Paris FR, Den Haag NL 6-13 August 2022 Even though the birthday's were over there is always more to do in Paris. We had another 8 days, and the weather was fine and warm (around 28-34 C each day). Photo: Karen Melchior On Saturday morning we asked Keiko to join us for a ride around. We started from the marina and cycled via the "Paris Plage", then through a tunnel which has a lot of street art. We went to a cafe in Saint Honoré, where we met Donna, Ceasar and Hilary for a coffee, and said goodbye to Donna, as they were busy until they left on Sunday morning. Then Keiko, Howard and I cycled across the river to the famous Brasserie Lipp on Boulevard St Germaine. Keiko was keen to go there and we met Karen there. It was a lovely meal (thanks Keiko) especially the desserts. From there the three cyclists went to Keiko's favourite cheese shop further down the boulevard. It was beautifully set up and they would vacuum pack the cheese for overseas travellers. After that we cycled back to the boat and had to say goodbye to Keiko, who had a plane to catch that evening. We, however, had been invited to dinner at the house of friends of Hilary's. She had spent the day with them, and was to spend the night there before catching a plane in the morning. We met Karen, Audrey and George at the Bastille station and we caught a metro and an RER before going to Didier and Hélène's apartment just near Anthony station. It was a very pleasant evening, mostly speaking french. Michelle (Hélène's sister), Hilary, Hélène, Didier. On Sunday I had booked for Karen, George and Audrey and us to do a tour of the roofs of Chateau Saint Germaine en Laye. The information about public transport from Google said we had to take a metro an RER and a tram to get there and it would take about 2 hours, but the person at the metro on our way home assured us that the direct RER was working from La Defense. We were a bit unsure so left plenty of time to get there. Sure enough, the metro person was correct (not Google), so we got there with almost an hour to spare - time for a coffee at a nearby cafe. The tour group was quite small, just the 5 of us and another group of 4. It was a very interesting tour, giving the history of the chateau from Francis I right through. And of course great views from the roof. We decided not to have a look around the National Archeology Museum which is housed there, but had lunch in the town before heading home. We had promised our neighbour, Jerome, that we would help him move his and another boat in the afternoon. Jerome's boat was on the quay directly behind us, and it had another boat rafted up against it. He needed to get fuel on Monday morning so wanted to swap the two boats around so that he was on the outside and could slip away easily in the morning. With Howard's help, Jerome and his your adult son pull both boats still tied together alongside Moondance, and then returned them one by one so that Jerome's boat was on the outside. A little tricky but not too difficult, even withut using engines. We had a quiet time on Sunday evening and Monday morning, and then on Monday afternoon we went on a guided cycle tour - "Hidden Paris". We of course took our own bikes, but it took a while to get everyone else set up with bikes as they were kept at a different place from where we met. But once we got going we enjoyed the trip. Stops at a few less well known places including our own Arsenal Marina, some traces of Roman times and the places used in the TV series "Emily in Paris". As we didn't have to return our bike, we left the group after the last stop and had a quick look around Notre Dame. There was an exhibition of photos of the fire and the restoration work, but the whole cathedral and surrounds were fenced off. It seemed that they were taking the oportunity to restore more than just what was damaged in the fire. They are hoping to get all this finished before the Olympics in 2024, but it will be a bg job. On Tuesday morning we found out that George had had to leave for home early to attend the funeral of a friend. Karen was tired after staying up with him to help with the last minute arrangements. We had decided to go for a bike ride up the Champs Elysee, and we asked Audrey to join us. Our first job though was to book my bike in for a service. Howard had seen a bike shop "only a couple of blocks away", which took us quite a while to find, and then was closed. But there was another just up the street who fixed my gear problem straight away and wouldn't take any money for it. Then we set off with a small detour up to the Place des Voges. The route from Place de la Bastille to the Arc de Triomphe is almost straight and has a very impressive bike path. unfortunately Howard got a flat tyre so we had to stop, firstly to change the tyre and then to find a bike shop where we could borrow a pump as