From Montmartre to Champs Elysees

The basilica never fails to exude a pure and sacred aura, even if you view it from a small rue several kilometres away. Needless to say, it is at the highest point in Paris. Just by climbing those stairs at the side of the hill, with the orange tinge from the setting sun, you can already feel the warmth of romanticism. At least, this was what I felt when I first came alone several years ago. At that time, I told myself that I should bring a lover boy the next time, or maybe I should find one there and then. And so, here we are...the Student and the Wife, at the foot of the basilica.

The 2 nearest metros are Pigalle and Anver. We chose to alight at Anver and walk up Rue Steinkerque. This street has many souvenir stalls and a sweet shop that looked oh so delicious...A great place to hunt for Parisien printed place mats and pictures for decorations. Beware of those peddlers trying to sell you coloured bands though, stay firm and polite...Non, merci monsieur...and walk away.

We had wanted to bask in the sun and people watch at Place du Tetre with a cuppa, but it was really overflowing with tourists in that little artists' square, that we've lost the desire to do so. Down to rue de Abessess for more reasonably priced lunch. Rue Norvins is supposed to be good for getting some authentic bread, but we ended up with crepes instead, preferred the sugared crepes that our boulangerie gave us with our croissant though.

Moulin de la Galette

As we approached this area, I had wanted the Student to take a picture of the cafe that Amélie worked in. His reply was prompt: "Who is Amélie?" And the story goes to why this picture is here instead. Walk down rue Tholoze (where the windmill faces), and you'll reach rue Abessess, with plenty of cafes to choose from for lunch.

Sex shops along Blvd de Clichy

I supposed the night scene here will be very colourful...with the Boulevard lined with sex shops, topless shows and bar top dancing. Seriously, I don't mind paying for a lap dance for the Student, for my entertainment sake...naughty naughty*

Moulin Rouge

For more information on Montmartre area, below is a link that is rather useful:
http://www.montmartre-guide.com/in/practical-informations.html

We took about 40mins' walk from the 18th to the 8th arrondisment, to start our journey on the materialistic street of Champs Elysees.

Mercedes show room along Champs

Having walked through the 2 areas, there is a significant change in the air we breathed. In the small streets of Montmartre, we tasted passion, sacrifices, humanity and love...but in the boulevard of Champs Elysees, it is all material, winning, pride and bling. Paris is such, a city with multiple facade.

Resting my tired feet after a day's walk

What do Parisiens do here? They bask in the sun around the fountains in Jardin des Tuileries.

An endless stream of bikers outside Tuileries - can't cross the road for 20mins...

They make really good biscuits (near Opéra)

Bialetti Moka Pot

After weeks of temptation from the wide selection of coffee here, we finally decided to get a Bialetti Moka Pot (stainless steel). With all these variety, we just can't settle with Nescafe Gold - Instant coffee anymore.

Reasons why we got a Moka pot over other choices:

1) Many people told us that this is the traditional way to make Italian coffee, and we love Italian coffee!

2) We do not want the taste of our coffee to be manipulated by capsules.

3) This is very value for money. E30 for an equipment for good coffee vs E100++ for a capsule machine.

4) This is so portable and versatile, there is no need to worry about power supply/adaptors, just as long as there is heat/fire! 

Right after we purchased the pot, we made our selection for our 1st pack of ground coffee. How to decide which to pick? For a typical Singaporean, any food stall with the longest queue = BEST. Any brand on the shelf with the least stock = BEST too. As we were making this "logical" Singaporean decision to reach for Malongo, an Italian spoke..."This is the best (illy's), and I am an Italian...and oh, Bialetti makes the best moka pot!" You can imagine how the student beamed from ear to ear...a decision well recognized by an Italian!

Anyhow, we still went ahead with our decision to get Malongo, and will get illy's on our next round for a blind test.

Some tips on using the moka pot after a month of daily cuppa with it.


- Water from the tap (in France) has a relatively high amount of calcium deposits, this may stain the pot for prolonged use, hence, it is better to use bottled water for taste and maintenance for the pot.

- Do not use soap and cleaning scrubs to clean the pot, instead, just wash with water and rub with your hands. After all, the accumulated coffee oil in the pot actually makes the coffee taste better through time. Just like those braised duck pots in Chinese cooking, years of accumulated flavour!

- Slow fire works best. We are using an electric stove (0 - 6), have been experimenting with several variations in the heat, feels that this works best, time and taste compromised: 4 at the beginning until the water starts to boil, then tune down to 2 until the coffee comes out. Total time taken: 5 - 10mins.

