Paris old and new

It was quite odd being back in city life this past weekend. Normally I just go and visit the old buildings I love, but this time we also took in the financial centre of Paris called La Defense. The skyline around here looks more like Tokyo and I hadn't realised that there was indeed a modern side to Paris that dealt with Wall Street and Square Mile matters.





After all this modern architecture (incidentally in France the word architecture is pronounced with the first part being like the man's name Archie - the French feel that if there is an *h* in a word then pronounce the thing) a trip to my favourite area Madeleine was called for. I stared longingly in the window of Fauchon, my favourite foodie shop (just see what that link reveals - it really is a gourmand's paradise). Don't these cakes look gorgeous? I didn't eat any though - in fact I walked more than I thought I would and ate less than I'd planned.


Then a short stroll led us to Place de la Concorde which I mentioned in my previous post. I just did a few random shots - there was too much to go and see without thinking about carefully framing the photos.



Then another saunter to look at my favourite Paris department store Au Printemps


All that was done on the Saturday and then Sunday saw me coming home to my Valentine's Day bouquet one week old - the tulips are now standing tall.

If you click on it though you will see that some of the roses are fading fast so, after transplanting what was still thriving to a proper vase, this is what they look like now (and the two mini clothes pegs with the paste ruby hearts on will be put into my sentimentality box)

Thai girls and their ping pong balls

It was just after midnight in the French Fancy parental household about 25 years ago and the phone went. My parents were out and I answered the phone to find Fay Maschler on the other end. 'You've just won a competition', she said, a first class trip to Bangkok, staying in a suite at the Imperial Hotel. Well,imagine my amazement and surprise.

It all came from a lucky dip 'write your name on a card' promotion that a new Thai eaterie in Knightsbridge had been running. I'd been going out with a foodie boyfriend called Eddie and when it came time to write my name on the card I'd offered to put his but he said 'no, we won't win anyway - put your own name' - but I did win and the trip was only for one person. Now, Eddie and I were no longer a couple but I had in the meantime got engaged to Derek (fiance number two - I've been engaged three times in all) - only he was in another country trying to do something or other and he didn't want to spend the money on accompanying me to my suite at a swanky hotel in the posh end of Bangkok. Silly boy, the engagement got cancelled but that's another story.

So,to precis this down, I set off with my first class air ticket on Thai International Airways and booked into my suite with two bathrooms on a hotel floor that had personal maids sat outside one's room. ready to go in and tidy each time you vacated the place. It really was flashy and brilliant and I felt like a film star. Oh, I'd forgotten to mention that I arrived on New Year's Eve and there were elephant races outside the hotel that evening - which naturally I had to go and see. Whilst outside and feeling desperately sorry for these two elephants who were being spooked by the fireworks, I got talking to two American chaps who were also staying at the hotel. We all got on and agreed to become a little team - a) to save me being hassled as a woman on her own and b) to save them being hassled by Bangkok ladies - they took it in turns to pretend I was their wife.

Now the three of us had a merry old time in Bangkok but the most memorable evening was when we went to the Patpong district. I found it absolutely fascinating and mesmerising to see what these girls could do with ping pong balls/ cigarettes/ coke bottles and all manner of implements. I got talking to one or two during their breaks and found them funny and sweet and some of them began flirting with me, which made me slightly concerned. I am by nature a very friendly and outgoing person and sometimes it can be misinterpreted. When these girls found out I was 'married' to whichever of the Americans it was, there were various suggestions made and I decided to take a tuk tuk back to the hotel and leave the chaps to it. I'd had it with pretending to be their cover story - although the main reason for wanting to escape was the state of the toilets at this club.

I've never forgotten my week in Bangkok and one day want to return with Mr FF where I won't have to pretend to be married and we'll probably pass on seeing the various cabarets for which the city is famous.

And so the week drifted away

This holidaying at home that we've been doing has been very very pleasant. It's not just been sitting under the gazebo eating barbecued food and drinking cider.  Mr FF has transformed the second bedroom (he did the first and the third rooms last summer) from the original pink and green wallpaper that we inherited, into a room of off-white and lavender; he has also removed the green pastel wallpaper from the bathroom and painted its walls a quite startling shade of green ( a bit of disparity between the colour on the lid and the actuality of the paint). This happens a lot in France (not painting bathroom walls green but the shade difference) - you can't get little sample pots here either to try out in advance. Okay, the French might be right up there where cuisine, haute couture, perfume and wine are concerned but, when it comes to paint, Britain rules. The English might be obese from junk food, badly-dressed and drink plonk but our paint rocks.

