Private Diary

This is a private diary of Kwan and Philip's 2007 Paris adventure.

Meet up with Erica from the agent who rented us the apartment. She shows us another 3 bedroom in the 6th. A little bit smaller but modern which is also very nice.

We then walk to rue Grand Augustin to have lunch at Les Bouquinistes which is a cheaper eatery by Guy Savoy. Very nice food and good service.

We take a metro to the 16th and see the Baccarat Museum. They have a very nice restaurant and a small display of the beautiful crystal. We try the Musée de la Mode again but this time they have a special exhibition and the permanent one is not open. We decide to walk home and stop by the Musée of Modern Art near the Eiffel Tower. It is a very big gallery with some interesting display of some famous (Matisse, Picasso, Degas) and some not so famous artists. More photos of Eiffel Tower and we have a little nap before dinner at Chez Ami Jean. Final packing before checking out of the apartment tomorrow. 15k

Photography and Perfume

Kwan goes back to Lafayette and Printemps to get her tax refund forms. The custom officer is going to have a fit when he sees all the forms he has to stamp for her. In the meantime, Philip has an appointment to see the HSBC bank manager to sort out some banking issues.

We meet up at around 11 am at the Musee Perfumerie, not much of a museum but more of a gimmick to go to the boutique. We then proceed to Musee de Decorative Arts at 107 Rue Rivoli, part of the Lourve really.

Metro to the 6th and lunch at Relais XIII. Very nice food. Kwan is going to miss the strawberries desserts one she goes home. The French chefs certainly do know how to make fabulous desserts.

We lazily walk along the Seine to reach Musee Photography. Philip loves photography and we spend quite some time here. Some of the exhibitions ok other great.

We get out of the metro at 6.30 pm only to be greeted by pouring rain. Shouldn't be complaining because we’ve had a sunny day all day. Dinner fried rice with snow peas.


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Eurostar London and back

Wed 30 May
Philip catches the 6.20 am Eurostar to London for meetings. Kwan takes the opportunity to contribute to the French economy by first heading to Carita for a hair makeover, then a quick stroll around Rue St Honore area; lunch at Rue Sainte-Anne with lots of Japanese eateries. Lafayette department store for the rest of the afternoon.

Philip comes home around 10 pm. Kwan is commencing her preliminary packing - a real headache.


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Petit Palais et plus

Tue 29 May 7.47 am train back to Paris. The train is quite full but we manage to find two seats and Kwan sleeps most of the way back.
A little rest and we walk to the 8th arr. to have lunch at Ledoyen.

A very old restaurant right next to the Petit Palais with a garden outlook. The food is absolutely delicious and special. We decide it is one of the top restaurants we would like to return to in future.



We check out Petit Palais which is supposed to be free but part of the exhibition needs a ticket. We proceed to the free entry area in the basement. When we enquire how to get to the garden, we are directed to use the elevator up to the ground floor only to find that we are in the middle of the paid section of the exhibition without a ticket.

Talking about bureaucracy.Petit Palais is really beautiful and well worth a visit. This is somewhere we would highly recommend. A beautiful space and wonderfully presented museum. After quite some time at the Petit Palais we walk to Avenue George V to look at some shops before moving on to the 16th andthe Yves St Laurent Foundation Museum at 5.30 pm. YSL is a dissapointment and we wouldnot recommend. Home by 6.30 pm. 12k

Joigny

8.36 am train from Bercy station to Joigny. Arrived at 9.55 pm. No hassle this time. The train is pretty empty. The day has been ever changing from rain one minute and sun the next. We walk briefly from the station to our hotel at Cote St Jacques, a Relais & Chateau group hotel. We are lucky to be upgraded to a larger room with a view of the river. We visit the church, the town centre with little streets like St Paul de Vence.

The whole town is very quiet since it is the Pentecost public holiday. We can’t find a restaurant that is open and end up getting a baguette with ham and cheese for lunch by the river. We return to the hotel by 3.30 pm and a little nap before our dinner at 7.30 pm.

A cocktail by the lounge area where we place our dinner order and move to the restaurant at 8 pm. We decide to have the chef's surprise selection dinner. A little piece of snapper as appetizer, fois gras to follow, langoustine, fish, riz de veau (sweet bread), baby lamb cutlets and assortment of desserts. Food and everything is specular. We do not leave the restaurant till 11 pm. When we collect our room key we are presented with the menu of the evening signed by the chef with our names printed on it. A very special touch by the chef. 12k

Dimarche downpours

It is cold and raining. We only venture out for lunch at the nearby La Source Brasserie. It may be because it is Sunday and most eateries are closed, the ones that are open are jammed packed. We go home and watch Godfather I. Dinner with Jacques and Annie at Kwan’s latest favourite Chinese restaurant not far from home in the 7eme.

Recuperation Saturday

Late start.... we decide to take it quietly today so Kwan can recuperate. Lunch near Ecole Militare at Cafe Suffren brasserie. Go to post office and buy another box to send home lots of heavy books and papers. Kwan stays home and watch her all time favourite, Dangerous Liaison, while Philip goes to Musee Henri Cartier-Bresson

Black Friday or Vendredi Noir

Kwan wakes up with her eyes glued together - not a pretty sight. Pick up some eye drops for Kwan’s eye infection. This affliction means she can't wear her contact lenses; back to the girl who wears glasses - not a - better not say.

We walk around the 5th arrondisement. Found some interesting stationery shops.


Lunch at the famous La Tour d’Argent - a window seat with a view of the Seine and Notre Dame. Philip tells Kwan how he has wanted to go to this restaurant for over 20 years. This restaurant has been there since 1582 and is famous for their pressed ducks. We order the famous duck and are presented with a postcard with the number of our duck 1057527 (the number of ducks they have served so far).

Kwan’s eyes condition has not improved but she decides against resting early and we continue on our original plan to walk to Rue Vieux du Temple where there are some more interesting stationery shops. As we are walking along the narrow streets in Ils St Louis, Kwan has a very bad fall scrapping on the coarse stone surface street. She hurts her right elbow badly and bruise on the right hip. Kwan blames her lack of caution due to discomfort of her eyes. The French people are very helpful, a lady runs out from her shop and advises us that just around the corner there is a pharmacy and they will fix herwound for free. The pharmacy cleans and places a dressing on the wound. Philip tells Kwan that this is the beginning as she has now had her first fall. Luckily nothing was broken. Kwan decides to soldier on notwithstanding the pain and we finish our plan for the day and get home by 6 pm. Hugh thunder storm in the evening. Kwan finally signs, “It’s time to go home.” 10k

Jeudi - dans la cuisine

Shopping at Printemps and pick up Philip’s jacket (which has been having alterations).

Lunch at Pierre Gagnaire on the 8eme. When we ask the maitre’d to take a photo of us; he offers to take our photo in the kitchen. He takes our photo with the chef in the kitchen which we are surprised to see is very small (compared to the size of the restaurant) with at least 15 people involved in the food preparation.. We cruise the shops in Ave George V and Ave Montaigne before returning home. When Kwan takes off her shoes, the tops of her feet has turned black (she did not have stocking or socks for the first time) and realize how polluted the streets are. In the evening, Kwan has an infection in her eyes.

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Mercredi - au revoir Winnie

Kwan and Winnie continue guide book photographic emulation. Eiffel Tower from in front of Champs de Mars, under the Eiffel Tower, across the Seine, on top of the walking bridge, Bridge Alexandre III, and photos of Grand Palais, Petit Palais, more of Place de la Concorde, Tuileries Garden, The Lourve and Palais Royal.

Lunch at Maceo in the 1st. We return home at 3.30 pm and Winnie prepares for departure at 5 pm. Quiet evening with Philip and Kwan organizing the next week’s schedule.

Dinner a la Maison.

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Mardi Vingt Deux

More shopping for Kwan and Winnie. Winnie goes on buying spree. They do guide book photos of Place de la Concorde, Opera House, Champs-Elysee, Arc de Triomphe.

In the meantime, Philip deals with some daily issues, going to the bank and post office before heading off to the 5th to check out some neighbourhoods of potential apartments. Has lunch at L'espandon Bleu in the 6th which he gives the thumbs up to. Apres dejeuner he explores the southern section of the 4eme and the final steps of the Marais walking tour which had not been completed the week before.

Dinner at the local Pasco restaurant for Winnie’s last night/farewell dinner.

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Lundi Lafayette

Kwan and Winnie go shopping. Firstly, they go to Louis Vuitton on Champs-Elysees, then the 1st arr., the heart of high fashion. Winnie has her eyes on Gucci and Kwan wants everything. A typical “Shop Till You Drop” and finish off at Galleries Lafayette totally exhausted and go home by 6.30 pm.

