Sunday morning in Paris- 15 April

One thing I had googled before my arrival was which church might have some good organ music at Sunday Mass, and the answer seemed to be 'St Sulpice', so I caught the metro in that direction on Sunday morning.

 The Square outside the church had an ornate fountain, and was filled with sculpture.

 I'd arrived somewhat early and the place was fairly deserted just after 9am, but a quick glance at the church noticeboard confirmed I was in the right place for organ music.

 This was yet another place where 'spring' was shouting out its very presence. Paris seems to announce spring very definitely.

 I could see from my map that the Luxembourg gardens were not far away so I wandered there: you never seem to be far from a park or gardens in Paris.

There were many sculptures of various ages and styles, and lots of tulips in flower. This one was 'Le Triomphe de Silene'.

And this was by Zadkine- 'Le poete ou hommage a Paul Eluard'. (Sorry for lack of accents- I still have to work out how to do them on this new laptop.) I got into slight trouble with a security guard when I took this photo as I had stepped onto the grass!

And of course, there were more signs of glorious spring at the park, even if it was cold this Sunday morning, and I had my jacket firmly on.

 

I returned to St Sulpice for the Mass, but it was the organ playing I was really there for, and yes, it was superb. I have a short section captured as video on my camera, but it is 'huge' in terms of megabytes and haven't worked out how to 'reduce' it for the blog yet...

They still have 'sanity' in France: most shops remain firmly closed on Sundays (though I noticed many were open when I returned in late June and the 'sales' were on). I took a few photos of shop windows instead- many small clothes shops were in evidence- there is still a lot of individuality that hasn't been devoured by 'chains'.

I knew enough to search for a meal at lunchtime so I didn't miss out on eating, and found a 'beer' restaurant open, where I fortified myself for more walking in the afternoon.

Paris in Springtime

Two long plane trips had taken me from autumn at home in New Zealand and deposited me into springtime in Paris. I arrived on Friday morning and that afternoon I was meeting up with Liliane, a Camino friend from 2008, who helped me to get a pilgrim credential ready for my walk from Cluny.

Then she took me exploring in the Marais district in Paris, which was where she had grown up as a little girl. So she was very familiar with the Place des Vosges which was her favourite square in Paris.

Liliane showed me all sorts of places like this church, St Paul's, where she was married, the school she attended as a child, and where her childhood apartment was. I was very lucky to have such a personal guided tour- it was a lovely afternoon.

Next day I explored some more of Paris on my own. I always enjoy seeing the many varied styles of French restaurants (and eating in them!)

I wandered along the Seine, and heard some bells ringing. I thought there might be a wedding nearby, but it turned out to be a monastic community that was singing Office in one of Paris' many old churches- St Gervais St Protais -such a heavenly sound. Their Alleluias just soared into the arches- an unexpected 'pearl' on my walk.

 Paris is such an interesting city to wander in, full of so many sights, from bicycles...

 ...to beautiful flower gardens...

 ...to statues and fountains of varied kinds...

There was one other job I had to do before the weekend passed by: I wanted to buy a basic mobile and French SIM card. At the hostel they told me that Darty, an electronics shop just around the corner, would be a good place to try. And so it turned out to be:- the service I got there was excellent.

Singapore Flyer- 12 April

As part of my stopover package I was able to get free entry to a few places, and I decided to try the Singapore Flyer.

 When I drew near, the size of it loomed tall, and I was a bit intimidated by the height it would travel upwards.

 But it was all quite fascinating- and seeing how sturdily it was built was very interesting. I was in a capsule with two Danish men and two Russian women, so it felt quite international.

 And as we turned around slowly, there was a storm building up in the sky nearby. That was fascinating to watch from on high as well.

The first clap of thunder was quite something. It didn't start raining until I was about to leave the Flyer, but I stayed on the SIA Stopover bus until it was easing off.

I had a bit of a wander in Chinatown, and lunch.... then I hopped back on until we reached the Botanical Gardens.

And I finished off the afternoon with a swim in the hotel pool, which I had all to myself...

Little India -12 April

 

 When daylight dawned this was my view over the buildings of Singapore.

 And right below my hotel room I could see the top of this Hindu temple.

 Here are some of the figures from the temple frontage.

 And near the temple was this colourful stall where people could buy garlands etc as offerings.

