pinkbirdflies

In only 2 hours and 5 minutes I arrived vie the Eurostar train from Ebbsfleet to Gare Du Nord and ventured onto the streets of Paris. Taxi to my apartment at 2 Rue Du Petit Pont in the Latin quarter. It is right near the Seine and has a spectacular view of the Notre Dame Cathedral. It is a lively area full of shops, bars, bistros and interesting sights. The first glitch was the contact not showing to let me in, then losing my spare sim cards…oh well…the good thing was the happy faces of Floyd, Amy Snow and Ruth Hodge to meet me and stay for a few days. The apartment is petite, french and lovely! We explored the area and Amy played the piano in Shakespeare and Co the renowned bookstore just near my apartment. We had dinner in a tiny french bistro and drank a beautiful french Rose wine. Amy left us today to continue travelling and we made straight for the fresh food market for our supplies…berries, creme fraiche, ham, fresh crusty bread from the boulangerie and cheeses from the Fromagerie. Fois gras from the charcuterie and a bordeaux to wash it all down.

Visited Port Issac or more affectionately know by Doc Martin fans as “Port Wenn”. It is a pretty little harbour town unaffected by the ‘fame’. Saw the surgery, harbour and school and had a coffee in a nice little shop that was the only place to sell souvenirs and it was all cute and not overdone or too commercialised. 

The Eden project near St Austell is an educational charity that explores how people can work together and with nature to change things for the better. A global garden was created in an old china clay pit. The 35 acre site now showcases people’s relationship with plants. The two Biomes under the big bubble domes are Rainforest and Mediterranean. The outdoor biome contains plants from the English environment. It was certainly fascinating and a bit weird to be perspiring in the humidity of a rainforest in the middle of Cornwall! The bubbles are almost surreal!