Arrived in Paris’ Montparnasse station last night and once a taxi arrived, got to my AirB&B apartment in the Rue d’Assas, 6th arrondissement. As the taxi rounded the bend from the station, this gorgeous image appeared…(not bad an image given taken while taxi is travelling!). Too knackered to do anything, just flaked!
First stop this morning at the Palais Garnier, the ‘incroyable’ home of the Paris Opera. The marble Grand Escalier has a magnificent 30 metre high vault; two female ‘allegories’ hold torches, greeting spectators.
The Salon du Glacier in the Grand Foyer, evokes the aesthetic of the Belle Epoque, featuring dancing bacchantes and fauna, with a ceiling painted by Clairin (1843 – 1919). The play of light between mirrors and windows is spectacular.
Lots of busts on the first floor, with images of people that had contributed to the development of the building. Berain (1640 – 1711), for example, was a painter.
Next, to Galeries Lafayette Rooftop, to get a lovely shot of the Eiffel Tower.
Then to the Maillol Musee to see Elliott Erwitt’s ‘A Retrospective” exhibition. Elliott is a French-born American advertising and documentary photographer, known for his mostly black and white ( but some colour) candid photos of ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings. I love the humour and emotion he captures!!
September 4, 2023
by Lids Comments Off on 31/8 – 2/9/2023 Perigueux
Arrived from Dubrovnik @ Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport and walked a couple of kms from terminal 2D to 2F. Bought Ladurée macarons on the way, as a pressie for mine hosts Sue and Keith, with whom I’m staying for a couple of days in Perigueux.
Caught an Air France domestic flight to Bordeaux (delayed on the tarmac for an hour due to some issue…..arrggh!), and made it to Hotel Regina Gare Saint-Jean by 23.30 – right opposite the train station I was departing from the following morning. A lovely sleep was had.
An hours journey on a TGV: train a grande vitesse, (these quick trains run at 300 kms per hour) and I was being greeted at Perigueux station by friend Sue. So great to be catching up in person, it’s been 7 years since the last time I visited. Sue and Keith’s country residence in Atur is looking lovely as ever and its beaut weather to sit outside in the garden shade and chat about our lives. Drony took a lovely pic of ‘the estate’. Dinner on the Isle river @ La Peniche.
As the capital of the Périgord, there are certain things you’d expect to find in Périgueux (Dordogne). It’s got high street shops, an impressive cathedral, students and some pretty municipal gardens… not to mention Roman ruins and an unusual statue of a peg-leg general.
Périgueux’s St-Front, a cathedral built in a similar style to St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, was restored in the second part of 19thC by Paul Abadie, the same architect who later designed the Sacré Coeur in Paris.
On Wednesday and Saturday mornings, there is a food market held on Place de la Clautre in front of St-Front as well as on Place du Coderc and Place de l’Hôtel de Ville. I swear I could smell the peaches and strawberries 100m away! Yummy, yum, yum.
The old streets around this area – strung with old fashioned lamps that hang from chains – are home to an array of specialist boutiques with interesting window displays ranging from antiques to designer fashions.
Saint Silain bar is one of the oldest in the city, and you can really ‘chill’ in this tree-lined shaded square.
As you emerge from these alleys, there is a good opportunity to pass by Boulevard Michel-Montaigne with its statue of Baron Pierre Daumesnil (1777-1832) a soldier who risked his life for Napoleon on more than one occasion. He was badly injured at the Battle of Wagram and eventually lost his leg.
Sue and Keith took me to the bar, L’Oiseau Bleu, where they usually have brunch when they visit the market, being welcomed by the owner Fabrice and friends they have met over the years.
There’s a vintage festival on today, lots of old cars and locals dressed in vintage fashion….
And we had a fabulous lunch… the king garlic prawns were to die for!
August 30, 2023
by Lids Comments Off on 30/8/2023 Dubrovnik
Historically known as ‘Ragusa’, more recently as ‘the Pearl of the Adriatic’, its one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean, a ratio of 36 tourists: 1 resident. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1979 in recognition of its outstanding medieval architecture and fortified old town. The history of the city dates back to the 7thC and its prosperity based on maritime trade. A protectorate under the Byzantine Empire, later under the Republic of Venice. The entire city was almost destroyed when a devastating earthquake hit in 1667. During the Napoleonic Wars, Dubrovnik was occupied by French Empire forces, with the The Republic of Ragusa being incorporated into the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy. In the 19th-20thC, Dubrovnik was part of the Kingdom of Dalmatia within the Austrian Empire. It became part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia immediately upon its creation in 1929, before becoming part of Croatia in 1939.
Some fun facts about Dubrovnik:
the world’s first commercial pharmacy opened in 1317, allied to the Monastery. It stills stocks creams and herbal teas with recipes faithful right back to the 1300’s.
The second ‘country’ (it was a Republic) to abolish slavery in 1416 (Venice was first in 960).
Had the world’s first orphanage in 1432.
Has a medieval sewer system from 1296 still in use today.
Dubrovnik has its own Shakespeare – Marin Drzic, Croatia’s greatest playwright, was born in 1508.
Dubrovnik has its own James Bond – Dusan ‘Dusko’ Popov was a double agent working for MI5 during WW2 under the code name “Tricycle’ and ‘Ivan’ for German military intelligence (Abwehr). He was famous for his playboy lifestyle, while carrying out perilous wartime missions for the British.
The walls around the city run an uninterrupted course of 1,940 metres and reach a maximum height of 25 metres. The walls were reinforced by 3 circular and 14 quadrangular towers, 5 bastions, 2 angular fortifications and the large St John’s Fortress.
Lokrum island is 600 metres from Dubrovnik and has a Benedictine Abbey and Monastery that date back to 1023.
Mt Srdj (pronounced serge) has great panoramic views over the old town.
My last day in Croatia…off to France tomorrow. Adieu Republika Hrvatska! Its been a lovely 2 week journey through your beautiful lands.
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