A few days in Paris with Dad and Marie

It's been a week since my last entry and I have received two Emails like this: "It's been a week, why isn't there a blog update?!?!" My eager audience ;)

Last Wednesday I headed to Paris to visit Dad and Marie who were there to Visit Mike and his daughter Emma. I had bought my tickets online at the TGV website as it was the only one that would allow me to book a ticket less a week in advance.

I arrived at Centraal Station on Wednesday with my confirmation letter. I showed it to the lady at the counter who informed me I had to pick up the ticket from the SNCF office in France! So I had to get in another line, now 15 minutes before my train was going to depart, where I was able to buy a one-way ticket to get me to France. I made it with less than a minute to spare.

The Thalys train is very comfortable and a fascinating ride as it's one of the high speed trains that can reach 300 km/h. It is quite exhilarating when they open the throttle. We were going along parallel to the highway and the cars (who were all going at least 90 km/h) looked as if they were standing still.

There was some sort of a problem because we weren't going faster than a 'normal' train for a good portion of the trip. Then 45 minutes outside of Paris we stopped by a field. It was a hot day with the sun shining in and we stayed there for an hour. Eventually we started moving again and crawled into Paris a full 2 hours late. The delay had affected all trains arriving into Paris Nord and the platforms were a sea of travelers trying to find alternatives to their (now missed) connections.

I found my way to the hotel, 2 1/2 hours late and settled into my room before meeting Dad and Marie at a brasserie around the corner. It was late and I was hungry, so I ordered a quick omelette. I got a ham and emmental omlette that was the fluffiest omelette I have had! It was perfect.

The next day I met with Dad and Marie for breakfast in the hotel before heading to Luxembourg Park. This is a beautiful park I had visited on my trip last summer. However the weather wasn't good last August and now it was a sunny day with the temperatures hovering around 25 degrees. We found a spot in the shade and collected half a dozen of the (hundreds of) chairs that sat askew throughout the park.

As my luck would have it I received 2 work assignments on each day I was in Paris and had to get them done. I had been banking on it being a slow week. So I worked into the night on my two nights in Paris and brought my laptop to the park to get one some work done as we were staying there for the whole day.

Even though we were purposely sitting in the shade, Dad, Marie and I all gone some sun. However Dad got the overwhelming majority as we noticed later in the day. He was quite red.

Emma and Mike joined us in the park for the afternoon where we had a picknick and enjoyed watching the kids playing in the big fountain with their boats. I even beat Emma (2 games to 1) at backgammon.

That night we went to L'Ardoise; a small restaurant in a rather expensive park of town. The room was sparse and small, with tables crammed in for maximum seating. It was on two levels with only two servers working the rooms. So needless to say, the service was slow. However, the food was off-the-charts! The best French food I have had.

I started off with lobster ravioli in a light cream sauce. For my main course I ordered the braised veal with baby carrots in a broth. It came in a pot, likely the one it was cooked in, and placed on the table with a serving spoon and fork. Inside the pot was enough food for 2 people. The broth was rich, the veal was tender and the carrots sweet. And for those of you who received Dad's Email already know it was the first time I have left meat on my plate. I loved it, but I was defeated by it. I did, however, leave enough room for the very inventive take on creme brulee. Inside the creme brulee was a sour raspberry coulis, contrasting nicely with the sweetness of the dessert. On top was a dollop of raspberry sorbet. All in all, it was a perfect meal and a lovely evening.

Friday my train was due to leave in the afternoon, so Dad, Marie, Mike and I headed to the Musée D'Orsay. Along the way we were in the old warehouse district where the fruits and vegetable vendors used to sell their wares. In that part of town is this magnificent church, so while Dad and Mike enjoyed a coffee, Marie and I went inside.










In front is this concrete statue of a hand and face, adding a stark contrast to the centuries-old church behind it. I got a little creative with my panoramic pictures inside and came up this these:














Then we were off to the museum, which we had all been to before, but each time you see something different. We came across an artist who had set up her easel and was replicating a painting, quite well in fact.

Then it was time to head off back to Amsterdam. In Paris Nord I spoke to a Thalys representative who gave me the necessary information to get the second ticket I had to buy refunded. I was also given a form to fill out for compensation on being 2 hours late, something Thalys offers if the train is more than 30 minutes late.

Saturday morning my new bed arrived! It was a lot better than the old single mattress I had been sleeping on. Although, in my first 8 days in my apartment, I had only slept there 3 times as I had gone to visit Nina then Dad and Marie.

Nina arrived on Saturday at noon for her first experience in Amsterdam since being a child. I took her through Rembrandt Park and Vondelpark, two of the larger parks in the city and both within 10 minutes of my front door.

I had noticed green parakeets in Vondelpark on other occasions, but this time we both saw a number of them. Then back in my apartment, we saw two flying over Rembrandt Park. I asked my room mates about them and apparently they had been introduced to the parks as an experiment to see how they would manage. They did so well, they overtook the parks and have had to have their numbers reduced. It's a little odd to see. Then again, while walking through Vondelpark yesterday I came across a woman walking her horse through the park! Keep in mind, the park is surrounded on all sides by the city.









I went to the Albert Cuyp market yesterday. It runs most days of the week and goes for 3-4 blocks. I have never seen such a variety of items on sale at a market before. Apart from all the obvious items like fruits, vegetables, fish and meat, they also had: all sorts of clothing, shoes, jewelry, belts, bags, hats, sports equipment, carpets, drugstore items, toys, knick-knacks and souvenirs. I bought a lovely piece of salmon which I baked for dinner.

Walking through central Amsterdam I have come across a particular store a few times now. It's called the Cracked Kettle and it specializes in all sorts of beer! Of course, it was of little interest to me, but it looked like an interesting shop. That being said, I have started buying beer and keeping it in my fridge. In fact, on the weekend Nina and sat out on my balcony and enjoyed it. In Canada we have a Belgian beer called Hoegaarden, here they have a variety called Hoegaarden Rosé and it has the flavour of raspberry beer. It's delicious!

Thanks to Marie for taking all the pictures in Paris.