A little bit a London-More on Paris Trip Report
 

We flew SAA to Heathrow and were so lucky to be in Business Class for the long 10hr flight, but even being that comfortable does not detract from the sheer terror I felt when we had to fly through a lightning storm over central Africa. I can only commend the Captain of our flight not only for getting us safely through it but on his incredible capability and skill as we came in to land, only to find another plane on our runway! Suddenly from being inches off the ground we were zooming into the air again.
He apologised so calmly but I bet the air was blue in the cockpit (and between him and the control tower).
What a start to a holiday. It could only get better.
This is our umteenth time in London which I adore and this time we have come for the flowers.
Hotel of choice: Ibis, Cardington street. Modern, clean and reasonable at 79 pounds a room.
Nearest Underground: Euston Main station and Euston Square(almost same distance).
Mobile/cellphone hook-up: At Heathrow, new simcard & 'pay as you go' cards.
Came in on Picadilly line changing at Leicester Sq. to Euston. Lunch-time so straight into our room for a shower and change, then a quick bite at the station and a tube to Westminster. Longing to stretch our legs we took a walk in to big circle. Over the bridge, past County Hall and the "Eye" along the Thames to the Golden Jubilee Bridges. Crossing over and back along the other side. You get a wonderful feel of London with Big Ben looking down on the crowds. Just as we got down the steps on the oposite bank there is a cute little green "cab-mens" shelter which has been restored by several trusts, Mr. Jeffrey Archer & others (so the inscription reads).
Legs well stretched we jump back on the tube and head out to Clapham Common to see if we can find Nancy Lam's restuarant. I especially want to see Ben her long-suffering husband, and perhaps stay for dinner. No luck. Asked around but drew a blank. So back on the tube to Tottenham Court Road and one of our favourite lively eating spots, Waggammama. Still good after all these years. Time for bed but its still light. Took some getting used to.
Next day in brilliant sunshine we have wonderful crispy warm croissants and divine coffe at Euston station and off to the Chelsea Flower Show. All the expletives describe this exhibit and we spend the day ooing and aa-ing. Not to mention rubbing shoulders with Rolf Harris, Anthony Worrall-Thompson and seeing Charlie Dimmick doing an interview.
By early evening we are exhausted and head off by cab to Queensway and another good dining experience in times past, the Magic Wok. It is still very good.
The next day is to be a rendevous with a second cousin I have not seen since childhood and we leave Paddinton station by train to Bath in eager anticipation. She gets on at Chippenham and we spend a wonderful day together topping it off with lunch in the Pump Room.
Back in London it's time for a quick load of washing at the laundromat which just happens to be across the road from the Lord John
Russell Pub and enough time to down a pint or two. Its old and dusty and very basic but everyone is laughing and smiling and the atmosphere is relaxing. We collect the washing and have dinner at the hotel. Not too bad.
Still wonderful sunshine next day and we make for the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park. We had to take a cab from the station as it's quite a way. The rhodededrons are still around but most Azaleas are finished. It is a beautiful way to get fresh air and hear hundreds of birds calling. Not to mention the deer grazing all around. We decide to move on to Queen Mary's Rose Garden in Regents Park and take a cab back to the station at Richmond.
The roses are still mostly in bud with only a few in bloom. We have tea at the excellant restaurant there and stroll through the wonderful gardens. The entrance gates are magnificent in their black and gold iron- work.
In the evening it's theatre time and we attend "We will Rock You" - and they did.
Next day its check-out and off on the Eurostar to Paris!

Great trip report but WOW, what a terrible start! If you're back at home, I hope your return trip was not such a white knuckler, if you're still on vacation, enjoy and hope thoughts of the return trip aren't troubling you. Those storms in central Africa can be huge and difficult to fly around.

Hi Tod!

I know it was scary for the passengers because you are not in control of your fate, but go-arounds are not such a big deal for pilots. when you are learning to land, you actually learn go-arounds first. in fact when you are learning they tell you don't aim to land, aim to go-around, and if you land it is a bonus.

completely all in a days work for pilots, I know it's scary for passengers but since he saw the guy - no worries. now had he not seen him! then worry!

but you are right, I bet he and ATC had words!

glad you enjoyed your stay in London.

Thank you Skygirl for some solid advice. I am a control freak in a way and never been a happy chappy in the air but after so many trips I am starting to let go - then things like that happen. I won't let it set me back this time. Thanks BTilke, we are just in 10 days and coming back was a breeze.

tod: You flew Business class but stayed in 79eur hotel and go to laundromat? I hope you got a free uograde or used miles.

