1000 years of architecture.
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| High Altar |
Then I found a seat between the altar, and the organ, and listened to the Choir of Selwyn College Cambridge, familiar from my time there many years ago.
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| The Cavaillé-Coll Organ |
Ben joined me for Evensong and we met a delightful man,
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| Cathedral friend |
who insisted on escorting us to his favourite restaurant near the Pompidou Centre, where we were welcomed as family and treated to a delicious meal.
Mon 18th July 2011
This was the day we explored the bus routes. Armed with a map and a fist full of tickets from Vassili, we caught our usual bus down the Champs Elyssée......
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| Place Charles de Gaulle where 12 roads meet |
and across to the Eiffel Tower.....
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| Up |
...where we ate nectarines in the park, gazing up at this familiar structure from an unfamiliar angle.
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| Under and up |
We wandered along the Seine, following a trail of iron sculptures, rusted and friendly.
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| Bad dog |
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| Holiday garden |
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| Ben and the rusty horse |
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| Chess game, frozen in time |
The Grand Palais
I had seen this grand glass building from a distance so often. It was an Exhibition Building in the 19th century and unlike the Crystal Palace in London, has survived to hold many more exhibitions.
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| The Grand Palais, looking up into its vast glass roof |
This painting of the Paris Exhibition of 1898, shows how exotic the exhibits, and the crowds, were then.
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| A 19th century Exhibition in The Grand Palais |
Monet's Waterlilies
My favourite art museum. The Monet was his gift after the Second World War to the city of Paris.
In two oval rooms, eight paintings hover, each his lily ponds in a different light.
He intended it as a gift of peace, not just from war but from the daily hustle of life.
The play of light is the essence of impressionism. Many other famous paintings hang in this long low building, the Winter citrus storage, for the nearby Louvre Palace perhaps?
We found Renoir...
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| Renoir |
Modigliani,
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| Modigliani |
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| Matisse |
Utrillo
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| Utrillo |
and some early Picasso.
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| Picasso |
We resolved to see Monet's famous waterlilies and his garden for ourselves.