We've also got into the daily habit of walking the dogs off the lead along the canal. Now you might think this is no big deal but a few years ago it would have been inconceivable. Misty (who we've had since she was eight weeks old) was always too excitable and nervy  and Poppy (the rescue with all the allergies and self-mutilating tendencies) was just too unpredictable. They have both matured but we do constantly have to keep turning round to make sure nobody is about to overtake us and also pay attention  to see that nobody is approaching. We've only been caught by surprise once, when a cyclist came out of a side path and completely foxed all four of us - the dogs were too surprised to react and we got away without an incident. It might sound odd to walk along a canal path with so few people, but that is the thing about Brittany - there is so much unspoilt beauty that you can walk for miles without seeing a soul.

There is no doubt that a holiday at home can pay dividends. We don't have that urge to constantly be out and about which we would have had in Venice (the original holiday plan that we cancelled due to lack of funds); we can go back to bed after breakfast and just snooze; we don't have to be Doing Something All The Time. Of course I'm sorry I won't be seeing Madame Butterfly tonight, but I did once see it at Covent Garden with Mirella Freni as MB. The thing is that I don't remember much about it as I was very young- my parents thought they would introduce me to fine culture at a young age. It worked though, it instilled a love of opera that I still have to this day. So  tonight, when I'm under the gazebo with my barbie supper, I will raise a glass of cidre doux to Puccini and his wonderful music.

Just one last thing - there is a lovely new animated card from Jacquie Lawson here

It was only a week but it felt like a long time

It's so strange that a week without blogging should seem so weird but that is just what happened - I had a strange and not very nice time. I'm not intending to go into details of what happened; I did pull the photos from Lille - I had my reasons and I might put the pictures up at a later date although, obviously, the one of the main street first thing in the morning is back on here.

When I first blogged about a holiday to Venice I did say that one of the downsides of booking a trip so far ahead is that there is a possibility that it can get cancelled. That is just what we have done - it would have cost about £3000 all in and we just can't manage that on luxury items at present. Like everyone is finding, times are hard and we're just going to stay put and have days out together and get some long-overdue DIY jobs done around the house.

In just a week I can see that I've missed a lot of posts that I do intend to catch up on; I've been occupied on other things - and I can't even include my studies in that. My current book is a wonderful biography of Byron; this is something I bought for pleasure and is not part of the OU course but it is giving me a really good insight into the man and his motivation - something that will form part of the last essay of the course (due 15th May).

At Lille station I picked up a paperback of which I had heard glowing reports - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I've just finished it and I going to upset people I am sure by saying this but I think it is one of the worst books I have ever read. The background is interesting - set in Afghanistan and covering the subject of female oppression - but the prose is clichéd, I guessed the plot quite early on, the metaphors are tried and trusted and for this writer to be compared to Dickens has upset me greatly. It is like comparing Heat magazine to Private Eye.

Anyway, enough mini-ranting for now. Thanks for all the lovely comments you left on my previous post - even though it was a very short time I did miss you.

Talk about planning ahead (and please vote on the cake poll on the right)

Whatever else you may say about me, it could never be said that I leave things till the last minute. I suppose many people would consider the fact that I have booked our holiday some six months ahead a trifle sad; where is your spontaneity and impulsive streak?, you could say. And I would reply - I did lots of sudden and exciting things when I was young; now I want to have the pleasure of something to look forward to during the rainy Brittany winter. I want to think with longing of strolling around Murano or drinking wine outside a trattoria.

I've booked the hotel - it's number two on Trip Advisor's list of Venetian Hotels. Number one was extortionate, this one is a much better price and the rooms do look lovely. It is this one. It's not yet possible to book the train travel. Their booking system doesn't cope with an anal person who likes to plan things months in advance, but they will send me an email when booking opens which is sometime in February.

