Day 26 – Paris le 17e arr.

It was a cold wet morning and we delayed doing anything until it seemed to have cleared a bit. There is a Bio Market (organic) in the Marche de Batignolles which I thought would be good to check out. It was a fifteen minute walk from our apartment and down the road from Place de Clichy. One of the nice things about 17^th is that it is an area frequented by few tourists, yet ten minutes up the Avenue de Clichy we are in the middle of Montmartre.

The market was superb, much of it was organic and the quality, price and variety of produce was wonderful. That is one of the things we have very little of in Wellington. The other thing I have noticed is that there is a lot of organic food and other items available. Far more than in New Zealand and it is only a little more expensive than the non-organic items.

We got some nice food for dinner on Sunday night and as Bev wanted to retrace our steps in Montmartre we headed that way. Suddenly the heavens erupted with heavy rain which sent people scurrying for cover including ourselves and we went into a café for a coffee till the downpour passed. Soon the skies cleared and we continued walking down the Boulevard de Clichy. The last time we did that was six years ago and it was covered in snow. We found the Café du 2 Moulins where we had had drink and great memories of watching the first snowfall of the season. Nearby we also saw the apartment we had stayed in. It was lovely walking in the area and remembering the streets and the excitement of being in Paris when it was covered in snow. Not so much fun was that the airport had to be closed and we had to take a very slow Eurostar to get our flight to Ottawa.

The previous day Bev had made an appointment for a coiffure. Her hairdresser, so I am told was the same as she had two years ago. There was a substantial language barrier but apparently signs and the odd shared word helped. Bev was a bit concerned with what was happening during the colouring process and discovered later they had put in highlights. When she got back she looked really good. The haircut was superb and the highlights very subtle.

We could not come to Paris without going to a jazz concert and I had found one at a different club to the one we have usually gone. It was called Ducs des Lombards which is on Rue des Lombards and just up the road from Sunset Sunside our other club. It was a small intimate affair featuring a quartet of a singer/pianist, contrabassist, guitarist and drummer. It was and English group and led by the pianist, Anthony Strong. We were jammed into the venue, literally thigh to thigh but we were fortunate to have some of the better seats. The music was great, and Anthony Strong was a superb vocalist and pianist. All too soon it was over.

As the days are very long at the moment it was still light outside, we stepped out into a very lively area and paused to listen to a blind American man singing. With some of the songs a number of young women joined in with him. It was rather lovely and Bev was entranced by it. It was a great way to end the day.

A random selection of photos below: