Easter in Paris

Good Friday fell on Gordons Birthday this year so we decided to have a well deserved break in Paris and promised each other to just chill out and not do too much ha ha famous last words.
We stayed 20 minutes away from the city as hotel rooms are much bigger and i just cant cope with small spaces.

Below is the foyer of the Novotel Wellbeing where we stayed. It was really convenient as it had a free shuttle service to the airport and the train station into Paris which ran every ten to fifteen minutes so it saved on taxi fares.

And here is a picture of our room which was lovely and big with space to move around and not feel that you were staying in a shoebox.

We arrived about 8.00 pm so we settled in and then i took Gordon for a Birthday meal and a few drinkypoos and then a lovely sleep in a really really comfy bed.

Easter Saturday was rain rain rain so we went to the Louvre and spent a good seven hours looking at all the fabulous artifacts it had to offer and of course i just had to go and see the Mona Lisa first and i wasnt dissapointed i thought she was magnificent.If you do go yourselves dont forget to look up as you walk around as most of the ceilings are works of art in their own right as this picture shows.

We both really enjoyed the museum and we are sure we didnt do half of it as it really is a masive place.
By the time we came out of the louvre it had stopped raining so we went up to the Montmatre area of Paris which is my favorite place as it has still got that vintage Parissian feel to it and you see artists painting and accordianists playing Edith Piaf songs and the little cafes are always full of people, and the views from the steps of the sacre couer are amazing as you can see in the pictures below.

Above is Sacre Couer

Easter Sunday was a lot better weather wise so we went to an Antique and Flea Market in the South part of the city and it was a great morning out seeing lots of lovely things and a lot of rubbish too.

I bought some lovely vintage cabinet cards of Parisienne men and women that will be used in my artwork at some stage.
After lunch we decided that instead of walking around the main sights of Paris we would take the open top bus and just get off where we fancied and it was great. We saw all the things we wanted to see in around three and a half hours and it really did save our legs.

Monday saw us going to another Antique and Flea Market this time in a beautiful squre in the East of the city where i bought a book of old Art Nouveau Lithographs for 15 euro,s which i thought was really good value.

While we were at the market i noticed we were very close to Pere Lachaise Cemetary where Edith Piaf lies at rest and as the weather was nice we decided to pay a visit. Now i must tell you that if you want to see beautiful Art nouveau architecture, statues and stained glass you will find it all in Parisienne cemetaries. Below is an example of a wonderful Art Nouveau Tomb.

Tuesday took us to Montparnesse as i had heard there were some fantastic art shops there and we found some fab ones. I found some wonderful watercolour journals in all shapes and sizes and i just had to have a couple and a few more things to find space for in my craft room at home.

After the most wonderful crepes i have tasted at a little cafe we went to the war museum as Gordon wanted to see the tomb of Napoleon 1st which i must admit was an amazing thing to see as his casket is hugh (considering he was such a little man ) heres a pic of it.


As this was our last day we decided to go and look at some of our favorite places before leaving so we went to view the eiffel tower from the Trocadero Gardens as it is such a stunning sight from there. I also found another little old cemetary just around the corner with some beautiful stained glass windows and sculptures and i had to take a photo of the Eiffel Tower from in here as i coulnt beleive how quiet it was and yet just around the corner it was just a mass of people.

We had a great time walking by the seine and taking in all the wonderful sights along the way and after a real full day (the temperature got up to 70 0/0 today too ) we got back to the hotel at 8.30 and then went and had a last night slap up meal which was also great.

Oh i just had to take one little extra thing home with me hope you dont mind Paris.

We really did have a great time and packed loads into four days, Harry also had a great time as he was staying with little Bob the cockapoo puppy at his aunty Michelles.

So now its back to work now and back to reality

Smiles from Rob Gordon and harry xxx