Paris, Saint-Denis FR 1-31 October 2023 We were pleased to finally arrived at the Port de l'Arsenal which would be our home for the next 6 months, but we had a big list of jobs to complete. The Arsenal is in the 12th Arronsdissement and is very close to the Place de la Bastille, so it is a great spot for exploring Paris. The start of the month was unseasonably warm, which meant we were still wearing shorts and having meals on the back deck. But by the end of the month it was cold and rainy. In October, after the end of cruising, I have taken very few photos as you will see. More details of our jobs are at the end of the blog post. Rugby World Cup (RWC) We had chosen 2023 as the preferred year for us to stay in Paris because it was the year of the RWC in France. Well before we had our mooring confirmed at the Arsenal, Howard's 2 youngest children, Michelle (29) and Daniel (25), and Howard and I had purchased tickets for all the Paris finals and the last pool game in Paris, so we were especially pleased when our request to moor was accepted. Of course there were still a few games not being played in Paris which we watched on the TV. But on Saturday 7th we had our first RWC game. This was one of the last pool games - Scotland vs Ireland. Because I was worried about my foot dealing with the longish walk from the station, Howard and I caught an Uber to the stadium. Unfortunately the Uber had to let us off at a designated spot so it was still a bit of a walk. We enjoyed the game, although Ireland, the number one ranked team in the world, dominated. Unfortunately, with so many people around, we couldn't get enough signal to order an uber home, and the taxi we spoke to wanted EUR 150 to take us, so we ended up waking to the station. It was well organised and wasn't too bad, but my feet were very sore by the time we got home. On Friday 13th, while Michelle and Daniel were away in Budapest, Howard and I cycled to the Stade de France in Saint Denis to work out how practical it would be to cycle to the RWC games. Google maps didn't give us a great route, but we thought it would be OK. Michelle and Daniel returned in time for the RWC quarter finals on the weekend. Howard and I cycled there and they took the metro and RER train. Howard said that the game between New Zealand and Ireland was one of the best rugby games he had ever seen live. We were very pleased that New Zealand won in a very tight and close game. As Australia was eliminated before the finals I was cheering for NZ which Howard, Michelle and Daniel support. The other quarter final was also a good game between South Africa and France. We were hoping France would win as we thought it would be a great for the competition to have the host nation still involved, but South Africa won by a point in the end. Some of the costumes were pretty interesting - especially for France. They included the Coq Sportif, the three Musketeers, King Louis, the french coach Fabien Galthié and some funny brown things which Howard thought may be spiders? The following weekend was the semi-finals and New Zealand easily accounted for Argentina, while in the other Semi South Africa came from behind to beat England again by only one point. Howard and I were still riding to the games, improving our route each time to be out of traffic and having fewer stops. We had good lights and wore fully reflecting jackets so were feeling as safe as possible. By the Bronze final on Friday 27th we had worked out a really good route both to and from the stadium. This was especially good as the weather was cold and a little rainy. We watched England beat Argentina. Saturday night was the big one. New Zealand vs South Africa. Of course we were hoping for a win for New Zealnd, but early in the first half the New Zealand captain was sent off and New Zealand had to play one man down for the rest of the game. After a valiant fight, they lost by only 1 point. Very disappointing. But we had had a great time at the RWC. Exploring Paris Daniel and Michelle joined us on the Thursday after we arrived. They had already spent a couple of weeks in Germany and so were a bit tired. On Friday we got them setup on bikes to cycle along the Rue de Rivoli into "The Village", the Rugby World Cup (RWC) fan zone, which was at the Place de la Concorde. Unfortunately Michelle had a puncture which Howard couldn't fix, so Daniel and Michelle hired Uber Lime bikes and we continued on our way. When we arrived the zone was closed so we went for a lunch at a Gallette/Crepe restaurant and then returned to have a look around. After a weekend of rugby, on Monday we took Michelle and Daniel on a cruise through Paris on Moondance. We wanted them to see a bit about how we cruised and also to see the sights from the water. The weather was great and we had a lovely day. When we returned we moored the boat facing in the opposite direction which seemed to be much better for views, and privacy. On Tuesday morning Daniel and Michelle headed off to Budapest for 3 nights and we had Keiko, my good friend and housemate from Stanford days, over for breakfast. Well actually she brought the