Off to Paris

After returning to Dublin following our quick tour of northern Ireland it was back to Rippley Court to rescue our left luggage, a last night in Dublin and we were going different ways. Jen and Sue were off to Spain and Trevor and I would be going to France.

The laundry across from the hotel got a bit of a wort out. At least we were heading off with clean clothes.

While Jen and Sue were flying out Trevor and I had an additional day in Ireland. We had originally planned to take a car and drive through some of the countryside where some of his ancestors possibly haled from. Neither of us were feeling 100% and Trevor felt that we had seen enough of the Irish countryside to do for the moment as he did not have enough information to specifically target parishes or churchyards while seeking ancestors. So instead of having a rushed morning we took our time and headed out to the airport with Jen and Sue and then got a shuttle bus across to the airport hotel where we were spending our final night in Ireland. It was definitely a quiet day.

After an uneventful flight to Paris we were meet as we exited the arrivals hall and were quickly on our way into Paris.

Our hotel was situated in the 12th near Bercy Village and Parc de Bercy.

After checking in we headed out to Bercy Village and had a wonderful time wandering through the shops and checking out the eateries. We could have spent a fortune if we were unconcerned about getting all the items back home but we resisted. We still had a lot more traveling to do and would be in the neighbourhood at the end of our tour of france.

In the evening we had a "meet and greet" and then we headed out and dined in Bercy Village. After dinner we went for a walk which included Parc de Bercy and a stoll along our local section of the Seine.

On of the pools in Parc de Bercy

The park straddles a road and there are pedestrian overpasses so that park users do not need to fight with the traffic.

 At this time of night the street was very quiet. Very different to its business during the day.

There was an avenue of trees on either side of the road. When we returned to Paris quite a few of these trees had been cut down. The photo shows some trees leaning over the street and it may have been judged to be a risk.

Parc de Bercy was a plenty green area with quite a few locals lounging around or playing on the grass.

Traffic on the river was quiet, too.

There were people gathering on the far side of the river, apparently waiting for one of the one river night spots to open.

The next morning we were off on our tour.

At the end of the tour we had two nights in Paris before we relocated to Abbesses in the 18th and situated just below Sacre Coeur.

By the time we had had breakfast, done our laundry at a nearby laundromat, repacked our bags and relocated across Paris by taxi, a very slow trip, the morning was pretty much over.

We headed out and up towards Sacre Coeur. It was quite a warm day and we took the climb slowly as Trevor was still not coping with walking up rises all that well.

We stopped in Montmartre for lunch at a small eatery which had "sandwiches" i.e. baguette rolls. We sat and watched the crowds walk by before heading through the village along its very crowded walkways.

Sacre Coeur never disappoints. It always look spectacular perched high above the city and the views from its forecourts are great, too.

I returned in the evening to take more photos hoping that I would get some good light effects.

Up close you cannot see the full magnificence of this building. The steps were very crowded

Views from various points of the surrounds: 

We came across this merry-go-round as we were making our way down from Sacre Coeur

Here are some of my evening photos:

and there was a huge crown on the steps and slopes

Going up the hill towards Montmartre you can trudge up steep streets or take the staircases that dot the rises.

The steps are well used.



From our window we had a view over the city including the Eiffel Tour.

Just below our window, a little to the left, was a park. It was much used by the locals and there was live music until well into the morning. This made for a restless night as we needed to have the windows open to get fresh air into the room but this then meant that we also got the music. Fortunately, the church across the street did not ring its bells all night, a horrifying thought that we had had at one stage during the day.

This area looks quiet in the early morning

We had checked out the route and the time required to get from our hotel to Gare du Nord. Leaving most of our luggage at the hotel we headed out to get our early morning training to Brussells and on to Brugges. [These two days will be covered in a separate post]. The streets were quiet with just the odd fruit shop open at that early hour.

The bell ringing church across the street

On our return to Paris we had most of a day left before our late evening flight. After doing a final bag pack we left our luggage at the hotel. I am sure that the luggage was starting to feel neglected as we seemed to have spent almost the entire trip with one or more bags left awaiting collection. We headed out in a new direction which took us passed Moulin Rouge and as far as the Montmartre cemetery.

The area around Moulin Rouge looks decidedly sleazy during the day. Darkness may hide some of its imperfections.

The Montmartre cemetery was a surprise. It has a multi lane road running over the top of it.

Some of the vaults were large and lavish but, by now, we had come to expect this in France.

We finally decided to check out the inside of the bell ringing church opposite our hotel. It turned out to be quite modern, minimalistic with some nice stained glass windows.

As a final indulgence we purchased a decadent looking tart which we shared.

The tart came wrapped in its own little tent

And it was very yummy!

The trip had been a wonderful5 weeks full of variety and interest.