However, one place where it is possible to book tickets months, sometimes as many as 12 months, ahead is an opera house. Now I'm a sucker for Puccini operas and luckily (or not so luckily for poor Mr French Fancy) Madame Butterfly will be on at the Venice opera house, La Fenice (that's it in the photo), during the dates we are there. I have just booked two good seats - which was no mean feat as the online booking form was all in Italian (at the end of the booking I saw there was an English option at the top - but it's all good linguistic practice - non siete d'accordo?)

Let's just hope that we both stay healthy and get to go on this holiday. A couple of years ago I was rushed into hospital (it's a very long post by the way) and a trip to Nice had to be postponed by six months. Then there was our long weekend in Paris to go to the ballet last Christmas, which unfortunately saw us coming back prematurely due to sickness - I gave the ballet tickets to a pharmacist who was kind to a sick Englishman. You see - that is the downside of planning anything way ahead. You don't even know if you will still be alive.

Tag alert

I have been tagged by hadriana's treasures to tell you six random things about myself.

I once arrived at a party after a long convoluted journey to get there, went straight upstairs to the loo then came out of the bathroom and fell down the stairs. I banged my head on the wall and ended up in Casualty with concussion which later became two black eyes. No, I had not been taking anything - the heel had come off my shoe and I just lost my balance. Once back from the hospital I spent the rest of the time in the corner of the room with a banging headache and feeling miserable. It was too far away from home for anyone to volunteer to drive me back and the shock my parents had when I returned the following morning - well, you can imagine.


When I was young I had an imaginary friend. Nothing odd about that really, except that mine was a headmistress called Katherine Anderson who had a sister called Victoria

I can't ride a bike, so I ride a trike instead.


I once fell into Regents Park lake whilst out boating with a couple of friends. It is quite deep in the middle, I lost my shoes and a crowd gathered at the side laughing at us. This was in the days before mobile phones (although I suppose it would have got wet anyway) so we walked to Baker Street Station, rang my parents and sat on the pavement waiting for them. All the passengers on the many many buses that passed us had a right old laugh.


I love all the beach communities along the USA west coast and once got obsessed with the idea of living in Santa Barbara. If the means had presented themselves, who knows?


I once won a trip to Bangkok but it was just for one. I stayed in a suite in one of the top hotels, had two bathrooms and a chambermaid sitting outside the room to tidy it each time I left. I palled up with two American guys also staying at the hotel, one of whom asked me to pretend to be his wife so that the three of us could go to the red light district without him being hassled by women of the night. I agreed, but they hassled both of us instead - 'you want threesome?'

Right, now it's my turn to find six bloggers to do the same and I've selected
Blu
dumdad
marc
blogthatmama
nikkicrumpet
just a moment of miscellany


I wonder if these tag posts are the blogging equivalent of chain letters. I never send emails like that on to anyone - I want that noted in my defence.

Going to the Continent

In mid- May we're planning on going by train from Paris to Venice. We both enjoy train travel, find plane travel boring and squashed* and have got a bit fed up with long car journeys. Hence the decision for the train - although it's not the Orient Express which is the picture alongside and which I have actually been on - a day trip to Bath, a birthday present from a previous admirer.

I first went to Venice when I was quite young, still in single figures and back then (hey, I'm not so old) a holiday like that was called Going to the Continent. My dad had planned this journey for what seemed like half my lifetime, every available surface in our house was covered by the maps he had got from the AA, there were handbooks for all the countries we would be driving through (France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany) and my mum and dad were in a state of mild and then extreme excitement in the run up to the Big Day. All I worried about was whether Caroline, my doll, would have enough clothes for such a mega-trip.

It's nearly 40 years since my first proper holiday and I can still remember so many things about it:

• My dad wasn't allowed into St Mark's Cathedral because he was wearing shorts
• there were huge daddy long legs on the ceiling of the first French hotel we stayed in
• in Switzerland I slept under a duvet for the very first time
• by the Simplon Pass I had the best pastry of my (shortish) life
• We broke down on the way to Florence and sat by the roadside eating fresh watermelon (well my mum and I did, my dad was in a panic)
• I got lost on the beach at Rimini and a man with a loud hailer who had been looking for me did, eventually, find me. It seemed like days but it was probably only an hour or two that I was lost.
• An Italian waiter patiently taught me how to twirl a fork to eat spaghetti and I could probably win an 'eat spaghetti and still stay clean' contest' to this day.
  
