13 April 2007
Friday the 13th! Well, today we got our Carte Orange! In addition to the ticket you use for the entire week or month, you have a folder with a picture of yourself, your signature and your address - in case you are stopped by the Metro "police." We felt quite proud of ourselves and, as I mentioned yesterday, since they are generally for Parisians, quite Parisian ourselves. In reality it turned out to be much simpler than we thought and you can get your Carte Orange from a machine despite the warning we had received about how difficult they were to acquire. The trick is to speak a little French, smile a lot, and get someone pleasant to serve you if you are not game to try the machine which, because the instructions are in French, requires a reasonable knowledge of the language.
This morning we went to the Eastern side of the city to the Park de Belville. This is on a hill as high as Montmartre and affords great views over the city. It is in a distinctly working-class part of the city where many Africans and Asians live. We discovered a wonderful open-air street market which stretches for at least a kilometer and which operates two mornings a week. Prices there were rock bottom. For example a whole plate full of ten avocados cost 1 euro, less than a single avocado in nearby green grocers.
Because the clothes we brought are totally inappropriate for the weather, Bruce needed a light-weight shirt. Those we saw in most of the shops were between 20 and 40 Euros (and that is at the cheaper end of the scale). At the market he was able to get a quite nice shirt for only 4 Euros. Tonight it will get washed and at that price we will be interested to see if it melts or falls apart.
We treated ourselves to a very nice luncheon at Chez Plumeau just off the Place du Tertre at the top of Montmartre. This is in a quiet corner, away from the awful tourist crowds, spruikers and "artists" offering to sketch you or cut your silhouette. All over Paris one comes across musicians of every variety and every skill level. In the Metro stations, and aboard the trains, we have seen both men and women playing violins, clarinets, keyboards, accordians and saxaphones to name only a few. Today at lunch, just outside the restaurant, there was a cello player and an exceptionally fine one. It was delightful sitting outside, having a very nice meal and being able to listen to such lovely music.
We treated ourselves to a very nice luncheon at Chez Plumeau just off the Place du Tertre at the top of Montmartre. This is in a quiet corner, away from the awful tourist crowds, spruikers and "artists" offering to sketch you or cut your silhouette. All over Paris one comes across musicians of every variety and every skill level. In the Metro stations, and aboard the trains, we have seen both men and women playing violins, clarinets, keyboards, accordians and saxaphones to name only a few. Today at lunch, just outside the restaurant, there was a cello player and an exceptionally fine one. It was delightful sitting outside, having a very nice meal and being able to listen to such lovely music.
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