Rain Stopped Play

This morning I went for my usual morning walk to buy a baguette and a newspaper. This, unfortunately, had to be extended considerably because so many of the local shops were closed. After a walk of three times the normal length, I returned with the Sunday Times and the Observer as well as an excellent baguette. That meant that I was set for the day, however, Ann decided to go on a guided walk. This was to be in the mainly Jewish area, about one mile from the marina. All went well for the first hour but after that it rained. Ann returned to the boat without completing the walk and, worse still, no photographs to add to the web.

Arrival in Paris

After a difficult five days of travel up the River Seine, we were looking forward to finally arriving in Paris and we were not disappointed. We had spent Sunday night at Rueil-Malmaison, which is 45 kms from the centre of Paris by boat and a lot closer by road because of the very windy route taken by the river. We quickly passed through the industrial areas, with docks and a Renault factory that was being demolished, and reached the city itself. The striking buildings of La Defense, on the left bank, are a remarkable sight. We then past through the last of the Seine locks and the river was lined with houseboats and restaurants. We then caught our first sight of the Eiffel Tower and knew that we had finally arrived in Paris. A journey I had promised, six years ago, that we would make when I finally retired.

This last part of the journey was challenging simply because of the shear volume of information we had to digest as we progressed under the many bridges, all of which had their own particular instructions for passage under their many arches. Mix this information with the hordes of large Bateaux Mouches and tourist trip boats weaving their way at speed through the bridges. This left little time for the distractions of the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Palace and Musee d’Orsay; all of which we sailed past in fairly quick succession.