No heatwave in Ullapool

We are back in Ullapool for the next fortnight. We arrived yesterday. While Europe is sweltering in temperatures of up to 44 degrees and the south of England is having a heatwave at 34 degrees, the temperature is a lot cooler here in the north of Scotland! The daytime temperature is about 17 degrees, which I actually quite like, because I struggle in the heat. So today I walked up Ullapool Hill, where I appreciated the cool breeze which kept me from overheating. However it was also grey and a bit drizzly, so I’m hoping for a bit more sunshine, and the forecast is mixed for the next couple of weeks so we’ll go outside when we can. It’s lovely to be back here though, just us and the cats. 
In the previous few days we did some clearing and tidying around the house, I had my hair cut, we had lunch with Davie, I had lovely coffees with Chanel and Rachel, and we both had coffee with Alison Kennedy with whom we chatted about the old days in Cambuslang. 
Meanwhile on Friday Jennifer and Russell, who are in France, went on the painting day which we gave Jennifer for her 60th birthday. It was with an ex pat British artist called Adam Cope, who runs various courses. They seem to have enjoyed the experience, however it was a long day in the woods and although they had packed lunches and water, there were no cups of tea provided! Russ almost permanently has a large mug of tea in each hand, one for himself and one for whoever he happens to meet in the house, so this was indeed a hardship. They sent us photos of their paintings, which were very impressive. Jennifer is already an accomplished artist, and Russ’s painting was very good; the day course was intended to be fun rather than just instruction. However Jennifer said that she did learn a lot so I hope that she feels inspired, and maybe Russ will too once he gets over his “lack of tea” trauma! 
On Saturday evening we had Cornel and Heather round for dinner, which turned out very well, especially the Tiramisu if I say so myself! In all fairness, James’ gazpacho was also excellent. 

Who needs Glasto when we have Glasgow!

James and I have been to two excellent but very different concerts this week. On Tuesday we went to see Sparks at the Concert Hall, I think it’s the third time that we have seen them. James had got us great seats and the music was so good; Russell Mael still has a very decent voice at the age of 76, and his big brother Ron on the keyboards is 79! It was impressive that they have just released a new album, their 38th, and played new music as well as their old favourites. The audience was rapturous and  we enjoyed it very much. 

And then on Friday we went to see Simple Minds at Bellahouston Park. The concert was outdoors and the weather forecast was terrible; there was 80% chance of rain! So we dressed in our waterproofs, including waterproof trousers. The only problem was that it was really warm, so although the rain did arrive, I felt quite hot and clammy! Neither of us have seen Simple Minds before. They were genuinely huge in the 1980s so it was good to get the chance to see them even though we were about 40 years late to the party! Jim Kerr and the rest of the band seemed to be genuinely enjoying performing, and we certainly enjoyed watching them. My only slight comment was that some of their best known songs were a bit samey, but they were all great and James and I loved our evening. 

Sunny Summer Solstice

The summer solstice took place on Saturday morning at 3.42 a.m. and it was another hot day. It was nice to see everyone in their summer clothes on the Main Street. However it was overcast and there was one sudden shower, which was inconvenient because I was sketching in the garden and had to scurry indoors with my art stuff! James arrived back from his camping trip to Glen Feshie in the afternoon; he had a great time and did lots of hill-walking as well as a 16 km round trip by bicycle into the hills. It was so warm that he didn’t need to worry about being cold in his tent, which he pitched beside a stream. 
Kerry has been sending me photos of wedding dresses that she has been trying on. I’m so touched that she is involving me all the way from New Zealand. Needless to say she looks beautiful in all of the dresses! It is eighteen months until Kerry and Jamie’s wedding and I’m sure that the time will fly by. 
Rain arrived on Sunday as predicted but the temperature hasn’t dropped much; it’s still summery. We went for lunch to the Duke’s Umbrella in Argyle Street, using a voucher kindly given to us by Marjory and Forrest. And then we spent the whole afternoon working on the Anderson and Eadie family photos. Neither of us really wanted to tackle it because it’s so time-consuming, but once we got started we managed to finish the whole of the 1950s and felt sense of progress and satisfaction. The task involved an investigation to identify a war memorial in front of which a family group, including James’ Dad, was standing. We assumed wrongly that it was in Scotland, but then James remembered that the Andersons sometimes went on holiday to Scarborough. He did a quick internet search and sure enough it was Scarborough War Memorial, with its quotation from Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, “So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.”
Heather and Ewan came round for coffee this afternoon, we made madeleines for them in order to continue our recent French theme after our fabulous trip to Paris. We chatted about our holiday and their cycling holiday in the Loire Valley, which sounded marvellous. 
Later I finished my painting of the staircase at the Hameau de la Reine; it’s very amateur but I’m really pleased to be drawing and painting again. 

