AVENUE FOCH

Avenue Foch, originally named Avenue Bois de Boulogne until 1929, was laid out in the mid 1850's to satisfy the Emperor Napoleon III's zeal for a centralized avenue for the wealthiest elite that Paris had to offer.

It is an ingenious road, which is actually 3 roads in one. The main boulevard is an express route from the Porte Dauphine to the Arc de Triomphe, which is lined on both the south and north sides by a park. To the north of the north park and the south of the south park are one way streets (the north westbound and the south eastbound), on which the most prestigious homes and apartments ever built in Paris are located. If you're lucky to be on an elevated level, you have views of BOTH the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower.

Many of the prestigious townhouses have now been carved up into exclusive apartments or serve as embassies, but the wealthiest of the wealthy are still here. Avenue Foch is the MOST expensive real-estate in France, and toys with 1st place as the most expensive real-estate in the world.

Humbly, at #5, you find Paul and Fred's Paris pied-a-terre.

#41 houses the Paris Yacht club (I know, I'm still trying to figure that one out, too)

#43, the Palais Montmorency, is one of the few remaining private ENTIRE townhouses left on the avenue, and is currently for sale for $140,000,000 (yes, 140 million dollars!). It is the 2nd most expensive house for sale in the entire world. If you're interested in buying it, view the detail sheet by clicking here

#19-21 belong to the Rothschid's - they need 2 houses to spread themselves over.

#88 currently houses a penthouse belonging to the Onassis heiress, but she's recently decided to sell for 10 million dollars (note, it's just a penthouse, not an entire townhouse)

On a less pleasant note, #'s 82,84 & 86 were the French headquarters of the Gestapo during the occupation of France during the 2nd world war. Interestingly, there is no marker to note this dubious past. Undoubtably best for the current occupants, but is this situation good, or should we be reminded of just how low humanity can sink, so we don't allow ourselves into the same situation again?

Anyway, ANOTHER stunning day here in Paris, about 67 degrees and cloudless sunshine. Don't be too jealous, though, apparently cooler temps and clouds are in the forecast...

A Day in Saint-Germain-des-Pres

Today we spent a great deal of time strolling around St-Germain-des-Pres. This area - quite possibly our favourite in the city, has a terrific array of small and interesting shops, churches, and restaurants.

This area of the left bank is fuller and livelier, it's streets and cafes more crowded, than when it was at the forefront of the city's intellectual life in the 1950's. The leading figures of the time have gone, and the rebellious disciples have retreated to their bourgeois backgrounds. However, the new philosophers are here, the radical young thinkers who emerged from the 1960's upheavals, and the area still has its major publishing houses, whose executives entertain treasured writers and agents at the now celebrated cafes. Now, however, they share the area with the haut monde, those who patronize Yves St Laurent's opulent premises and the elegant rue Jacob's smart interior designers. On the south side of the Boulevard St-Germain, the streets are quiet and quaint, with a selection of good restaurants, and at the Odeon end, there are brassy cafe's and a profusion of movie theaters.

We had just a wonderful day, stopping for pizza for lunch and shopping, and window shopping... Checking out the 30,000E (YES, thirty thousand Euro) ranges at La Cornue, where every range is hand-made to order, stopping to check out the big book of pussy (and the big ass book and the big dick book) at an independent book shop, shopping for fruit and veg at the marche, and someone had too much fun with Diderot's statue last night....

Another gorgeous day with a high of about 65 and cloudless sunshine. See Carolyn and Scott - it doesn't rain all the time here - only when you come! LOL!

A COUPLE OF FULL DAYS

So, we have been in Paris for 2 full days now.

Yesterday, we primarily attended the exhibit on Pompeii at the Maillot Museum in St. Germain des Pres. It was a fabulous show, where they even had entire rooms that had been excavated from the ashes re-created in the museum (including the walls! How do they do that?).

Today was a bit of a false start for us... I slept right through the alarm clock and didn't even get out of bed until about 8am (which is quite late for us). After sorting ourselves out, we headed out to the Jacquemart-Andre museum to see the exhibit on Fra Angelico.... but when we got there, the line up was so ridiculously long that we decided to give it a skip because we have better things to do in Paris than stand in line. So, off we headed to the Marais for our favourite felafel sandwich (see last year's post), only to find that it was closed (because Friday is sabbath eve?), so we haded over to the Ile St Louis and had our favourite chocolate banana crepe washed down with a glass of sparkling cider.

We spent the afternoon wholesale shopping for Pariscope, then came home and bought the ingredients for tonight's supper. I made a broccoli, mushroom and comté cheese quiche. It's amazing how Parisian you feel when you buy the ingredients and make your own supper (the joy of having an apartment) instead of always spending your time deciding which restaurant you want to eat at. For dessert we had a strawberry tart and millefeuille.

