26 December 2023 to 2 January 2024 We were trying to do something everyday. Sometimes this was a museum, or visiting somewhere that had lights or views, or entertaining. We visited Carnevalet Museum again (History of Paris), but this time borrowed a wheelchair which allowed us to see a bit more than before. We visited the Invalides and the Musée de l'Armée (Army Museum). This museum is huge so we only saw 2 parts. Firstly the Musée de l'Ordre de Liberation (Museum of the Order of Liberation) - which covers the french involvement in WWII - we saw the part about the Resistance and the Free French involvement, but we didn't see the deportation section - too sad. The other section was about the Armes and Armeurs Anciennes (Ancient Arms and Armour), which covered the development of arms and armour and even had some Ottoman and Japanese examples, as well as some jousting outfits, and some armour and arms owned by kings. A return visit will be required to see the rest. After the Invalides we cycled to the nearby Pont de l'Alma and the Avenue Montaigne (another street with exclusive stores). After going along the Avenue went along the Champs Eysée to Place de la Concorde and then home along the river. One evening we caught the bus to Republic and walked part of the way home before catching the bus again. Another evening we went to the Jardin des Plantes, where they had a Jungle en Voie d'Illumination, which was a walk through jungle scenes lit from within. The event was done by the Natural History Museum and some of it was actually in the zoo so we think it was a pretty accurate representation. And looked wonderful. The headline act was this chameleon, which changed colour. Very impressive. haNew Years Eve was a little disappointing. Our original plan was to cycle down to the top of the Champs Elysée where they close the road and have entertainment, and then fireworks at the Arc de Tromphe, but our planned route was closed and the Rue de Rivoli was packed with pedestrians which made cycling almost impossible. So we stopped at the Tuilieries where many others had also stopped. We expected that we would at least get a view of the fireworks, but they were very low in the sky and we couldn't see them at all above the trees. So we went home. But it was still an adventure. On New Years Day we went to see the Nutcracker ballet at the Opera Bastille - which is about 200m from our boat. It was a fabulous performance, and great building and a nice way to start the year. On the 2nd we invited friends of Chris and Emma (Howard's son and Daughter-in-law) over for lunch. We really enjoyed meeting Sacha and Mark and their 2 kids, and sharing a simple meal, Baguettes , French Cheeses and Charcuterie. With some lolvely pasteries for dessert.
1 Comment
Mark Poustie
9/1/2024 11:34:09 pm
Wow - so much to see and do and you are so close to all the action.
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