17-31 March 2024 Paris We expected the final couple of weeks of March to be our last in Paris, so we had a few jobs to do to get ready to leave, and we also had some more visitors, so it was quite a busy time. From the Louvre As our time in Paris was drawing to a close we thought it would be good to catch up with a few friends. Firstly we had a vietnamese meal with Charles, our friendly neighbour. And we also we caught up with our friend Jean-Phillipe for a lovely seafood meal on the left bank. On the way we saw the Notre Dame lit up for night work. We were also able to participate in the Yacht Club's evening trip through the tunnel using the port's working platform and a tender. This was very interesting as we got to see the tunnel from the level of the water, without having to do any of the navigating. And also there was a picnic after we'd gone through the double lock. As it was a nice night the quay was full of locals, but we ended up leaving early as it started to rain. But all around it was a fun night. I also wanted to see the Tuilleries Gardens in Spring, but our visit was cut short by my sore feet as well as poor weather, so we will try and go again before we leave. We also revisited the Bois de Vincennes now that Spring had arrived. We had an interesting ride home, taking a new and circuitous route. We started out looking for where the mountain came from - it was the nearby zoo. And then cycled aimlessly through the local streets - always interesting. On Monday the 25th my good friend Eliza arrived with her daughter Izabel. They were staying until the following Sunday and were keen to make the most of their trip. Unfortunately, with my sore feet and limited walking ability I wasn't able to participate in most of their activities as they were mostly interested in shopping and walking around the Parisian streets. We did however have some lovely times together over meals. On Wednesday Eliza had arranged to meet up with one of her suppliers, so Howard and I visited the Bourse de Commerse, which houses the Pinault Collection (one of three venues - the other 2 are in Venice). This building was originally a wheat market, then stock exchange and home to the chambre of commerce. However in 2016 the building was bought by the City of Paris, to house the Pinault Collection of contemporary art (although those displayed are changed every six months or so). The building was restored and renovated, including the insertion of the brutalist concrete cylinder inside the round building that, when we saw it, had a mirror floor, and the restoration of frescoes around the base of the dome. All quite remarkable. Here are a few photos of people enjoying the space and especially the mirror floor. Some photos of the dome and frescoes, note the taxidermied pigeons and vulture. One of the installations was called something like Nursing Home. There were models of old men in motorized wheel chairs, who represented world leaders in later years. They moved around from time to time, one even getting too close to a painting and setting off the alarm. I decided it would be fun to take a photo of me in my chair with one of the world leaders. I tried to look as decrepit as them. On Friday night we took Eliza and Izabel to the Louvre as we are able to take in visitors on our membership on Friday evenings. Izabel decided to have a wander around by herself, while Howard, Eliza and I went to see the Near and Middle East Antiquities. I loved this, with some exhibits being early 4 thousand years old and some, whilst from only around 500 BC, were massive in size and scale. We also had booked a concert at Sainte-Chapelle for Saturday night. As the concert was at 6pm, before the sun set, it was a good time to see the magnificent stained glass windows. The concert was pretty good too. We left the concert through the courtyard of the Palais de Justice, and headed to a French restaurant that we had booked in the nearby busy Saint Michel area. It was a nice end to Eliza and Izabel's trip As we only had a short time left in Paris we had a couple of jobs we wanted done. One was to get the engine serviced, and we had Remy, who had helped us out on the Marne last year come to visit us to do this. He noticed that we had the wrong hoses on our hot water system, they were not for high pressure, so we were likely to have a problem with them in the future. As well as ordering us new high pressure hoses, he ordered a replacement pump for us as a spare. However when he fitted the replacement hoses we found that the pump was going off and on too frequently, which wasn't good for the pump. The answer initially seemed to be to get a pressure (expansion) tank, whch would even out the pressure from the pump. However after much discussion we decided instead to go with a new 230V variable speed pump that has a pressure tank built in. This was going to be about the same price as the replacement pump plus the expansion tank, and was reported to be quieter and provide more consitent water flow. So that has now been installed and is living up to expectations, although Howard has still to get the Bluetooth monitoring working. The second thing we wanted to get done was change the window in the middle of the front of the wheelhouse to open either fully for a nice breeze when cruising, or locked partially open so that we can get some circulation on hot days and nights. We were lucky to find Jeremy, an Irishman who did this type of work, and over 2 days he cut out the existing window and reinstalled it as we wanted. He has finished it off nicely and we are sure that this will be a fabulous improvement to our experience over the summer. Jeremy fitting the window We had originally planned to leave the Port on 1 April, but, after a lot of rain this winter and spring, the current is still too strong for us to leave. We estimate that the debit (flow) would need to be below 400,000 l/sec for us to leave. So we have asked the port capitaine if we can stay longer until we feel it is safe for us to leave. Others with stronger motors are leaving port but we'd prefer to wait here until the river is a bit more settled. Chart showing the debit (flow) in Paris since October against our maximum "safe level" of 400K l/sec. We are pleased with that decision as there has been more rain and tributories of the Seine are now on flood alert, so it may be a while before things settle down again. And there is always plenty to do here in Paris.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWe are sharing stories about and travels on our barge Moondance. Archives
August 2023
|