After watching the last installment of this week's Diner Presque Parfait (the almost perfect dinner - the French version of Come Dine with me Canada), we headed out for an evening stroll to take some exercise, but more importantly, look up into the apartments that have thier lights on and check the decor and especially the moldings, medallions and lighting that each has. We're in the 16th, so we're over-laden with Embassies and Ambassador's residences (Canada's embassy is not here - it's over on the Rue Montaingne - across the road from Chanel's main Paris location), so there are LOTS of things to see. There's a big soiree at the Angolian Embassy, just up the street tonight.

We had an amazing day weather wise, about 65 degrees and clear blue sunny skies!

EVERYDAY PARIS

It is hard to believe, as a tourist, that there is an everyday Paris. But sure enough, every day, millions of Parisians wake up and commute to work, work all day and commute home, just like they do all over the world.

Every day, millions of people stare at the little pink bunny on the doors of the metro, that tells you to mind your fingers as the door close, or you'll get hurt.

Every day, Millions go to McDonalds to have a McChevre(!) chicken wrap.

Every day, millions of people buy their magazines and newspapers from the "Le Presse" kiosks located throughout the city, which right now are plastered with the poster of a hot naked guy advertising D&G eye wear for men (and I need new glasses... ahem...)

Every day millions purchase wonderful breads and pastries in all shapes and colours to take home (or eat on the spot) and share with loved ones.

And every day millions of people walk past a little bronze plaque on the side of a bridge crossing the Seine that commemorates, 61 years ago, the sacrifice of Robert S White, a 31 year old American man who plunged into the frigid river to save a young woman who was drowning, only to loose his own life in saving hers.

Paris - it's quite a place if you look past the landmarks.

Our first full day brought warm weather, but it was solidly overcast for the best part of the day. By the late afternoon it started to clear, and the weather man says that it will be clear for the next few.

GREETINGS FROM PARIS

Hello everyone - we made it safe and sound on our annual journey to Paris.

We had a great time in Air France's "L'espace Affaires" (Business Class) cabin - lie flat beds, extra seat width - humungous leg room, the whole bit. Superb food. It started with an amuse bouche of quail with chestnuts & cranberry preserves, followed by a starter of smoked breast of duck, scallop flan with tarragon and basil mayonnaise. For the plat principle we both had the pan-seared tournedos of beef with balsamic vingegar (and cassis mustard), mashed potatoes, sauteed cepe mushrooms and baby carrots (or you could have had the ravioli stuffed with cepe mushrooms with a tomato sauce and artichokes). There was then a fine selection of cheeses and a tart au citron (lemon tart) for dessert.

For wines we had a wonderful selection of Duval LeRoy Champagne (non cru - a bit disappointing...), an Alsation Pino Grigio Trimbach 2006 reserve, Antonin Rodet Mercurey 2008 Bourgogne Rouge, and a Haut -Medoc Chateau de Camensac 2007 Grand Cru. I went for the borgogne and it did not disappoint. In between there were copious servings of champagne, pastis and Congnac Tesseron lot No 90 XO... and I don't even have a hang-over!

We cleared security in Toronto and passport control at CDG airport in record short times, and becuase of our priority status as business class, our luggage was the first to come off the carrousel!

We have taken a lovely "alcove studio" apartment at #5 Ave Foch - just a stone's throw away from the Arc de Triumph (we arrived at the apartment at 10:30am local time). So far it is quiet (which is our biggest concern), and is everything that was promised to us by the agency. It's in an amazing late 1800's Hausmann building with high ceilings, crown moldings, etc, etc.... We don't seem to be lacking for anything. We spent the best part of the day exploring our neighbourhood by foot, laying in some grocery essentials (wine, coffee, pasta, etc...)

Weather is cool and overcast. The forecast calls for rain over night. The weather will determine what we're going to do tomorrow.

Hope everyone's well!

PS: Remember that you can click on any photo to enlarge it!

The Last Entry

Sorry i haven't blogged more - -but blogger has been out of commission for several days. you could read blogs, but not post to them!

It's Friday the 13th. We will leave Menton tomorrow about supper time and spend a night in a Nice airport hotel, before heading home from Nice, via Paris, on Sunday the 15th. I don't think I will have time to blog any more and want to spend as much of the precious time that I have left just making the most of things.

Let’s see – on the 11th I became a Great-Uncle (and my Sister became a Grandmother!) when my nephew and his girlfriend had a baby girl, whom they’ve named Grace!

At the same time, I became semi-obsessed reading the final blog of Derek Miller. To read his final words, click here (http://www.penmachine.com/2011/05/the-last-post).

We should all consider how lucky we are just to be alive.