• We went on a boat ride on Lake Constance and I was sick
• My parents kept saying 'wow, just look at the view' but I wasn't really interested to be honest.

Everything that has ever happened to us is all in our heads and sometimes just seems to pop out. When I began this blog entry I didn't really know what I was going to say, apart from the trip in May and look how much just tumbled out.


*the only time I've not felt squashed on a plane was when Virgin upgraded us to first-class for a trip to New York -( a previous blog entry under holidays if you are interested, but it was one of my first bloggings and is probably a bit stilted)

A few days away

We recently spent a few days the other side of Brittany in the Ile et Vilaine region, in fact our cottage was on the towpath of the River Vilaine. As you can see the cottage was quite cute but incredibly small.


This was the view to the left


And this was the view to the right


A little way along was a bat cave


The house next door had shutters of a lovely shade of blue which contrasted nicely with the Virginia creeper that was on the side awning.

The weather was a bit hit and miss and we spent a lot of time sitting indoors playing Scrabble on a board that had been used as a drinks coaster. It was still quite nice to see another bit of Brittany, a place so lovely that the rest of France seem to flock there for their summer holidays. Imagine somewhere as lovely as the UK's lake district but without the crowds. That's where we live - aren't we lucky.

Russia

I've always wanted to have a holiday in Russia, one of the reasons being to see the amazing stations on the metro. Here are a few images of them:

When we went to Annecy last year

I've only just realised that I never actually posted any pics of one of our holidays from last year. Annecy is such a lovely town; it's near to the Swiss border and is a place where many of them go on holiday. It's sophisticated, luxurious and much too expensive for the average person to live in. We've talked about popping over there for the weekend which, in theory, would be a possibility as there is an airport just on the outskirts which connects with our nearest airport (about 45mins away).

December

It's been a very bitty time lately. Lots of little things going on. Nothing major, just stuff like Poppy continuing with her desensitisation (doesn't that look like an odd word?) shots. No real improvement yet, but I do now have a good and effective herbal spray which is a deterrent against her biting her skin. So, whilst she is not really better with her allergies, her tendency to self-mutilate is disappearing.

Been out and about (like everyone in the world I guess) buying pressies for Christmas, although I do do the bulk of my shopping online. We'll be in Paris for a couple of days next week and I'm planning to go to shops like Fauchon and other little specialist shops around the Madeleine area (that's where our hotel is). So looking forward to seeing the Christmas lights along the Champs Elysee. That will be a first for us.

I'll also be meeting up with a cousin of mine who is now working for a government department in Paris. Yes - a non-French woman who is a successful civil servant - quite a rarity, really. However, she has specialist knowledge of avian flu and mad cow disease and has had a great career travelling the world advising various agricultural commissions about latest developments.

The days and weeks drift by here in a haze of pottering around doing bits and pieces. I absolutely love it.

things to look forward to

Our recent trip to London was done via the TGV and Eurostar which always means a great taxi ride in Paris, as we arrive from Brittany into the station Paris Montparnasse and have to get to Waterloo from the Gare du Nord. Our taxi ride last week was great, we had a first class driver who was a bit like a tour guide and we went down some lovely turnings that I'd never seen before.

It made us wonder why we don't try and get to know Paris a bit better. We always go to London for our city pleasures and it seems a bit daft really. In the 4.5 years we've lived here we've only had one proper short break in Paris, but numerous aforementioned taxi rides.

So I've just booked tickets for the Nutcracker Suite ballet at the Paris Opera one week before Christmas and it will also be our first chance to see this beautiful city with its Christmas decorations. We'll stay two nights in a hotel just beside the venue and if it works out well I see no reason why we can't go to either the ballet or opera a few times a year. Tickets are loads cheaper than Covent Garden; front stalls work out at about £50 a ticket! Can't wait.

Why didn't I?

...take my camera on my UK trip last week? What a numbskull! I wouldn't mind but it's tiny and would just have nestled in a corner of my bag. There were so many opportunities for me to have taken just amazing photos.

We spent a week staying at this hotel, which turned out to be pretty good. I got a very good deal; normally it would have been £195 per night booking direct with the hotel but through Expedia I got it for £120. Being above a pub did not turn out to be noisy because it was mainly end-of-day workers that frequented it and they were gone about 9pm.