Delightful summer weather

Oh it’s warm and lovely! It reached 27 degrees on this beautiful summers day, and I have spent almost all day in the garden. It has been splendid. Davie popped round for lunch and we strolled down to Miller’s Bistro on the Main Street. I was surprised (although gratified) to find it to have air-conditioning, surely a first for Cambuslang Main Street. It must be a result of our changing climate. Then we headed home and sat under the pear trees at the top of the garden and ate ice lollies. The cats love us being outside so they appeared and kept an eye on us. Davie noticed a huge and amazing peony growing all by itself among other plants in the flowerbed beside the path to the shed; it is white and fully opened, so beautiful. 
Hilary arrived for coffee in the afternoon; of course we sat outside for our chat which was very pleasant. And after Hilary left I stayed in the garden; I did some drawing and read my book and looked up at the blue sky through the verdant branches of the trees and listened to a blackbird singing very loudly. I had plenty of things that I could have been getting in with in the house, but the weather was just too good to stay indoors. 

Social and Sunshine

It has been a social week. On Sunday, which was Fathers’ Day, Davie and Chanel treated us to a celebratory curry. We had a lovely evening with them, full of laughter as we related our anecdotes of Paris. James and I had brunch with Gerry and Janis on Tuesday at All Bar One where we saw lots of photos of beautiful wee Rory, who has gorgeous and very expressive eyes. 
EK book club was at my house on Tuesday and we had a really good laugh, but also discussed some very serious current issues in education; the workload seems to be getting worse and worse for teachers in schools. Too many great teachers are leaving the profession in their 30s or 40s, including two who go to the book club, one of whom has just resigned. It is a huge loss to the profession; the councils / government are driving good people beyond their limits. However I applaud these brilliant women for having the courage to walk away, hopefully to a brighter and more rewarding future. I sometimes wish that I had been a bit bolder in my life choices. 

I had a lovely trip up the Clyde Valley on Wednesday with Janet McDougall to Rosebank Garden Centre for lunch and then Garrion Bridge Garden Centre for coffee.  

This morning I had coffee at Costa with Monica who was telling me all about her daughter’s recent hen weekend in Reims, France, which sounded fabulous. 
And as well as a lot of hilarity, some serious issues were discussed, both personal and regarding the unrest all around the world, when I met up with my lovely school friends aka Ladies who Lunch today. We had our usual lengthy lunch and chatted for ages; one of us is going through a particularly hard time with family health just now and was not able to attend; we were all thinking of her and she messaged us during our meal which was reassuring. 
The weather is set to become warmer and warmer in the UK over the next few days and when I got home from town I was able to sit outside in the garden. It’s not quite as warm as Paris was last week, but still pretty good, and sitting outside on the patio was like stepping into a warm bath! 

