On Saturday in the morning we walked around the Sacre Coeur but soon realised that this is now a real tourist - trap with a very long queue to get into the church, touring cars and hundreds of tourists taking selfies, every street filled with souvenir shops. Not for us, we would only go back for the Museum a couple of days later. In the afternoon we trained to Fordou, a village an hour south of Paris where we were invited for dinner and a sleep over by my old friend Marinette and her hubby Roch. We hadn't seen each other in 20 years so this was a very special reunion. As expected we had a wonderful time catching up and were served our first very French dinner starting with oysters. Haha yes, first time for both of us eating a full plate we quite enjoyed it! After breakfast we toured around the village and took the train back to the heart of the city next to the Seine and just started walking from there. A bit of Quartier Latin along the streets with lots of art. A market where we bought the most expense bit of cheese ever but for Truffle cheese it was worth it. 
Lovely streets with little restaurants where the French are having their Sunday lunches (no roasts in sight!). In Paris however, the French eat lunch out every day and most close their shop or business between 12 and 3pm to enjoy it - savoir vivre!
And of course I was on the hunt for street art everywhere we went - how lovely is this one?
On Tuesday Marinette and Roch joined us again for a dinner in the Canal St Michel neighbourhood, we had to make the most of it now that we were in Paris and enjoyed our time together very much.
On Tuesday earlier in the day we decided to explore Montmartre where we were staying and visited to the Montmartre museum about the history of this famous neighbourhood. Very informative and interesting. And funnily enough, maybe only one or two tourists like us - mostly French ladies to visit the current exhibition and have lunch in the lovely garden. It cannot be more French; quiche Lorraine and a nice glass of Chardonnay. I will definitely make one again when we're home for our FDC get togethers. The house that is now the museum was a well known artists house in the 1800 and early 1900's. Auguste Renoir lived there in 1875 and also left a beautiful garden around the house as a souvenir. Here Hans is standing in the 'rooms' of the first female French painter Suzanne Valadon who was recognised and registered as artiste/painter. She lived and painted here for a long time with her son who also became a famous painter. Her atelier next door is still as it was when she worked here as well.
The only historic moulin that remains in Montmartre today. As Montmartre was rural in the early days of the Paris and slowly was incorporated into the city as a 'slum' really with rural people coming to the city there were many of these around. Montmartre itself was built on a limestone hill. When Paris started to grow they started to mine the mountain to use the lime to plaster all the building in the city. When the mountain was almost gone a local business man wanted to make Montmartre count and as an act of national renewal after the Franco-Prussian War initiated the build of the Sacre Coeur Basilica (first photo). Because the mountain was almost gone, they had to dig 38 metres deep shafts into the mountain to construct the building platform that could hold the weight of the Basilica. No mean feat in 1875 digging mostly by hand and some basic mechanics.
As the day started to heat up we wandered to the Montmartre Cemetery, very large and peaceful sheltered by trees. A large road runs right through it on an overbridge.
After all the walking at the end of the afternoon time for a drink on a corner of a five street intersection at one of the many neighbourhood cafes with a 'petite plat' - stinky French cheese with a bit of bread.
Wednesday we took the subway to Quartier Latin again to take some photos of streets and places that my parents know very well and have fond memories of from their honeymoon in 1963 to Paris and many visits after that. Like this street called St Martin le Pauvre with a portrait of Edith Piaf on the wall and opposite here the oldest tree in Paris, planted in 1601, 424 years old.
Crossing the Seine again we passed the Deportation Martyrs Memorial - a Holocast Monument on the banks of the Seine, in remembrance of the French people that were sent to the Nazi concentration camps in WWII. French Jewish people as well as people that were active in the resistance.
Similar to the Holocast Museum in Berlin, architecture is used to tell the story and makes a real impact. You feel trapped in small spaces with only a ray of light to look at. Very moving and sobering videos of interviews with only the few that managed to survive. Never never again is what you think - until you look at the day's news about Gaza and Ukraine and realise that as people we've learned nothing..