 I took a wander and saw a great variety of low buildings in Little India. With the huge amount of modernisation that has taken place in Singapore, it was good to know something 'old' remained.

This is the outdoor view of the hotel I stayed in. I was right up on the top floor at the left hand end, which is why I had such great views.

Leaving Home- 11 April

Now I'm home I've been able to look at all the photos I took during my trip on my camera... I will share a few of the 'non-walking' photos on this blog- and will let you know where/when I post some of the 'walking' ones.
First up are a few pics from the day of departure. (You can click on the photos to see larger versions.)

 Here's my little home airport in Palmerston North, and from upstairs I could see my pack about to be loaded onto the plane.

 At Auckland Airport I spied this All Blacks plane on the tarmac- though I never flew in it.

I have usually been budget-conscious and stayed in hostels - but there was a special stopover deal with Singapore Airlines that was too good to resist. I wasn't too sure what my hotel - the Grand Chancellor- was going to be like. I had gone for the cheapest option and wasn't sure how it would pan out, but as you can see I had a lovely room. The foyer was quite noisy when I arrived, with some noisy tour groups, but they must have been in another part of the hotel, and I had a lovely quiet room, and had a great night's sleep.

 From my room at night there was a wonderful view of the city below.

The hotel was right in the middle of Little India. It was early evening local time when I arrived so I headed off for a walk before I tried to sleep. There was lots of colour, and plenty to see.

Ice skating

It's amazing what has changed /moved in my three months away from town, but the most surprising thing was finding an ice-skating rink in the middle of the Square. It's not 'natural' and it's not cheap ($20 an adult and $15 per child) but it's very popular and there have been crowds of people here each time I've passed by...

Little Viper

The moment when I realized some of those bits of broken shoe laces  I had seen along the way were in fact vipers!!!  I hope this one was a dead viper!!!!

Murphy's Law Arrival

Murphy's Law Arrival
aka thick fog in Auckland

Well, a smooth transition onto a domestic flight home was not to be. First indication of the disruption was when the pilot of our large plane from Singapore said that conditions on the ground were 'hazy'. He wasn't kidding by half: you could barely see a meter from the window. It's lucky we were on such a modern aircraft with all it's instruments, as I heard of other large international planes that had to turn back or divert.

First indication of the fun ahead came when I couldn't check my baggage in at the international terminal. But it was still only mid-morning and there were still a couple of hours for the fog to clear before my next flight. Check-in was 'suspended' but the flight wasn't yet cancelled...

When you see TV news pictures of the chaos caused with these kind of airport disruptions, you usually get to see the crowds of people. But what you don't see is how much queuing then becomes involved. Once your flight is cancelled you queue to get another time.... If the new flight gets cancelled, you queue again... There are queues to use the phones, and queues to get accommodation. I must admit, I was feeling quite tired and it was hard to be patient when home and bed were so near but so far...

When my second Palmy flight was cancelled, I decided to try booking on one of the big Wellington planes instead, as they were still flying. I was booked to fly out at 6am, and the lovely smiling young woman at Auckland tourism booked me into a nearby motel for the night that did early airport transfers in its room price.

Auckland airport was still fogbound this morning, but my Wellington flight flew. Then I caught a shuttle to the railway station and found I had 20 minutes to get a seat on the Northerner train due to depart. Now I am en route north for Palmy, and the sun is even shining.

Full credit to the Air New Zealand staff involved with all the bookings yesterday. They were unfailingly polite despite the pressures. But there weren't enough ground staff on hand to deal with the problems. People queued in the wrong places etc. They really needed more people on desks, plus a few more 'triage' people working down the queue lines, helping to answer questions etc.

But all that is behind me, and I am on the train home!


Sent from my iPod

Dusk at Changi

Not toooo long to go now before departure!

Waiting waiting

I am not the only one waiting for a departure in Changi.....

Sanity

Ahhhhh the sanity of old age. I am glad I have left some of my ultra-tight travel budget habits behind in my youth. Paying for a bed in the transit hotel at Changi Airport was a Very Wise Move. I feel much better for some sleep and two showers...

Sent from my iPod

High above the globe

High above the globe

Just before 11pm Singapore Time.

