May 10, May 11 - Days in Paris

     May 10- A Rainy Sunday in Paris and...we were robbed, too!

    We knew that it would rain later in the day, so we had an early start, deciding to have a walking/exploring day.

     We walked from our flat into the Marais, stopping at Barbara's favorite sock store on Vieille du Temple where she got 3 pairs and Mark got one pair.

      We walked onto the bridge to Ile St. Louis and sat watching the world go by. People were out enjoying themselves.

       We had coffee in the square by the Hotel de Nice where we have gone before - coffee/croissants.

        Then, we decided to walk down the Rue de Rivoli, past the Louvre and toward the Opera to find a restaurant we ate at in 2013! It started to rain about then and we found the restaurant, Higuma,  in time not to get too wet.  Mark had curried chicken and Barbara had fried rice with shrimp and pork.

        By the time we got out, it really began to pour. We walked about half a mile to the nearest subway and were very wet. 

         We had begun to be worried about Barbara's wallet which was not in her handbag, which is unusual. However, she had used it in the morning to book a room in Wimbledon. So, we expected/hoped it would be in our flat. It was not.

        We thought it might have been left at the sock shop, so we took an Uber to save time and also because it was raining. Just before we got into the pre-paid Uber, Barbara got a notice asking her if a transaction made on her Visa card was hers and we realized that she had had it stolen right from out of her zipped purse sometime during the day. We had already paid for the Uber, so we checked with the store and with the coffee shop anyhow. But, we knew by then that it had been stolen.

          We came back to the flat and got into action. Barbara called Amex; Mark called Visa; Barbara called our bank. Both our Visas are now cancelled and not usable as they are the same account number. We will not be able to get the replacements till June when we get home.  Mark's Amex card will still work as those cards have different numbers. But, Amex isn't taken most places here, so that will be a nuisance. However, it looks like the digital Visa may work and Barbara's digital Amex might work. Plus, Mark's debit card from the bank will work - either to withdraw money from an ATM or as a debit card/credit card from our bank. He's already taken 200 Euros so that we have some money. Plus, Amex will wire money with no extra fees if we decide we want to do that. We hope we won't have to do that as we don't want to carry large amounts of cash.

        The thieves worked fast, though. There were 3-4 purchases on the Visa, mostly from a sports store. There were 2 purchases on the Amex and a small charge on the debit card which is weird as you are supposed to use a pin. But, all will be covered. Whew. 

       So, we went from real alarm to being mostly calm. We have traveled many miles in many countries and have never been robbed before. We were not mugged. Thus, we put it in perspective and will not let this ruin the rest of our trip.

       

     

From Lille to Paris, May 8 & 9

May 8

  We had a slow start on our drive to Paris, taking the time for one last coffee at a nearby café in Lille. It was about a 3 hour drive, but we stopped twice for gas - at both stations, our Visa card was refused, but, luckily, we had cash.

    Returning the rental car to the Gare de Lyon was quite a pain as the company gave us the wrong address to return the car. So, we parked by Hall 1 and walked to Hall 3 (quite a walk) to be told to go back and get the car and bring it to the right address - which we did. Then, we took 2 Metros to our stop, Oberkamph and walked to Rue de la Prieur where we will be for 5 nights

     We continue to have challenges getting into flats! We got into the building, but could not figure out where the keybox was to the flat and did not have the flat's number either. Evidently, we had neglected to watch the video! We had all the numbers, but didn't know where the flat was. At any rate, the caretaker met us after about a 15 minute wait and we got into this funky apartment which will be hard to describe. 

   

  The ground level has our bedroom, shower (in the bedroom), kitchen and sitting room. There are stairs to go down into the bedroom and then stairs to go back up to the shower in the same room. We will have to be very attentive.

      Then, the basement level (rather crypt-like) has the toilet! To access it you have to go down rather steep, metal spiral stairs! And, the washer. There is also a sitting room, but we cannot imagine either of us sitting down there. It is really an elderly person's nightmare with lots of places to fall. So - we will be really careful. And...are we really elderly? So soon?

