England epilogue

Well we're back in the land of sun but that's no reason for the posts to end, Paris is still an idee fixe for me. (BTW my French sources tell me that Idee Fixe was the original name for Dogmatix, for those of you who read Asterix comics)

We took the ferry from Calais to Dover, not before having an incredible meal at Le Channel, a brilliant French restaurant in an otherwise unappealing city. This is me with the wine tome (list sounds too cursory).

The ferry crossing took place on the clearest and calmest of days, we could see each country from the other and were only a little taken aback by the prevalence of gambling machines onboard.



England included a visit to Stonehenge, lots of grey but surprisingly mild weather, Burrow Mump (which translates as "hill hill" and rises out of the swampland of Somerset) and Dunster where we saw many black-faced sheep, much to my delight.













Now it's hot, dry and everyone speaks through their noses but this is home again... for now.

End of days

We are stretching out our last days, saying goodbye to the people and places that have made up our Paris experience. We held our farewell party the other night (sorry, no cameras!) and are doing a lot of walking, eating and box packing.

Today we went for a long walk past the Trocadero, then to spot the mini-lady-liberty and finally, at long last, up the Eiffel Tower.

To warm up went to say goodbye to the chocolate chauds and réligeuses of Ladurée, singing to ourselves the song "do you know the way to Ladurée?"

David hits 30 in Reims

A town where women's menus don't come with prices, architecture ranges from Roman to art deco and the Christmas street parades feature wizards dancing to the Addams Family theme tune.

Views from the Pompidou

I would recommend the Futurist exhibition on at the Pompidou centre at the moment to any and all, it ranks as the best exhibition I have visited in my exhibition visiting life. And the side benefit is that in rising to the sixth floor on glass fronted escalators is that one is rewarded with these views.

Caffe Nation

Deserving a post all of its own, even though I didn't get a picture of it, is Caffe Nation, the best cafe in Antwerp which we smelt out thanks to the exquisite roasts they use. We went each of the four days, had three baristas and each made brilliant coffee. In particular I loved an earthy Ethiopian blend which made a wickedly delicious espresso. They also have a long list of inventive drinks like Dr Pepper (ie coffee with lemon-pepper and honey) or Bouchee Blanc (ie a white chocolate mocha). The mood is chilled, you can sit for hours overhearing lame philosophy conversations and see creative types doing their thing.

Antwerpen

Highlights included, the Museum of Contemporary Art - not normally a fan but this was, to me, contemporary art at its dicursive best. The national gallery and its collections of Rubens, Van Dyke and Magritte (on different floors). Dinners at Fiskebar where the swordfish was utterly sublime and Yohji Yamamoto's flagship store which reminded me of the extreme beauty of simplicity.

Below are selected snapshots of the fun we had including, but not limited to, the Bed and Breakfast where we stayed whose Dutch name was "Bed, Bad & Brood", an allegedly 400kg chocolate elephant and the famous cathedral.

Autumn in Paris (DMH Guest post)

Well it has begun. Just as Parisians leave the city in summer, the leaves do the same in winter.

With Alice working long days the adventuring and blogging has fallen to moi, and thus the delays in posting. We are of course on the downhill slide back to Oz, with our final journey all booked and planned to the last detail.




The days are getting cooler and the streets becoming tourist free, perhaps it is now time to visit more museums. Until then, please enjoy the turning leaves, I'll take more snaps as the situation progresses.