Finding Ang and Kirst in France

So far behind now, hard to know where I left off.

I think it’s back to Roma…so hot and sticky again. Days spent organising myself to move on. Getting boarding passes, organising how to get to and from airports etc etc. Loads of washing on the go…you know the drill.

Friday was basically packing up day and I went out to absorb a bit of Rome to last me til I get back.

Chris and I went out for a meal on Friday night along the Tevere, as always a relaxed and enjoyable walk and meal. We walked home along the river which is just abuzz at this time of year.

Saturday morning I was being picked up by the shuttle service to go to the airport at 6am so it was an early start to get myself and 2 cases down the stairs ready to go by then.

All went well on the flight and I was at the hotel before one. It is a small, very French and very cute hotel ‘Latour de Maubourg’, in a fabulous position but don’t try to swing a cat…not possible!

Obviously just so wonderful to finally see Angus after a year. Also to finally meet ‘Freddy’ in the form of a bump…oh and Kirst of course!!!!!

When you travel with Angus you hit the ground running I can tell you. I now have my first blister in nearly a year…
But first we had a lovely lunch in a delightful little French restaurant, some wine and a catch up. It felt both wonderful and surreal to be sitting in a little French restaurant in Paris, with Ang and Kirst at last.

My only problem is that I’ve been rendered totally non-lingual in that I have no idea what’s coming out of my mouth and indeed what should come out of my mouth. I can’t even remember to speak English which is what I should be doing given that I can’t speak anything else!!

After lunch we went walking. Along the Seine to The Louvre to meet Liz and Dave (for those who don’t know Kirst’s mum and bro) who were exploring this massive keeper of beautiful things. Once we had met up with them we sat in the shade in the Jardin des Tulleries for a while just to chat and absorb the atmosphere. We then walked back to the hotel which is where I acquired my blister because I was in sandals unaccustomed to long(ish) walks and sweaty feet.

It was a short break at the hotel before we headed off for drinks and then dinner at Le Grande Colbert. This was once again a fabulous meal and once again Ang and I shared a magnificent Chateaubriand…to die for!! I had a most delicious Foie Gras for entree and desert doesn’t bear description!! Lovely wines, wonderful food and a great night.

Next morning was an 8am start…I was tardy and had to be fetched!! We then had coffee (crap coffee in France and about 6 times more expensive than Italy…just for the record this was a 6 Eu coffee!! Italy 1.20 for 100% better coffee).

We headed off to the Champs Elysees and walked up to the Arch de Triumph. Dave climbed it while the rest of us sat and watched the tourists (of course never feeling like one of them!!). Then we got on the Metro to go Montmartre and of course Up to Sacre Couer.

Now for me this is where a bit of a disaster struck for the first time on my travels. Liz and I went to take the funicular up the hill (this will teach me to be lazy) while the others walked up. Somehow, and I have no idea how, a large amount of money was lifted out of my purse. Literally just the money lifted out. It was so unfortunate in that I am so very careful usually but I had taken 1000Eu out the night before and when I do that I always tuck most of it into a zipped area but we were having drinks at the time and I didn’t do it……..mistake A. So somehow or another (and I am tormented to know how) someone snatched the whole bloody lot out of my purse. Presumably while I was holding it open to buy the ticket for the funicular. I guess it could have been worse, at least I still have my purse and everything it contains (cards etc).

So, moving right along and refusing to let it ruin anything. We walked around the streets of Montmartre for a while, went to get on the Metro to go to San Michele only to find the Metro station closed so we walked to the next station which took us through the very lively African District. Anyway we got to San Michel, had lunch in a very tourist oriented place, wandered through the Latin Quarter and finally hopped in a taxi to come home. At 6pm we were ready to go out again to eat and drink! Drinks before dinner and then dinner at Le Petit Zinc…another place Ang and I had gone 5 years ago. It was a huge disappointment. Sulky waitress, tough steak, poor service. However the Escargot were amazing!!

Then it was farewell to the Bowley contingent as we were off early in the morning. It was good to spend time with them in Paris and also good to be leaving the big city for the provincial life! So yesterday (really?? was it only yesterday?) we set off at 7.30pm by taxi to Gare du Nord to pick up our hire car. Without a hitch we were then heading out of Paris. Then I’m afraid Jane GPS let us down badly. She got totally confused, couldn’t work out where she was and kept desperately trying to get us from Trieste to Bordeaux no matter how often we told her she was in fucking Paris. She got her act together just in time for us to hit the open road…useless in a word! She definitely didn’t gain Angus’ confidence in the first instance and has had to work hard to redeem herself thereafter, not helped by the fact that she tried to take us down a pedestrian street when we reached Bordeaux. In fairness I think we gave her a completely undoable command i.e. an address in a completely pedestrianised area. She has been amazing since though, just for the record.

Anyway it all worked out and everyone was happy when we finally got ourselves to our really lovely hotel right smack in the middle of town and then went out and had the best feed of seafood in a long, long time (well, there was Trieste??!!). We feasted on Oysters, clams, mussels, scampi, calamari, sardines until the table looked as if a bomb had hit it. We were all exhausted and went back for a nice nights sleep.

Are we finally back up to today…so sorry that this is such a mammoth episode!! Today we had a lazier start and a nicely paced morning. After having the mandatory coffee and croissants (now I can legitimately say it in the wanky way) we were taken on a wonderful walking tour of the city by Angus who loves this city so much it is infectious. It is a most lovely city with a very laid-back vibe. It is a city of glorious French architecture, buildings to take your breath away, a spectacular river and large, majestic ‘Piazza’s’ (Place doesn’t sound as effective as a word to describe them). It is such a lively, ‘lived in’ city, very french and not just full of tourists, although of course they are here. Anyway, great city all in all.

In the afternoon we set out to visit Ang’s friend Pierre at the Chateaux he manages the wine making for two Chateaux Rahoul and Le Garde . We had a tour of both, tasted the juice and the grapes, saw the grapes coming in for pressing and generally enjoyed the beauty of the area and had a lovely afternoon in the country. Then we came back to Bordeaux for a bit of downtime before we head out to Pierre’s place to taste the wines and enjoy some local produce tonight. Tomorrow we leave Bordeaux and go to stay the night with Kok (another friend of Angus’). So it continues to be go, go, go for a fantastic experience of this part of France.

I’ll try and keep up better in future so those who read this don’t have to wade through such an epitome.