pastries. She also brought along her friend Hatsu who spends part of each year in Paris. It was great to catch up with Keiko and meet Hatsu, who will be moving into our area in February. Howard and I had a quiet few days, continuing with jobs. Then, after a weekend of Rugby, on the Monday, Howard and the kids went to Sacre Coeur and the Trodadero. And then on Tuesday Michelle and Daniel went to Zurich for 2 days, returning late on Wednesday. On Tuesday night Howard and I were invited to another boat in the harbour Wanderlust, by Becky and David, for drinks. Jonathon and Jeannie, whom we knew from the DBA rally were moored alongside Wanderlust on Aleau, and they also came for drinks. After that we headed out on our bikes to meet Jean-Phillipe, a friend of a friend for dinner. So it was a very pleasant and social evening. Aleau coming into moor alongside Wanderlust earlier in the month Unfortunately, on Wednesday I started to feel unwell as I had picked up Daniel's cold which really knocked me about. So as well as not being able to do anything that required a lot of walking, I was staying home as I wasn't well. Howard, Daniel and Michelle visited many sights including the Catacombs, Champs Elysee, Ile St Louis, Notre Dame, Arc de Triumph, Musee D'Orsay, and did a couple of walking tours. I did join them for a night at the Moulin Rouge. But I had to skip the Candelight tribute to Elton John and a night visit to the Eiffel Tower. Howard and I had dinner with an old Stanford friend Jan and her husband Tony, who are also visiting France for the RWC. On Michelle and Daniel's last night with us we went to Bistro Lipp, in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area. This was a traditional old Paris bistro and a wonderful way to end their visit. Jobs As I said we had a lot of jobs to do in Paris. Here are just a few of them. One of the first jobs was to work out the set-up for emptying our black/grey water tank. The Port requires that you do not put any black or grey water into the canal, so, for the first time we were going to be pumping using the port equipment. The Port de l'Arsenal is very well set up with pump out points at at regular intervals along the pontoon and Howard very soon had it worked out. It would take him about 20 minutes to complete the pump out. In the second week we had to have an inspection of our set-up by the city, who are getting very strict as they prepare for open-water swimming and triathlons in the Seine during the Olymics next year. Of course we passed the inspection with flying colours. Even so, from our boat we can still see other boats expelling water straight into the canal. And even if they get all the boats in the port complying, there are many other sources of pollution that they will have to address before the water is clean enough to swim in. Another job for me was to work on solving the problems with my feet which were again getting slowing worse. In the first week I had appointments set up with a doctor, the accupuncturist that I had seen before, and a physiotherapist (physio). Unbelievably, this was the first time someone had explained clearly to me what the problem was, even though it was in french. Basically overuse (back in 2021-2022) had caused problems with my tendons which had now tightened up. And I need to stretch them to increase the mobility and reduce the pain, but if I do too much I will make them worse. So we have a slow and steady set of excercises which the physio will gradually increase in difficulty. I have also had problems with my shoulder which means I havn't been swimming so we are also working on that. So far it is slow going on both fronts, but hopfully we will have a good outcome in the end. Another job was completing our Taxes for 2022-23 which were due by the end of the month. And we also had our COVID injections. I also needed to do something about my camera which was not working properly. It wouldn't focus when I half pressed the shutter button. I had a work around which was a bit clunky, but either needed to get the camera fixed or buy a new camera. In the end I decided to do both. I bought a new Fujifilm camera (my fourth), and took my old camera in to get fixed. At the first store I was told that they would only fix cameras bought in Europe. At the second store they told me that they had to send it to Portugal which would take 2 weeks and cost EUR 50, and then I would get a quote and then afterwards it would be sent back - another 2 weeks. I decided that this wasn't worth it since I had already purchased a new camera. I will get it looked at in Australia on our return next year. Another job was of course to prepare for the arrival of Michelle and Daniel. So we moved my office from the lounge room back into the bedroom to make room for the blow-up mattress for Daniel. We made beds and got towels ready for them. We have realised that we need more towels, and sheets but it isn't urgent.
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AuthorWe are sharing stories about and travels on our barge Moondance. Archives
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