It's an awfully long way back home! We have been moving towards 'night-time' since we left Paris at midday and soon it will overtake us for most of the rest of the journey, still more than seven and a half hours.

I love checking in on the flight info screens on the seatback. We've just cleared the Caspian Sea, and seem to be above Turkmenistan. We flew north of the Caucasus Mountains and now seem to be flying over very barren land, though there is what looks to be a greener area just south of us, perhaps a river delta.

11.30pm Sing. time

Now we are passing into what is dawn for this part of the world but effectively dusk for us, and the sky outside has a beautiful pinkish tinge.

3am Sing. time
Wide awake but so is most of the plane, as despite the dark skies outside, it's still an 'awake' time of the evening where we have come from in Paris. I have just watched a great movie set in India, with Dame Judi Dench and a bunch of other superb 'old' actors. The time passed quickly as I flew over India as it happened, and now we have left India behind and are over the Bay of Bengal.

Sent from my iPod

Sitting in CDG

Sitting in CDG

I am in the departure lounge now ready for my flights home. My pack had a special red sticker with a 3 on it, for my three flights, and I had to put it on a special trolley rather than have it go down the normal check-in chute. The lovely check-in lady enjoyed learning how to say 'Palmerston North' as well!

So this is it for my travels, and I am on the way home...


Sent from my iPod

Goodbye Paris!

Am getting ready to farewell Paris and France.... This is the hotel I stayed in. Simple but very clean, with friendly people running it, and in a great spot in Montmartre.

Big Kid

I'm just a big kid at heart. These sculptures are some of my favourite things in Paris!

Sunday in Paris

Sunday in Paris

Had a great evening last night in a small town not far out of Paris with friends from my Camino in 2008. I was made very welcome. Liliane cooked a Basque recipe and we looked at some 2008 photos. Then I had a small but sufficient experience of traffic on the motorway on the edges of Paris, before we headed onto a quieter road that took us past the forest and chateau of Vincennes and the statue of St Louis.

I slept very well again in my quiet hotel room, longer than I intended. (Will need to set the alarm on Tuesday morning to get to the airport at the proper time!)

I had decided to head to Notre Dame to hear the music at the Gregorian Mass and it didn't disappoint. The French seem to have an endless supply of excellent cantors to lead such events, and the organ music was exciting.

Next I rediscovered how many kilometers one can walk as a tourist in a city like Paris. I began in the Quartier Latin, where I had some lunch, then took to the banks of the Seine and headed to the Musee de l'Orangerie.

It's been third time lucky for me to see this treasure trove of art. In 2006 it was closed for renovation, and when I arrived in Paris this time it was closed because of a nearby Sarkosy rally. But this time I even hit the 'free' Sunday. And I so loved seeing works by Renoir, Picasso, Gauguin, Cezanne and other Impressionists. And to see some of Monet's waterlily paintings was very special and humbling. It almost seemed like the old man was still there, noticing the play of light on the pond as it changed each day.

I arrived back in my hotel room in time to catch a bit of the Tour de France on the tv. Then wandered around Montmartre with the evening tourist hordes. I am clearly in tourist land when the most common tongue I hear around me is American.

Now I am watching Spain vs Italy in the European Cup final. Spain are 2-0 ahead at this stage. To my non-expert and probably biased eye, it seems to me that Spain are showing more determination, teamwork and control- and Italy are hoping individual flair and some dramatic effects for the referee will win the day.

One day left for some Parisian exploring...


Sent from my iPod

Concorde

When I arrived in Paris at the beginning of my trip you couldn't use the metro station at Concorde as there was a huge political rally for Sarkozy in this space. More space here today!

Rodin's kissing couple

I went to the Musee de l'Orangerie this afternoon. Many marvellous paintings there, including some great female nudes by Renoir of women with corpulent figures... And outside was this great sculpture by Rodin.

Glittering Bridge

I took a route along the Seine today, and crossed a bridge I hadn't been over before. I saw the sides of the bridge glittering in the sunlight as I approached, and thought it was modern art. Turns out that many, many couples have attached padlocks there with their names on...

Lunch in Paris

I am not far from Notre Dame here, in the Quartier Latin- but down a side street the menu price is far more reasonable. I am about to eat some traditional French food for lunch including boeuf bourgignon. Which I can't spell! Or pronounce.