On the footbridge in the sun earlier in the morning we found these two street musicians having so much fun together and it sounded great. The clarinet player could have been my father who still plays the clarinet and performs every now and then. Music brightens up the day immediately and makes people stop and enjoy it together.
It was heating up considerably again towards the end of the day to around 27 degrees so after 19,671 steps in the heat we preferred a picknick in the park for dinner - in Les Tuileries next to the Louvre with lovely bread, very stinky French camembert and wine. Following the example of many French who do the same to escape the heat of the buildings and the streets. Sunset around 9.30 as we walked over the Place the la Concorde to take the subway 'home'.
On Thursday we had tickets for an exhibition in Palais de Tokyo, a modern art museum and decided to just start walking from Montmartre towards the Seine. Nice quiet neighbourhoods, noisy streets, green parks and lots of interesting shops like the yellow one.
This was pretty hilarious; as in any big city you will have as many mice and rats as people, probably lots more even. This is the shop window of a Pest Control services provider. A cabinet the rarities of stuffed mice and rats (taxidermy) placed in boxing rings fighting each other, in traps and a few more scenes. Really yuk and hilarious as the same time.
We decided to walk down Rue de Lafayette to go towards our end goal and maybe check out Galleries Lafayette as I remembered that the inside was impressive from a long time ago.
And it still was. It's a high end shop as big as a shopping mall where you guessed it - we didn't shop (Hans was present) but did take the elevator to the roof top to have a look. With many others taking selfies.... Behind me l'Opera - the national opera a beautiful iconic building.
On the balcony next to the Opera mannequins dressed in overalls made a colourful impression - I think it was a health and safety message. At least a fun one.
In Palais the Tokyo we saw a few exhibitions - the first one from Vivian Suter called Disco (after her dog haha!). She lives in Ecuador in the jungle and only paints on very large loose canvasses. Someone from the museum flew to Ecuador with a maquette of the exhibition space and that is how they designed the exhibition with her as she didn't want to leave the jungle.
No pictures of an Asian ceramic and film artist Tao Nguyn Phan which I really liked, but pics of one of a hip hop singer turned painter and artist in the '80's who was very famous apparently in those days. I loved the first hip hop hits like Rappers Delight that you will all know, but never heard of this guy who renamed himself Rammelzee. The mannequins in the picture are gods made out waste materials - in that sense he was ahead of his time. Below one of his street art type paintings. We also saw an awesome modern dance film of a ballet set to beautiful music with amazing choreography called Symbiosis x 37 dB from Sharon Eyal Company. After lunch under the bridge next to the Eifel tower to find some shade we thought a touristic boat ride would cool us down. Wrong - on the top deck without any shade it was still way too hot but nice to see some highlights from the water. After that we were just shattered and took the subway back to the appartement for a cold shower. The last dinner on a local terrasse around the corner was a lovely end to our Paris adventure. 
On Friday we took the fast train to Brussels to spend some time with our long time friends Yfke and Ewoud. So good to be back!! It was hot in Brussels too, hitting the 30's again so we decided on a leisurely walk to the beautiful old centre of Brussels with a nice Aperol stop in the park on our way.
This is the Grote Markt in Brussels, the amazing old town square lined with centuries old buildings all in perfect condition, filled with restaurants, outdoor seating areas and chocolatiers. And oh yes, lots of tourist..
We opted for an indoor cold beer as it was simply too hot to sit outside in this famous long established beer bar called La Mort Subite which means Sudden Death. Belgian humour which could be true when drinking beers with 13% alcohol like it was lager... Dinner in the garden with home made cocktails topped off the day, a very good start. As it
Saturday we took off in a beautiful Ford Mustang Cabrio for a two-day tour to the Ardennes, escaping the city heat as much as we could. The first stop was a visit to the very sizable ruins of the Abbey of Villers de Ville.
They did a beautiful job of telling the history on panels and restoring the remaining parts of the Abbey. The Abbey was built in 1190 on 15 hectares of land and housed around 300 monks in the glory days of the Abbey. Completely self sufficient with systems to use the water of the nearby stream to provide drinking water and (back then) a famous large library.
