Paris - St Germaine

Thursday 1 January

Back to the normal routine – Bronwen and Steve awake about 8, Steve goes out at about 9 to get baguettes, croissants, pastries – whatever we fancy for breakfast – kids up about 9-9.30, breakfasted and ready to hit the road by about 10.30-11. What a rush!

Simon takes us on a walk through Paris – round the beautiful little Isle St Louis, past Marie Curie’s house, past where Chopin taught music, past where Hemingway worked then off down the Bd St Germaine to Les Deux Magots and numerous other little French landmarks finishing in the gardens of the Luxembourg Palace. The ducks and seagulls still seem to be confused with having frozen fountains to land in and don't seem to have quite mastered the art of landing on ice. A quick stop at Shakespeares book shop to end a wonderful walk – and yes, it is still cold, but we are getting used to it now (well, what do you reckon after 4 weeks!).

A short break back at the apartment and then off to a 4.30pm concert in the Eglise St Eustache just north of the gardens above the Forum des Halles. To quote Lonely Planet – “The majestic Eglise St Eustache is one of the most beautiful churches in Paris. Constructed between 1532 and 1640, St E is primarily gothic. Inside there are some exceptional flamboyant Gothic arches holding up the ceiling although most of the interior ornamentation is Renaissance and classical.” Our concert is largely ‘commercial’ – Pachelbel, Albinoni, Mozart Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Vivaldi Four Seasons, Handel’s Water Music, Schubert and Gounod Ave Maria’s, etc., but superbly performed. A finale by the solo violinist of Bazzini’s ‘The Dance of the Goblins’ (look up youtube for a version played by Itzhak Perlman) is truly spectacular. A fabulous performance in a superb location made for a truly wonderful evening.

Back in to the now VERY cold night air (it HAS to be sub-zero) for the short, but brisk, walk back to our apartment for a delicious meal cooked in – it is warm, the wine is good, the food is good – I guess life is pretty good!