Recently, Paul and I walked the Le Corbusier walk from Roquebrun Cap Martin train station around the entire Cap and all the way back to our apartment, at the Italian border – more than a 3 hour hike. We were going to take the train from Caronles, but we missed it and the next one was going to be an hour, so we just kept walking.

In the spirit of enjoying life, I think in this post, less is more. Interestingly it was Le Corbusier’s contemporary, Walter Gropius who first said that.

I wish little Grace a wonderful life.

I wish Derek eternal peace.

Love to you all, from one of the most beautiful places on this earth.

The past few days have been clear sun and 26C to 27C.

The Most Expensive Real Estate In The World

Today, being Tuesday, we decided against going to Grasse, as there was still a good chance that most things would be closed for the day. We decided to visit Cap Ferrat instead.

Recent real estate magazines that we have been collecting have confirmed (factually) that Cap Ferrat remains the most expensive real-estate in the world.

No wonder.

The Cap is a gorgeous isthmus of land that juts out into the Mediterranean Sea, like a long finger, situated between Nice and Monaco. When you depart Nice airport, you get a spectacular view of this most prestigious little bit of land. Long the haunt of the Rich and famous (the Baroness Euphressi du Rothschild built her magnificent mansion here, along with King Leopold of Belgium, and countless movie stars both past and present, from Charlie Chaplin to Brad & Angelina), most of the island is sort of hidden by high fences and hedges. But that doesn’t really matter.

The writer W. Somerset Maugham described it in a letter to his nephew, Robin Maugham, as "the escape hatch from Monaco for those burdened with taste."

Money may not buy you happiness, but it can sure get you the peace and quiet that Paul and I relish so much.

We headed off to the Cap today under cloudless skies. We adore catching glimpses of the few mansions that have more public exposure than others, of both the famous and the lucky unknown wealthy. A good example of a mansion that you can see plainly is that of the late actor David Niven. His house, originally called Lo Scoglietto (Little Rock) with its private harbour, is a beautiful pink Italianate villa built in 1880 by Alfred Bounin, the son of an arms supplier to the Sardinian army, himself an olive oil trader from Nice.

In 1920, the villa was rented by Duchess of Marlborough, Mme Balsan, originally Consuelo Vanderbilt. It was extended in the 1950s and rented by Leopold III, King of the Belgians, one year before his abdication.

Later Lo Scoglietto was bought by Charlie Chaplin, and in 1960 he in turn sold it to the film actor David Niven, who was very much part of Princess Grace's social scene.

The small square in front of the villa is named Place David Niven as a tribute to the late actor. Although the ownership of the house since then has been less well documented, there is an unsubstantiated local story that it was briefly owned by Dodi Fayed, who of course was the ill-fated suitor of Princess Diana

Recently restored at reputed cost of €10 million, the villa is now known as La Fleur du Cap.

No matter whom they are and where they come from – they have to have cash, but they are also some of the luckiest people in the world to own this little bit of Shangri-la.

Today’s photos from the top: A homage to St Jean by Jean Cocteau "There is a youthful mystery in the old stones of St Jean", aperitifs before lunch at a local bar, David Niven's house, A small boat floating in the private slip belonging to the house, My feet in the Mediterranean sea (sigh, yes, those are sandal tan lines - but look at the tan!).

Today was clear sunshine with a hot but dry hi of 30C. Yes, I said 30C.

I started off this morning sort of sad that this is our last week here. I thought being here for a month that we would have done a little bit more than what we have, as far as discovering new villages, etc. One of the things about staying in Menton and the Riviera in general is that it is the extreme east side of the region, so places like Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, etc are quite far away. I agree with Paul that I didn’t come on holidays to spend all day in a car (or on the train, as the case may be…), but I just couldn’t shake the feeling like we should have done a little more. A short coming that we have found here is that although there is excellent public transportation, there is very poor communication about how to use the service. For example, I talked earlier about going to Cagnes-sur-mer and visiting the Grimaldi chateau. All the guides tell you to take the (free) bus from the station up the 2 kilometers to the Hauts-Cagnes to visit the chateau. Well, it turns out that Cagnes has TWO train stations. So which station has the bus? What number bus do you need to get up there, etc. No guide is clear on how to do it.

Anyway, after consulting the guide book, we decided to visit the Palais des Carnolès. In addition to being the museum of fine arts, it also happens to be the former summer home of the Princes of Monaco (when Menton was part of the realm of the Princes). I like it for its architecture and its interiors as well as the actual collection (which is excellent). According the Eye Witness Guide, it is supposed to be open Wednesday to Monday (meaning it is closed Tuesday). After taking the train to get there, in typical French fashion, it was, of course, closed.

