We arrived in Paris yesterday evening after an early morning start driving from Lyme Regis, then a two and a half hour Eurostar trip from St Pancras Station to Gare du Nord. It was well after 6.00pm when we made our way from Gare du Nord to Chatelet on the Metro. I don't think that we (and our luggage) were really appreciated by the peak hour crowds filling the train.
We took as little time as possible settling into our studio apartments in our favourite Marais district (ours is in Rue de Braque, Ros & Pete's is just around the corner in Rue Rambuteau) before heading out again, finding our way to a lovely bar in Rue Veille du Temple for a welcoming drink and then Rue des Rosiers to join the queue for one of the famous Jewish felafel rolls from L'As du Fallafel.
We then made our way down to the banks of the Seine for a romantic night time view of the beautiful Ile Saint Louis and Ile de la Cite....and ....of course the magnificent Notre Dame cathedral. As usual the young African / Arab / French young people were there entertaining the crowds with an amazing array of fire breathing and acrobatic skills. The streets, cafes, bars and restaurants were crowded with people even as we were walking home well after eleven.
Ros and Pete were impressed by their first glimpses of Paris.
This morning we took a laid back approach to sight seeing - and didn't get started until around 11.00am - Paris style.
We started off walking westward through the Forum des Halles area, which used to be a lovely quiet spot alongside the ancient St Eustache church. Now it is under MAJOR reconstruction. That lovely sculpture we used to stroke gently and watch children play around is now in a very precarious position.
We keep on walking and note this interesting contemporary building in the midst of old Paris and wonder if it really does work??
In Rue de Rivoli, we're adjacent to a side entrance to the Musee Louvre forecourt, but we make a right turn instead into the gorgeous arcades and gardens of the old Palais Royale, one of my favourite places in Paris.
Unfortunately most of the shops in the arcades and galleries are closed today, including the exquisite Galerie Vivienne and Galerie Colbert. We don't know why - and not even Mr Google knows why either!
So we head for the magnificent forecourt of the Musee Louvre which is crowded today with thousands of visitors. The queue to enter snakes around the edges of court for hundreds of metres - there's a huge wait to get in and we don't have the time or inclination today.
The walk through the Place de la Concorde and the Tuileries is always breathtaking - today is no exceptions with all the gardens and trees blooming.
Ros, Pete and I took the opportunity to visit the beautiful Musee de l'Orangerie to see my favourite Monet waterlilies. We also got the bonus of seeing another guest collection there of amazing Renoir, Cezanne, Picasso, Utrillo and Soutine paintings - WOW!
While we did this Rob did some of his own exploring - enjoying the antics of the touts in the Place de la Concorde selling 20 minute drives of these pretty cars for 89 euros.
We walked up the Avenue des Champs Elysees, stopping for a bite to eat, before turning left at Avenue Montaigne so I could show Ros some of the eye poppingly opulent designer shopping that fills this gold plated avenue.
Everyone is always impressed with the iconic Plaza Athenee Hotel; today there was an Aston Martin parked outside.
We reached the Seine at Pont de l'Alma and then walked along the embankment until we got our first clear view of La Tour Eiffel.
.. ..while remarking how fast the Seine is flowing today and how HIGH the tide seems to be. Later we are to find that the Seine is actually in FLOOD - which prevents us taking our planned Batobus ride back to Notre Dame at the end of the day's sightseeing.
We cross Pont d'Iena for a close up view of a very crowded area under and around La Tour. There's big construction work going on under the tower - building a new first floor - to be finished in December 2013.
I'm a bit disappointed that all the grassed areas to the south of the Tower are now fenced off so people can't use them. I missed the sight of hundreds of happy people enjoying this space and gaining a fantastic unblocked view of the tower looking northwards.
We take the opportunity then to stop for an afternoon Pelforth biere at a quiet cafe near the Bir Hakeim Metro before heading back to Hotel de Ville.
We meet up again around 7.00pm for a shared meal of gourmet pizza slices, Leffe Biere and (small) serves of Victor's wondrous pastries. We'll get back to salads and soup next week I think!
We probably would never have visited Lyme Regis if we hadn't been invited to a wedding nearby. Our accommodation at The Lodge, in the main street of the township gave us great access to all the delights of this historic English seaside town - all the more exciting because it was packed with visitors all out to enjoy a WARM, SUNNY Bank Holiday long weekend in England - and the Lyme Bay Fossil Festival.
The Lyme Bay "beach" was comprised of large stones, many of which, when cracked open, contain fossils from Jurassic times (much to the delight of Ollie and Angus). A small sandy beach has been created for visitors by importing a big load of sand from somewhere in France, apparently.
