Istanbul : Weekend around Geneva : Barcelona and Cádiz : Seville : Granada : Córdoba : Mérida and Cáceres : Salamanca, Avila & Segovia : Madrid & Valencia : Art in Paris : Art in Spain

Paris

Monday morning saw me set out from Geneve to meet friends in Paris. Disaster struck in Lyon where I had about 10 mins to change trains. I was not totally familiar with the Eurail app, which I feel could be better designed, and could not open my ticket and boarding pass in time for them to allow me onto the platform to catch the train. I missed my connection, had to pay another 20 euros for a boarding pass for the next train, and arrived in Paris about an hour and half later than planned.

Notre Dame

Upon arrival I made my way to Notre Dame to meet my friends. It was a lovely, sunny afternoon and so nice to meet up with S&V. We joined the queue to visit the reopened cathedral. It is splendid, with everything gleaming and the windows as glorious as I remember them from a visit 25 years ago. When we emerged we were lucky enough to hear them ring a peal of the bells. Part of the exterior is still clad in scaffolding. We made our way to our hotel via the metro, and after an early supper close by, I fell into bed.

Art Museums

We had a lovely 2 days in Paris. The weather was sunny and our Hotel Mimosa was close enough to walk down to the Seine, which we did on the first day to visit the Musée d’Orsay. What a fabulous collection. I think I counted at least 12 pictures familiar to jigsaw fans. We visited in the morning and it was horribly crowded. We noticed the entry queues were less around 3pm. We also visited the Musée Marmottan Monet, which had a Boudin exhibition, the free Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris and the Fondation Louis Vuitton, which had an extensive retrospective of David Hockney’s work. Frank Gehry designed the Fondation building, which reminded me of a ship, rather incongruously moored on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne. I will write more about the art and museums of Paris at the end of the trip write up.

More of Paris

Besides visiting art museums we took a long walk along the Seine and also went hunting for art nouveau buildings in rue Jean de la Fontaine. S had sourced a boulangerie down our street where we started the day by sampling their delicious wares with coffee. Our hotel was not far from the Canal Saint-Martin and one evening we wandered up there for supper. The banks were full of people picnicking and enjoying the early summer evening.

We were also lucky to stumble across a small family French restaurant, close to our hotel. La Petite Rose des Sables seated only 6-8. The food was delicious and the lady who ran it single handed generously plied us with gifts and extra food and drinks. We later discovered it is highly rated on Tripadvisor.

May Day

On Thursday, May Day, which is regarded as second only to Christmas day in Paris, we left for Nîmes. Lily of the valley is the flower associated with May Day and walking down to the Gare d’Lyon, I saw people selling bunches. I enjoyed my walk, appreciating what a handsome city Paris is, with shady trees and wide pavements. It took me past the colourful harbour of the Canal Saint-Martin.

We had hoped to do the most scenic rail trip in France, Le Cévenol, en route to Nîmes, but the line was closed for repairs and we had to catch a regular train which was much faster and got us in by lunch time.

Nîmes

Nîmes is a lovely town, full of Roman ruins and wide walkways with running water and fountains. It also has an old quarter of narrow streets.

Exploring Nîmes

On Thursday afternoon S and I set off to explore, skirting the Roman amphitheatre and passing the Maison Carrée, which looks like a temple, we made our way to the Jardin de la Fontaine. This has a series of ornamental fountains and pools designed in the 18th century to maximize the water from a spring with an irregular flow.

The site had an extensive development in Roman times, but not much remains. There is a wooded hill behind the spring with a tower on top. From the garden the water flows in a shaded canal down towards the town. Many people were out enjoying the afternoon in one of the earliest gardens of its kind in France. The water from the spring was also used in the manufacture of the blue cloth made by the weavers of Nîmes – the origin of the name denim.

Pont du Gard

Friday morning saw us visiting the fresh produce market in the narrow streets of the old town before catching the bus to the Pont du Gard which is about 24 kms away. One can only wonder at the Romans’ engineering skills when one sees the enormous blocks of stone that this aqueduct bridge is built of. Dating from the 1st century AD, it has 3 levels of arches and stands almost 50 metres tall. Many people were visiting and some swimming in the river below.

Four pm saw me on the train heading for Barcelona to meet up with my family for the weekend and begin the Spanish part of my trip. S&V were staying on to enjoy more time in and around Nîmes.

Read more about my weekend in Barcelona or click an image below to open the gallery.