Thursday 9 October 2008

Paris - Day 2 : Evening : Part 1






Day two was hot and sunny in Paris and we happily returned to la Péniche, to prepare for an evening of drinks and dinner, with the neighbours from the adjoining boat.

We sat comfortably on deck as barges, water skiers and the river passed by, at just whatever speed suited them. La Péniche simply rocked a little in recognition of all the activity and transferred its gentle opinions to any that felt like agreeing with it.

Madame manned the "l'appareil-photo" and I manned the language department with much assistance from herself. We laughed and yacked our heads off and nothing mattered anywhere else. Relaxing in Paris is hard work but we got the hang of it.

Dinner in the Salon was splendid with the sun setting over the Seine and the diners drawing breath to be interrupted by whoever was laughing loudest in French. The Collins French Dictionary missed that one but as I didn't bring it, it will be their loss.

The dark of evening is never in a hurry in Paris and it eventually fell when it felt like it. The last glow of evening seemed to linger as if waiting for permission from those with no opinion, just like the rocking boat. All was perfect and the dinner was superbe.

The young couple from next door were eager to show us their project; the renovations to their péniche.
The self-loading dishwasher gave us our marching orders and off we set on the 100 footstep march down the tow-path.

The work was in course, and nearing completion but the results were spectacular as you can clearly see in the last few shots. Soon, another young couple will be rocking to the rhythm of the river and who knows ? Next visit.....

Sleep came so easily .................

Tomorrow, you can see Gustav and his legacy to the souvenir industry.

6 comments:

Nathalie H.D. said...

Ian, how can we keep up with your pace? You're faster than a speed date. Every other hour there's a new post from you. How are we going to keep up?

Of course, having lived on a barge and converted it to a floating home myself, I was DELIGHTED to see all the péniche photos. I love your writing too.

M.Benaut said...

I guess that it's an opportunity to re-pay people, in France and England for all their kindness.
Everyone throughout this whirlwind voyage was so kind and generous of their time and resources that it is a pleasure to do something in some small way to say "thank you" sincerely.
So far I have covered only about one fifth of what will be reported and it's a marvellous way to re-live the experience and to see everyone's responses.

Il me fera le plus grand plaisir de "post" mes photos d'Avignon.
Je semble me rappeler qu'il y avait une photo très drôle d'une jolie fille française. Elle essayait de manger un requin ! !

MmeBenaut said...

Yes indeed. Thank you to my dear Godmother Carliene and Art for their incredible hospitality and the opportunity to meet the lovely Elvira and Corinne & her husband. I must say that all the girls looked very glamorous!!

Cheltenhamdailyphoto said...

Wonderful. Rocking and rolling huh? Sexy. lol. It all looks so marvellously decadent.

I can't believe Eric hasn't been over here to see all this!?

Jules said...

M B surrounded by beautiful women - of course!!!!

Kate said...

The evening looks like it was memorable.