Right - photos I could have taken;

We were crossing Waterloo Bridge on the way to the Aquarium when walking towards us were about 20 men in - I reckon - their early twenties. They were dressed as Roman centurions - leather jockstraps, tridents, helmets with wings, and very defined chests which looked very impressive from a distance but close up you could see that they were plastic fronts. Still a good effect, even with the (mock) woad with which they were painted.

We also went to see the current Harry Potter (it's hard to see movies in the original language where we are in France; they like to dub everything) at the Leicester Square Odeon - one of the small cinemas upstairs. We went to the afternoon showing and when we came out of the cinema about 7.00pm there was absolute mayhem. It turned out to be the premiere of Stardust and it was (minor) celeb after celeb on the green (when did it stop being red?) carpet. I couldn't tell you who I saw - lots of soap stars I reckon - except for the fact that Take That were standing just in front of me being interviewed.

The day before we'd seen (Lord) David Puttnam having lunch at the table next to us at the NFT. And the day after -again whilst having lunch - we saw Chris Evans and a bit later on had to jump out of the way as Aldo Zilli drove his Alfa really fast down Wardour Street.

One really excellent thing that we did was go and see Lord of The Rings (the musical). It really is a misnomer describing it as a musical. It conjures up all sorts of images that don't do justice to what is a sensational show. I know the reviews have been mixed but if you get a chance to go and see it, go!. There is much that reminded me of Cirque de Soleil and the costumes and settings are glorious. There is much audience interaction with hobbits and orcs (I had a firefly taken out of my hair by a hobbit) and I think we'll come and see it again next year. This time from the front row of the Dress Circle as opposed to the front row of the Stalls.

It's good to be home but I adore being in London. It's where I grew up and I feel totally alive when I wander around. Where we live in France is beautiful, but quite quiet and calm. I wouldn't want to live in London any more but I think I will visit it a bit more often that I have done

It's so nice to be home

When I was in London last weekend I kept thinking longingly of our pretty house in Brittany. The London air was so smelly that we felt a little sick from all the constant diesel fumes and our skin felt tight and dirty. I'm sure this isn't a psychological thing; I do enjoy being in London - I'm a North Londoner after all - but we spent a lot of time in the West End and the noise, pollution and crowds do get you down after a while.

Monday we spent time in various bookshops browsing and buying. It's something I miss here in France. French bookshops are good too but I prefer to do my reading in my own language. We met my old boss, who is also our accountant, for lunch and went to a lovely place in Charlotte Street that I hadn't been to - Pescatori, an Italian fish resto. The food was delicious (I had safffron roasted cod) and we're so used to drinking French wine that it made a good change to sample some from Italy.

In the evening we met up with an old friend and ate in the restaurant of one of our favourite London hotels - the Hampshire in Leicester Square. Food also good there (wild mushroom broth with truffles) and I had melon martinis which didn't really match the food but I just fancied the sound of them (and they turned out to be an excellent choice)

Talking of martinis, we had a lovely time in the American Bar at the Savoy on the Friday evening prior to seeing Evita. What a lovely bar that is, a bit expensive though. I had champagne cocktails ( peach royales) and they were £15 each. In fact our bar bill came to £50 which was a bit of a steep hour.

Evita was excellent. The actress playing Evita - Elena Rogers - is first class (obviously she will never end up in Les Mis), a real all-round talent and anyone reading this who is not sure which West End show to go and see, give it a whirl. It's not aged at all. I toyed with the idea of booking Blood Brothers because my chap has never seen it but I'm glad now that I went for Evita. Obviously, in retrospect, I wish I'd booked BB instead of LM but I'm sure we'll catch it another time. Spamalot has received good reviews but we caught it on Broadway last year (how flash I do sound) and I don't think I'd like to see it again.

So, back at home and - so far - loving it.

Have you seen Les Miserables lately?

What a disappointment! I last saw it when it first opened, years and years ago now. I saw it three times within the space of six months and I was lucky enough to see it each time with the original cast, all of whom were first class.

What you have now are a collection of second-raters, including the dreadful Jon Lee (used to be in SClub 7) who is daring to step in the shoes once worn by Michael Ball, him of the perfect high note and baby face. Even the little kid now playing Gavroche is useless. Sorry to sound harsh about a teeny weeny performer, but I have high standards when it comes to musicals (and I am such a fan of this genre) and I like the people that are in West End shows to be top calibre, even if they are very young.

