Back in our familiar 11th arrondissement again and it feels great. The only bad thing? It means our holiday is almost over and I’m not ready to go home yet. It’s our last day here tomorrow, with our flight leaving Charles de Gaulle airport tomorrow night, before the long trip home. But, we’ve been making the most of our last few days.

On Sunday, after arriving from Rennes and settling in, we headed off for a big walk. The weather wasn’t great, but that doesn’t stop us – wet weather gear on and off we go, with no particular destination in mind. If walking is your thing, Paris is place to come, because while there are tourist attractions to be seen, there is double (triple!) that again of places or streets that hold as much attraction, for us at least, and we often come across things when we least expect it. On this occasion, it was a free concert in the l’église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis on rue Saint Antoine. Four muscians ( two violins, a flute and a cello) playing pieces from Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. It was simply beautiful and such a wonderful surprise. Afterwards, we had dinner at a little bistro in the Marais. Jeff had mussels (moules) and I had ‘fondant de bœuf’. Cooked for 6 hours, it was melt in the mouth deliciousness.

The next day we went to see the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibition at the Grand Palais. What a magnificent display! His characteristic irreverent style has led to his being known as the ‘enfant terrible’ of French fashion and creating a shock factor by using unconventional models for his exhibitions, like older men and full-figured women, pierced and heavily tattooed models.

He’s also pushed the boundaries of   traditional gender roles in his shows, with men often wearing skirts and women, menswear. All this has earned him both criticism and enormous popularity.  Regardless of your opinion, that he has a huge amount of talent is undeniable.  No-one will forget the impact that madonna’ ‘cone bra’ had, during her Blonde Ambition World tour back in the 1990’s.

That was the work of Jean Paul Gaultier. Even ‘our Kylie’ has worn outfits designed by him in a number of her concerts.

That night, we took the Metro to the Théâtre des Nouvautes in the 9th arrondissement, to see ‘How to Become Parisien in one hour’. A comedy, written and produced by Olivier Giraud, it was a fantastic night out and a Parisien himself, Olivier delivered a very funny show.  Afterwards, we did what the locals do and sat outside at a cafe, sipping a kir royale or two (try one, they are delicious!) and people watching. We had to be wary of the steep Metro steps going home though, a few kir royales can make you just a bit tiddly, I’ve found…

In the morning, I hopped on the metro again and headed to Galeries Lafayette for a few hours ‘perusing’ on my own. It’s a great shopping destination but, with a baggage restriction in mind, I had to be careful. That said, I did still manage to buy some more shoes….  Jeff, on the other hand, stayed at the apartment and did the washing, which I guess just highlights his aversion to a bit of retail therapy!

Before we left to come on holiday, I had found in my internet browsing, something about an elevated walkway in Paris, which had been converted from a disused railway line. We decided to find it yesterday afternoon. The ‘Promenade Plantée is just behind the Opera Bastille in the 12th arrondissement and is a plant-flanked promenade that spans approximately 4.5 km from Place de la Bastille to Bois de Vincennes, on a viaduct and over footbridges.  It is just brilliant and offers a birds-eye view of the streets of Paris. We walked it from end to end and back again, then headed over to ‘la rive gauche’ and the Eiffel Tour. On our last holiday to France, we didn’t see ‘la Dame de Fer’ at all, so were determined we should make the effort this time. She never disappoints. It’s amazing that something so iconic was only ever meant to be a temporary structure, constructed for the 1889 World Fair. By the time we walked home again, it was nearly 10pm. We hadn’t felt like dinner before then, but now felt like something. A soft boiled egg on a piece of fresh baguette with salted butter tasted like heaven, let me tell you……

Je te parlerai encore,  bientôt!!