Choosing the Right Coffee. With or without the moka pot sign.
After a few months of trial and errors, it is now official that packets without the moka pot sign CAN be used for the moka pot!!! This have widen our choices for ground coffee indeed...yippees! But I do realise that these packets tend to have smaller grain sizes, resulting in some residue in the base. I just hope that the grains don't get stuck in the valve when the pressure forces the water into the flask.

Our experiences with the various brands:
As Singaporeans, we are very used to the over roasted Yat Kun coffee with milk. No surprises that we have not been unable to find a cup of café au lait to our liking in Paris. After experimenting with the various coffee brands, and what the local French think is good coffee, we now think that the coffee is not that bad in France. It is just that the coffee here is a little sour to start with, hence, it is not too good with milk. On the contrary, the coffee we have in Singapore tends to be over roasted and on the bitter side, so adding milk gives it a good balance. Such coffee will be catastrophic without milk, or we would have to add tons of sugar in it to be drinkable. Having said that, I am still clueless to why the Italiens can make both coffee black and café au lait so well...


Malongo:
Our 1st experience. Relatively acidic. Better black than with milk.

Gourmet beans from Versaille: 
The aroma of the beans is more fragrant than Malongo, less acidic than Malongo. Also better black than with milk.

Régal:
The most economical among those we tried, most intense and most similar to the over roasted coffee in Singapore. Best with milk, infact, it has a little chocolaty taste after adding milk. A little bitter if it is black.

Lavazza:
Not as good as Régal with milk, and less acidic than Malongo. Pretty moderate choice for both black and with milk.

- Will update this post with our trials with the various brands.

Carrés Notre Dame & Versailles Palace

Last Sunday was exhausting, with a day's walk at Versailles' market and less than half of the Palace's area.

The basket icon points to Carrés Notre Dame. It is literally a square, hence carré. The entire green portion is the area of the Palace. 

We were determined to check out the fresh produce market before our visit to the Palace, since we've been grocery shopping in Carrefour all this while. Looking at these displays certainly brightened my morning!

Prices here are not exactly competitive to the Supermarkets, nontheless, their variety and freshness sure surpass their big competitors.

Spice stall

And the packaging is so neat and pretty....

Rabbit meat, whole and parts

 Bright pretty flowers that made my day........

 A very crowded bakery along Rue de Pain. The macaroons and pastries look oh so delicious....yum yum...

 

So tempted by the pastries, that I just wanted to check out the golden gates at the Palace.

Courtyard of Versailles Palace

Versailles Palace is one of the world's largest Palace, covering some 2000 acres including the gardens. We did realised that we were a little ambitious thinking we could cover its grounds with a day passport. With a day's time, we only covered the Castle, Grand and Petit Trianon and Marie-Antoinette's estate. I supposed we have to come again if we really want to cycle around the gardens, or go for a leisurely picnic.

The covered floor space in the Palace's buildings is not too extensive. In fact, the tour through the palace is only 1 way which took us about 2 hours after listening to all the audios. We were initially frustrated with the 1-way guided tour, as it is so restrictive with the crowd! But after the tour, we realised what may probably be the reason. The Palace has so many secret passages, that visitors could really get lost if we were allowed to run loose on our own.

Chapel at the 1st floor

A small part of the garden from the Palace

Still the Chapel, at the 2nd Floor

Decorations at the Hall of Mirrors

 There are performances in the hall periodically, so     it will be good to check their performance website before you plan your visit. After all, this hall was used to receive guests.

US in the reflections

The Queen's Bed

 One of the secret passages from the Queen's room to the King's: Through a door to the left of the bed.

The King & Queen's supper room

The semi-circle of stools were for duchesses to sit and watch the Royal family eat? That was what I heard from the audio...

We stopped half-way from the Palace to Grand Trianon to have lunch. There are many eating options within the Palace's compounds, from within the castle, small kiosks in the garden, next to the Canal. So there's no need to worry about lunch when you are within the Palace.

Doreen, our friend from Germany...enjoying her ice-cream...

The Queen's Hamlet

The Hamlet is part of Marie-Antoninette's estate. This is about 30 mins on foot from the Castle, still within the main estate. Totally worthwhile to set aside time for.

This place really feels like the queen's private escape from the royal pomp. I'll really love to live here too, with the serenity and peace....

A very fat pig indeed, and each animal has got a name....

We had a great show watching the attendant chasing the animals into the barn for closing.

For more information pertaining to Versailles and the Palace, below are the links to the website. You can purchase your tickets on-line for the Palace, and they might have offers from time to time. Further, there are fountain shows, musical and other shows in different seasons, so it pays to plan early and keep a lookout on their performance calendar.

http://www.versailles-tourisme.com/ 

http://www.chateauversaillesspectacles.fr/home.php