Spot the Odd One Out

An Eiffel Exhibit at Hôtel de Ville, Paris

Paris
Paris Hôtel de Ville, or City Hall, is a magnificent building in the centre of the city. Just walking by it is an experience, and even better, there are often excellent — and free — cultural exhibits inside.
Earlier this week, we went to one of the final days of ‘Gustave Eiffel, Le Magicien du Fer’ (Genius [...]

Paris Crowds and Conkers

Paris
In the spectacular weather of recent days, we’ve seen Paris both crowded and quiet.
On Sunday, families and tour groups alike walked on the Champs-Élysées, from the Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde.
As much as I adore the residential quartiers and smaller shopping streets of Paris, I’m equally impressed all over again every time [...]

Sunny Days in Paris

Paris
Paris is beautiful every day, but as with most places, it’s even more special when temperatures are pleasant and the sun is shining.
We left Sydney on Wednesday, the day of the eerie red dust storm. Thanks to all who sent e-mails checking we were OK.
It turned out to be very lucky that our relatively inexpensive Singapore [...]

Paris to London

London
Wednesday we started the day in Paris. Thanks to the Eurostar, a few hours later we were walking on Oxford Street in London.
We both love travelling by train, but only took the Eurostar for the first time in 2007.  We were immediately enamored of its efficiency and comfort. After years of flying between these two cities, [...]

Au Revoir, Paris

Paris
As always, our time here was too short.
The sun shone, we walked for miles, met new friends, and brought the apartment into the modern age with television, high-speed Internet, and WiFi. We even relaxed a bit.

It’s time to move on and visit with family and friends in other places.
I take heart in knowing the wonderful [...]

Tulips from Paris

Paris
Tulips are usually associated with Holland, but they’re also in bloom all over Paris.
They’re around tourist attractions like the Eiffel Tower, and in tiny residential parks like Place Dupleix  and Square Lamartine (where you can refill water bottles for free, with mineral-rich water our elderly neighhbour heartily recommends for making soup and tea).

Tulips grace the grand [...]

An Afternoon at BHV, Paris

Paris
Clive and I went to Bazar de L’Hôtel de Ville (BHV) a couple days ago, to get an iron and a few odds and ends for the apartment. We ended up buying a small ironing board, too, which Clive carried home on the métro and through the streets of our quartier.
[For those who know I don't [...]

A Wireless of One’s Own

Paris
It’s not what Virginia Woolf wrote about. It didn’t exist in her time.
For women in today’s world, I think a wireless (or any Internet) connection of one’s own is as important as a laptop, or any computer, of one’s own.
Whether these need to be used in a room of one’s own may depend on each [...]

Combien Est le Chien dans la Fenêtre?

Paris
These doggie shoulder bags cost 169 euros each.
They have a zipper on top of the dog’s back, and look like they’d hold a wallet, keys, and mobile phone, with a little room left over.
The bags really made me smile.  Despite not being a dog person, I was tempted until I learned the price.  Just think, [...]