grammyandpopsgrandtour: 13th August 2010

13^th August, 2010

We slept very well. Hotel Le Vignon is lovely. Martine and Arvi our hosts are very warm and welcoming. Martine has booked our Anniversary dinner at Tour Montparnase at 10pm. We had asked for their advice on a nice place for a special meal, thinking the Eiffel tower maybe, but Martine explained that from the top floor of the newly built Tour Montparnase you can see the whole city of Paris. Sounds perfect.

The Breakfast Room is in the basement. Brie, camembert, croissants and pastries are just some of the tasty delights that await us – of course we could have cereal – but non I think not.

Today we set off on the other bus route. Mont Marte was the first stop. Set on the top of this hill is Sacre Coeur – this is magnificent. From here there are fabulous views of the city. We went to the toilet (Le Toillette) male and female all together. There were about 10 cubicles and a small area of 4 urinals partitioned off with low panels. We queued up to wait – a large African/French woman in charge saw Pop waiting in the queue and asked “Pee Pee monsieur?’ He reluctantly said “oui”.

Lunch was in a glassed in area of the lookout area – apricots in a custard tart with an apple juice – delicious. We wandered down through the market street – I had my name painted in symbols. I was pleased when a passer-by asked in French ‘What was my name?’ M’pelle Vivienne’ I replied and felt very French. (We didn't know it then but we should have gone over the other side of the hill to the Mont Marte Market. I don’t know if I would have been able to walk the distance, but it is frustrating to know we were that close and missed it altogether).

We re- joined the bus. The commentary didn't seem to fit further along and the names of the roads were not on the map. Finally in the middle of a huge intersection an official looking man came running through the traffic stopping cars – he was whistling at the bus driver – car drivers were blasting their horns at the man as he came on board the bus. He managed to get the driver to turn the bus around – more mayhem and horn blowing as cars tried to get out of the way and on their way. We were finally back on track as the commentary resumed with “it is easy to find your way around Paris with the way it is set out” There was a lot of laughter from the passengers but not from the driver!!!

It was time to change to the other bus route – the Bastille. Nothing really there but an interesting area. I had the map turned the wrong way round and we walked miles in the wrong direction. We were on the left bank. We went past the home of Victor Hugo. We treated ourselves with a delicious ice cream. Finally we got back on track and the bus and back to the Madeleine. Cheese and ham rolls for tea in Café Madeleine. Another wonderful day in Paris.