A walk in the park? Monday's walk...

Not exactly, the walk I led yesterday's in Descartes had all the right ingredients,blue sky, riverside,lovely gardens, pleasant scenery and good company but at 24 deg, the weather was just a wee bit too hot but we boldly strode along taking advantage of some shade where we could.

It's days like theses that remind us to stop, 'Smell the Roses' slow down and take time to enjoy life.

Brocante et la course de caisses à savons à Preuilly-sur-Claise.

We went over to the annual 'Foire de la Saint-Georges' brocante at Preuilly-sur-Claise on Saturday. Where it normally stretches out through the streets of the town this it was restricted to the south of the river,around the Marie, Place des Halles and Pl. du Champ de Foire down by the 'Le Lavoir'.

We are no longer searching for treasures as we actually need to get rid of 'stuff' but it is still fun looking at what's of offer...we never get boared.

The restrictions on brocante stalls was because much of the main streets were given over to form a course,made up of bales of hay, for the staging of a soapbox race. 

There was an interesting array of vehicles taking part.

Love that the course included a ramp and water jump.

The finish line was just before the river crossing, a real fun run!

First alfresco lunch of the year for us here in La Guerche.

 

Joined by friends for Sunday lunch under a clear blue sky and a bulging climbing rose here in the courtyard of our house in La Guerche.

Spoiled for choice - musical Touraine.

Last night we had the option of going over to Le Grand-Pressigny to listen to our friends 'Celtiqua' at Brody’s plus check out 'Jérôme & Sylvain' an act we had not seen at Parce Que in Ciran. We decided to have the best of both worlds by going over to Ciran and taking in the first half of their act and then heading back to Le Grand-Pressigny to catch the second half there. As it happened there was no break at Ciran so we missed 'Celtiqua' but there will be more chances later in the year. We are so lucky here in Southern Touraine to be surrounded by so much musical talent.

Paris visit April 2026 day 1...part 1.

We started our weekend in Paris by dropping the car at the parking lot at Chatellerault train station before catching our comfortable TGV to Montparnasse station.

 First stop, top up Navigo' pass with metro tickets then taking the familiar trek to line 4 to start our journey.

One change at 'Gare de l'Est and then on to our destination station Laumiere in the 19th arrondissement. We now find navigating the metro system in Paris fairly easy having now had a lot of experience of it, good and bad. Tip: avoid Châtelet – Les Halles if you can!

You definitely know you have arrived in Paris when you are greeted by the classic red metro sign - something intrinsically comforting about them!

We had chosen the 19th as we wanted to revisit Parc des Buttes-Chaumont somewhere we had not been since 2011! Plus also have another look at the Bassin de la Villette which has seen many changes since then.

We had chosen the the unpretentious Ibis Budget Paris La Villette hotel,good value,comfortable and offering very good value breakfast. It proved to be ideal from a location point of view, as it was only 3 mins from Bassin de la Villette,10 mins from Parc des Buttes-Chaumont and a comfortable 1+ hour walk to our first planned visit of the trip - the Musée des Arts Décoratifs on Rue de Rivoli.By the time we checked in it was a quick change and about turn back out as we had booked a 5pm time slot for our visit to the museum.

The hotel was on the tree lined Avenue Jean Jaures which afforded us a second metro stop (Jaures) with a number of watering hole options!

We walked on under the raised section of the metro line leading to nearby Stalingrad station past the Rotunda and onto the start of the 

Canal Saint-Martin.

As you step onto the Quai de Valmy you are actually going from the 19th arr. into the 10th arrondissement.

Looking back towards the 19th arrondissement.

Whether you look towards the canal or the buildings that border it  your eyes will be rewarded.  

We walked along the canal until it heads off left towards the 11th arrondissement where we made a right turn at the popular L'Atmosphère restaurant onto Rue Lucien Sampaix.

Then it was onto Rue des Vinaigriers and Rue du Faubourg Saint-Martin,passing the Mairie of the 10th on the way down to Porte Saint-Martin.

Then over to Porte Saint Denis and onto the long rue de Clery which took us into the 2nd arrondissement and closer to our our destination.

Rue de Clery leads onto Rue du Mail from where we went around behind the Jardin du Palais Royal and past the Pl. Mireille into the 1st arrondissement.

We arrived on rue de Rivoli with just enough time to partake of a wee refreshment at Café Carrousel on Pl. des Pyramides with a view of the golden Joan of Arc on her horse.

Next stop was our final destination '1925-2025 – One Hundred Years of Art Deco' at the Museum of Decorative Arts.