I've decided I'm going to cover our overland journey in diary mode. This format is not as neat and elegant as organizing everything into themes, but will make it easier to keep track of stuff while we're on the road.

So, Day 1 was London to Paris.

Day 2 (Tuesday 28)

Our Airbnb host told us yesterday that we'd find some breakfast hanging on the door this morning (super-nice -- really going above and beyond the call of duty).

And, truly, a day that starts with croissants and still warm chouquettes, that you haven't even had to fetch, has got to be a good one. (Lunchtime saw us raiding the local bakery for slices of fruit tart -- one pineapple, one apricot -- so it's been a bit of an indulgent day...)


The weather was quite cool, and intermittently rainy. Nevertheless, we walked to the Parc de Belleville, for fantastic views out over central Paris, and a bit of an induction into what moves the various political currents in the city at the moment.





We continued on to the Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, a piece of land that has a chequered history, and is now wonderfully scenic.







A little later, we did a bit of an Edith Piaf tour.





I'm enjoying being back in Paris after all these years, and this is an interesting and eclectic area.

I could happily spend a few weeks living in this tiny, quiet apartment, reading my way through the shelves of French novels, and doing an in-depth exploration of tree-lined Rue des Pyrenees, one of the city's longest streets.

In the evening, as the sun sinks, the shadows of rows of chimney pots slide slowly up the pink-lit wall that backs the opposite side of the courtyard (see the picture at the top of the London to Paris post). This is going to be one of my abiding memories of Paris...

Day 3 (Wednesday 29)

We had to fetch our own breakfast today. Ah, the travails of travel...

Baguette (eaten with fig jam): tick. Petits pains aux raisins: tick.

Then Pere Lachaise cemetery.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly will have spotted a bit of a penchant for antique graveyards. And yes, these old resting places are generally historic, peaceful, thought-provoking, and aesthetically pleasing. What's not to like?

Pere Lachaise was also the inspiration for the Glasgow Necropolis, which we visited earlier in the month.

It's interesting to track down some of the graves of the famous:








But it's also rewarding to just stroll around this veritable city of the dead, taking in the atmosphere. Sobering, yes. But also life-affirming. We have so few days... Let's make the most of them.












Right alongside the graveyard is the small Jardin Naturel Pierre-Emmanuel. This is one of Paris's "wild gardens" (and in similar but simpler vein, we've seen lots of "protected trees" by the roadside, which are temporarily buffered by a wild area). Near the entrance, there's a cupboard of books, in case you want to do some reading in the serene atmosphere. Or you can just hang out with the parrots...




We went home for lunch (a great money-saver, we find). In the afternoon, we took the tram as far as the stop named after Ella Fitzgerald, and walked home, via the Parc de la Villette, the Canal de l'Ourcq, the Bassin de la Villette, and the Canal St Martin.

This is a good walk for canal buffs, along a system of waterways set up in the early 1800s. The Canal St Martin leg is a little frustrating, as the powers-that-be keep directing you away from the canal and out onto the streets. Nevertheless, there's lots that's picturesque.








It's dull outside this evening. No shadows of chimney pots. You have to appreciate your chimney pots while you can...