Investigating a Bugler

James and I went over to Muirhead Vaccination Clinic this morning to get our second and last Cholera prevention drink. After waiting the obligatory ten minutes to make sure that we did not have any adverse reaction we decided to go for a walk, and James suggested nearby Drumpellier Park. What a difference in temperature to our sunny and sweltering walk in Chantilly on Saturday! Here the weather is cloudy and much cooler, but it’s still summery and the park was filled with wild flowers and grasses. We extended our walk through the woods and circled back to the very nice visitor centre for a coffee. 
Back home I started painting a watercolour of some flowers that I saw at the Hameau de la Reine at Versailles; I feel inspired by all the beautiful gardens that I saw in Paris and its environs. Still on a French theme, James and I made some madeleines. We baked them using a madeleine mould that we bought two years ago in Paris, in a big cookware shop that we wandered into in Les Halles. It’s the first time that we have used it but better late than never! The madeleines didn’t rise quite as much as they should have, probably because I didn’t chill the batter, but they tasted absolutely delicious and very lemony. 
I have also been doing a bit of detective work. When we were having lunch at Au Clairon des Chasseurs in Montmartre last week, Ewan pointed out a striking mural painted on one of the walls inside. It consisted of a French military bugler, sitting in a relaxed manner on the edge of a table, dressed all in blue with a blue cap and white gaiters, backpack on his back. Ewan and the rest of us speculated about the origin of this mural; was it a copy of a well known painting? Did the soldier date from the 1st World War or earlier?
The bugler stuck in my mind and last night I browsed around the internet to try to find him, using reverse image search to no avail, and typing various descriptions of him, also unsuccessfully. Finally I turned to online community Reddit and uploaded the photo that I had taken of the mural, asking for help in identifying it. And when I woke up this morning I was delighted to have received a reply from a kindly person who had found the original photograph of the bugler, upon which a military artist called Alphonse de Neuville had based one of the characters in his painting “Eclaireurs d'avant-garde franchissant une rivière (Crimée)” which he exhibited in 1869. In the painting, the bugler is transposed from a table to the front of a boat crossing a river. This possibly dates the original photograph to the 1850s and I was very surprised that artists sometimes used photographs as resources as far back as the mid 19th century. In fact my investigation has raised many more questions in my mind about 19th century military art and I have thoroughly enjoyed it! 

Château de Chantilly

Yesterday was our last day in France and we decided to spend it by visiting the Château de Chantilly and its gardens, only half an hour’s walk from our hotel. It is very beautiful, set in verdant grounds beside a lake. It was the home of the Ducs de Condé for several centuries, but the last of their line, Henri d’Orléans, donated it to the French state in 1889.
It is actually made up of two buildings; the Petit Château which was built in about 1560, and the Grand Château, which was destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s. The new part blends in very well with the old; you can’t really tell the difference, but I realised that the new bit is not much older than our house! It has a fantastic art gallery called the Musée Condé, apparently the biggest collection of paintings in France outside of the Louvre. It specialises in French and Italian paintings and book illuminations of the 15th and 16th centuries. My favourite was the Three Graces by Raphael.
Back outside we went for a long walk around the grounds, keeping to the shade where possible because it was another very hot day. I had thought that the thunder and lightning during the night would have cooled down the atmosphere but it was still very warm. We had lunch at the Hameau restaurant, cool and idyllic among tall trees. Interestingly the hameau at Chantilly was Marie Antoinette’s inspiration for her own hameau at Versailles. However this one, rather than being an idealised peasant village, was intended to look like a hamlet from the outside but amaze the host’s guests with its opulent interiors. 
We walked right up to and around the wee round lake at the very end of the gardens, and then meandered through gardens which had roses and statues, and along paths back to the castle and to the royal stables beyond. By the time we got back to the hotel I was very overheated and a bit grumpy, however I was proud that I had managed to walk more than ten kilometres on such a scorching day. We had checked out of our room in the morning but we were able gradually to cool down in the air-conditioned foyer of our hotel, where we drank lovely complimentary chilled water and read our books. We took an Uber to Paris Charles de Gaulle which only took about thirty-five minutes. All seemed to be going so smoothly, however it was a bit irritating that our flight was then delayed nearly an hour and that it was full of over-tired children who were worn out and some of them crying loudly after the excitement of their trip to Disney! Their parents looked even more exhausted! We were home by 12.30 although that was 1.30 a.m. French time so after an affectionate reunion with Tom and Floof we soon dived into bed. 