       So, after arriving (around 4:15) and settling in, we walked to a nearby boulangerie and Franprix to get food. We made a salad and had some baguette and cheese.

May 9

 

  What a wonderful day! First, it was a gorgeous sunny day. Secondly, we had the whole day to spend with Claudia Butler.

     We took the subway and then walked to the Bibliotheque Nationale and sat in a garden and waited for Claudia. First, we went to eat with her at a tiny Japanese restaurant in the area and then we went into the gorgeous library.

      Then, we went to the Palais Royal garden and had coffee/tea and cookies. It was so relaxing. We chatted and caught up with each other's lives. Parisiens were out in force enjoying their public spaces and their children. Of course, there were tourists, too.

     

We walked to the Louvre area to find the bus was cancelled due to demonstrations nearby. So, we took a taxi to Claudia's beautiful neighborhood, not far from the Eiffel Tower. Rue Cler is a pedestrianized street where we shopped at individual stores gathering food for dinner - a florist, a butcher's shop, a boulangerie, a vegetable and fruit store. So much fun.

      Then we went to her flat on Rue de Grinelles which is astonishing. It is spacious with huge French doors onto a very large balcony. It is so Parisien and perfect for Claudia who loves her life here. 

         Friends of hers who spent half their year in Sydney, Australia and half in the Loire Valley joined us. Claudia served roasted chicken with new potatoes with parsley, asparagus with tarragon, bread and salad. Dessert, an apricot tarte, was brought by Ann and Barry.

   

   Terrific conversation, beautiful Spring evening. We got home around 10:15. It was a perfect day in Paris.

May 6 & 7 in Lille

 May 6

     

Today was a bit chilly and grey. We drove to the Musee des Beaux-Arts and spent most of the day there. It is in a beautiful, grand building. We spent the morning on one floor, took a lunch break at a Vietnamese restaurant, and then went back into the crypt-like lower floor to look at the Medieval art.

     We had a small moment of stress when we realized that we needed the parking ticket to get back to the car...and it was in the car. We couldn't access the stairs or elevator to get there. So, we walked down the car ramp and retrieved it. Whew! The challenges of travel where practices are different.

     A far larger stress occurred later when we got an email that the flat we've rented in Paris (in two days) had water damage. They said they had to either cancel us or rebook us in another flat. Clearly, we took the other flat, but the process was convoluted and difficult. It took about an hour between the phone (What's App) and the computer filling out forms to: 1. rebook a new place which involved starting a fresh reservation, 2. cancel the old one entirely - more forms. Ugh.

Now, fingers crossed that it all works out. It is a bit disappointing as we'd been excited about staying near the Seine in the one that was cancelled and going to an entirely new area for us. Another adventure. And, these things happen when we travel, but...they can be stressful.

May 7

  Today we decided to walk Vieux Lille and that is what we did. We discovered large, beautiful squares we had not seen before as well as little cobbled alleys.

   We sat by the Cathedral for a while watching people set up for some sort of filming and watching many groups of students on field trips.

     We saw large buildings in grand squares including the ornate Bourse, the Opera House etc.

     We had a lovey French lunch at Les Compagnons de la Grappe. Mark had a Flemish stew with salad. Barb ara had a salmon pavé with rice.

      

May 4 & 5 - Lille

 May 4 

We left Honfleur after breakfast and drove via toll roads to Lille which took about 4 hours and cost about 38 Euros, so - not cheap. We stopped en route for a coffee and a yogurt.

We had some difficulty getting into the flat in Lille as the directions were extensive, but not particularly clear. We understood that we'd have to get into the parking first and then pick up the keys. We simply could not figure out where the parking was and eventually called the concierge service and the woman explained that we had to get into the building first and then open the doors to the parking place inside. This all took quite some time as she did not call right back and we were getting frustrated.

 We did get in (4 rue l'entrepot) and the flat is pretty disappointing - very sparse and cheap. Examples: 2 towels, a hanging lightbulb, a missing lightbulb in laundry nook, 2 rolls of toilet paper... But, the worst was that the WiFi did not work. So, we had to call back. As calls cost us, the concierge and Barbara eventually switched to What's App. We had to take photos of the modem etc etc. Someone had changed the name of the network and the password! After about half-an-hour, we were "on." It was rather a discouraging start with a lot of wasted time.