In the meantime, Philip does long walk to check out areas of other apartments that our agent has on her books. Walks to the 16th to print out some documents at the internet cafe; upto Arc de Triomphe through the 8th to Boulevard Haussmann and has lunch at wine bar Ma Borgone. After lunch does some further exploring in the Marais.

Dinner a la maision.


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The rain in Reims

We get up really early to reach Gare d’Est for the SNCF train to Reims, a famous Champagne town. The weather is really miserable, cold and heavy rain.

We reach the station well ahead of time only to find there is a strike in Reims and trains have been delayed and a bit of a chaos in the station. The train is 10 minutes late and we reach Reims after 2 hours at 11.30 am. We visit the Notre-Dame Cathedral and town square and lunch nearby. The town is very quiet due to, maybe, the weather, the strike or it's Sunday. We take a taxi to Pommery Champagne House for a tour to the caves 30 metres down which remains 10 C and 80-90% humidity and darkness to preserve the champagne bottles. Very interesting. We enjoy our champagne tasting after walking up 115 steps from the cave to the surface. We walk back to the station at 4.30 pm passing Taittinger and Piper-Heidsieck houses. It is a pity we are out of time and cannot goto the memorial where Germany officially surrendered to the Americans at the WWII.

Our train is scheduled at 5.19 pm. We arrive at 5 pm to find mayhem in the station with passengers flocking to different carriages to try to find a seat. Just when we think we will have to stand 2 hours back to Paris when suddenly 3 seats are available right in front of us. Lucky break, other passengers resort to sitting in the aisles.

We return to Gare d’Est at 7.15 pm and follow the crowds to the metro and change 3 trains to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant which specializes in Szechuen dishes, Aux Delices de Szechuen. We order all the typical Szechuenese cuisine and although a little skeptical we are delighted to taste the genuine flavour and we all totally enjoy our Chinese cuisine. Comfort food for the ladies.

We walk past Les Invalides and home by 9.30 pm.

A tale of two churches

Our firend Winnie who is staying with us is experiencing Europe for the first time. She has done a 10 day Trafalgar tour covering parts of Italy, Switzerand and France. Her tour finished in Paris which included visits to the Eiffel Tour, the Lourve, river cruise, Versailles and a bus tour of the city. Kwan informs me that she wants to go to Sacre Coeur - this is the one thing she really wants to do, apart from Shopping.


We take a metro to Pigalle station on the 17th arr. and follow the Frommer’s walking guide. We walk past Bateau-Lavoir (Boat Washhouse) where Picasso lived between 1904-12); Espace Dali Montmartre, a Salvadori Dali museum and Place du Tertre, the old town square where artists abound the area.

Today coincides with the Fete du Perigord (food and produce from the Perigod region) and there are stalls all around Sacre-Coeur selling sausages, olive oil, fresh strawberries and pastries etc around the region of France. The precinct is absolutely packed. We have never seen crowds like this here.We enter Sacre Coeur to hear the nuns singing the Office at midday (along with thousands of other tourists) and Winnie takes a picture but when Philip tries the same, he is ushered out of the church along with other people who try to do the same. This is a first for Philip. All his life people have been trying to get him into church and now they are throwing him out. This must be the only church in Paris that does not permit photography. We realize later that there are signs outside the church indicating photographs forbidden, however, the crowds entering obscure them.

We proceed to walk down the hill and see where van Gogh lived in 1886 at 54 rue Lepic. We lunch at a nearby brasserie.

We pass the famous Cimetiere de Montmartre where Degas, Truffaut and Nijinksy etc were buried; Moulin Rouge with the famous windmill and Boulevard de Clichy, the sleazy area with sex joints before heading back to Pigalle station where Edith Piaf used to sing in nearby alleyways during the period of WWII.

It turns out that Sacre Coeur is not the church Winnie wanted to see and after some discussion we work out it is Notre Dame. So we catch the Metro to Ile de Cité. Similarly packed with people as there is a Féte du Pain on in the forecourt. Notre Dame has become the tourist centre of Paris and is always very busy these days. We visit the Cathedral with no problems with the photography.

Dinner at La Billebaude (not far from home) which is recommended by Philip’s barber (a rich source of information as we all know). A small bistro but the food is really delicious.


