Last Day in Paris

We decided to finish by revisiting a few Parisian icons today, starting with the Eiffel Tower - depending on how long the queue at the ticket offices was.  It is the middle of winter after all, so there shouldn't be too many tourists.  In fact there were hundreds in the queue for the elevator-assisted ascent, but the walk-up-the-stairs queue was not too long so we joined that.

We survived the 670-step climb to level 2 of the tower, and decided that was a good place to stop.  It was crowded with lazy people who had come up in the lift, and the half dozen little shops up there were closed, with "On Strike" notices taped to their windows.  Reminded me of the regular school holiday Cook Strait ferry strikes in NZ in the good old days.

Eiffel Tower looking up from level two

We followed the "Banks of the Seine" walk up the river and crossed over on the Pont Alexander bridge, deciding to head for the the Petit Palais gallery for lunch.

Crossing the Seine on Pont Alexander

On the Champs Elysees we joined the crowds strolling through the Christmas markets, which are a very popular destination for all ages.  There are hundreds of booths selling everything under the sun, and thousands of people there to shop or just see the sights.  We saw Santa's sleigh poised high overhead, ready for flight later in the evening no doubt.

Santa's sleigh waiting for the moment

We reached the Arc de Triomphe and turned at that point to start the walk home.  The plan was to take the metro, but when we descended to the station we found it jammed with people, and the train when it arrived was so packed we could not face trying to force our way on.  In the end we had to walk all the way home, arriving with rather tired feet.  Time to pack for the trip home.

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The Mona Lisa

Today we decided we had to return to the Louvre, having avoided it last time we were here.  It normally attracts huge crowds and long queues, but maybe in the middle of winter it's not so bad?  Sure enough, I bought tickets on-line and there was NO queue at that entrance - although those buying tickets on the day did have a short queue of 50 or so.

Entrance to the Louvre

Inside the glass pyramid (eyes shut!), beside neon "lightning"

The glass pyramid marks the entrance to the Louvre, and is also the only above-ground sign of a huge modern entrance hall and adjacent shopping centre and roads beneath the courtyard and gardens in front of the Louvre.  So to enter the Louvre you first enter the pyramid and descend into the entrance hall, then go up again into whichever wing of the Louvre you wish to visit.  It is such a huge museum that you must narrow yourself down to some specific part to visit.  Trying to see everything will just result in exhaustion, sensory overload, and possible collapse into a coma.  We decided to go for (a) the Moroccan exhibition (tying in with our visit to Spain), (b) the Mona Lisa, and (c) the Egyptian collection.  On the way to and from these we also saw all sorts of other distractions.

Follow the signs to Mona Lisa

There she is!  Actually bigger than we remembered...

Napoleon crowning Josephine.  The second biggest painting in the Louvre!

Some tiny Egyptian statuettes

Silver and gold horse's head, Iran 4th century AD

Gilded mummy

The large shopping centre hidden beneath the Louvre was full of people and there were christmas decorations everywhere.  Further down there are bus and car parks, and the whole complex links directly to the adjacent metro station.  No need to go outside when it's cold.

Shopping beneath the Louvre

Finally - a decent box of chocolates!  Pity about the the price...

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A Ride in the Park

Today a balmy 14 C temperature was forecast, so I signed up for the Paris rental bike scheme, and went for a ride in the huge Bois de Boulogne park (850 hectares) which is near us on the west of Paris.  I decided my target would be the new "Louis Vetton Foundation" (LVF) gallery at the north end.  It was dull weather (hence the dull photos) and damp underfoot, with just a few people about walking their dogs.  By the time I found the LVF I was ready for my second coffee and a bite to eat, only to find that it does not open until midday!  (This sort of behaviour seems common in France).

The LVF is fairly amazing to look at, like a deformed, glass version of the Sydney Opera House perhaps.  I was sorry I could not have a look inside.

LVF and my trusty bicycle

Giant glass spaceship?

The rental bike ("Velib") experience was good.  They have an on-line booking system, and parking stations all over Paris and a total of 20,000 bicycles!  The first one I took had a soft back tyre, so I just parked it at the next station I came to and took another, after checking that it had properly inflated tyres.  It's all controlled automatically, and you can look at an on-line map to see exactly how many bikes are currently available at every parking station.  Cost me about 3 euros, and I got a free exercise workout.

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The Fox and the Crow

This statue is in the Gardens of Ranelagh, near to the OECD, and refers to the fable of the Fox and the Crow (watched over here by Jean de la Fontaine).

