Paris Birthday

We woke up back in London and went to our local to have a catch up with James and Miriam, relaying the tales of our last week and a bit. We returned to the flat where we repacked our bags and I finished some pressing work.

Nadia and I walked up to Angel to get something to eat before returning to the local to have a coffee with Nadia’s friend Finn Andrew (of a band called the Veils) to discuss a series of shows that He and Nadia are doing together back in NZ in October.

A pleasant hour passed and we returned to the flat for final prep for our next jaunt. We walked to Angel station with our bags and rode to London Victoria and boarded the Gatwick Express. After some hours milling around, we were on our way to Paris. It’s funny with European international flights that you often spend more time waiting at the airport than you do in the air, as you are required to be at the airport 2 hours before, but the flight time, in this case, was just 45 minutes.

We landed just after 8pm local time and got in a cab to our Airbnb. We are staying in 2nd arr, very close to Notre Dame and The Louve. The place is on the first floor of a narrow and tall lane and is bare essentials. One room, with a kitchen, a little living area, and a loft bed. We were let in by the owner Ludo who gave us the rundown of what was around.

Once our bags were down we went for a little walk to get our bearings and find something to eat. Our place is very close to a large number of eateries that seemed to be frequented mostly by locals. We found a creperie and had a glass of wine before heading back to our place and snoozing.

The next morning I left the apartment to seek a boulangerie for an assortment of morning pastries. We had coffee and croissant in our room and read our books for a while before seizing the day and seeing some sights.

It is properly summer in Paris, none of this overcast and vaguely warm that London had been offering. We walked down to the river and around Notre Dame cathedral, which was, of course, all blocked off from the fire, including the whole square in front.

We followed the barricade around and behind it and headed over the other side, stopping at a supermarket for some bits and went to have a picnic in Luxembourg Park.

We headed down the sneaky streets toward the Eiffel Tower. It was busy and the sun was hot at this stage so we didn’t hang around but did get the obligatory photo. I didn’t recall the tower being walled off last time, but it now sports a containing wall around the perimeter, so if you want to walk under if you must go through security.

We got the metro back to the room and got some bits for an easy apartment dinner. Nadia napped and I went for a walk before going for one final stroll together then going to bed.

On Thursday we walked the Coulée Verte René-Dumont, a raised garden path on an old railway line. We walked halfway down it, stopped to have lunch in the shade and continued down. We stopped when we arrived at Jardin de Reuilly, a great little park with lots of shade. The days are super hot at the moment, especially between 11 and 3. It’s not possible to be in it directly for very long. So we took shelter in the park with some cold drinks and read for a few hours before we found out way back.

Friday was Nadia’s Birthday. I snuck out early to get breakfast, croissants and cheeses and cherry tomatoes and came home, sneakily arranging everything with a few gifts I’d bought over with me. She awoke, we ate and read.

We leave the house and walk up to Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, where we sit surrounded by greenery and drink some bubbly. After an hour and a half, we made our way back to retreat from the sun for a few hours. Come evening we took the train up to 18 arr. to a vegetarian restaurant that Nadia had found. We ate and strolled through the hot evening streets.

We trained back to our neighborhood for another wee rest before one final walk down to Pont Neuf to watch the Eiffel Tower lighten up and twinkling, via a crepe. A lovely birthday day.

Birthday breakfast

Bubbly in the Park

A Shepard Fairey (I think)

Saturday, our travel day. We took breakfast down at a lovely little cafe down the road, with bags in hand. We made our way to a park near Gard du Nord and had a lie in the grass before walking to the station and catching the train to the airport. The flight was smooth and we were back in the UK just after 5pm, where it was also very hot.

James and Miriam had invited us for a birthday dinner at a lovely Italian place just up the road from their house, so after we dropped off our bags and cleaned ourselves up we went for a lovely meal, outside in the balmy London evening, followed by a swift pint and one of the last remaining, proper old British pubs in the neighborhood. Then, bed.