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Rear Window

See rear window

Nous Faisons le Pont

Got up 7.30 am and metro to La Defense to pick up Winnie from Sofitel Hotel. We were going to take the metro home but decide there are too many stairs in the metro and the hotel is much further away than expected. We take a taxi and drive via Champs-Elysees home.

Philip goes to our regular Boulanger to get baguettes and croissant. The door is closed and the sign reads "Nous faisons le Pont". The means We have taken a bridge, which in France where there is a day between the public holiday and the week-end they take the intervening day off also - which is called a bridge - Le Pont. There seems to be a public holiday every week of May so together with les ponts no one does much work in May.

We lunch at Lasserre at Ave Franklin D. Rosevelt in the 8th - very swank. A very traditional French avant garde décor with an opening roof to the sunshine. Food is fabulous and we ladies receive a mini porcelain pot as souvenir from the restaurant.

We promenade at the most prestigious street in Paris nearby, Avenue Montaigne with high iron rod and glass doors opening to stores like Nina Rica, Christian Dior, Chanel and Gucci. Surprisingly and to Philip's relief the ladies make no purchases.

Dinner at home with simple vegetarian dishes.

Féte et pluie

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We strike the quinella today. It's a holiday in France and it's rainning.


We leave early to go to Drouot, famous Parisian Auction Houses in the 9th recommended by our French friends Jacques and Anne. We forget that today is a public holiday and find ourselves in empty streets with all businesses, and the vast majority shops, closed for the Féte. The sky opens and it rains, quite heavily, which further dampens our mood. We walk around the area with most shops closed except for eateries. We stop at the Opera House but they do not have guided tours today. Look around rue des Petits Champs and rue Sainte-Anne where there are lots of Japanese ramen shops. Lunch at 12.30 pm at nearby Drouant Restaurant.

Shops start to open in the afternoon and we look at a stationery shop and return home around 4 pm. We watch a movie (or shall we say Kwan watches and Philip rests his eyes) - "Le Dernier Metro" with Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu. We take it easy for the rest of the day as we anticipate greeting our next guest tomorrow and packed schedule of 5 days tour guide.

Dinner a la maison - oignon omlette and courgettes.

Mercredi Marais

Early start from Place de la Bastille armed with Frommer’s Walking Guide of the Marais.
Then Place des Vosges and Musee Carnavalet. A 16th century mansion now devoted to the history of Paris and the French Revolution. This is a fantastic museum for anyone interested in French history, as Philip is; best of all it is free admission.

Lunch at Bofinger, a historic bistro like Le Grand Colbert and La Couple.

We continue our walk and enter Musee Picasso with a special exhibition of Carmen, which draws on the theory that Picasso was intrigued or obsessed by the character from the Opera of the same name during his early years and then again in the 1950s. Picasso is such a complex and interesting character and a most prolific painter. We have seen the Picasso Musee in Antibes many times but this exceeds it many times. Someone like him could never have lived and expressed his creativity in Australia at the time he lived. Philip is obviously very impressed because he goes crazy in the souvenir shop.

We continue our Guided Walk and head to Yvon Lambert galleries with latest avant-garde art by local artists. This area is full of many private galleries - mostly modern. One could wander here and gallery hop for days. We see historic buildings Hotel de Rohan and Hotel des Ambassadeurs de Hollande, neither of which are open to the public. We re-visit Rue des Rosiers, the Jewish area.

Out of time to complete our walk, which must happen on another day, we return home at 7 pm and stir fried snow peas with garlic for dinner.

Around the Champs

We head out late morning and explore the back streets and arcades behind Avenue Champs-Elysees before arriving at the Taillevent Restaurant to have lunch with Christine Woodruff.

Apres dejeuner we continue our leisure walk on Champs ‘Elysees and check out the Monoprix store which is like a Target or K-Mart. Kwan buys some local products like dried cepes (a type of mushroom) and canned flageolets beans.

It is a routine that we have a big lunch and a simple vegetable dish in the evening. We are madly researching and to arrange our time so that we can do as much as we can for the last 2 weeks.

Lundi Latin Quarter

Very cool morning and rain in the late afternoon.

We head out late morning to the 5th arr. Lunch at Ze Kitchen Gallerie at rue des Grande Augustins. This street has quite a few interesting restaurants, bistros & brasseries.

We commence our Frommer’s Walking Tour of the Latin Quarter from Place St Michel in the 5eme, the area has become very touristy and lots of Greek and Moroccan restaurants around. We then look at St Severin Church built from 1230 with gargoyles, birds of prey and reptilian monsters projecting from its roof.