The Fox and the Crow

The fox sees the crow carrying a delicious cheese in its beak, so says something like "My, your plumage is magnificent!  If your voice is as beautiful, then you are the most wondrous being in the forest!"  The crow opens his beak to demonstrate his beautiful voice, only to drop the cheese which the fox gladly snaps up.  "Remember, every flatterer lives at the expense of the listener", says he.

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Chilly Paris

Thanks to some Australian colleagues of Sue we got out last night, into the cold Paris weather.  We went to a piano recital in a tiny church, not too far from Notre Dame, which was attended by only 20 people or so.  The performer was a Japanese woman Remi Masunaga, who is extremely good.  The church (Saint Ephrem) is Syrian and quite unusual in its design.

Piano recital at St Ephrem's

We also visited a famous English bookshop called "Shakespeare and Company" where you have to wait in line to get in.  Inside it is a rabbit warren of tiny corridors and nooks, every square inch packed with books, and with cushioned corners where you can sit and read, plus a piano squeezed in among the books which you are invited to play.  No photos allowed, unfortunately.

The apartment we have rented is incomparable to the hotel room we stayed in last time for the same price.  It is 800 square feet and fully equipped, and the owner met us and left it stocked with food and drink for our free use.  It even has a printer with a stock of paper for guests' use!  He has recently started renting it out via the Airbnb website, and we are one of his first bookings, so perhaps he is trying extra hard to please.  You can just see the top of the Eiffel Tower from the window (when it is not hidden in cloud).

Eiffel Tower lit up for Christmas

As in Madrid, the shopping streets everywhere are lit up for Christmas.  It is pretty cold outside, at about 3 C, so our hats and scarves and gloves have been pressed into service.  Last night we went into Notre Dame for 15 minutes, to escape from the cold.  Fortunately there is no wind.  Here is the Christmas tree in front of Notre Dame:

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Human Statues

In the busy "Puerta del Sol" square in Madrid there is tough competition between the human statues who dress up in whacky costumes and pose for the passers-by, frozen in position like a statue.  Last night we came across this guy, hanging magically suspended in mid-air behind his motorbike, and completely caked in mud.

Dirt bike rider statue

He was completely motionless and all you could see through the mud was his eyes, so we had to watch for several minutes to be sure there was actually a person in there.  Eventually he turned his head and even raised one hand to wave to the crowd!

I can only guess that he must have had a steel rod running up his right arm sleeve, supporting a frame right down his body.

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Last full day in Spain

The Cerralbo Museum is in the former house of Enrique, the Marquis of Cerralbo, and is today presented largely as it was when he lived there.  He lived relatively recently, from 1845 to 1922.  The house was basically designed as a gallery to show off his extensive collection of art, archaeological objects, and things from exotic lands like Japan.  It is still packed with them now.

Venetian glass chandelier

The dining room, Cerralbo Museum

Our wanderings also took us to the cathedral, which is large but quite uninspiring on the outside, but inside has quite a clean design and very attractive windows and decoration.

Madrid Cathedral

Cathedral ceiling detail

We passed through a popular indoor market, packed with shoppers and tourists and with lots of well-presented stuff for sale.

Christmas eggs

Cup cakes

Breakfast strawberries!

Tonight we went out to find something to eat, which is not quite as easy as it sounds because Spaniards in general have dinner at 8 or 9 at night.  After some wandering we selected a "cerveceria" which actually translates as "brewery" but is really a restaurant of sorts, and where we found good food.  It was full of noisy diners, but most seemed to have a drink and a plate of ham and cheese, then leave!  This is just their pre-dinner snacking, I believe.  When you consider this behaviour along with the fact that many shops close from say 2:30 to 5:30 pm for "lunch" you can start to imagine why the Spanish economy is not doing so well!

The streets around Puerta sel Sol (Gate of the Sun, a large popular square near us) were packed with thousands of people and lit with Christmas decorations.

Xmas tree in Puerta del Sol

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Madrid

We have been lucky with the weather - no rain, clear blue skies.  It was the same again today, and not too cold.  Today we walked down to Parque del Retiro ("Park of the Pleasant Retreat"), a 350 acre 19th century park.  It was indeed very pleasant there, and many locals were out strolling along the side of the lake, or having a drink in a cafe.  Sue had a "churro" (we were introduced to these by Gary), which is a slightly disgusting local speciality comprising a light crispy deep-fried dough and a cup of melted chocolate to dip it in.

Churros

Ew - there's a pigeon on my elbow!

Fountain demons

We spent most of the afternoon in the Prado Museum, which houses a large collection of painting and sculpture.  We found it was too much to get around in the time we had, so did the Goya and Greco rooms, plus a few miscellaneous others.

