We caught up with Sophie and Craig who were staying
in Deb’s apartment in Garches, a lovely village-like suburb about 10 kms west
of the centre of Paris. As usual, we had a fun evening with them. We started
with aperitifs at the local chinese bar and then dined at the local Indian
restaurant.
After seeing our friends off at the Gare
Montparnasse, we wandered into the Left Bank area to visit Le Bonne Marche, Paris’
first department store housed in an amazing building, part of the structure of which was designed by Gustav Eiffel. I wandered around gawking at the amazing glass
ceilings, oblivious to the store’s primary function.
I
then dragged Ingrid across Paris to the Museum of Architecture in the Palais de
Chaillot at Trocadero. Part of the permanent exhibition featured some amazing full
size plaster models of famous medieval cathedral portals, statues and important
architectural features. There is also an impressive exhibition of medieval wall
paintings and stained glass. My favourite part was the French and international
architecture from 1850 to the present. It featured a complete Le Corbusier 1950’s apartment from
Marseille’s Cite Radieuse as well as architectural drawings and models, including my favourite building, the Crystal Palace.
On
our way back to Garches, we scouted out a spot at the St Cloud railway station
where we could have a view of the fireworks spectacle on the Eiffel
Tower. We went back to Deb’s apartment for a picnic dinner in the lounge of
fresh bread and cheeses and a bottle of Sancerre. By about 11 pm, it was
pouring rain and bitterly cold. We didn’t get to see the fireworks.
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