Rough

Almost didn't post this one, but it's about the process, and I won't be happy with everything.

The travellers return

We're back. Actually, we've been back for two and a half weeks, but there's been plenty to keep me occupied and no time for blogging. I'm planning to share photos from the trip, but in the meantime here are some of the things we brought back.

I bought this necklace in Paris, from a little shop on Rue des Abbesses in Montmartre. We were stating up near the top of the hill, and walked past the shop many times during our two week stay, on the way to and from Abbesses metro station. The necklace was in the window, and caught my eye almost immediately - I bought on Day 2 of the trip, and later went back for matching earrings. The range of colours means it goes with just about everything :)

And this is how it looks on (with the earrings, and a new hair colour):

The next two photos are of one of my Venetian purchases. It was my birthday while we were in Venice, and I was given some money to buy something for myself (thanks everyone - you know who you are!). Nan McElroy, who I'd engaged to give us an introduction to Venice, suggested that I have a look at Attombri, next to the Rialto bridge. I did, and I met one of the two designers (brothers Stefano and Daniele Attombri - we met Stefano), who showed us some of their pieces. I couldn't choose between this one:

... and this one:

... so I came away with both :) The small glass beads in each one are from among thousands bought by the brothers when a Murano glass factory closed down - I was told they date from the 1920s. The larger beads are newer, and some are specially designed and made for Attombri, like the etched blue disk above.

And then to Rome, where we found Sancesario Bijoux on via dei Banchi Vecchi. Another artisan workshop, the family of designers only make a maximum of six copies of any one piece. The jewellery is all made by hand, using old techniques, and the glass in the earrings and bracelet I bought is Venetian.

Travel blogging

We''ve been in Paris for nearly two weeks, and tomorrow night we'll be on the train to Venice. We're blogging daily on http://travelpod.com/members/silsby and you're welcome to follow along.

Living on the river

Not everyone in Paris lives in an apartment. A few never forget that their city exists because of the river Seine  ...

Two weeks and four hours and, all going to plan, we will be in the air and heading out of Sydney :)

Three weeks

Three weeks until we leave Canberra. 23 days until we arrive in Paris.

This photo was taken in October 2010, from the square in front of the Hotel de Ville (town hall). Very Haussmann.

Travel books - part 2: Paris

I need to do more planning and less talking about it, now we're down to nearly three weeks until departure. So I'm just going to list some of the books I've read in preparation for this trip, and maybe they'll inspire someone else. It's by no means a comprehensive list, but just the books I've bought and referred to most often this time (and I may come back and add more if I think of them):

Frommer's Paris: Free & Dirt Cheap
France: Instructions for Use [Alison Culliford & Nan McElroy]
City Walks Paris: 50 Adventures on Foot [cards]
Paris to the Past: Traveling through French history by train [Ina Caro]
Parisians: An adventure history of Paris [Graham Robb]
The Sun King's Garden [Ian Thompson]
Walks through lost Paris [Leonard Pitt]
Eyewitness Travel: Paris
Everyman Mapguide: Paris

Travel books - part 1

I'm a bit (well, more than a bit) of a sucker for books. And when I'm planning a trip, my focus is on books about the places I'll be visiting, because I like to know stuff before I get there.

I still have my Eyewitness Travel guides to Paris and Rome on hand from the 2010 trip, but I've added the Venice and the Veneto guide from the same series this time.

They're great guides for planning, but pretty heavy to cart around, especially if you're going to more than one city, as I realised last time while dragging my bag up flights of stairs from the London Underground and up to our second storey apartment. So I'm using them a lot for planning, but don't intend to take any of them with me. With that thought in mind, I also bought the Eyewitness Travel Pocket Map and Guide for each city - a very condensed version of the larger guides, with a foldout map in the back of each book. They're only 154 x 74mm in size, and less than 10mm thick, so very portable. The writing is pretty tiny though - not too bad in good light, but I'm not getting any younger, so I kept looking to see if there was anything better.

I also have the laminated StreetSmart Paris map and CityFlash/Hallwag International Rome map from the 2010 trip. They're both good clear maps, although not all the smaller streets are named. You can write on them with an erasable marker - handy for planning routes - and just wipe them clean when you're done. The Paris map includes a metro map - very handy. I'll probably take these with me.

Then I found the Everyman Mapguides. These small (124 x 74mm) books divide the city into sections, with a foldout map and information (what to see, where to eat, etc.) for each area. While not all the small streets are named, the maps are very legible, and the format means you're not trying to deal with large folding maps in the wind. These ones will  be going with me.

Yes, that is a New York edition tacked on the end. Not for me - my parents are going to the US while we're in Europe, and I thought this might be handy for the couple of days they have in NYC.

Gallo-Roman Paris

No, not Notre-Dame - it's what's under the square in front of the cathedral that interests me today.

Just to the left and back a little from where I was standing in 2010 to take this photo is a set of steps heading down into the dark: the entrance to the Crypte Archeologique. Down there we'll find some of the oldest parts of Paris on display, including the remains of the quay of the ancient port of Lutetia, the Gallo-Roman bath house, the early IVth century city wall, and medieval remains.

In five weeks we'll be in Paris

I've started giving a bit more shape to our fortnight in Paris, and plan on exploring the city in chronological order. And to that effect, this is where it all started: a small tribal settlement on what is now the Ile de la Cite (on the right). There has been a bridge here at the narrowest point between the island and the Left Bank since the Romans, although the Petit Pont (in the centre of the image) has been rebuilt numerous times following floods, fires and accidents. The current bridge was opened in 1853.

Mmmm ... coffee!

I was browsing through the website 'A Guide to Rome' a few days ago, and came across a page on Caffè Greco in Rome. The author mentions that there are three 200+ year old coffee shops in the world: Le Procope (Paris, 1686), Florian's (Venice, 1720) and Caffè Greco (Rome, 1760).

Le Procope, which is now a restaurant - we may need to try it (they even have a children's menu if the boychild isn't feeling adventurous).

Caffè Florian in Venice, which over the years has attracted such notables as Goethe, Ugo Foscolo, Charles Dickens, Marcel Proust, Grabriele D'Annunzio and Eleonora Duse, Rousseau, Stravinsky, Modigliani, Antonio Canova, and Casanova.

 Caffè Greco, via Condotti, Rome, has its own list of famous patrons, including Liszt, Strauss, Mark Twain, Hans Christian Andersen, Baudelaire, Mendelssohn, Stendhal and Wagner. 

As we'll be travelling to all three cities on this next trip, I feel a need to check them all out ...