PARIS:
Never mind the plane, now theres a bomb-scare at Lille and we are well and truly delayed. Gare de Noord is teaming and the taxi queu is the longest I have ever seen. Finally we are able to go straight to our room at the Holiday Inn Opera, rue de L'Echiquier which is parrallel with Bd. de Bonne Nouvelle. Metro nearest of the same name. The area has the two thousand- odd seats Rex cinema. It is not a very attractive area but we only saw locals and maybe the odd tourist like ourselves. The hotel was lovely. Very French despite being in a "chain". Spotless, thick carpeting down the wide hallways, but a teeny weeny elevator!
Took a walk around the block to check out the cafe's etc. and ended up having dinner al fresco at Taverne Madelaine.
Very nice but not anything to write home about. And, I did order the half-bottle of wine and never left a drop!
Next day breakfast opp. our dinner rendevous at Le Gymnase, just another local brasserie. The croissants are awful - soft and cold.
We metro it to Pont Neuf and La Samaritaine as we need to hook up our mobiles again, and I want to see the unusual interior again. Last time had lunch at the Toupary restaurant which was great. In the book section on the top floor I find the most wonderful little book called Unexplored Paris by Rodolphe Trouilleux and Jacques Lebar and I buy the English version. It is a treasure. We can't help noticing a department for pet dogs and cats and I am blown away! Knew the French love their dogs but this was awesome.
Now we're off to Canal St.Martin and walk along under the trees. It's damn hot and we spy a gorgeous little cafe' called Le Chaland on Quai de Valmy. We luckily get seated inside the open French doors/windows and have a delightful lunch. It's packed with tables inches apart as we gaze onto the canal.
Continuing on we are just in time to climb aboard the Canaurama and we sail up into Basin de Villette, turn around and float down through at least 9 locks,
all the while accompanied by jolly French tunes to which a lot of the people are singing. What a fantastic trip! We moor at Porte de Arsenal with Colomne de Juliette at Place de la Bastille towering above.
We make our way to the Arc de Triomphe by metro where they are in the process of laying the D-Day wreaths. Then up in the lift to the top - something I have wanted to do for a long time. What a view! The Champs is crowded as we stroll down and have an espresso on the sidewalk.
With the sun still bright in the sky we metro it up the the Grand Arche la Defense. Well worth a visit an completely like nothing I've ever seen (even in Vegas). It's getting towards sundown by now and decide to go to my old stomping ground of Passy for dinner.
Just as you go up the hill from the metro station there is a group of oriental restaurants. We choose the first one and have a table outside.It's a brilliant warm evening and by now you must have guessed we love our Chinese food. Afterwards we walk down Boulevard
Delessert towards the Trocadero.
People watching is so amusing. A couple are standing just staring into each others eyes whilst hundreds of people move around them. Night begins to fall and as it darkens the little carousel near the Eiffel tower glows. All of a sudden that magical moment arrives and Tour de Eifel goes balistic with flashing lights! Below us some men start a drum-beat on bongo's and I am completely and utterly captivated. I don't want to leave this amazing sight but my bed is calling.....calling...calling.
More of our little taste of Paris later.
Lance is on TV and I must go.

mgmargate- if I siad 79e I made a typing error. The actual room price at Holiday Inn Opera is 240e but we got it for 179e on the internet. Sorry about that. Also we having thousands of airmiles to use up so an excuse to go to Paris is inevitable not so?

My error again, Irealise now you are refferring to London. Not 79e - 79 British pounds for Ibis. I don't take clothes that need a laundromat but my husband does as he is a jeans man. Also something you must realise is that our exchange rate is 12 to 1. Now thats heavy! We live in the third world you see.

tod: Actually we both erred,it was 79 pounds that you wrote at 179 makes more sense. As for the airmiles you sure picked a good route to use them.Happy travels.

tod: I responded before reading your second post,no big deal.As for Paris we've been 3 times ,time to try more exotic spots for us.

stupid question, maybe I missed this, do you live in South Africa? (SAA - South African Air?)

