Nice when this happens...

 

Had friends over for dinner Friday night and we decided to open a 2006 red we had in our 'cave' as we knew they loved a good red. It is always a risk putting down a wine that is not from the grand vineyards but this one proved to be delightful!

What a wonderful surprise!

Last night Eileen went along to the unveiling of a new section of the Alloway Tunnel art project and posted these pics. this morning and asked if we recognized any of the people featured. Imagine our surprise to see us up there alongside Ada. Turns out the family had us featured as a 50th wedding anniversary present and it took the artist the time since then to finish this section. Immortalized!

Paris visit April 2026 day 2...part II. Visiting Bercy Village: Paris’ Historic Wine Cellars Reborn.

With time to kill before our visit to the 'Musée des Arts Forains' so we decided to revisit Bercy Village which is in the same set of former wine cellars. We had last visited way back in 2013.

Once a bustling 19th-century wine hub, 'Cour Saint-Emilion' which was home to the cellars, fell silent in the 1960s. Today, the cellars (42 apparently) have been beautifully converted to form Bercy Village.

Saved from decay and listed as a Historical Monument, the site underwent a major transformation in the late 1990s. The result is a lively, all-generation destination blending history with modern energy set in the 12th arrondissement of Paris.

There are around 30 shops and probably too many restaurants with sunny terraces, plus fun leisure spots: a climbing wall, games bar, and immersive Science Experiences. We started our visit off at one of the coffee shops and finished it with a light lunch at another spot. We did no shopping as we had planned to also visit the nearby Parc de Bercy.

A popular 18-screen cinema and year-round cultural events complete the mix here.

Atmospheric, welcoming, and refreshingly different, Bercy Village proves old cellars can become one of Paris’s coolest hangouts, according to the official website - it does have a good vibe but 'coolest hangout', not so sure.

 Bercy Village is best accessed by taking metro Line 14 to station Cour Saint-Émilion. This brings you out directly at the main entrance to the 'village'.

 

Paris visit April 2026 day 2...part 1. A metro ride down to Bercy from the 19th.

Quick burger before heading down the Metro (only joking) - entered the network at station Stalingrad (line 7) which was only 10 minutes from our hotel. As you know we like to walk when we are in Paris but we had booked a time slot to visit the 'Musée des Arts Forains' (more later) down in Bercy so to make the most of our day we decided to add a visit to Bercy Village before the museum and take the metro to get us there early.

Our charged Navigo passes should have made the journey easier but they fell at the first hurdle, or should that be turnstyle. I got through with mine but Pauline's failed to work and left her stranded behind bars! Fortunately,or not,we had the same issue on an earlier journey where it was explained to us that there was a call button to summon help/allow you access. The system still has 'teething troubles' apparently. 

Our destination station was 30 mins away with one change at metro station 'Pyramides' where we changed onto line 14. 

The station we were headed for wasn't the obvious 'Bercy' but the one following that 'Cour Saint-Emilion' which takes you directly to the entrance of Bercy Village.

Line 14 is the newest in the network which, since June 2024. now goes all the way to Orly Airport.

It is always worth checking your map/metro map or Sat/Nav to check for the less obvious destination stations relative to where you want to end up in the city. Must do something on this on my Paris site.

Every picture tells a story...

Snapped this in our courtyard this morning. It shows the 'door' of our 'appentis' which is a door from our former Barrou house that we replaced, it is not actually the usable entry but there once was a door there.The mirrors which show the four seasons were bout for our very first flat in Kilmarnock,Scotland and are now over 50 years old! The butterfly was bought in Barcelona many years ago and the two wall planters on our last Spanish adventure.  

 

Sometimes simple will do...

 

Snapped on the walk from Loches across 'Les Prairies du Roy' to Beaulieu-lès-Loches last wednesday.

Fête du rond du chêne brocante.

 

We popped up to the annual brocante at the Rond du Chêne, more for the walk that to seek out any treasure as is our current status.

Was a wee bit underwhelming but we did see what might be considered a blast from the past!

“Fur aboots are ye fae?”

Think this was possibly put in place for the bears.

Bloomin' eck!

 

Our Pierre de Ronsard in the courtyard has gone into overload!

More art in Beaulieu-lès-Loches...

 

We were in Loches yesterday and before lunch we did the walk across 'Les Prairies du Roy' to Beaulieu-lès-Loches. On arrival we were met with wit a selection of art displayed on the walls and as we ventured further into town we discovered they had an exhibition 'Autistic Artists' showcasing the work of around fifteen autistic artists.

The Hotel de Ville hosted some of the works.

While others were randomly displayed about the town.

We passed a local artist's studio as we were heading out of town when I noticed this large canvas, he said he was exhibiting at another exhibition at Savonnières as per the poster on his door.

There was one udder painting on display as we headed back along the path to Loches.

Paris visit April 2026 day 1...part 2 , Ending in Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

Our walk down from our hotel in the 19th arrondissement ended at our intended destination '1925-2025 – One Hundred Years of Art Deco' at the Museum of Decorative Arts. This temporary exhibition closed yesterday so we were happy to have made it. You can see more here on my Paris site.

After our visit to the exhibition we headed down rue de Rivoli and across Place du Carrousel in front of the Louvre.

Then onto Quai Voltaire where you can capture the fabulous Musee d'Orsay on the other side of the Seine.

Then over Pont du Carrousel to Quai Voltaire.

Looking back over the bridge towards the Louvre.

We were heading to the Latin Quarter in search of a restaurant for dinner. We headed down toward rue de Seine with one of the city's domes,that of the 'Institut de France', acting as a beacon.

From rue de Seine we continued onto rue de Buci, a popular choice for tourists looking for a restaurant in this part of the city. The street entertainers were out for them but it proved too busy for us. 

We turned up the quiet rue Grégoire de Tours and were 'accosted' by the friendly proprietor of 'Gavroche' just around the corner. Normally we would not be drawn in by this approach but we were ready to eat and he seemed like a nice guy. So we entered the the restaurant which had a few customers spread around. We ended up in the 'window' so as to attract others in!

It proved to be a great choice with great service very tasty food at a good price. It didn't take long for the place to fill up - probably the attractive couple in the window!

Rue de Buci took on a different vibe after dark.

After dinner we headed over to the legendary 'Caveau de la Huchette' to check out the jazz on offer as recommended by a friend. 

There was already a long queue outside the venue and as we joined the end only to be told that this was in fact queue number two - the other, even longer, one was across the road! We decided that maybe we will try agin on our next visit.

We decided to take the metro back up to the 19th catching it over the river at the Hôtel de Ville, passing the illuminated Notre Dame. It was interesting to see that the 'love locks' have reappeared - not sure how long they will be allowed to stay.  

Crossing the Pont d'Arcole was magical.