In the garden there was an exhibition set up of a Belgian animal photographer. Amazing wild life photos in an awesome setting.
And look at our lovely Yfke, so well colour-matched in green with the surrounding garden.
After our visit we were on the road again and because it was hot we were on the hunt for a shadowy place to have the luxe lunch that Yfke brought along in a fitting picknick basket. Lounging on a blanket with bubbles and good friends - the best day!
And look at us in this stunning Ford Mustang - like old times but then with a flasher car than we had when we became friends many many years ago ;-)
We were invited to spend the night at Auberge l'Affenage, which is their go to address for intimate celebration dinners or with good friends and family. A very special place. We were treated to a 4 course dinner cooked by the hostess and accompanied by wines chosen by host Yves. We felt very spoilt! The surprise of the evening was a lovely sweet red lambrusco wine with dessert, a perfect match with chocolate and fresh raspberries from the garden.
After breakfast we went touring to go to a Brocante Market in one of nearby villages. Our friends are treasure hunters and attend regular dress up parties from friends celebrating birthdays - the focus was western style props this time. Ewoud is testing a serious looking drivers hat here, as he has been driving brides and grooms in his Ford Mustang! Testing the look :-)
Lovely streets with little restaurants where the French are having their Sunday lunches (no roasts in sight!). In Paris however, the French eat lunch out every day and most close their shop or business between 12 and 3pm to enjoy it - savoir vivre!We love the corner building in Paris on intersections mostly with more then 5 streets - beautifully decorated like this one. Everything oozes history and class.
As it was Sunday and the Roland Garros final would start at 3pm we were on a mission to find somewhere to watch the match and guess where we found it after 3 weeks in Ireland - yes, the one and only Irish Pub in Le Marais. Luckily we didn't feel too bad sitting inside watching the tennis as it soon filled up. It was at the same time as a football game between Spain and France for 3/4 place in x tournament (sorry Hans). Both a good watch on many screens around us. Because Stiller won the 2 first sets we knew it was going to be a looong game and decided to go to le Centre Pompidou that was around the corner. This is the square next to the Centre with a large fountain of the famous French artist Nicky Saint Galle, famous for her large colour sculptures. There is a Nicky St Galle garden in Akaroa btw if you want to check out her work closer to home.
Le Centre Pompidou was built by Mitterand in the late '70's and the first hyper modern building in the centre of Paris and because of it that very controversial. It will be closed in September for a 5 year renovation so we were jus time to visit a couple of the last exhibitions, The photo is from an exhibition called Cabinet Curiosities which it literally was. The whole collection of an art collector with quite outlandish taste was taken out of his appartement in Paris and sort of rebuild in rooms in the exhibition. Loved it, wacky, ugly and beautiful. After the visit we headed for the cafes again to find out how the final match was progressing and lucky us we found a spot right away to watch the 5th set which turned out to be a real cracker of a set, wonderful to watch on a Paris terrace with an Aparol Spritz. Go Alcaraz!
On Monday it was nice and cool in the morning and we decided to walk from Montmartre to La Vilette - a re-imagined neighbourhood where there is focus on the large canal that run through it, and a massive beautifully designed park with very cool architecture. The silver dome on the photo is the science centre. It's education buildings and a large part of the park is filled with everything music; building of the national symphony orchestra below, the national ballet building, theatres and the national conservatory. Unfortunately no shows on on our days in Paris.
Following another insiders tip we did get our dose of art and music at Atelier des Lumieres. Dit is where the Van Gogh event on the waterfront in Wellington a couple of years ago (projected on sea containers) originates from. Absolutely fantastic. We went to the music film about Picasso and the French painter Rousseau. Immersed in beautiful paintings shown as a movie in in industrial building, accompanied by amazing music for at least one and half hours. A must do if you end up in Paris!
Following another insiders tip we did get our dose of art and music at Atelier des Lumieres. Dit is where the Van Gogh event on the waterfront in Wellington a couple of years ago (projected on sea containers) originates from. Absolutely fantastic. We went to the music film about Picasso and the French painter Rousseau. Immersed in beautiful paintings shown as a movie in in industrial building, accompanied by amazing music for at least one and half hours. A must do if you end up in Paris!
