Meaux again

It is now early June. A week ago we dropped our visitors, Elizabeth and June in Paris to catch their flight back to Australia. The time has really flown. In the time they have been over here they have seen London, Paris, some cruising with us and a few days in Italy visiting Venice and Padua. All together a well filled holiday.

They met us at Chalons en Champagne on Sunday, 10th May after spending time in London and Paris. We then cruised the champagne country. Plenty of tastings of the beautiful bubbles as we visited various wineries.

We moored one afternoon at Dormans and the girls were enthralled by the athletic prowess of these boules players.

Continuing down the Marne we admired more of the country chateaux

Peter has always admired this one which is complete with workers dwellings and large sheds, all in order as part of a large farm.

All the towns have their own beautiful buildings.

This fully restored art deco theatre in Chateau Thierry operates as a live theatre as well as a cinema.

We moored in Meaux on the 16th May and Elizabeth and June left Matilda to catch a flight to Italy. They were off to see Venice and Padua. Marg and Peter stayed, there was a little job to be done on Matilda and we were going to see if the local marine workshop could help. It was out of their range so we found ourselves with nothing much to do for a week or so. Being this close to Paris we could not let the opportunity go to see some more of this wonderful city. We jumped on a train and in a few hours were ensconced in a hotel, the Odessa in Montparnasse.

Typical of these hotels the lacy ironwork surrounds a little balcony, ideal for an aperitif.

One of our outings was a visit to the Montparnasse Tower. This building was completed in 1973 and at 210 metres tall was the highest building in Paris until 2011. The 56th floor is an observation deck/restaurant while the 59th level is an open terrace.

The day was a little hazy but the air was still and the view quite spectacular. Obviously, the Eiffel Tower still beats it for sheer spectacle. The railings, antennae and other equipment on the terrace can all be hydraulically lowered in three minutes to use it as a heliport!

Back to earth and there was a grower’s market almost at the front of our hotel. All good produce but we couldn’t buy any. We were off to another type of market.

We went to the St Ouen antique and bric-a-brac market. Covering an enormous area (over 7 hectares), everything can be found there from absolute junk to completely over-the-top. Once again, we came away with nothing.

Next day we were back to Meaux, the girls were returning from Italy and we were heading off with them.

There will be more to tell, so we will keep in touch.