We then visit Musee de Cluny to see the famous The Lady and the Unicorn tapestries. The Sorbonne, which according to Frommer can be visited has security on all doors permiting only student entry - it could be the war on terrorist or maybe just precautions after the elections. Around the next corner and then the Pantheon.

The Pantheon is the resting place of a lot of distinguished figures including Victor Hugo, Rousseau, Voltaire and Madame Curie. We walk up 206 steps to the top of the Dome and have another perspective view of the city Paris. In the interior centre of the building is Le Pendule de Foucault (The Pendulum of Foucault) ……To quote Wikipedia "In 1851 it was well known that Earth rotated: observational evidence included Earth's measured polar flattening and equatorial bulge. However, Foucault's pendulum was the first dynamical proof of the rotation in an easy-to-see experiment, and it created a sensation in both the learned and everyday worlds." The Pendulum has been reinstalled here.


The Pantheon certainly exceed these jaded tourists expectations. Recommend.

We head home at 6 pm and vegetarian fried rice for dinner. Kwan tries to tidy the apartment while Philip is working hard for the weekend getway.

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Dimanche - Catch up with Woodruffs

Breakfast at 9.30 am with scrambled eggs by Hans (German precision). Hans and Wali decide to visit Napoleon’s Tomb at Les Invalides nearby by themselves. We meet up with John and Christine Woodruff who just return from Morocco at 12.15 pm for lunch at Au Dernier Metro.

We have a light snack with Hans and Wali at home before saying goodbye to them at 3.30 pm.

We have a very lazy afternoon and simple vegetable for dinner.

Samedi - Luxembourg

Breakfast at 9 am with fried eggs by Hans. We take autobus 82 to Jardin du Luxembourg. Lovely garden with lots of joggers and groups practising Tai Chi. We go to the Lalique jewellery exhibition in Musee du Luxembourg. Exquisite jewelry designs by Rene Lalique whose name is now more renowed for decorating vases etc. Highly recommended.

We again split with our friends by 1 pm. We walk to Rue de Rennes and have lunch at Le Bologne near Le Bon Marche. A very casual eatery with an Italian mama (we suspect) and family waiting on the tables.

We then decide to walk home and check around the area for good Chinese restaurants in the area for our visitor, Winnie, next week.

Hans and Wali have gone to Notre Dame and Il St Louis to try the famous Berthillon ice cream. Dinner at Le Fontaine du Mars in the 7eme. We then walk to Eiffel Tower and cross the Seine and watch the 10 pm glitter show on the bridge. We take a metro from Place de la Concorde and finish the evening with Hans’ Viennese chocolates.

Vendredi Sacre Coeur

Breakfast at 9.30 am with scrambled eggs prepared by Hans, followed by butter and cheeses with baguette fresh from the boulangerie and fresh fruits to finish. A typical breakfast for our Austrian and German friends on the weekends.

We take an autobus 80 to Monmartre. Already busy by late morning even the weather has turned quite cool and windy. We browse around the artists’ quarter and walk into Sacre Coeur at 12.15 pm and realize they are just finishing a quick mass with nuns singing and it is absolutely beautiful. We decide we will return early next week with our other friend, Winnie to attend the midday service.

We walk down the hill and split with our friends. We take a metro to the 6th arr and have lunch at Le Procope, reputedly the oldest cafe (today more of a Bistro) in Paris. We then proceed to walk around the area before heading home by 4.30 pm. Hans and Wali return at 6. They have gone to Champs ‘Elysees and the department stores, Lafayette and Printemps. Dinner at Café Constant.

marche en parc avec Hans et Wali

Kwan has her hair done to anticipate receiving our Viennese friends (Hans and Wali) late this morning. They arrive at 12.30 and we go to the local bistro, The Royal, for lunch.

We proceed to walk to Champ du Mars and Eiffel Towers, along the River Seine, cross the Pont Alexandre III to the Lourve and the Tulleries Garden. We rest in the park watching the passer-bys before taking a metro home at 5.30 pm.

We have white asparagus with Wali’s home made dressing, prociutto, 3 cheeses and raspberrie tiramisu from Rue Cler market for dinner. With chocolates from Le Maison du Chocolate to close the evening at 10.30 pm.

