Paris encore!
Speeding through the French countryside on the Eurostar the French pylons make me think of a waitress, eyes down, concentrating on balancing plates on either hand. Our pylons look like – well, pylons!
As ever, a wait for taxis at the Gare du Nord, which finally seems to be getting a big renovation. The Women’s Forum, where John is speaking tomorrow, have booked us into a palatial hotel near L’Opéra, the Ritz, and, just by chance, one of my favourite shops – Fragonard. Treats in store…
A fernery, an atrium, chandeliers, marble floors – after the conference we will move on to less luxury accomodation for the weekend but it will be interesting to compare the two hotels. Even three star hotels in central Paris are very expensive nowadays. On verra …
Coco Chanel’s first shop was opened at 31 rue Cambon. Now it’s late afternoon and we are hungry, looking for a ‘little something’ nearby. We just turned down this street and it happens to be rue Cambon! The Ritz is on the opposite side of the street to Chanel. This is a smart arrondissement!
We pass by Christmas festive decorations in shop windows on our walk, ending up at the Café Impérial on the rue de Rivoli. A stream of people pass alongside our table under the arches – the French really are very stylish and chic. They wear their eclectic clothes well. We order hot chocolate.
By chance, there is an English language bookshop next door called ‘Smith & Son’. It has a lot of books in translation, some of which you wouldn’t find in England. We enjoy mooching around. Upstairs there are books for children and a café, which does lunches too.
Strangely, there is a sort of shrine in the dining room, showing a painting of King Charles. This shop is somewhat of a glorious find for book lovers. King Charles should pop in for tea if he’s passing as obviously he’d be most welcome …
After a ‘welcome evening’ reception from the Women’s Forum, hosted at The Ritz, we are back in time for bed. It’s an early start in the morning.
She’s in the bathroom above the loo!
Next morning the conference is already buzzing as we arrive. It’s easy to talk to people and we find a seat in the auditorium. Later, John will be asked questions on stage with a colleague from Harvard, Rebecca Henderson. Anne-Laure Sellier is the interviewer. But before this happens, there is a surprise. We are asked to put our phones and cameras away for the next session coming up. We are all waiting, intrigued, to see who comes on stage.
It is Amal Clooney! We are all delighted to see her. She’s very warm, open and friendly. Her charity, ‘The Clooney Foundation For Justice’, provides free legal aid in defence of free speech and women’s rights in over forty countries. It was so inspiring to hear her talk. At the end of the Q&A she was asked about her best supporters – she replied immediately – George! It was so good to have her here.
Later, John and Rebecca were very well received and the interviewer has been in touch since. We listened to many stories from different countries and cultures throughout the day.
In the evening we walked through the streets in the gloaming towards another reception held at Le Petit Palais. The Eiffel Tower is illuminated and sends beams of light through the night sky – no wonder Paris is called The City of Light. It really sparkles.
We are now let loose into Paris for the weekend.
I found a hotel at the last minute in the Marais. Not a bargain price but we did have a room on the top floor, which is surprisingly spacious. Everything is simple and clean – I don’t even need instructions to explain the shower over the bath! I invariably struggle with grand shower designs.
We are very near the Picasso Museum which we make our first port of call. Like the hotel, it is also on five floors! 5 is a magic number – it reminds me of that painting by the American artist, Charles Demuth (1883-1935) – ‘I Saw The Figure Five in Gold’ – which inspired a poem by William Carlos Williams.
The Marais has so many small, entrepreneurial shops which I love. Maybe we have lost many of ours because of rents becoming too high. Bring them back! As this is my blog I’m just going to add lots of hyperfascinating shop fronts so I remember them and can go back to browse.
The owner sold me a small print – he’s a printer by trade and I wish I’d had a bit longer to look at his work – a very nice chap!
The Ile St. Louis is in my sights. A shop and a restaurant. A while ago I was here with our younger daughter, who found a coat at a very ‘bon marché’ price. John follows reluctantly – shopping is not in his sights!
I find the shop quite easily. John waits outside. Oh. my goodness, there is another ‘bon marché’ coat on a hangar, calling out to me … a happy outcome. Now I am stylish and chic for a change!
There is also a restaurant near here called ‘L’ilǒt Vache’, where we had supper last time. And it doesn’t disappoint.
Back to our spacious garret – all is peaceful and we sleep well. I am up bright and early and ready for breakfast at the Café des Philosophes, which is just a few minutes away from the hotel. Another favourite place is ‘Place des Vosges’, which we plan to visit today.
There is a constellation of art galleries scattered around the ‘Place des Vosges’. This is a real treat. John immediately falls for this polar bear – but a photograph is better than nothing!
On our return to the Gare du Nord there’s an enormously overwhelming queue for the Eurostar as one of the trains is delayed. I’m worried that we won’t get to the front of the queue in time. Trains are leaving for various places – Amsterdam, Brussels, Lille … then a railway employee asks for people going to St Pancras, London.
I hold up my passport. She is definitely hassled. I think of what it would be like being a refugee in this heaving mass around me. She singles me out and says, ‘But you left us’ … Ah, I thought, she means Brexit. This touched a very raw nerve.
‘But I didn’t’ I said very firmly, looking her straight in the eyes. ‘Follow me’, she said and took us to the front of the queue. I wanted to hug her tight. I’m first European and then British. And we finally made it.
Just off the Place des Vosges is a quiet little street. We found ourselves buying a small mirror. I’m always drawn to reflections, so I’ll sign off with this one.