More Paris - We decide to chance breakfast at MacDonalds which is opposite to our unimpressive croissant place Le Gymnase. The three little croissants are crispy, hot and of course not the best Paris has to offer but better than before. We are on a mission so don't care too much. Place to visit today is a street market! We change trains at the Chaussee' d'Antin la Fayette metro and are intrigued by the half rounded ceiling painted with a Cistine Chapel effect. Clouds and figures floating - sure different. On course to Place d'Italie we finally hop off and start to make our way through the stalls of the 100 year old rambling Marche'Auguste Blanqui. Never ending generous displays of top quality veg & fruit, fish, cheeses on display. I go for a nice bag of cherries and at the end of the first section turn off up Rue des Cinq Diamants and walk up to the quartier known as "La Buttes-aux-Cailles" where in 1783 the residents had one of the best views of the montgolfiere as it floated overhead.
We see the pool deriving its water from a 500 metre well dug in the mid 9th century & following the cobblestone roads down again we head off to Belleville to check it out. We lunch at TinTin - yep, more Chinese.
Time for a Seine cruise so off to get the Bato-bus. We are so happy just to sit back and see those magnificent buildings left and right of us floating by. As the boat does a turn otherside Notre Dame we hear lively music and notice crowds dancing on the Quai Saint Bernard. One couple is practicing the tango some distance from the others.
After we get off back at the Eiffel Tower stop we go on to see Parc Buttes Charmont. Another fun carousel is in action and the kids are having fun. We stroll along licking our ice-creams and are very pleased the sun is still shining.
Next day breakfast is at Pain 0 croc and the fresh bagettes are lovely. The Place de la Concorde is our first stop and we check out Place Vendome as well.
Those two fountains are spectacular and there are two little ducks lazing around the obelisk. Over to the Tuilleries Gardens. The Irises have all but died off compared to last time in 2000. We reach the glass pyramid entrance of the Louvre and head towards rue de Rivoli. Down in the metro a lady is playing Ave Maria on her violin and the haunting melody resinates through the tunnel-like passages.
Cheers. I will conclude tomorrow.

Flygirl - yes indeed. Are you a pilot by any chance?

To continue..Wonderful sun greets us as we set off on a new day for Parc Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne. Down some pathways we find ourselves at the Orangie. Near the pond a magnificent peacock is strutting his stuff to the crowd. The rose garden is glorious and in full spate. Crunching along the pebble paths we take in the Irises. Just wonderful. Passing the villa built for Marie Antoinette in a bet, we meet a Scottish couple who reccommends a visit to Parc Vincennes. We decide to make full use of the weather and head for the bus stop.
The metro brings us out at Chateau de Vincennes which is under quite a lot of renovation. As we exit the other side an enchanting scene of a newly married couple posing for the photographers against the ancient backdrop has us amused. The groom in his effort to please is lounging precariously in an archway with nothing but the dry moat below!
Crossing over the street we ent Parc Floral de Paris. A little train like the one operating around Monmartre is ferrying people around and the place crowded. There are still lots of rhodedendrons and azaleas flowering.
The afternoon wears on and we feel we've done enough walking for one day and metro it back "to town" for an early dinner.
Chartier is filling up and we are seated at a table for 4 with an elderly
gent already tucking in. Polite hello's exchanged we look at the menu and as my french pronounciation is terrible we mark the items with a pen.
Well, the waiter nearly had a fit! The old geezer opposite explains that they only print so many menus for that day and it's passed around the dining-room.
We've confused everyone! We order and have a really nice chat (in English)about the Faubourg 40 years ago when it was vibrant and alive day and night. Now it is filled with the homeless as night falls. Our mate who has dined here two or three times a week since the war is joined by yet another french chap who doesn't speak a word and a lot of translating goes on. The whole experience in this cavernous eating house is not to be missed. The food isn't great but edible.
New day and it's drizzling. Armed with umbrellas we take the metro to St Michel Notre Dame. Shakespeare & Co are still closed and we walk around the corner up rue St.Julien -le- Pauvre passing the dreaded Esmerelda Hotel at which St.Cirq and I have both had bad experiences.
Calling in at St. Severin one of the finest medieval churches in the city we carry on investigating the ancient allys of the Latin Quarter. I photograph the "narrowest" house in Paris, No. 22 rue St.Severin. Not to be confused with the smallest house which is 39 rue du Chateau-D'Eau in the 10th., and the oldest dating from 1407 at 51 Rue de Montmorency not far from Rue Volta where for a long time No.3 was thought to be the oldest in Paris.
Walking up Blvd.St Germain we try to call in at the Cluny but its closed for the day. Passing le Deux Margots we opt for lunch at Cafe Flore as there is a seat in the window.
Can't miss a visit to Rue Cler (if you have never been there) and that's where we are next. I think it's beautiful and very fascinating. The trouble the stall/shop owners go to is obviously a passion for food. Everything is perfect! I look at the wine shop pictured in 'Eyewitness'- Paris, and see the same guy behind the counter as in the photograph. I give him a wave and he grins when he sees my book. Oh, to be famous!
We get to Ave.Rapp to have a look at that special Art Nouveau door and its really something.
We deicide to go back to the Rue de Faubourg St Antoine and get out the metro at Bastille. I am looking for a particular passage and not far up Rue Charonne I find Passage L'Homme. It is reminiscent of byegone days of the Faubourg. Paving stones are old and pitted with lots of vines creeping up the walls of the buildings on both sides. The same friendly corgi dog (in Richard Goodwins travel programme "Barging through France") comes out of a doorway wagging it's tail.
I give him lots of 'good dog' pats!
We continue strolling through this wonderful part of Paris before heading back to the hotel for dinner.