Summer definitely started when we were in Paris. Because the Monday was a public holiday everyone was out in full force to enjoy the sun. This is Canal St Martin just north of Les Marais neighbourhood - where all the outdoor seating areas of every cafe were full and the footpaths along the canal were filled with people bringing their wine and picknick to enjoy the evening. We decided to join in with improvised dinner on the waterfront while people watching - the best thing about Paris!
Because everyone lives in apartment buildings where only the happy few have a mini courtyard, Parisians use the outdoor space as their garden. Get the chairs, a nice drink and a book and park yourself at the Canal. Or just take a sunny nap on a bench like this very nice dressed gentleman. 
Lovely to end our first day of exploring this way - we walked 22,800 steps which we calculated to be around 17kms! It's needed with all the lovely food and wines during our travels, from the previous blogs it looks like all we did was drink and eat - not true - only as reward to walking of course ;-)
Below is a photo of paintings that were designed for the famous Montmartre cabaret Le Chat Noir.
Somewhere in the Marais we found this wall art - Tintin and Captain Haddock kissing - Tintin/Kuifje re-imagined! We were on our way to the covered food market Le Marche Couvert des enfants rouge. From oyster bar met champagne tot sushi to Moroccan food which we decided to have. Bit out of the tourist route with mostly French having their (long!) lunch.
From there we started walking towards the direction of Bois the Boulonge for our visit to the Fondation Louis Vutton. Passing by the National Library for a peak inside - and look at this. An amazingly beautiful grand salle where lots of students were 'studying' or at least pretending to!
Just 50m further along is the Palais Royal with its beautifully manicured gardens and this funky (as in who knows what this means,,?) piece of court yard art. Definitely a grand setting for modern art.
It was starting to really heat up so time to take the subway further instead of walking to Bois the Boulonge. This is a very large forest/park just outside the centre where in the last few years this beautiful building has been built. Funded by Louis Vutton the well known fashion house so money wasn't a problem. And it show, what a fantastic piece of architecture just awesome.
The Fondation is now hosting the 25 years David Hockney exhibition which has been set up around the building on different levels. Very lucky were were there at the right time to catch this great exhibition. One of his 'mirrored' paintings we really like. His art is quirky, colourful and since covid he's made a lot of paintings on his Ipad (he is in his eighties now).
On the different roof terraces you have views over Paris and it really shows the beauty of this building.
For modern art lovers you'll probably will have guessed that is large upbeat sculpture is from Jeff Koons, we love it!
It was heating up considerably again towards the end of the day to around 27 degrees so after 19,671 steps in the heat we preferred a picknick in the park for dinner - in Les Tuileries next to the Louvre with lovely bread, very stinky French camembert and wine. Following the example of many French who do the same to escape the heat of the buildings and the streets. Sunset around 9.30 as we walked over the Place the la Concorde to take the subway 'home'.
After a lovely lunch in another village with compliments to the chef it was time for a speed-nap for our driver. I am amazed and a bit jealous that you can just close your eyes and actually nap for 10 minutes!
On Tuesday we finally travelled into the Netherlands to our first stop Breda, to see our long time Kiwi-Dutch friends Guy and Liesbeth who have moved back from Aotearoa to the Netherlands 2.5 years ago. So lovely to see each other, it had been too long. Catching up in the lovely garden of their monumental house in the middle of the old town of Breda.
As a surprise we were joined by Maartje and Hamid who had stayed in our house in Te Horo while we were traveling but we didn't manage to see each other before we left. As it was around 30 degrees, the dipping pool was the meeting place, such a treat!
To top of a great weekend we were lucky to go to jazz club A la musique village in Brussels on a Monday evening to hear a very talented young jazz guitarist Hugo Guezbar. A real treat to experience good live jazz music, I would not know where to find this in NZ so we soaked up the atmosphere and the music as much as we could.
As always we had so much to talk about and had lots of laughs. The is last photo of this blog, it was another long one! From here we trained to Sneek to see my parents.
A la prochaine :-) -Until next time, Nienke
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