45 years ago today he was taken from us...John Lennon (Missed)

A poem I wrote back in 1980 immediately after the shocking news of John Lennon's death with updated music.

Paris, day 4...Bateaux Mouches dinner cruise,a perfect end to a lovely day.

We celebrated our golden anniversary night (18th Oct.) aboard the Bateaux Mouches' Jean Bruel with their 'Prestige Dinner Cruise' floating through the heart of Paris, wrapped in music, memories and the magic of the Seine, a perfect end to a lovely day.

The food,wine and service were very good... 

and the musicians simply made a lovely evening even more special.

Thank you Paris!

Mon banc dominical / My Sunday Bench...rustic bench here in La Guerche.

 

Walking Paris, day 4...a rare disappointment.

 

After a good lunch and bit of retracing our steps up in Montmartre our next plan was to head down to Le Grand Colbert for an afternoon of a glass of Crémant de Loire accompanied by a slice of cake,which seemed like a lovely way to continue our day.

On the way the route took us down the popular rue Lepic the street with the cafe that gained considerable fame from its appearance in the 2001 film, 'Amélie'.This was where Amélie worked and was central to the films plot,it is now a popular tourist attraction.

People who know me know I love a good coincidence, so when hearing a lady asking directions with a Scottish accent, the first we had heard on our trip,we got speaking to het only to find out she lived in my home town of Kilmarnock and found she knew some of our family members,what;s the chances, eh?

Then it was along Boulevard de Clichy where we passed a sculpture representing a monumental apple made of steel, inaugurated in 2011, in homage to the philosopher Charles Fourier whose statue used to stand on this plinth.

Then it was over Place de Clichy and continuing on the boulevard until it becomes Bd des Batignolles then Bd de Courcelles before arriving at the gates of Parc Monceau. We wanted another walk through here as it is one of our favourite spots in the city.

Then passed (and a pop in) to the churh of Saint-Augustin...

with Joan out front...

passed Printemps...

and the opera house...

and the 'pub'...

before reaching our destination!

Only to informed by this chap on the door that it was not possible this afternoon due to an exceptionally busy lunchtime! I even tried my 'we are celebrating our 50th anniversay' card but to no avail!

We had to settle instead for a glass of 'kir royale' in Bistro Vivienne in Galerie Vivienne, which proved to be perfectly acceptable as a substitute...and we still had our Seine river cruise to look forward to in the evening!

A good day out...

Early on Tuesday we had to go up to Loches so I could get a dodgy knee x-rayed (old age eh!) so decided to make a day of it. From Loches we took in a visit to Blere, which included a bit of wine buying as well as a walk through their Christmas preparations.

Then it was over to Chargé to pick up some sparkling rose from 'Plou et Fils' where they were well into the Christmas spirit.

We had booked lunch in Amboise at the 'Bistrot du Terminus' where you get good service and three course lunch with wine for 20 euros.  

 We also took a walk through Amboise which like Blere has been dressed for Christmas.

Wednesday for windows...on little trogo house.

 

Spotted on rue Victor Hugo in Amboise.

Sparkling night out...

 On Saturday night along with Dennis and Angela we headed over to the village of Beaumont to 'Domaine La Tour Beaumont' for a unique event to celebrate the launch of their new sparkling vintage: Le Fié Gris Méthode Traditionnelle Brut.

There was an excellent turnout with our hosts providing plenty of nibbles and lots of fizz, obviously. 

They had also laid on 3 different musical acts throughout the day with the evening entertainment provided by 'Prokop' a folksinger who lives in Strasbourg but who I have since discovered is originally from Hull! He is a great believer in keeping old folk songs alive and is a lover of people like Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly whose songs he has covered. 

It was an interesting evening among the vats and their new vintage was very palatable but Pauline and I had only just restocked our sparkling wines at our favourite cave, Aubert in Vouvray. Dennis & Angela bought some to help celebrate the festive period with their family and we bought some of their red wines that we like.

Saint Andrew's celebration.

 

We were over at Châtillon-sur Indre at the weekend as guests of John and Maureen Hindhaugh along with the 'Amis qui aiment Châtillon-sur-Indre' for their annual Saint Andrew's dinner where I contributed to the great evening with some Scottish songs as the guest singer. The couple had gone to great lengths to make the meal and evening so convivial which was much appreciated by their French friends and neighbours,good fun!

Mon banc dominical / My Sunday Bench...La Guerche

 

Lovely spot in the grounds of the chateau here in La Guerche.

A trip to Tours as it prepares for Christmas.

Walking Paris, day 4...up to Montmartre and the La Mason Rose for lunch.

On day four of our Paris anniversary trip which was the 18th Oct, and 50 years since our marriage we decided to head up to Montmartre the part of the city that hold most memories for us from our many visits to this great city. We honeymooned here plus never fail to visit any time we make it back.

We didn't walk to here, we actually got the metro up to Pigalle as we knew we had a good uphill climb once we arrived.

When we got up to the Place de Abbesses, a favourite people watching place of ours, we stopped for a Café Crème at 'Le Saint Jean' and did just that.

We had decided to do a bit of tracing the path we took 50 years ago, even though we have since walked most of the tourist routes as well as some of the 'off the beaten track' routes many times since.

 We stopped to admire the now popular 'Monsieur Chat' in the Passage des Abbesses just opposite us, he certainly wasn't about 50 years ago.

Then we headed up Rue la Vieuville and walked passed the curious little dead end street.

Then it was up the first of the many sets of stairs on Rue Drevet...

onto Rue Gabrielle and towards the final stairs that take you up to the Sacre Coeur.

We didn't go into the basilica this time but headed over to Place de Tertre which was still full of tourists even in the middle of October.

Then we went down to Place Marcel-Aymé, at the bottom of Rue Norvins , where there is a statue 'Le Passe-Muraille' (the man who walks through walls) made by Jean Marais from the story by writer Marcel Aymé who lived near here.

Then it was a right turn onto Rue Girardon and around to Place Dalida where the lady herself resides with the effects of over-tourism is in evidence.

Then onto Rue de l'Abreuvoir where we posed for a reshoot of a past moment before continuing uphill to our lunch venue, La Maison Rose.

We had a good lunch but we were really there for the experience.

 This is a go-to for us every time we are in Paris normally just to sit on the sloping pavement and people watch although this may not be something we can do in future as because of 'Emily in Paris' and instagrammers there are now hoards of tourists who have been led here by their guides taking multiple photographs.

To think that when we first sat here 50 years ago it was considered a secret little place with few tourist coming over the hill from the Sacre Coeur.