Mercredi - l'arc et le 16ème

Lazy morning and book lunch at La Table de Joel Robuchon on the 16th. Great value E55 includes 4 course + ½ bottle of wine + café. Since Kwan doesn’t drink, Philip gets to drink the whole bottle. Funny thing is, French waiters tend not to bottoms up. You have to be quick to catch them before they take your bottle away with at least ¾ of glass of wine left. You should have seen Philip’s face the first time the waiter did that. Kwan was expecting an international incident.

Stroll along Avenue Victor Hugo with lots of classic French designer boutiques. Philip informs that the 16th arrondisement is like Paddington or Double Bay, thus the chic shops. However, Kwan is too filled with lunch that she has no desire for shopping - no doubt a clever plot from Philip.

We walk to Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs Elysee.

Back home we prepare for our Viennese guests Hans & Wali who arrive tomorrow.

Simple dinner with BBQ pork and roast pork and veges.

Nourriture française

More unpacking and clean the email trays. Lunch at the long overdue local L’Ami Jean. We walk past a few times and it is always packed and we can never just walk in without booking. Food is absolutely delicious. We have the set menu (of course). Philip claims this is the best entrée he has ever tasted - grilled fish meuille feuille. Main course we share a pork casoulet - sumptuous. Kwan has one of the best rhubarb dessert she has tasted. She vows not to have dessert again (sounds familiar?).

We realise how much we missed the French fare over the last 2 weeks...... What will we do in Sidenee?

We are so satisfied that we have a lazy afternoon sorting paperwork and email etc. We don’t feel hungry until 9.30 pm when Kwan makes some snow peas in oyster sauce - c'est tout.

Lundi paresseux

Laundry and unpacking in the morning. Lunch at Chinatown 13eme - a steaming Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup. Cheap and fast and good. Asian food shopping.

More food shopping at Le Bon Marche at 6eme. Dinner at local restaurant, Florimond. Very good service and food is great. We chat with the solo diner next table who is an American from near Washington DC. Kwan can’t resist the valued packed 3-course set menu and she loves the dessert. She vows she will never have dessert again.

Paris encore

Another beautiful sunny day in Kobenhavn. At midday we assemble at the palace for the changing of the guard. No sign of Mary. We visit Danish Museum of Art and Design then lunch at a garden café near Churchill Park.

Check out at 3.30 pm and head for the airport. Everything in the northern European runs efficiently. It only takes us 5 minutes to check in and get our fax paper quality boarding pass. Kwan reckons Copenhagen airport has the best departure terminal facilities. Lots of good quality shops and plenty of food outlets with ample seating and quality food.

We arrive at Paris airport at 8.15 pm only to find the weather has cooled down to about 15 C.

Our taxi driver kindly informs us that Sarkozy has become the new President of France and warns that there may be demonstration in town. We drive near the 16th and are met with floods of people approaching Place de la Concorde for the celebration. See C'est Capitalist for more details.

We pick up our keys from Anne in the 6eme and return to our Paris home. Quick meal at Café Rosillon, good food and friendly service but too many smokers for Kwan’s liking. Unpack till 1 am.

Mermaid, Design and Citadel

We use the walking tours from Frommer (as we do in many places) to guide us around Copenhagen today. Lunch at a restaurant called Thorvaldsens - a lucky pick and the food is fantastic. Kwan tries the nortic smoked salmon and Philip has Salmon Cakes.

We visit the Denmark Design Centre and of course the little Mermaid. The citadel (Kastellet) and Churchill Park near little Mermaid are very beautiful and we enjoy walking around this area very much. Surprisingly Kwan has elected to give the main shopping precinct a miss, and the few times our walk touches this area it is packed with people. Philip is happy to avoid the crowds.

It is a warm day but gets cold quickly as soon as the sun creates some shadows.

Dinner at a nice restaurant Premisse - the surroundings and service terrific but the food was not to our taste.

Mellow Yellow

A very warm calm day. We go for a walk around the fields after breakfast. Kwan is besotted with the canola fields with yellow flowers everywhere. Kwan makes Philip take thousands of pictures of her amongst the sea of flowers in the hope that one may make her as pretty as the flowers. We leave for Kobenhavn (Copenhagen) at 12.30 pm (1 ½ hour drive).

Arriving in Copenhagen around 2pm we check into our Hotel, the Admiral, a former Port warehouse. Lunch at the famous Nyhavn which is only a 5 minute walk. We stroll around the area and have a rest before dinner.

