Les Ateliers

Life in a Paris flat is not easy.  Apartments are small and often very basic.  It is a long climb to the 5th, 6th or 7th floor in an older Paris building without a lift.  Then, with several children in a small flat, there isn't much room for them to play and let off steam.  This would, obviously, drive their parents to distraction. So what is the answer? One sees far more young children in prams and pushers both on the streets and in the parks,  but for us, what we believe is the most interesting solution to the dilemma parents face is the atelier. 
 

Our Nearest Atelier

A Little Theatre connected with an Atelier

The Theatre's Atelier

An atelier is a workshop and may be almost anything you want it to be.  But what we have noticed is that there are a great many of these specializing in after-school and holiday activities for children of all ages.  Indeed, looking out of our apartment window there is one directly across from us. We watch with interest children arriving after school and we can see them painting, play acting and playing games.

Schedules and Activities at Ateliers

Of course, "after school" is much later here than in Australia or the United States.  Today we saw a sign in front of a school advising that children are expected to arrive at 7:50 in the morning for the start of school at 8:05am.  Even for young students school generally does not finish until around 5:00pm.

Both French children and French parents seem to manage very well with this system.  There is a long school day followed by after school activities at the atelier.  Are there lessons to be learned here from a system which seems to produce happy, well-adjusted, multi-lingual and highly educated children?

Senlis

We are great believers in the principle of when you go to a new place, particularly one where you may not speak the language, it is advisable to take the conducted tour.  The advantages are that everything is arranged for you and it is worry free.  In addition there is multi-language commentary.  The disadvantages are that it is quite expensive and one is constrained to the itinerary of the tour guide. 

For the traveler willing to take a few small risks and have a bit of an adventure, it is much more fun (and less expensive) to travel independently. Going to Senlis was such an adventure.

The first step is in the planning.  How do we get there? Senlis is only 40 km from the north of Paris, but although there is a "station," no trains go to the town.  One needs to take the train to Chantilly from Gare du Nord, then the bus to Senlis which stops at the "station."  

Gare du Nord

Perhaps the reason the station does not quite have a traditional "French" look is because it was rebuilt in 1922 by a German architect after sustaining major damage during the First World War.

Senlis Train Station

This is an ancient town with its old wall, narrow, medieval streets, ancient buildings and Royal precinct dating back to Gallo-Roman times. Because it is a bit of an effort to get here there are few tourists. It is well worth visiting.  

The Senlis Cathedral is a Roman Catholic Gothic church and a national monument of France. The cathedral was built between 1153 and 1519; its 256-foot-tall spire dates from the 13th century and is visible for miles around.

Cathedral Notre Dame, Senlis

The  ruins of the Ancient Royal Castle district which dates from the Roman era are beautifully preserved and are right next to the little tourist office where we were greeted warmly and given maps and advice as to what to see and do.

In the Royal Precinct

Unfortunately there was not enough time to see and do everything that Senlis had to offer.  But here are some pictures taken in the narrow medieval streets of the town.

Putting on the Ritz

Yesterday we told you about the Plaza Athénée where a room starts at just over 800 Euros a night. Today, let's take a look at the Ritz. Sadly, there is not a lot to see as the hotel is undergoing massive renovations after having failed to be listed in the top nine hotels in Europe.  Even so, it is worth noting that in May 2011, rooms started at €850 a night and suites ranged from €3,600 up to €13,900 a night for the most lavish ones.

The Ritz is in the Place Vendome which is in a very nice district with the same shops one finds in avenue Montaigne.  The Place, itself, was a bit disappointing because of the renovations going on, but if there is one thing the French do brilliantly, it is to mask a renovation behind a trompe l'oeil which trick the eye into believing one is looking at the building itself when in reality it is only a screen.

Trompe l'oeil at the Ritz

So, what is going on at the Ritz?  Here is a wonderful video that sums it all up.  To see this, click here.

Fashion

Over the years we have discovered a seriously interesting triangle of properties known colloquially as the "Golden Triangle".  This lies between the Rond Point des Champs Elysées along the avenue Montaigne then at the Place de l'Alma a sharp right turn into the Avenue George V and then back onto the Champs Elysées.

Virginia describes this as "a very smart part of town" and no wonder. Here one finds all the famous brand name shops. While these are completely out of our range,  they obviously are not to the people who gain parking permits for their Lamborghinis, Aston Martins  and Ferraris. The owners of these cars are probably staying at the beautiful Plaza Athénée hotel where a room starts at just over 800 Euros a night.  Here then are pictures of some of the shops on avenue Montaigne. The names speak for themselves.