Pete had to try the water, which was extremely cold, as expected.
Lyme Bay harbour seems to support small scale fishing and pleasure boats now - not like the old days when it was quite a thriving little port - so close to the coast of France.
We did the walk on the historic Lyme Bay Cobb, paying our dues to Jane Austin and John Fowles, both English writers who've lived in the area and incorporated the Cobb in their novels (Persuasion and The French Lieutenant's Woman).
We all agree it is a very pretty town, full of history and character. We fall in love with the Royal Lion Pub and eat there a couple of times and the boys adore the Cornish pasties available from every bakery. Fresh crab is on all the menus, and is absolutely delicious.
However we are struck by how inactive the crowds filling the beaches and esplanade are and how the town seems to lack a certain beach energy that we are used to in Australia. Where are all the people swimming, surfing, fishing, walking, throwing balls, playing cricket, rock pool exploring, cycling? The crowds just don't look like they're used to being outdoors - no wonder with the lack of good weather over the past year or so in England....and Lyme Regis is favoured by retirees, so that could be another factor.
We find our Lodge is such a nice space to spend some down time, especially as we try to recover from the late nights and all the wedding excitement.
Sunday dawned spectacularly sunny - and warm. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage HQ is about 15 minutes drive through the Dorset countryside from Lyme Regis, and our appointed time to arrive is 1.30pm. We're lucky to find a taxi at this late stage on a holiday weekend and our driver is pure Dorset, and he's talkative, so we enjoy his wonderful accent on the drive there, and back!
The gravel track down to HQ is quite steep and BUMPY so the guests have to be transported in a tractor. It's a great ice breaker for a wedding!
And an absolute joy for Eddie.......
The setting looks familiar to us...from seeing it on TV - but surely the sun has never shone this brightly before!
The sisters have insisted on wearing wedding appropriate shoes - which will prove a challenge for us today...
We're welcomed with handmade lemon drinks, which Ollie insists are "sour", but still very drinkable, obviously.
The River Cottage rare breed sheep are barely distracted by our excitement....as the start time draws closer.
Eddie loved the hay bales....
..and spent much of the formal part of the ceremony picking up small handfuls of hay, throwing them in the air while repeating (over and over again) 4,3,2,1 ...blast off ! !
For those who like to know the details, the bridesmaids wore very sweet and simple dresses - black lace over cream.
...and Cath's dress was beautiful (of course) cream lace, tiny buttons all down the back - very vintage inspired. She carried a simple bunch of fresh off white roses.
Davey and Cath had given careful thought to their Humanist wedding ceremony.....which included so many endearing personal touches (including the famous reference to Davey's "tendency to be irritable"). Cath chose the words of Pam Ayres as the inspiration for her "oath" and Davey chose Bob Dylan.....it was very personal, very moving..and just as well Eddie's blast offs were there to lighten things up or there would have been even more tears from the guests.
..and then it was over......and so much happiness....
..and a chance to celebrate, socialize and relax with a glass of bubbly Elderflower wine and a few country themed bites to eat in the veg garden.
The day had a distinct English country theme - including a Wellie Wanging (try saying that quickly) competition, which Davey won (of course).
..as well as a few traditional touches...
The meal was served in the prettily decorated marquee - brought into action after the terrible fire at HQ in 2012. It was the perfect setting on this bright sunny Spring day which everyone said was the best day England had experienced in 15 years (!).
There was a gorgeous light soup starter then this crab based appetiser served with a range of freshly baked breads.
We all ate every bit of the unbelievably tasty pork and veg (a river Cottage pig of course), slow cooked and pulled shoulder, roast leg and a "faggott" of the other parts with plenty of perfectly prepared crackling! Davey had chosen a Penfold's Koonunga Hill to match this - a lovely Australian reference.
Followed by a rhubarb crumble with ginger icecream YUM!.
Mal's speech was wonderful and the guests enjoyed Rod and Claire's account of Davey's background - before his arrival in London and meeting Cath.
The guests found their reference to Davey's exploits as a gymnasts very amusing for some reason - however Davey effectively killed any future ribbing opportunities by starting his speech off with a perfectly executed handstand!
Davey's speech was wonderful - beautifully written and full of hilariously funny self deprecating stories about his and Cath's life together - up until now.
After all that it was time for the band to get started while some of us enjoyed tea, coffee and petit fours in the yurt.
.....as the pizza oven was being fired up for a late night snack for the revellers.
..as the most amazing sunset unfolded......
..on this most perfect of days...