Thursday - Fried rice

Peter and Philip go to Bregninge for bread and yummy Danish pastry Te-birkes (tay beer erkis). Kwan has lovely fresh yellow cherries juice made by Peter from the cherry trees in the garden.

Kwan and Philip decides to cook dinner and we drive to the nearest biggest town Nykobing (1/2 hour drive) to find ingredients. On our way back we stop at the local egg farmer to get the freshly laid eggs.

Sunbathe in the afternoon – a little windy. Peter invents insect protection for Kwan. Philip cooks his famous Thai dish, garlic chicken with lots of garlic, of course, and coriander and Kwan makes the easy fried rice. Peter and Pia make Kwan’s favorite German potato salad. Rhubarb tart for dessert.

After dinner, a recap of Peter and Pia’s trip down under on the video and we have so much fun.

Wed - Skjoltrup on Falster

Pack up for Denmark. We depart at 12.30 pm and arrive at Puttgarden to catch the 1.15 pm car ferry. We have quick lunch on board and arrive 40 minutes later at Roedby in the Danish island of Lolland. No customs, immigration or other formality, we just drive off the ferry and continue our journey. Another 1 hour and we arrive at their home in Skjoltrup on the island of Falster. The Danish queen has a country house in the area which she might visit once a year. .

Pia and Peter’s summer house is a lovely 200 year old thatched roof cottage with very small doors throughout – bumped heads no matter how careful you are. Philip and Kwan have a few casualties.

Kwan is not impressed to hear that there are mice around in the roof and walls and of course all the humming bees in the garden stimulate much animation.

We take in the sun in the beautiful garden surrounded by flowering cherry and plum trees. Kwan works the Sudoku and Philip reads. We walk in and through the nearby forest to the beach. This is the Baltic sea and Peter tells us it will not worm up for another couple of months.

Peter makes a yummy dinner, Danish hamburger meat and white fish, Plaice, which he has got from a local fisherman. Dessert – a special Danish soft jelly, Roedgroed. Early rest.

May Day in Hamburg

We go for a 3 km walk in the park near Pia’s home which is absolutely beautiful with ponds, marsh, woods, lots of green.

Late lunch with beef goulash and pasta made by Peter. Head for Kirsten (Pia and Peter’s daughter) and Martin’s house in Hamburg at 3 pm. 1 ½ hour from Bad Schwarthu and enroute to do a little sightseeing around Hamburg.

We go for a walk around the area and see the beautiful lake with sailboats and rowing boats, peddlers etc. Hamburg on this sunny day is very agreeable and much nicer than we had expected. BBQ dinner on the second level balcony. Say goodbye to Romy and Victor (2 kids) around 8.30 pm and head home to Bad Schwarthu.

Schiffergesellschaft

Breakfast in Northern Germany looks familiar. We have chopping boards for the bread and a selection of hams, herring and liver; variety is achieved with some cheeses, butter of various fat percentages, jams and a soft boiled egg, and of course there is some mango baked cheese cake available.

We do a self-guided tour in Lubeck in the morning. Very interesting architecture and lots of churches (10 at least) in such a small town. We are told later that it is because people go to different church according to their status or profession.

Lubeck is a seafaring town with an active shipping industry to this day. It is from here that Peter Kaminsky

sailed his ship to Finland 3 times a week carrying over 2 kilometres of cars and trucks as well as approx 300 passengers. The journey would take 36 hours and they would have a 9 hour turnaround in Finland.

Lubeck is surrounded by water which provided natural fortification in older times. It suffered massive devastation by allied bombing during WWII.

After 4 hours in town we return to Pia and Peter’s home around 3 pm. Had a late lunch then get ready to go dinner at Schiffergesellschaft at 7 pm. It turns out Peter is president of Schiffergesellschaft (a group of sea captains in Lubeck) and the Nordic Society.

Schiffergesellschaft (Seamen's Guild) was acquired in 1535 by the Seaman's Guild. The old building was then demolished but later rebuilt in its current fashion. Then as now, it was used as a meeting house for seamen and sail-makers. The famous Schiffergesellschaft restaurant also considers itself to be the "oldest pub in the world." Revenues are still used to support indigent boatmen and boatmen's widows. Many memorabilia from centuries past, brought by seafarers from all over the world, create a wonderful ambience.

The restaurant has a special spring menu to celebrate the season and May 1^st is a special day for them. Tonight is a special night and Peter has to use his influence to get us four places as it is booked out for months in advance.
Kwan has the very special white asparagus while the others have fish and German potato salad (very tasty).