Senlis Cathedral

Here we are in beautiful and hot Chantilly, north of Paris, while unfortunately war and mayhem continues around the world. An air crash in India has killed 240 people, with one man miraculously surviving. And Israel has just attacked Iran, killing several of its leaders. It all seems very far away from here. This morning, James and I took a taxi to the neighbouring small town of Senlis. This beautiful medieval town, with remnants of its original walls still standing, has at its centre a magnificent cathedral. It was market day and the narrow streets were lined with stalls loaded with fresh vegetables, fish, honey and jams, crafts and clothes. We visited the ruins of the castle, which was abandoned in the 17th century when the Royals transferred their allegiance to Versailles. After coffee at a wee French café called Le Voltigeur, we headed into the cathedral, the smallest of the Picardie cathedrals but still very impressive. (The largest cathedral in the area is Amiens, which we have visited before.) There was a beautiful stained glass window about the life of Louis IX, starting at the bottom with him as a baby, then working upwards through his Crusader years to his death, and finally right at the top his ascension into heaven. There was a statue of Joan of Arc, who fought the English near here, and a memorial to a local priest who worked in the French Resistance during the 2nd World War; he died in a concentration camp in January 1945. It was an interesting visit and the interior of the cathedral was delightfully cool, which was great because it was a very hot day at 35 deg C, the hottest yet of our holiday.  
We visited a little crêperie under the shade of lime trees, and we both had lemon and sugar crêpes which were absolutely delicious. 
Back in Chantilly we had dinner at Le Sylvia brasserie before heading back to our excellent Best Western Hotel. The sky was a dark metallic colour and the air felt very close and thick, the heat was still coming up off the pavements. 
We heard rumbling sounds coming from outside and when we opened the windows onto our balcony there was a loud crash of thunder, followed by lightning which lit up the whole sky! It was very exciting and heralded large drops of rain that became heavier and heavier. The thunder and lightning continued into the night. 

Jardins des Tuileries et du Luxembourg

Today was our last morning with Heather and Ewan before they set off by train at lunch time for their cycling holiday in the Loire Valley. Heather suggested the Jardin des Tuileries which is a twenty minute walk from our hotel in St Germain. What a great idea; the gardens were looking very summery and the balloon which featured in the opening ceremony of last year’s Olympics is being reconstructed in the middle. Catherine de Medici built a palace there in 1564 but it is long gone and now the Tuileries are a lovely green and tree-lined space bordering the Seine, between the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde. There are lots of classical white statues, and two small lakes with chairs beside them for relaxation, we sat there briefly to enjoy the views. It was apt for this Revolution centred holiday that we ended up in Place de la Concorde, the site of so many executions by guillotine during the Terror that, in my opinion, ruined the initially good intentions of the French Revolution. We walked back towards the hotel and had cool drinks in a café among the trees in the Tuileries on our way. 
All too soon it was time to bid farewell to Heather and Ewan; it has been a brilliant holiday and we will miss them. 
In the afternoon we did a wee bit of shopping and then decided to walk to the Jardin du Luxembourg, which we haven’t visited for years. The palace looks on to magnificent formal gardens; we particularly liked La fontaine Medici in its shady glade. 
We had a light lunch at the Table du Luxembourg. The service was very slow but we were in no hurry, the food was nice and the setting was very pretty among many lime trees. We collected our luggage from the hotel and traveled to Gare du Nord by Metro and then on to Chantilly which was only 25 minutes by the express train. Although the journey was straightforward I felt very hot and bothered as we walked the seven minutes to our hotel, a Best Western. I was so glad to get inside the air-conditioned foyer; our room is very spacious compared to the Artus and it has a balcony overlooking the hotel’s gardens. Across the road from the hotel is a park leading to the famous Chantilly racecourse. After dinner we went for a walk there and noticed that it is being prepared for a big race on Sunday; the Diane race. We will be gone by then but it was interesting to see the racecourse and to walk along to the former Royal stables, which are now a museum. 