we only carried a small emergency one. With that behind us we then cycled to the Arc, and with a little trepidation cycled around it on the road. The cars on the round-about were very well behaved, but, to our surprise the ones entering the road-about didn't even slow dow and it was quite scarey. It was only later that we found out that the ones entering have right of way so we really in the wrong and were in danger. We did safely negotiated it, and then stopped for lunch before heading home along the Seine. In the evening Karen and Audrey joined us on the boat for a drink and then we set off to a Japanese restaurant "Fujiyaki" near the Place de la Bastille. We had a delightful meal, followed by an ice cream at one of the ice cream joints. We then said farewell to Karen and Audrey who were catching an early plane home in the morning. On Wednesday morning we did a cycle for a short way along the Canal du Martin. The canal is in a tunnel for a couple of kms from the Arsenal, under the Place de la Bastille, but then comes out into a long straight canal. We were a little distracted as we had just heard that the canal de Briare and other canals in the Loire Valley would be closing later in the month. The problem was that the drought was restricting water supply for drinking water and water to cool the nuclear reactors in the area, and these needed to take priority. We spoke with the Marina at Saint-Mammés/ Moret-sur-Loing and they did not have space for us to winter and said that there were a lot of people now looking for somewhere to moor. We considered making a rushed trip to Briare, but we would then be stuck there for the rest of the year, and I would have been exhausted from that trip. In the end, after much discussion we decided to contact a few marinas we knew of on the Oise river and the lower Seine, where the boat would be safe. They were a little more expensive, but so many canals are now closed or closing that it seemed sensible to go where water shouldn't be a problem. In the afternoon we headed off to catch our 4:30 train from Gare du Nord to Rotterdam, and then to Den Haag. We needed to pick up our new residence cards in person as they will not mail them. We had a hotel for the night in Den Haag and had some time for a little shopping the next day before heading back to Paris in the afternoon. Unfortunately there was quite a bit of walking involved and by the time I got back to the boat my foot was quite sore. On Friday we took it easy and just did a cycle to the Eiffel Tower. There is a great cycle path along the left bank of the Seine, although most french cyclists (and some pedestrians) seem to think that the traffic signals don't apply to them, so it was a bit wild at times. I stopped for some photos at Pont Alexandre III, opposite Les Invalides. The bottom of the Eiffel Tower is now completely closed off - you can only enter with a ticket. But you can still go to the gardens at the rear. We had a drink in a little kiosk in the gardens before heading back past Les Invalides. In the evening we caught up with some Barge Association (DBA) friends, whom we had met a rallies and who were also moored in the Arsenal. We brought along some neighbouring kiwis, Annie and Charles from the blue cruiser Antiope, who were also friends of Ian and Lisette McCauley. After a small confusion on where we were meeting we met for drinks at a bistro on the Place de la Bastille. It was great evening with Grainne & Andy from JoNi, Paddy (and his friend Charlie) from Coole Swan, and Janos & Rachel from Csavargo and their son Sebastian (who insisted on walking me home when they others went back to Janos and Rachel's boat) and his girlfriend. On our last morning we went to the market at Place d'Aligre. There was lots of lovely food - we got 2 pinepples for 1 euro. And there was also some interesting African trinckets and brocante. We had a cuppa at about 11am and got the last pain au chocolate to share. Then we went back to the Place de la Bastille for lunch. In the evening we went over to Apple Jack for drinks. We had met David and Melanie at Rueil Malmaison and it was nice to catch up with them again. That was our last full day in Paris. After some discussion amongst ourselves we had decided that Cergy would be our preferred port for the winter. It was closer to Paris, people had told us it was nice, and it would be a good spot when we had guests in October. We were very pleased to get a positive response from them and to have an alternative winter port arranged so easily. Now we just had to adjust our route for after our trip to Saint Mammés / Moret. Thanks to Karen Melchior for some of these photos
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AuthorWe are sharing stories about and travels on our barge Moondance. Archives
August 2023
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