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.