Croissants, Napoleon and Montmartre

This morning Heather and I went to a baking class at Maison de Fleuret’s kitchens in Notre Dame district. There were seven of us in the class and we made croissants, pains au chocolat, and pains aux raisins. It was really good fun from start to finish and our instructor was skilful and very good-natured; she gave us clear instructions and excellent hints and tips. The work area was bright and cool and there was water and coffee available all morning. The other people in the class were an American grandmother, mother and grown-up daughter, and a Dutch father and ten year old daughter, and it was a lovely atmosphere. When we finished we took our pastries and strolled down to the Seine and across to the Île de la Cité and sat on a bench in the Square du Vert-Galant at the very end of the island. Meanwhile James and Ewan had been enjoying their own adventure. They walked to the Montparnasse Tower for an interactive Napoleon experience, where the life of Napoleon was relived through virtual reality headsets complete with flying cannonballs and cavalry charges. They both said that it felt very realistic and was very entertaining. Ewan announced happily that “all the hats were correct!” This referred to his complaint years ago about the TV series of War and Peace; he spotted that army hats were used in the series during a 1810 battle which had not actually been introduced until 1812. James and I were both amused and impressed at Ewan’s precise knowledge of military history! 

James and Ewan then headed to the Place Vendôme to see the column that Napoleon had erected using the bronze from the cannons captured at the Battle of Austerlitz, and then they joined us in the little park on Île de la Cité and we ate the pastries that Heather and I had made, which were excellent if I do say so myself. Light, golden and flaky. 

Our next destination was Montmartre; we travelled there by metro and then walked up the hill to Notre Dame. We had drinks and a leisurely lunch at Clairon des Chausseurs on Place du Tertre. The waiter was very friendly and after having our drinks outside, we moved to the cool(er) and spacious interior for lunch. Place du Tertre was bustling but not as busy as I have seen it, we could saunter around without it feeling too hemmed in. We walked past the beautiful Maison Rose and then James expertly navigated us (using google maps on his phone) down through the streets to Galeries Lafayette. We wanted to visit the rooftop restaurant because it has marvellous views all around Paris. It was pretty hot; 31 degrees - but we had cool drinks and relaxed and chatted. Excellent. 
Back at the Hotel Artus we had showers and a rest before dinner at a wee bistrot just along Rue de Buci. I had a delicious cheese and walnut risotto. We finished this splendid day with after dinner drinks at Café de Flore, once frequented by Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, among other 20th century intellectuals. It was rather warm inside so we sat outdoors in the slowly cooling Paris evening. Just lovely. 

Cycling at Versailles

James and I visited the Palace of Versailles for the first time on our honeymoon forty years ago, so I was very keen to return on our Ruby Anniversary visit to Paris. Today was actually James’ and my third visit, because we also visited Versailles two years ago, which reminded me how very beautiful are the gardens of the Palace. Heather and Ewan suggested that we go on a bike tour of the gardens, which was a great idea because the grounds of the palace are extensive and we could travel further by bike. They very generously organised and insisted on treating us to this outing, and it was an absolutely tremendous day. 
So this morning we had a fairly early start; we left the hotel at 7.30 a.m. and headed by metro to Javel-André Citroën station to meet our cycling guide, Dave, who then took us onwards by train to Versailles. Dave was friendly and very knowledgable; at the bike hire shop at Versailles he soon sorted out bikes for our group of eleven people. I was very excited but a bit apprehensive about cycling through the town to get to the palace grounds. I need not have worried, Dave guided us ably and I soon felt fairly confident. We shopped for a picnic lunch at the market and soon arrived at a side gate into the beautiful gardens. Our fellow travellers were a very pleasant group of people from different parts of the USA, including a couple from Denver, Colorado with a seven year old son called Harry, a couple who were about our own age from Nebraska, and a mother and daughter from Houston, Texas. Dave led us on a brilliant cycle route through the beautiful scenery, past the canal and along tree-lined avenues, stopping for a closer look at some of the gorgeous fountains on our way. We stopped at the far end of the lake for our picnic lunch and Dave gave us a lively and entertaining talk about the history of Versailles and the French Revolution. It really was idyllic. I should mention that I had an electric bike which was great fun, although the route was so level that I probably could have managed without it. Our next stop was Le Petit Trianon; Heather has visited Versailles before when she was a student but had not seen the Hameau de la Reine, so that was a very special part of our day. We saw dragonflies hovering over the surface of a pond, water lilies blooming, roses, quaint buildings, statues, winding paths. I was really sorry when we left the park and our cycle ended, although our tour was not yet over. We walked the short distance from the cycle hire shop back to the palace and after bidding farewell to Dave we went for a tour of the King’s private apartments, which we have not seen before and which were fascinating. The afternoon was very warm and I found myself flagging a bit, but I gradually cooled down in the airy palace rooms and perked up again. It was quite crowded and our French guide had rather a tetchy exchange with one of the palace staff when we ended up in the same room at the same time as another group! After the tour we were set loose into the main palace rooms which were very busy, however that didn’t prevent us from enjoying the opulent rooms including the famous Hall of Mirrors. By this time we were all a bit footsore so we had reviving drinks and coffees at Angelina’s tea room. Back to Paris we journeyed by train and had a lovely dinner at Brass not far from our hotel. Our shy but endearing young waiter inexplicably brought us a bowl of rice which didn’t seem to have any connection to any of our dishes as well as extra chips that we hadn’t ordered, but they were not added to the bill and added to the charm of the evening! It has been a fantastic day. 