The streets are very busy - christmas shopping perhaps?  Our flat is right in the middle of town, a couple of minutes from the Plaza Mayor square, and the Puerta del Sol square in the other direction.  Both have been full of people each time we went through.  Last night all the decorations were lit up which made it very pretty.

Christmas decorations above Plaza Mayor

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The Villa in Mollina

The villa in the village of Mollina is actually the house of Gary, the owner of the little tour company "Tour Andalucia" who looked after us during our six days in Andalucia.  Before he bought it it was a farm house, and he restored and extended it to provide about five guest rooms plus the shared dining room, lounge, patios, etc.

The Villa

It is well set up for dining outside, lounging by the pool, and other summery activities, but there is frost on the ground each morning at this time of year, so we were not able to indulge ourselves!  Gary operates a small fleet of comfortable people-movers and normally takes groups of just 2 to 6 people on each outing.

We set out early each morning (about 9:30 am!) and drove for 60 or 90 minutes to get to each of those cities we visited.  Most of the roads are excellent.  Gary speaks Spanish and English - he is from Liverpool - and is very interested in the history of the area.  His storytelling filled most of the travel time, and he also gave us quite detailed Spanish lessons while driving, once he realised we were keen to learn.  It was just Sue and I and Gary every day, as this is a quiet time of year for his tour business, so we got to know each other quite well.

On the road again...

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On the road again

Today we are back on the fast train, this time to Madrid.

Duck-billed AVE fast train

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Serrano Hams

In many bars and other eateries in Spain you may see a line or a forest of large cured hams hanging overhead, above the bar or from the ceiling.  I assumed they were for sale - and they are, but mainly they are there because the bar uses them, shaving off fine slices to provide ham for sandwiches, etc.  They take down one at a time and mount it in a special carving stand on the counter, and use a very sharp knife to shave pieces off.

Hams in Cordoba

Even more hams, in Granada

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Cordoba

Cordoba was not a place I had heard of, but was once the largest city in the world with a population one thousand years ago of between 500,000 and 1,000,000 people!  It was a very advanced city and boasted a huge library of books, and when Spain fell under Muslim rule after 700 it became the capital of the caliphate.  It declined again over the following centuries, and the population is now about 300,000.

In Cordoba is the Mezquita, or Great Mosque of Cordoba, which is huge.  It was expanded under successive Muslim rulers until it could accommodate 40,000 worshippers at prayer!

The Great Mosque / Cathedral

Silver lecturn in the cathedral

The Great Mosque was actually built on the site of an earlier Visigoth (christian) cathedral.  The mosque grew and served the city for several hundred years, until in 1236 after the Christians took over again it became a Catholic cathedral.  The cathedral was effectively constructed in the middle of the huge mosque, resulting in the unique building we saw today - an extensive mosque decorated in traditional Muslim geometric and text-based designs, with an ornate Catholic cathedral inserted into its centre!

The minaret of the mosque is now the bell tower of the cathedral.  We paid our 2 euro entry fee and climbed to the top of the bell tower to admire the view.

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The Jewish Quarter

In the old city of Cordoba, as in many others, there is a Jewish quarter dating back hundreds of years.  Under Muslim rule before 1000 AD there was religious freedom, but in later centuries the Jewish quarter was walled in to defend it against attacks from outside.  Today it is an area of narrow winding streets and little shops and craftsmen's workshops.

 A woodworker's studio

Ben Maimonides, doctor and philospopher

In a leather workshop

Silver filigree work (hairclip)

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Granada and Alhambra

Granada is quite a large city, most famous for the Alhambra palace and gardens. It is at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and is at an altitude of about 700 metres so can get quite cold.  Today the snow on the mountains nearby was clearly visible, and the air was cold.  Apparently it is still a public holiday (it always seems to be) and the streets were full of Granadians and their dogs strolling in the winter sunshine.  This fine statue shows a blindfolded man trusting his horse of justice to carry him sure-footedly through the dangers and uncertainties of the world (or so I am told).

Horse of justice

Scenes from the streets of Granada:

Bobbies

Big fast buses

I like church organs (this one in the Cathedral)

Lunch in the sun

The Alhambra is a famous Moorish (Islamic) citadel and palace, set on the hill above the main city.  The Moors controlled much of Spain for hundreds of years, from when they invaded about 700 AD until Granada surrended to the christians shortly before 1500 AD.  The kingdom of Granada was their last foothold on the peninsular.

The snowy Sierra Nevada, from the Alhambra

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