Montmartre wine festival and an evening on the Seine

This blog comprises emails sent to family and friends during a two-week holiday in Paris in October 2010. I had an apartment on the third floor in Rue des grands Augustins, which was a brilliant location.

Flights were very good but I had a four-hour wait in Dubai which was tiring to say the least. I flew with a dreadful head cold and when we landed at CDG in Paris my ears were blocked up and everything echoed and sounded miles away. I got a taxi easily and even though there was quite a bit of traffic - due to a couple of accidents- we made good time. I even tried out my dreadful French on the taxi driver and she understood me.  Unfortunately, the manager of the apartment got the time wrong and wasn’t there to meet me. So, I put in the code and then I had to lug my suitcase up three steep flights of stairs to the apartment and then ring him and wait an hour for him to come and let me in. Apartment is okay - nowhere near as great as the one in Florence but reasonably comfortable for one. Although promised, there was no computer, and I spat the dummy. I now have a laptop (French) with a keyboard I find very difficult to use and a dodgy WiFi connection. After settling in I went shopping for basics – and then discovered the little bar, Bob Cool, which is right next door to me, and had a drink there. I decided to eat at Bistro St Andre des Arts but the food was disappointing - not a good start to my holiday.

The first few days of my stay the weather was very, very warm apparently unseasonably warm, but now it is quite chilly most of the time. Saturday I headed to Le Bar du Marché for coffee. It is opposite the markets, near a nice bakery and a small supermarket. I am meeting Deane and Adam later this morning to visit the Montmartre wine harvest festival. The theme for this year’s wine festival was humour. I managed to take the metro at Mabillon to Montmartre. I had to change at Sevres-Babylone and then take the train to Abbesses. At Abbesses I climbed the 9 million steps up to daylight and then I walked to the funiculaire and that took me up to Sacre Coeur. What a hilly place Montmartre is. Mass was on when I went into the Sacre Coeur so couldn't take any photos. I had about an hour to wander around before meeting up with Deane and Adam - that was really great. It's amazing how much fun it is seeing someone you know so far from home. The festival was very busy and great fun. There were people everywhere and lots of food and wine stalls. We wandered around for ages and tried lots of different types of food. We had foie gras, snails with lots of garlic, oysters - very salty but super fresh, fresh raspberries and icecream. Naturally, we also tried some of the wines. I even bought a bottle of red to bring home. 

Deane wanted to see the Moulin Rouge so off we headed, downhill, fortunately, and found it - got some photos and then headed home on the metro.

On Saturday evening I took Vedettes du Pont Neuf (boat cruise) down the river. Although the boats appears to move slowly it is really too fast for photos, also it was freezing cold on the open top deck, especially after such a wonderfully warm day. I saw the Eiffel Tower with its lights burning and it was lovely to see Paris from the water in the evening. 

After this I headed to L’Atlas restaurant for a light dinner then a brisk walk home and to bed.