Paris 4 ...

Hi y'all,

Paris 4 is the final installment of the present Paris series.

Before I get there though, I just want go local quickly.

Yesterday we visited two closeby (within 30km radius) attractions: Solms Delta and Babylonstoren with a Belgian (Flemish) family. We really enjoyed the informative museum at Solms Delta and the very practical and beautiful layout of the extensive garden at Babylonstoren. The Solms Delta museum delves into the history and the contributions of the first nations in its part of our country.

Delicious springbok shank at Solms Delta 

If you are in the area between Stellenbosch, Paarl and Franschoek, make sure they are on your list. The Alpha male on the Belgian side remarked that both farms represent paradise on earth to him. I cannot agree more. See if you feel the same way and do not forget the sparkling Shiraz at Solms Delta. The food there was really fantastic as well ...We also went wine tasting at Allee Bleue and had a good time with their Pinotage and extra strong Cape Ruby.

So we (The Good Wife and I) were on our last full day in Paris and there was still so much to see. We decided to go to a store situated in the 15th district close to the boundary with the 14th district. The plan was to get off the metro on the border of the 14th and 15th districts and then to get to the store on foot. Unfortunately, my map-reading skills had rusted past their sellby date and although I found many other creative stores, I could never pinpoint our original quarry. Asking Parisians or other tourists seemed a waste of time as all had their own precious objectives to pursue.

We eventually ended up walking all the way into the Opera district and from there we, around 10 am, decided to take a romantic stroll along the banks of the Seine. Now the Good Wife read far more extensively on the dangers lurking around the Seine and she took off at a pace that can only be described as Olympic standard fast walking. Obviously, this did not tie in with my perception of what romantic stroll should consist of but, try as I may, I could not get a reasonable compromise going between our respective expectations.

So I followed the Good Wife as best I could but she make me feel like Ferrari is currently  feeling in F1 - in a lower league. To be honest, Oscar Pistorius without his leg extensions, probably felt better than I did at that time.

We walked the stretch of the Seine that displayed the advertisements featured in a previous post (http://expectmeagain.blogspot.com/2014/04/our-trip-to-paris-part-3.html). It was interesting to compare the respective sizes of the images between walking past and seeing them from out on the river.
The difference can be keenly observed in the next pic.

InfrontofCoffeeBeanAd

 From the Seine walk we walked some way onto the the Quai de Francois Mitterand bridge over the river to inspect the love padlocks a bit closer!

Love padlocks galore!

And then we walked over to the Louvre again. The Good Wife was coerced to hold up the Inversee Pyramide. And we nearly pulled the illusion off:

Not impressed with this illusion

After this long, and for the last part, rather fast walk, we took to the Metro to get back to the Hotel Libertel near Gare de L'est. 

I was however not going to leave Paris without checking out some of their squash facilities so, while the good wife was knackered, Ilooked up a squash centre in the Montmatre district. So, having obtained permission from the good wife, I took the metro to Lamark-Caulaincourt Station. The courts were a short walk from the station but the station is so deep underground you may not have energy left by the time you reach the courts. Give yourself enough time to regain your senses before venturing onto the well-maintained courts. It must be a French home advantage trick! 

I watched some training at the courts, situated at 17 Rue Achille Martinet, 75018 Paris, France, before making my way back to Gare de L'est. At that, both the good Wife and I were happy.

We bid Paris adieu the next morning via CDG and made our way home via Dubai. At Dubai International we had a six-hour wait and spent it in the airport building. We have family in Abu Dhabi but throught it best not to rush all over the UAE before making our way to Cape Town. The Le Clos wine merchant we saw in the large letters (see pic) at Dubai International turned out to have nothing to do with our wonder swimmer Chad le Clos.

Not Chad le Clos'

A way to spend six hours at and airport is to simply relax for as long as is possible. You can only do so much shopping ... because you only have so much money ...

Relaxing at Dubai Terminal 3

We made our flight to Cape Town without incident early the next morning and out Paris mania was at a temporary end. 

Like the Terminator: We'll be back!!!

Keep travelling y'all.