Dessert is served with warm cherry sauce (with whole cherries). Then people start singing all the seamen’s songs – very entertaining and noisy evening.

Sunday - Berlin - Frankfurt - Hamburg & Herring

Pack and head out to Museumsinsel (Museum Island) which is wedged between the river Spree and Kupfergraben and the Pergamon Museum which houses the famous Pergamon altar. Truckloads of tourist buses just arrived and there is a long queue. Since we only have 2 hours, we decide we will go to the next door Bode Museum instead. A newly renovated museum. On 19 October 2006, the Bode Museum was re-opened in its entirety, displaying the Sculpture Collection (much Italian and German), the Numismatic Collection and works from the Gemäldegalerie - Old Master Paintings. The museum is absolutely stunning - wonderful space.

We buy some German sausages from a street vendor for lunch before heading back to the hotel.

Crazy flight departing 3pm to Frankfurt (south of Berlin) – 1 hour flight - 1 hour transit – 1¼ hour flight to Hamburg (north of Berlin) arrive 3.5 hours later. Frustrated when we learn that we could have taken the fast train which only takes 1 ½ hours.

Pia (Danish) meets us at Hamburg airport and drives us 1 hour to their house in Bad Schwarthu (near Lubeck). Peter (German), Pia’s husband, a retired sea captain has been busy preparing dinner. He presents a spread of German and Danish foods; pickled raw herring, smoked fish are amongst the seafood; hams, liver paste, hot pork and beef, several breads and cucumber salad. More than we can eat in one session. A selection of German white wine, Chile and French reds round out the evening – and dessert is mango baked cheese cake.

Sat shops and museums WestEast

Brief look at the shops in the main street in Kurfurstendamm, the main shopping strip of the west side. A department store called Ka De We is fantastic like Galeries Lafayette, with a huge gourmet food level.

Take a U-bahn to Friedrichstr. Lunch at Lutter & Wegner. We order the signature dish, Wiener Schnitzel with potato salad. Also white asparagus is in season and almost every restaurant has asparagus specials. We conclude that nothing will taste as good as the schnitzel we had in Vienna but these ones are still very good.

We come across a street market just next to the museum. It has lots of local artists paintings and jewelry designs. We visit the Altes Museen where they have the most beautiful and famous Eygtian bust of Nefertiti and a Greek exhibition. Kwan is pleasantly surprised to see her favorite artist, Renoir, is also there.

We take a boat cruise along the Spree. It is supposed to be the one with English commentary, however it is apparent that the English is a very much abbreviated version.

Walk around the young fashion area again before heading home around 8 pm.

Snack at the hotel and early night ready for departure tomorrow to northern Germany.

Friday - cool and hot Berlin

We take the Hop on Hop Off bus at 10 am and familiarize ourselves with Berlin. Berlin was over 80% destroyed during the WWII. Unification in 1989 and the reassertion of Berlin as the capital of Germany have, and is continuing to, transform Berlin. It has a mixture of post war buildings built by both the east and west, rebuilt and repaired classic buildings, some wonderful new modern architecture to house government, commerce and industry and there is some very interesting urban renewal and transformation going on in the former east sector. One can still see buildings with the pock marks of war.

Lunch at Keno café. Kwan thought she ordered a salad but ends up with satay beef and schnitzel on top of some very nice salad leaves. Still very nice.

Its by now a very hot day in the high 20s. We work out the U-Bahn (metro) and hook up with Anna, a daughter of Philip’s friend who we are going to stay with on Sunday near Hamburg, a young artist who moved to Berlin a year ago. We look at the remains of the Berlin wall briefly, then head towards the Parliament House, Museum Island and the new train station, all in East Berlin; we walk along the Spree and to the Hackesche Höfe area – it reminds us of Soho and Greenwich Village in New York; very hip. She takes us to the young designers area and check out a few gallery openings which are all very exciting. We walk past a lot of outdoor cafes and squares full of young people and lots of fun.

It is wonderful to see Berlin through the eyes of a budding young artist who tells us that this is the most exciting, and only place in Europe for creative people at this time. Not just artists, but also musicians, designers and the like. We can feel the excitement and electricity as we walk around these creative precincts with Anna.

We split around 7.45 pm totally exhausted. We have snack from the hotel club lounge and skip dinner. Early rest.