I think because it is now subtitled as London's Longest Running Musical that it is aiming itself at tourists who might not be as fussy as somebody like me. The rest of the audience went wild after the first half. And as for us, well we just got up and left at the interval.

Getting ready for another trip

Yes, we're off again. To London on Thursday. Lots of things planned, but the main reason for the trip is for a tombstone-laying ceremony on my dad's grave, which is to be held Sunday morning.

To counter this rather solemn occasion I have booked us 5th row centre stall seats at Evita on Friday; the same seats (I always try and get E12/13 whenever I book theatres) for Les Mis on Saturday (haven't seen it since it left the Palace Theatre, hope it works just as well on a smaller stage); We're off to the Corn Exchange in Cambridge Sunday evening to see a singer I have long admired - Al Stewart (yes, he of Year of the Cat). Friends and food will be fitted in around these plans and I am so looking forward to seeing London again.

One thing is the restaurants I will be selecting for our lunches. Living in France with a superb, prize-winning restaurant about a 15 min drive from our home, we really want to pick a different cuisine but what to choose? We're spoilt for choice really in London town. Maybe Michael Moore in Baker Street? Perhaps Pasha in Kensington?

Can't wait.

more lovely sunrises from last week

Sunrise from our holiday apartment in the South of France

Two humans and two bichons go to the South of France

Back now after ten days away in the Côte D'Azur.

Our journey there was broken up by a night in a hotel in Limoges and the room that is featured on the website is the actual one that we stayed in. Nice hotel, but it's a shame that our favourite local restaurant in Brittany has spoiled our taste buds forever, as no other chef is a patch on Christophe Le Fur at our favourite local restaurant. The chef at the Limoges hotel circulated amongst the diners and informed us that he had trained at Le Gavroche with the Roux brothers, but he was still not up to the standard that we have got used to.

The evening of the following day we arrived at our destination of Villeneuve Loubet, a third floor apartment with views of the sea, Nice to the left of us and Cap D'Antibes to the right. Rather lovely. It was strange being in an apartment with the noise from the lift and neighbours and, even though the bichons liked being able to bark at lots of new noises, it did make us rather fraught.

So passed a week of the usual suspects such as Nice, Monaco, St Tropez and Cannes, but I lost my heart to this beautiful village about 15 minutes away We went there twice, had coffee in the place that used to be the home of Yves Montand, bought some lovely porcelain from a shop which has begun a new buying obsession with me (more about that another time) and St Paul has been classified by me as The Most Charming Place I Have Ever Visited.

It was a bit of a tourist trap though and there were several coach parties of various nationalities. I felt in such a good mood that if I saw one half of a couple taking a photo of their other half, I offered to take a pic of both of them. I pretended to be French whilst doing it, thus doing my bit for French relations with the rest of the world.

We decided to make our return road trip a motorway free zone and opted for a longer route over the French Alps ( Alpes Maritime). My partner had arranged for our tomtom to sound a bugle horn every time we reached a mountain pass and that horn sounded quite a few times on that first return trip day.

Our overnight stay this time was Vichy and I don't think we'll bother going there again. I say overnight but we actually left the hotel around 03.00 with two very sleepy bichons and got back to Brittany about 09.30.

What a beautiful country we have chosen to live in and we had a fantastic time.

A London Quickie

I've just returned from a quick trip to London for a family get together. It was the first time I'd seen certain aunts and cousins in absolutely ages and, quite surprisingly, I really enjoyed myself. I also treated myself to a hotel in Leicester Square and it was good to see lots of people, hear lots of noise, peer into the Capital Radio offices and studio that were facing me, order expensive meals from Room Service (who wants to sit in a resto alone?) and -luxury, oh luxury - read English newspapers. Not the puny international version of the Guardian but the real thing, in all its print rubbing off wonder.

I talked and talked to friends and family and it was great. My new black shoes with the purple felt flowers were much admired, as was my new black jumper with purple velvet bands and when I can find the camera cable I'll let the world see what I am talking about.

London is good but it is very nice being back in Brittany again. A weekend is just enough.