And here is the Plaza Athénée hotel.

Underneath the Place de l'Alma is where Diana Princess of Wales died in a terrific motor accident many years ago.  Above the spot people from all nations place flowers on a daily basis. But perhaps the most surprising thing we saw on the avenue Montaigne was an advertisement for Brisbane.  Considering the dearth of Australian news reaching Europe, this was quite a shock!

 

Once off the avenue Montaigne and onto avenue George V there are even more fashion shops lining both sides of the road but more interesting in many ways is the American Cathedral.  Some friends of ours are intimately involved with this lovely church which was consecrated on Thanksgiving day, 1886.  With 400 permanent parishioners, it reaches out to people of many denominations from all over the world.

Back on the Champs Elysées and now on the 31 bus we found we were following a route the French would describe as "perturbé"  the bus was rerouted to avoid massive road works and developments and was so full that passengers had to get off in order for others to exit the bus.

Sunday Lunch

Sunday is very much a family day in France and it is spent eating a great deal.  between ll:00am and 5:00pm, most Parisian restaurants offer Brunch which can consist of fruit juices, fruit, various eggs, bread, smoked salmon, croissants and other French delicacies. All of this is accompanied in the early hours with great amounts of coffee and in the later hours various alcoholic beverages. If the weather is fine, as it was today, people sit out on the terraces for hours and hours eating, talking, drinking coffee, reading the newspapers or as all cafes seem to have free WiFi, working or playing on their computers, tablets or phones.

Another family favourite is Sunday lunch which usually starts at 1:30 or even 2:00pm and again continues for many hours. We were fortunate enough to be invited to such a lunch by friends.  It was held at the film studio run by their three children.  It proved an extremely interesting afternoon.  It was a wonderfully simple French meal although we still have not yet gotten used to having the cheese course before the dessert.

It is easy to see why the French enjoy such gatherings.  A good meal, good wine, good conversation with good friends.  What could possibly prove a nicer way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  Of course, with all of this eating on Sunday, the question we are left to face is, "what about dinner?"  Hmm.  Possibly a full dinner quite late but for us the lengthy lunch more than sufficed.

Shopping

Window at Au Printemps

Recently the weather has been quite reasonable but today it was extremely cold for spring - around 14 degrees.  We decided to hit the shops or at least Les Grands Magasins - and unfortunately discovered that the rest of Paris had decided to do the same.  The two main department stores in Paris are Au Printemps and Galeries Lafayette. In our experience over the years, Au Printemps always has the best window displays but nothing can beat the interior of Galeries Lafayette.

The Great Dome at Galeries Lafayette

Interior of Galeries Lafayette

Eight stories up, above the magnificent dome, there is an outside viewing area at Galeries Lafayette.  This is one of the best sites for viewing Paris and looks directly out at the back of the Opera Garnier with the Tour Eiffel just off to the right in the distance.

Back of the Opera Garnier

The Opera has recently undergone cleaning and refurbishment and walking back to our bus we had a closer look and promised ourselves a visit next week.  As an added inducement, the ceiling there was done by Chagall and after having seen the Chagall exhibition at the Musee de Luxembourg we are keen to see this as well.

Paris rooftops as seen from Galeries Lafayette

The Opera Garnier

Detail from facade of the Opera Garnier

Ascension Day

Rising Waters on the Seine

Another public holiday today for Ascension Day.  This is taken quite seriously in France with many shops closed and Church bells ringing out over the city. With Wednesday being a public holiday (VE Day) and today being one as well, many French will tomorrow "faire le pont" that is, "make a bridge" between the public holidays and the weekend by taking a day's leave, giving them a five day break.  Now, who says that only Australians do that sort of thing?

We took the opportunity to go down to see the rising waters of the Seine.  There have been extremely heavy rains, causing floods in the Northeast of France and the water has run down the Seine, reaching Paris.  It is interesting, but not too dramatic.  For those who know the walks along the banks of the river, the lower walks have now been flooded.  Still, it is nothing like the great flood of 1910 in which the waters reached 20 feet above their normal level.  Most of that flooding was a result of the water seeping into tunnels, sewers and underground.  Thousands were forced to evacuate their homes.  This doesn't look like it will even approach the levels of 1910, but it is still worrying.

Steps to Lower Walk

Ramp to Lower Walk

After lunch at a cafe we wandered over to admire the clock on the Conciergerie where Marie Antoinette was imprisoned before her execution. The wooden clock which dates from 1371,has recently been restored.  It was badly in need of the work since its last restoration was more than 100 years ago.

Before Restoration

After Restoration