A Perfect Parisian Day

After a more leisurely start to the day than yesterday, we woke up refreshed in the Artus Hotel and set off to Châtelet (formerly a small medieval castle, hence the name) where we met our guide, Sam, for our French Revolution walking tour. I have been looking forward to this very much, reading about the French Revolution in preparation, and it did not disappoint. Sam is a pleasant young student of History in his early twenties, brought up in France with English parents, so he is bilingual. 
We visited the Place de Grève where many people were executed, including Francois Ravaillac, the assassin of Henri IV in 1610. Interestingly the word Grève comes from the gravel banks of the nearby Seine where people dragged their boats ashore. Later, when striking workers used to gather in the square, its name “Grève” came to mean “strike.” Much of the tour took us through the Marais district, an area that we have not visited before, very historic and picturesque. A highlight was the Place des Vosges, an absolutely beautiful grassy square surrounded by beautiful mansions. The Royal family intended to live here, and when they moved to Versailles. It was originally called Place Royale but of course this was changed after the Revolution. There is a marble statue of Louis XIII on his horse in the middle of the square, replacing the original bronze one which was pulled down and melted during the revolution. It’s surrounded by trees, allegedly to play down the royal connection. 
There was much more that we saw on our walking tour, and I won’t go into all the details of it, however I would highly recommend it. 
We ended up at Bastille where it all originally kicked off, where Sam pointed out that the outline of the demolished Bastille can be seen, marked by large round brass studs on the road and pavements. I found this very exciting.
We had lunch at a café on Île Saint-Louis that James and I visited two years ago, which featured on Emily in Paris. The location was beautiful but we were in the shade and there was a bit of a chill breeze, surprisingly on this warm day! So after lunch we didn’t linger and moved on, strolling through the crowds of tourists in the left bank to a café in the Rue des Pretres de Saint Severin, where we basked in the sunshine over drinks and coffee. 
We were only a short walk to the recently restored Notre Dame, which has had huge renovations after the fire in 2019. I had booked the (free) tickets as soon as they came on sale 48 hours ago, which meant that we could walk straight in instead of joining the massive queue of non booked people. The cathedral looks bright and clean, there was a service going on and from time to time the priest made a loud and long shushing noise through the microphone when the visitors got a bit noisy. This did quieten the throngs of people. It was very busy but it was good to see it all restored. The roof of the cathedral is still covered in scaffolding so there is plenty of work to finish yet. 
Back to the hotel we went for a rest and to get ready for tonight’s formal dinner on the Bâteau Mouche. This was our Ruby Wedding Anniversary gift from Heather and Ewan. I wore my Ghost dress for the first time and felt very smart. I knew that it would be a lovely experience and it way surpassed my expectations. We were efficiently ushered onto the boat and given a fabulous window table with great views of all the river landmarks including the sun setting over Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower all lit up as it got dark. The food was great - an amuse-bouche followed by three delicious courses. A pianist and saxophonist played jazz while we ate. There was a staircase up to the roof from where we got even better views, and we popped up there throughout the evening to enjoy the atmosphere and take photos. I felt so excited and happy; it was such a thoughtful present and so appropriate because our honeymoon was in Paris forty years ago and this was a very special way to celebrate. We all had a wonderful time. 

