Would You Like To See My Ramparts?

We had arranged to have breakfast in the B&B for 9:30am and it was good getting up and viewing our surroundings. Due to our late return the previous night, we hadn't had chance to see the area properly, nor had we had the opportunity to meet our hosts, who were in the process of making us breakfast by the time we stumbled out of our bed. The room was a little chinzy but then most B&Bs tend to be, but the place was very secure with its metal blinds and the bed itself was particularly comfortable. After having our ablutions, we said hello to the rather charming couple who owned the establishment, with my pathetic school-learnt French soon disintegrating into English. Fortunately, they did speak pretty good English and were comfortable using it, so much so that we ended up having an hour long conversation with them at the breakfast table over some fresh coissants, pancakes with homemade jam and freshly baked bread from their bread maker. It was a simple meal but a hearty one, with breakfast tea not dissimilar to Earl Grey which allowed us to start the day quite well. We discussed a range of topics but particularly local produce, specifically cheese and beer, and they showed an interest in the craft brewing scene in the UK. They admitted that they prefer Belgian beer but I suggested they tried some British microbrews, even extending to buying them two cans of beer from the Moor Brewing Company which I discovered in the excellent La Fine Mousse bar we attended on the Sunday night. They were most grateful for the gift.

Matt was due to pick us up at 11am, changing the original plan of meeting at Bures-sur-Yvette station for the 10:48am train, but he still hadn't shown up at half past, with us starting to get concerned. In the meantime, we were shown around the rather delightful garden and heard the range of birds singing in the treetops. The day was rather sunny, if not particularly warm, but at least it felt that Spring was on its way. The garden was quite quiet aside from the road in the middle distance, but I imagine it would be a rather excellent place to enjoy a beer or relax with a book during the warmer Summer months. Anyway, our hosts were very talkative and were exceptionally friendly, telling us how they had run the B&B for eight years and that this was the house in which the husband had been born. They still live here and they say business is going well, which wasn't surprising due to the excellent value for money that they provide (and, I found out later that they gave us a further €5 per night discount due to us being friends with Matt). Matt soon turned up though and with Kate joining us later, the three of us were soon headed back into the centre of Paris, stopping off first at the Notre Dame again in order to see the interior of this breathtaking cathedral. I have already written about this yesterday suffice to say that it was a real pleasure walking around this atmospheric building, particularly as a Mass was going on around us. To be honest, I admire the tolerance of the faithful when it comes to tourists in their churches - their faith must surely be tested by various people loitering around them taking photographs of the stunning backdrop upon which they practice their solemnly held beliefs. Like with many cathedrals of this size, there was no shortage of interesting things to discover, and hiring an Audioguide certainly helped piece together the jigsaw that makes this building particularly unique, but the highlights for me were undoubtedly the three rose windows, all set with a striking purple colour which added to the reverential atmosphere inside. The addition of chapels down each side of the nave later on had made the cathedral somewhat darker than it once was, almost gloomy even, but this added to the heaviness of the air which is counteracted by the sheer height of the vault of the transept, which extends 33m and rests on broken arches. The structure of the roof is a triumph of geometry allowing the weight of the vault to rest upon the columns rather than the arches, which in turn was a marvelous feat of engineering for the time.