The neighborhood seems a bit dingy and rundown, too and not what we expected.

But, we took a walk to the nearest little grocery store and things began to look up. In those few blocks, the neighborhoods dramatically improved. Students were everywhere and we heard music being rehearsed at a school for music and drama.

Note: Jecca accomplished her first leg of her hike in Cornwall, going from St. Ives to Zennor.

May 5

Today we set out for an outdoor/indoor market in Wazemmes, a district of Lille. It was huge and raucous and crowded. It was largely cheap clothing and housewares, but also stalls and stalls of fruits and vegetables with hawkers outdoing each other in their calls for customers. We heard a lot of Arabic and it felt a little bit like Egypt.

We bought potatoes and tomatoes and wandered happily, despite being quite chilly. 

We had a delicious meal at a Thai restaurant near the market. 

Then, we drove back to our flat and took a walk to Vieux Lille, a surprisingly short distance. It is somewhat pedestrianized with an eclectic group of buildings from various eras. 

We also went into the Notre-Dame-de-la Treille Cathedral which is quite unusual. It is on the site of a very old chapel, but in the 1850s a group decided that Lille needed a big church.

They wanted it to be Gothic in design. For many reasons, including war and money problems, the church was not completed until 1999! Parts of it look old and Gothic and parts are quite modern.

We wandered the old quarter and came "home" to have nibbles - baguette, cheese from Pont l'Eveque, butter from St. Malo and some small potatoes with that delicious butter we've been saving.

May 3 Honfleur on a rainy day

Looking down at Honfleur from near our hotel

Today we had another nice breakfast at the hotel. 

Then we took off for the big beach below Honfleur where the is the Garden of Personalities with heads/busts of famous people associated with Honfleur. We got about a mile into our walk when the heavens opened up and it bucketed rain.

Tanker going by while we huddled under a tree trying to be out of the rain, but we got soaked!

We had no choice but to walk back and got completely soaked. It was not too cold (low 60s) and no harm done. 

Before the downpour!

We sat in the car and warmed up and then drove to Pennedepie, a small village outside of Honfleur where we found an Argentinian bistro, Moulin St Georges. Mark had a huge burger with fries and Barbara had 3 tapas. All were good, not spoiled by our wet legs and feet.

Moulin St Georges

Jecca arrived last night in Portsmouth and today is taking 3 different trains to St. Ives where she will start her hike on the Coastal Path in Cornwall. Fingers crossed she won't get much rain.

Jecca's photo from the Coastal Path

May 2- Honfleur

 

Today we had breakfast with Pete and Shirley before they left for home. They drive their car onto the Eurostar and it's only about 35 minutes under the Channel.

 We drove down the hill into Honfleur and found a parking spot by the garden on the outskirts. As it's a bank holiday weekend for May Day, there were crowds of people. We were lucky to get a parking spot, for sure.

  Anyhow, we wandered the streets looking for a vegetable market, but mostly found stalls of clothing and souvenirs. It was a nice wander, though.

Then, we picked up a sandwich to split and went to a bench in a park before heading back to our hotel where we spent several hours reading before going down for a meal. We took walks before and after the meal looking at the big estates in this neighborhood as well as the small chapel built in the 1600s.

Steeple across from its church!

May 1 - May Day in Normandy - Trouville

 Today we ate breakfast at the hotel and then we took off to Trouville, another seaside town in Normandy. It was crowded as it is a three-day weekend holiday, but we managed to find a good parking spot. We then strolled to a beach-side cafe and had coffees.

   

Afterwards, Shirley and Barbara put our toes in the cold water, but the sand was fine and warm. These beaches are so side that they absorb a lot of people without seeming at all crowded.

   We walked a bit of Trouville and found a place for lunch; I think we all had salads so that we'd have room for dinner. Then, a bit more strolling but rain was imminent, so we went back to Honfleur.

    Shirley and Barbara walked to a 15th Century tiny church nearby and got back just in time for a thunderstorm