Napoleon’s Hat

An early start for Heather, Ewan and ourselves when we took the 7.30 a.m. flight from Glasgow to Paris this morning. What a day it has been! 
On arriving at our old favourite, the Hotel Artus, we left our luggage at reception and had lunch in a nearby restaurant Café du Marché. There are plenty to choose from! I had Oeufs Mimosa which are devilled eggs; I haven’t had these for many years and they were very tasty. When I paid the bill and included a tip, the waiter rang a bell above the bar and there was a murmur of appreciation from nearby staff. I asked him why he rang the bell and he said that he rings it when someone gives a “bon pourboire” - a good tip! I have never heard of this custom until today. 
We then walked down to the Seine; the left bank was busy with tourists but as we crossed the Ile Saint-Louis the streets got a good bit quieter. We walked about half an hour to Bastille where we climbed a staircase to the Coulée verte René-Dumont, also known as the Promenade plantée. It is a 4.7 km elevated linear park built on top of an obsolete railway in the 12th arrondissement. Andrew had recommended it to Heather and Ewan and we were very glad that he did because it is delightful. It is similar in many ways to the High Line in New York (which we visited in 2016); in fact it pre-dates it by about fifteen years, having been inaugurated in 1993. Its trees (lime and hazelnut) and climbing plants and roses are more mature than those of its New York relation, some have been left wild and some are more landscaped. It is really pleasant to walk along it, ten metres above the streets of Paris. It passes above several little parks into which you can take steps down, in one of them we saw a drinking fountain that dispenses both still and sparkling water! How very Parisian! 
The Coulée Verte then descends to ground level and continues through some tunnels and paths before rising again to an elevated walkway. It gets a bit more complicated here with several walkways diverging; we descended to the Michel Bizot Metro station and thanks to James and Ewan’s expert navigation we were soon speeding back to St Germain with only one change of train, and we checked into the Artus Hotel for a much needed rest before dinner. 
Dinner was rather special. In line with the French Revolution theme of our holiday, thanks to Ewan’s expertise on the subject, I had booked Le Procope, which is in Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie, not far from our hotel. This old restaurant, founded in 1686, claims to be the oldest continuously run restaurant in the world, which is a bit controversial because it spent a few decades as a shop in between its restaurant incarnations. But who’s quibbling? It’s exciting that in the early 18th century Voltaire, Rousseau and Diderot discussed their Enlightenment ideas while dining here. And in the 1780s Marat, Danton, Robespierre and other revolutionaries ate here too. And then Napoleon came here too, and one day left one of his hats in lieu of payment for dinner. It’s still on display in a glass case on the stairwell. The place is steeped in history. Most importantly both the food and the company were absolutely excellent. Drinks in a little bar in Rue de Buci completed a marvellous day. 

Kip Moore and a visit from Ally

It has been a busy few days with many errands and much packing for Paris. On Thursday I had lunch with Fiona at Rosso in Bothwell. I am aware that this was the fourth lunch out in a row for me this week, a very unusual occurrence! It was just brilliant to see Fiona after her operation and follow up treatment and we had a lovely catch up. 
In the evening I went to see Kip Moore at the Hydro. The support act, Gareth, was very good, and Kip Moore was incredible. What a voice he has! Heather and Ewan had messaged me to say that they had been upgraded to a box, so I thought that I would chance my arm and ask for an upgrade too! Fortune favours the brave! And indeed it favoured me because very friendly staff at the Ovo Hydro Club desk checked if there were spaces and gave me an upgrade too! The box was great, an excellent front on view and waiter service, Heather and Ewan very kindly bought me a drink. 
I left the concert a wee bit early because Alasdair was about to arrive for an overnight before his hill-walking weekend with Davie. James, Ally and I had a cup of tea and a chat before bedtime. 
I made pizza and chips for Ally and Davie this evening when Ally came in from working in his Glasgow office, before they set off northwards. They have lots of plans for bagging specific Munros and tops that are on their lists. After they left James and I had a curry and watched some of the new series of Clarkson’s Farm. I was so inspired by his renovation of a pub near Burford, now called The Farmer’s Dog, that I made a dinner reservation there for July when we will be in the Cotswolds! 