Never mind. It was a gorgeous day and I’m not going to be side tracked by something like that. It wasn’t far to our favourite patisserie at Cap Martin (as discussed earlier – winner of the best croissant). So we strolled along and had a coffee and delicious pain au raisin (an eggy brioche bread rolled up like a curly-whirly that contains pastry cream and raisins – and in this case, candied fruit). It was, of course, excellent.

We have decided that if the weather is good tomorrow, we’ll take the train up to Grasse – the perfume capitol of France. We carry the Fragonard line in Pariscope and it’s a charming village – and the train comes right into the village, so there should be no problems.

Today’s photos from the top: Palais des Carnolès. A table at the Port Garavan Restaurant set for a special occasion. Memorial to the unification of Menton to the French Nation. A terra cotta urn infront of the now closed Ambassadeurs Hotel. A man vacuuming (!) the parking lot of the Port Du Garavan.

Todays weather – clear start to the day, but very hazy by the late afternoon. Hi of 24C.

Super Do Nothin' Week End....

Paul and I decided that because this was our last week end in the Riviera (we come home on Sunday the 15^th) that we’d just sort of do what we like, when we like. Not that that is a break from the every day on this trip, we just tell ourselves that it is and it just seems that much more special.

That was the reason for no blog yesterday – I just never got around to it. We spent the day going through some of the shops in town, then succumbed to the lure of the private beach at the festival plage in white and orange. So we put aside our plans for lunch at the apartment for a private cabaña and a feast of moles marnière washed down with a very good rosé and one of the finest sea views you can imagine (photo included). An afternoon of dozing in the sun ensued. We discovered a wonderful new Indian restaurant in town for supper (gasp – we ate out TWICE in one day! So much for the budget!) that we enjoyed (although the service was a bit slow) and had a leisurely stroll home in the dark, admiring the views of the old village lit up at night (not the best photos, I know).

This being our final week there are some things to do, as always. We really are having a fantastic time, but are getting the usual pangs for home, family, friends and our little pug dog. We have seen several pugs here (here they are known as Carlins), and I have a photo of Clousseau on my screen saver on my phone, so we see him every day. The few times that I have called home, Mom reports that everything is well.

Today is Mother’s day at home (which is not observed here), so I wish all Moms all the best on their special day.

Today’s photos from the top: Festival plage (a private beach), View of the sea from a park bench, Mussels for lunch!, The old fortess (now the Jean Cocteau Museum - soon to be replaced by a brand new building) at night, the Basilica at night.

Sorry the 2nd video is sideways, I was holding the camera the wrong way (obviously).

We are having persistently sunny skies and today (Sunday) the temperature was 24C. Yesterday (Saturday) it was 26C.

I Knew We Shouldn't Have Gone...

So, despite my better judgment, we decided to go to the big market day in Ventimiglia today. The reason that I say my better judgment is my readers from last year will remember that we went to Italy and ended up getting stranded there, and had to bring a cab home to France (although its something that I’ll never forget) because all the trains were delayed - sopresso.

So we went to the big market, and I think on the whole it was a bit of a let down for me. I wasn’t in the market for clothing or shoes (although I just LOVE the styling of Italian men’s shoes), which is what predominantly what makes up the market (despite all my photos of food). I could use a new wallet (I’m still carrying the one that my brother-in-law gave me for being in his wedding 25 years ago – thanks Juergen, it was a great gift), but the wallets here are all sized for Euro notes, so they’re sort of useless for North America. If anything, its major appeal is for women - clothing, awesome Louis Vuitton items (the loose wallets that you see in my photo were only 5 Euros each!). I was hoping to get Paul that watch that I promised him for his 60^th birthday, but everything in Italy when it comes to accessories is so BLING! We were looking for something a little more classic, and we never found it.

For lunch we found a nice little out-of-the-way Mom & Pop restaurant and had very good pizza (in Italy!), and bought pasta and sauce form the same people that we did last year (No, you can’t have that sauce with this pasta – you must use this sauce…I love it!) to bring home with us. We also treated ourselves to a very good canolli cookie (although I think my own home-made ones are better. Sigh.) and decided to catch the 1:47pm train back to Menton.

Guess what the sign board said against every departure?

CANCELLED (or cancelleto or something like that, anyway, we clearly got the idea…) “You’ve got to be kidding – not again!” I said in exasperation as we stood amid the crowds in the station. Paul even said a bad word. But then I looked closely at the board… the 1:47 was still departing – but every train thereafter was cancelled. We hastily made our way to platform 3, where the train was all ready waiting, and within minutes we were being ushered back to our beautiful Menton.

That was a close call. The only thing I could do to calm my nerves was have a glass of champagne and sit on the beach…

Sunny, with the occasional light, cotton-ball cloud, and 26C today.