Such an interesting and fun report. Thank you.

oooh, you went to the Bagatelle! I always mean to go there, but it's a hike & I end up doing so many other things. My Dad bought me a beautiful photo/coffee table type book on that Parc many years ago, but I still have not made the poke over there. I must go, next time.

re: pilot - not yet, working on it. still a student! although they say a good pilot is always learning so I guess I will always be a student no matter what level.

Great report. Like Flygirl I have had a perrenial spot on my Paris to do list reserved for the Bagatelle. From your report I now have decided it will be worth the effort to check it off--next time.

Last Day Paris;
After hot coffee & bagettes we set off for Rue Mouffetard and exit the metro at Censier Daubenton. Starting at the bottom we make our way slowly up the hill stopping every few minutes to take in the busy shops with displays as good as Rue Cler. Halfway up I grab a seat outside a cafe' and listen to an old man with a "frou-frou" strapped around
his neck and turning the handle while he sang along with the beautiful french tunes. No missing a beat he threads another cardboard into the top and he's away with "Mademoiselle De Paris". I could have sat there for hours.
We reach Place de la Contrascarpe with it's little village-like square filled with cafe's and restaurants. We cut down
Rue Lacepede, up Rue Monge and enter the Are'ne du Lutece. In it's time this Roman amphitheatre was the second biggest circus in Gaul before it's decline in the 4th century. What you see today is only a restoration on the underlying remains.
In Rue Monge are also the remains of the medieval wall.
Walking on we are now on the hill called
Montagne Ste. Genevieve and sitting at the top, the mighty Pantheon.
After 2 hrs.marvelling at the interior we are back in the sunshine and stand on the corner of Rue St.Jacques and the Rue Soufflot. I have to give you this quote from the book "Timeless Places" by Judith Pasternak. She writes;
"You'll see ahead of you, just across the Seine, the fifteenth-century Tour St.Jacques rising out of the mists of the river. On your right is the great dome of the Panteon; A mile(1.6km) away on your left, towering over the mists, the Eiffel Tower; and behind you, The Arenes De Lutece. You are truly at the corner of the centuries.
You are also at the corner of today and tomorrow. For more than any other city of the Western World, Paris is both a city of yesterday and a city of now, timeless rather than frozen in time"
Unfotunately for us there was no mist and the Tour St.Jacques was covered in scaffolding, but nevertheless I felt awestruck at the history surrounding me.
We metro it back to the Ile De La Cite
We want to visit St.Chapelle but its closed for 4 days. We walk along quai de L'Horloge past the Conciergerie and Place Dauphine. Over Pont Neuf and down the steps to Square de Vert-Galant. This part of our trip to Paris is a pilgrimage for me. I love to sit under the willow tree at the very end and watch the river traffic.
As I get near the tip of the island I sense something is wrong. Then I notice it. My beautiful willow tree has gone. All thats left is a sandy patch. I'm heart broken.
Oh well, back along the quai side past the flower market crammed with all sorts of interesting stuff, we go and stand on Point Zero outside Notre Dame.
The hedges nearby are alive with little birds fluttering and eating out of peoples hands.
As it's late afternoon we make for Sacre-Coeur to catch that wonderful view of Paris. We get off at Abbesses and I make a stop at La Boutique des Anges on rue Yvonne le Tac and pick up some heavenly music on a CD. We go up on the funiculair and spend a wonderful time looking at the artists, having coffee, and remembering things we did on times previous, like my son having his portrait sketched - mum and I resting our legs on the cafe chairs while having a drink, and so on.
We take the little train down to Pigalle.
Heading for home we stop for dinner at the teeniest little Chinese restaurant at 16 Rue Thoral cnr. Bonne Nouvelle.
It's brightly flashing lights beckon us inside and we are very impressed with the spotless interior. The service is attentive and the food glorious.
Couldn't have ended our stay in Paris on a better note.
Tomorrow we take the train to Chartres to pick up our car-hire. Then into the french countryside via Le Loire until we reach Mont.St.Michel.
Armed with my new book "Unexplored Paris" there is no doubt in my mind that I will be back. Many, many times.
I hope you will too! Cheers.

Flygirl/JulieVikmanis - I am glad to inspire you to visit the Bagatelle Gardens but it is definitely a hike if you choose the wrong metro stop like us.
I think we chose Sablons(I've underlined it in my book) but even Porte Maillot, Porte Dauphine & Porte Auteuil are far from the entrance to the actual gardens. We did hop on a bus to get us partway back but my advice is get a bus or cab to the gate!