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Wednesday, November 16, 2011

So where are the ducks in Paris?


Stadtpark 15 November 2011

Well today Cate was supposed to cruise in at about 9.00 AM from Istanbul – have a shower – repack her bag and leave for Delhi at about 11.30 AM.  

But  I woke with the smell of goats in the air and sure enough her plane was delayed from Delhi and she did not get home until after 10:30 AM so it was a mad rush for her to get ready for the 11:30 AM pickup.

And – goat things being what they are – the travel person messed up the seats for the umpteenth time this year and she was sitting in her least favourite seat on the aircraft – in the very front row next to the toilet – but Hallelujah! It was broken and the plane was not full so she was able to move back a couple of rows.

This was after she was told on checking in that her carry on luggage was two kilos overweight. She fixed the man with her death stare and said ‘I am a Senator and I am travelling Business Class’. 

He said ‘Take a book out of your luggage - I am just going to change my underpants’ and she did – and in a jiffy he was back and the problem was solved.

Of course there was also a problem with boarding and then they had to de-ice the wings and all that sort of palaver and I was getting regular progress reports - some of which were of a tense and terse nature - but part of my role is to deal with difficult situations and as my life is basically all beer and skittles I am happy to take on the role of the flak magnet when Cate has some spleen to vent – not that there was much left after she was airborne today.

Anyway – as I have said – this is her last major trip for the year – barring additional goat things which are always possible because there are some people out there just itching to fuck things up beyond all recognition - but let’s hope we can get to Christmas without too many major crises because it does take a toll on us all when things go pear-shaped.

Anyway I am not sure if I mentioned that Cate is going to a conference in Paris next Monday and I am going with her because this gives us the opportunity to spend a long weekend there and also to see my daughter Molly who lives there with her cat Merlin – and also edits my blog.

So for the first few days while Cate is conferencing Molly and I will visit cafés and cemeteries and take photos of cats and wander the streets of Paris – which is my second favorite city after Vienna.

We are staying in the conference hotel – whatever that is – for the first four days and then I have booked the Kube Hotel in Paris which is in the 18th Arrondissement where Molly lives – but not in the high end.

It was apparently once one of the coolest hotels in Paris – and has the Ice KUBE Bar – where really cool people drink.

These days it is more of a night club with a doss house attached but we will do the best we can. Paris is expensive – even in winter – and we are saving our money for Norway.

I will ask Molly where the ducks are in Paris. I may get some photos. 


10 comments:

  1. I hope you have a lovely visit with Molly. I haven't been to Paris in years...

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  2. So nice spending time in a place you've been many times before. No need to see the sights, just revisit favourite haunts.

    Enjoy!

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  3. Oh that's a fancy website for Kube - and I LOVE that Kendra Lou song.
    But very strange lyrics to promote a hotel - "every night I sleep on the floor"??!!

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  4. I found three different kinds of ducks and put them in a blog post.

    A) Hostel: '3 Ducks' located in the 15th

    B) A piece of logic:

    are there ducks in paris or are they all pelicans?

    Fact: Pelicans eat ducks.
    Fact: French eat ducks.
    Fact: French are pelicans.

    C) Duck Tour d'Argent

    Probably the most spectacular classical French recipe, le canard à la presse, here made at La Tour d'Argent, a Paris restaurant open since the 16h century.

    La Tour d'Argent
    www.tourdargent.com
    +33 (0) 1 43 54 23 31
    15-17 Quai de Tournelle
    75005 Paris
    France

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  5. smedette: Thanks. You can go after you visit me next year.

    Annie: You mean the cemeteries?

    freefalling: Apparently the music is so loud it knocks you our of bed.

    esbboston; I don't think it looks that good any more - but I shall report.

    esbboston: I am not planning on eating any - but..I have always wanted to visit la Tour d'Argent. Do Pelicans really eat Ducks?

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  6. All three items were things I found using a Google search, so I have no idea if pelicans eat ducks. I would imagine its a size thing/age thing: IF a pelican is very young and small, and a duck is older and much larger at that point in the "circle of strife" THEN a duck could eat a pelican, especially a very hungry duck.

    I wandered through several photos of the Kube and thought it had a few interesting spots, just wasn't sure about the overall feel to the place, but its bound to be better than the 3 Ducks and warmer than any place north of the Arctic Circle. What would be interesting is if there ever came a time when the 3 Ducks company is ever bought by a company with the word 'Pelican' in its title.

    I just realized that the reverse logic of the first paragraph means Fact: French are ducks, IF Fact: French eat pelicans, THEN it should be eXtremely easy to find ducks in Paris.

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  7. esbboston: In fact ducks could eat pelicans. And Molly has told me there are many places where ducks can be found.

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  8. oooh, have fun!! i never wanted to visit paris til recently, so looking forward to your stories on this trip. of course, i pretty much look forward to your stories about anything, so there is that. : )

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  9. carmar76: Everyone should visit Paris it is one of the great cities of the world. Thanks for your kind comments.

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