Vaccinations and lunches

Yesterday James and I had our first set of vaccinations for our Tanzania holiday. We went to the Lanarkshire Vaccination Clinic at Muirhead. The nurse was very nice but oh boy it took a long time. She asked us for every detail of the area and nature of our holiday in order to make sure that she was giving us the correct vaccinations. She also gave us lots of advice about other vaccinations that we may require, which we will need to get privately. It was very helpful. Finally we each had three injections and a drink (the drink was to prevent cholera and we will need another one in a fortnight.) We went to nearby Homegrown Garden Centre in Gartcosh for lunch, we decided that we deserved it after our ordeal! 
We had lunch out today as well, with Davie at Latteria in Uddingston. This was my second lunch with Davie in two weeks because I know that he will be starting his new job very soon, so I wanted to get a few lunches with him before that! Linda Pringle recommended Latteria to me when we had coffee, and the food was very good. I had poached eggs with potato scones and hollandaise sauce and they were just perfect. We had a good chat with David and later went to B&Q where James got some compost. 

A Boat Trip to Bass Rock

At James‘s suggestion we drove through to North Berwick this morning to go on a boat trip to Bass rock. James and I both enjoy a boat trip and this is one we have never got round to, until today. The weather was really good and after picking up takeaway coffees from the Sealife Centre we got ourselves excellent seats on the boat, from which we had great views. Our first destination was the island of Craigleith, famous for its guillemots. Guillemots are often called "the penguins of the North" due to their physical resemblance to penguins, particularly their upright posture on cliffs and their black and white plumage. They do share a common ancestor with actual penguins but only distantly. They are much more closely related to the razorbill and puffin, all belonging to the auk family. We also saw lots of puffins, some standing around near their burrows, and some flying over the water. 
Then the boat took us to the volcanic plug that is Bass Rock, which was covered with thousands of gannets. We could see them “billing” when they rub and cross their long beaks affectionately. We also saw them “pointing” when one gannet sticks its beak skywards to guide its mate homewards. We also saw razorbills; their chicks are called jumplings because they are encouraged by their parents to jump into water to learn how to fend for themselves. An unexpected highlight of the trip was a sighting of several Orca whales not too far from the boat, we could see their fins and their bodies arcing out of the water. The whole boat trip was a joy. 
We had lunch in a great wee café in a craft shop on North Berwick Main Street, and then headed to our old favourite, the Museum of Flight in East Fortune. Since it was a Monday in term time it was very quiet. We went into the Concorde of course, then strolled around the aeroplanes in the other hangars. It was breezy by this time but still warm enough for me to sit outside at the picnic tables and read my book while James spent a bit more time looking at the aircraft. An excellent outing. 

Tech Support by Davie

We had lunch at Heather & Ewan’s today; a lovely vegetarian lasagne with garlic bread and salad followed by an equally tasty sponge with raspberries and blueberries. We caught up on news and chatted about our upcoming trip to Paris. We sat in their gorgeous conservatory for the first time in ages; it is usually dark when we’re at their house for dinner, so it was great to sit in there in the daylight and enjoy the greenery of their lush garden through the windows. Heather is a keen gardener and their garden with its variety of flowers and trees always reminds me of a botanic garden. 
James has been having difficulty completing his application for a Tanzanian visa; he hasn’t been able to upload one of the required photos. We asked Davie to help and he came round this evening, calling “Tech Support here!” when he arrived! I knew that he would be able to fix the problem and sure enough, five minutes later the photo was uploaded and the visa application was submitted!