We decided to avoid going into the Treasury, largely because the Vatican one had not been particularly interesting when we had last visited and the guidebook didn't elude to anything of specific interest contained within. I had wanted to go and climb up one of the towers but the queue was prohibitively long for us and neither Matt or Wolfie fancied waiting in line, particularly when we had so much more of Paris to see. After grabbing a rather excellent, if expensive, croc monseiur sandwich from a cafe across the road from Notre Dame, I did insist that we headed down to the Crypt of the Cathedral, which is usually where the most interesting aspects of such buildings can be found. The Crypt certainly did not disappoint as therein lies the remains of the old fortification wall around Île de la Cité, including the ramparts which protected its residents from first Germanic and then Barbarian raiders. In the museum, the history of Paris from Roman times onwards was charted (from when it was called Lutetia), allowing one to see the changing geography of the city through the ages. The ramparts date from the fourth century, when the city of Lutetia moved to the island as it was better defended from there. Interestingly, large stone blocks from various civic buildings in the old city on the right bank of the River Seine were used to construct the fortification. The city's changes can be documented throughout the ages, with a butcher's shop from the early Middle Ages clearly being seen on one edge of the wall while the old Roman quay could also be observed, highlighting that the island was once only half the size it now currently is. The best sights were saved until last though as the full layout of a small bath house had been unearthed, with three differently heated rooms visible along with the red stains indicitive of the old boiler and pipework system. The changing facilities were also clear and it was fantastic to be able to imagine what life was like in this Roman town.

During our tour of the Crypt, Matt had been contacted by Kate, who suggested we meet her in the Jardin du Palais Royal near the Louvre. On our way over there, we caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower in the distance, earwigging a rather enthusiastic (and loud) American tour guide who was giving a raft of interesting information about Paris's most famous metal spike. We also saw the Arc de Triomphe Carousel, the first of three triumphant arches stretching nine kilometers north-westwards out of the city and which contains the Arc de Triomphe itself, the world's most glorious roundabout. This was shrouded by a giant ferris wheel they had built to celebrate the forthcoming European Football Championships, which France is hosting, but at least we got to saw the Carousel version of the Arc de Triomphe, which was glorious enough in itself. Built between 1806 and 1808 to celebrate Napoleon's victories in the Corinthian style, there is plenty going on in the smaller cousin to the more famous arc, and it was great having a brief look at it before heading over to meet Matt's girlfriend in the Jardin. She was running slightly late but this did enable us to have a brief amble around the cool gardens, which again overdid the sandy pebbles on the ground rather than grass. There was a number of trees and fountains though, adding to a sense of coolness, while chic cafes and bars lined the squares in a grandiose building which surrounded it. During our walk, we observed some people playing an interesting game we had never seen before. Called Mölkky, it seemed to be a little like Skittles, with the objective to knock some numbered pins down. Spying our interest, a rather pleasant Frenchman with bad breath explained the rules to us, telling us that it was a game that originated in Finland but which has started to have a huge following in France. Indeed, what we were witnessing was an eight-man tournament taking place in the Jardin in preparation for the world championships which were due to take place in France later in the year. The game is quite highly skilled and both Matt and I were fascinated, with us resolving to buy a Mölkky set when we returned back home. This is something that we are yet to do.

It was great chatting to these friendly guys and by the time we had observed a few exciting rounds of the game, Kate had arrived and we showed her what was going on too. We then headed over towards Montmarte, taking in some of the small, independent yet uniquely Parisian shops in the covered walkways which had grown in popularlty since they were built in the early part of the nineteenth century. There was a range of cool stores here including wine stores, cheese shops and antique places, while there was quite a good range of restaurants too. Matt had wanted to take us to a good tea shoppe that he knew but upon arrival, we discovered that it had relocated, which was something of a disappointment. Having been on our feet for the best part of the day, however, we did need a place to sit down so we decided to try one of the wine bars on the other side of Montmarte. On the way, outside the Bourse (Stock Exchange) I had a rather exciting discovery, finding a five centime coin from 1966 which may be worth quite a bit now. For an avid coin collecter, I was delighted with this. This was in the market place outside the Bourse, an impressive Victorian building again built in a classical Greek style, in front of which there was a rather odd set of stalls selling a range of weird items including old oil paintings and nineteenth century streetlamps. I am not sure what market they were going for, but alas fitting an old gas lamp in my hand luggage was going to be something of a challenge so we headed to the cafe, ordered a wine and chatted. This was the first time that Wolfie had met Kate, with me having met her at the University gathering I attended near Peterborough last August, and they hit it off quite well, resulting in a rather relaxed evening during which we decided to take it rather easy after a particularly intense day, but my account of this will have to wait for another time.