A temporary garden

Since the mid of June until August 17, you can find a temporary garden in front of the Paris Town Hall. There is even a pond!

The Town Hall as such is an impressive building. The interior was completely destroyed in 1871 by a fire set by some participants of the “Commune”. So, if the interior then had to be completely rebuilt, the walls are basically from the 16th century.

I will let the decorations and the flags on the front of Town Hall serve as an illustration for July 14, the French National Holiday!

A European Eiffel Tower

I have been a bit unfaithful to Paris lately (Zürich, Lausanne, Rouen...), so maybe time for something very typically "Paris", the Eiffel Tower! I happened to pass by Trocadéro the other night, from where you have the most traditional view of the Tower and I thought I should show what the it now looks like during the evening and night hours. This is a special feature during the six months (July-December 2008) that France holds the EU presidency.

I wish you a very nice weekend!

Switzerland (2)

As mentioned in my post last Friday, I wish to revert to my visit to Switzerland. After Zürich and surroundings, I thus also made a short visit to and around Lausanne (where I also met a blogger friend, Delphinium). Lausanne is on the northern side of Lake Léman (or Lake Geneva), just in front of Evian on the French side of the lake. A number of nice small, often old and paddle driven, ships allow visiting the different places around the lake. The lake lies in the course of the Rhône River, which takes its source in the Swiss Alps and finally reaches the Mediterranean, forming the large Camargue delta (see previous post).

Lausanne is a city in Romandy, a French speaking part of Switzerland. It has a population slightly exceeding 300.000.

A good physical condition helps to visit the city; the streets are sometimes steep. To walk from the lake shore, with some very nice hotels, bars and restaurants, to visit the “old town”, the 12th century Notre Dame Cathedral, the Sainte Marie Castle etc... far higher up can be quite sweaty a hot summer day. But there are some nice places for refreshment also when you reach the top.

Lausanne offers a lot of cultural activities and it’s also the home of the International Olympic Committee. The city is on both sides surrounded by vineyards. I went eastwards by train to visit the Lavaux region which stretches almost all the way from Lausanne to Montreux. I stopped about half way, took a tour up on the beautiful slopes to a village called Epesses, tasted some of the local very nice white wine and then walked back for two or three hours along the beautiful lakeside.

Joann kindly gave me the award "Arte y Pico". (This is actually the second time I receive it.) Sincere thanks for this honour!!

Armada 2008

(I will revert to my visit to Switzerland, but I wished to give some “fresh” news.)

Every four or five years, since 1989, there is an event taking place in Rouen where some of the world’s largest sailing ships meet. It goes under the name of the “Armada Rouen”.

This year it takes place July 5-14. Some 10 million visitors are expected. A small team of French bloggers (Cergie, HPY, L6 and Alain) decided to go there last Saturday, including for a nice lunch and dinner together. The quays and the town were crowded this opening day.

Some 40 ships are there this year representing some 20 nations. Some of the more prestigious or well known ones are the Italian “Amerigo Vespucci”, the Mexican “Cuatehmoc”, the Norwegian “Christian Radich” and “Stadsraad Lemkuhl” and several Dutch ones. There is also a replica of an 18th century ship, “Grand Turk”, often seen in films and TV series. Most of these ships will then take the direction of Liverpool from where they will leave for the 2008 version of the “Tall Ships’ Race”. The Russian, British and French Navy are also present.

We had of course also a walk through the city of Rouen, the historical capital of Normandy and visited among other things the central place of “Vieux Marché” (the Old Market), where Joan of the Arc was burnt in1431. One of the best restaurants there, “La Couronne” was then already a 90 years old inn. In the “Gros Horloge” (Big Clock) street you can find a beautiful 16th century astronomical clock with parts from the 14th century. ... and there is of course the “Notre Dame” cathedral, also known for a series of paintings by Claude Monet, made from the same point but in different daylights. (My photo is from late evening).

Switzerland (1)

I’m just back from Switzerland. I spent a few days in and around Zürich and also in and around Lausanne. I had also the great pleasure of meeting blogger friends like Richard in Zürich. I will revert with a second post (probably on Monday) about Lausanne and its surroundings, but today I will concentrate on Zürich and the Zürich Lake.

I’m not intending to make any detailed descriptions here, but just to show you some general impressions with some photos. The sun kindly participated to make the visits even more delightful.

Starting with Zürich, you should know that certain rankings qualify it as the city with the world’s “best quality of life”. With a population of some 375.000 (1.000.000 in the urban area), it’s the largest Swiss city – Bern of course being the Swiss capital. It’s a very cosmopolite city, almost 1/3 of the inhabitants do not hold Swiss citizenship. The official language is German, but the spoken language is a dialect, Zürich German (Zürichdeutsch), a local version of the Swiss German (Scweizerdeutsch, Schwyzertüütsch...). The old city of Zürich is situated where the river Limmat flows into the Lake Zürich, a bit north of the real Alps, surrounded by beautiful wooden hills.

The older parts of the town are on both sides of the river Limmat. There are a number of several centuries old buildings. When I was there, it was the end of the European Football (Soccer) Championships, hosted by Switzerland and Austria. Especially the Sunday evening, when the final was played (in Vienna), the crowds in the streets were impressive and I joined them in front of one of the numerous giant screens.

You can see some football (soccer) related photos here, one from the central station with some giant statues of players (and also the permanently installed flying Angel by Nikki de St Phalle) and two taken at the site of the FIFA organisation (the football international governing body) on top of one of the surrounding hills. I spent one day on the Zürich Lake onboard one of the many old paddle driven cruising ships. It’s a great pleasure to watch the beautiful landscape, enjoying also what the bar and the restaurant onboard can offer. I spent a few hours in a small town in the southern part of the lake, Rapperswil, with its nice little castle and also enjoying the ongoing “Blues’n’ Jazz” festival.

I wish you a nice weekend!