The Scintillating Diamond Encrusted Peacock of Montmartre

Just getting my NEW craft room organised, and look what I unpacked! This is one of the treasures we brought back from Paris. You know how all the famous jewellers have beautiful showcase stores in Paris? Well, I do like a bit of jewellery. 

This peacock is richly encrusted with diamonds, of which only a few have come unglued and popped out. The peacock's tail is - well, let's say, metal. And its eye, an emerald as green as the deep blue sea. Oh, wait, that should be, green sea.

All this for one euro at a flea market. That's about A$1.50. 

If you go to Paris, here's the web site you need - http://brocabrac.fr/index.php?dept=75 . That's Brocabrac, the local site for advertising markets, big ones and small ones. Garage sales are not allowed, so local markets are regular. The link I've given you is for department 75 - that's Paris itself. It's in French, so bon chance!

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Catriona's new wardrobe

Young Catriona is scoring well in this renovation. The room we are cleaning up for her has a walk in wardrobe and an ensuite. They needed major sprucing up though, and that's well underway now! Cabinets went in today.

The fete du pain in Paris

Last time we were in Paris, we discovered that there was a "bread festival" on at Notre Dame. Well, that was cool. And this time, it tuns out we just made the festival again! This baker is making, I'm sorry, I don't know the name of it, but a twisted pastry. She takes a piece of croissant dough, already rolled like a Swiss roll. She cuts down the middle, and then twists the two halves together. Then coils it into a ring, and bakes it in a tin. She achieved all these fiddly steps in moments.

Then we ate some. Yay for the bread festival! Recommended for all tourists in Paris right now.

A near death experience - with chocolate!

One of the edible (or rather, drinkable) treats of this trip has been hot chocolate. We tried the recommended chocolat chaud from Patisserie Vienoisse. It's dark and unsweetened. If you ask for cream, it comes with a lot of cream. That's how we had it first time. But I fancied trying again without cream. So we did, this time "emporter". That's take away to you. We took these cups of evilly dark and hot food of the gods to our favourite sitting place, in front of Death in the university courtyard. Cheers, Death!

Last day in Paris

Bonjour Madame Curie! We visited the Curie Museum at the Curie Institute. In the pretty garden outside (where students who have just defended heir PhDs are invited for drinks) is a photographic exhibition of the women carrying on Marie Curie's work at the institute. The display goes up to the present day. I imagine you might find a slightly embarrassed scientist trying to eat her sandwich in peace, while her portrait flaps in the breeze above her.

Onion soup!

Not much in the way of photos for this day  - we spent most of the day at the Musee D'Orsay, where photography is not allowed. But lunch was at the nearby Cafe Mucha. Mucha was a French Art Nouveau artist. And this is proper soupe à l'oignon gratinée. Yum.

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The job I would like at Versailles

The security staff at Versailles get to drive around in these little electric powered Twizys. I could do that. I'd bop around the various parts of the estate, give directions, remind children not to scare the ducks, and maybe escort tired ladies to the front gate (this tiny car can take one passenger). I thought of that last bit because I was pretty darned tired by the end.

The hamlet at Versailles

Marie-Antoinette had a little village built as a place to relax. It has been maintained beautifully, even these pretty gardens. A very worthwhile visit - though next time, I'd take the little train from the chateau. It's not just a gimmick, it is a rather long walk.

Pretty stuff at Versailles

At the Grand Trianon. This is a nice bedroom, with room for twenty or so friends too.

What goes on inside a fountain

Here's some of the works, ready to be installed in the main fountain at Versailles. See, anyone could show you pretty views from here, but only I would show you this stuff!

New fountain time

Here's the foundation of the new (restored) fountain being constructed at Versailles. Today, concrete is being laid. The original stones from the surrounds of the fountain are laid out ready to go back.

Where has the big fountain gone?

The biggest fountain at Versailles is under restoration right now. So we didn't get to see it in the conventional way. The sculptures of the fountain were off elsewhere, but the foundations for a restored fountain were being laid here.

Cheese on toast, French style

This is the kind of thing I get to have for lunch. Toast grilled with goats cheese, on a bed of salad, often with honey and nuts. This time the salad is apple and endive. So, so nice.

Beautiful pears on the way

These pears are well on the way. The gardens in Versailles maintain a huge number of heritage varieties that might not be cultivated otherwise.

The pear trees at Versailles

The trees at the Potager du Roi know how to behave. Aesthetically pleasing, and I expect the pruning makes it easier to harvest a crop of excellent fruit.

Marvels of Versailles

You know Versailles? You know Marie-Antoinette's little hamlet there? You know the pond there? These are the fish in that pond.

More photos later, it turns out there was some other stuff at Versailles too. But now we have to go and join a queue. Or not. We'll see when we get there.

Macaron research

You can't be a macaron baker and NOT go to Laduree. Can you? We had wonderful hot chocolate and treats to eat in their elegant tea room. Touristy, sure, but it was lovely.

What's that in the road? A head?

Nope, it's a foot.

Lovely morning at the Rodin Museum. We tried to go to the D'Orsay, but were scared off by the huge queue. Easily an hour in line, and that was quite early in the day. The Rodin museum is an easy and very rewarding visit.

The oddest bookshop we've ever seen

"Un Regarde Moderne" in the Saint Germain area is a bookshop I found a mention of while we were planning this trip. It got onto our list of things to see. Today we actually went there, having discovered it is very close to one of Jeff's favourite game shops. This book shop is famous for ... Well, just look at the layout. Piles of books everywhere. We assumed we'd just look in and then get out again.

But, the shop worked its magic, and within a minute, we'd seen "Alice au pays de lettres" - Alice in the Land of Letters. Anyone who knows Jeff knows that interesting Alice in Wonderland variations are some of his favourite things. Along with word puzzles.

So he squeezed into the aisle where it was (there honestly wasn't room to turn around) and grabbed the interesting book. We found the owner and paid, and backed carefully out.

So I recommend you all go and visit this bookshop. But maybe one at a time.

Death at the Sorbonne

We saw something in a guidebook, and had to go back to the little garden at the Sorbonne. The one that's open to the public. Well, they didn't kick us out, anyway.

And here we present, DEATH, the sculpture that keeps an eye on the medical students. It's an awesome sculpture.