Travelling home

Today was our last holiday day and devoted entirely to travelling.

Both Cate and Tim had periods of non-sleep through the night so neither woke truly refreshed for the next leg. But it was not a particularly challenging day so we were ok with that.

The processing at Hong Kong airport was quick and painless and left us at the gate (which was very close to the processing area) with lots of time to kill. The flight boarded, eventually, but then sat at the gate for a short while as the airport changed runways and re-scheduled take-offs. In due time, we were airborne and winging our way home.

Cathay Pacific has been an excellent airline for Cate and Tim throughout our long travelling legs. Very attentive staff and lots of kind help in the airports. On the trip home, we've been accessing "wheelchair assistance" for Cate because of the long walks from airline gate to terminal doors. That's proved to be a winner, both because of easing the burden on Cate but also because you get priority treatment at immigration and customs, so the whole ordeal is greatly smoothed.

Cate had arranged for us to be collected by our London Taxi friend, who was waiting for us patiently even though we were 20 minutes late landing. He whisked us quickly and efficiently home.

And here we are, safely at home, a little travel weary on the day, but wonderfully satisfied with the whole adventure!

Musee di Rodin and Hong Kong

Our last (formal) holiday day in Paris began as they had all done; gently, slowly, and with a lovely breakfast in the company of our hosts. Tim, freshly woken from his night's sleep after travelling back to Paris from Copenhagen, had thought the day would pass quietly in La Celle St Cloud before leaving for the airport. Cate, however, had plans! Today, we were to visit the Musee di Rodin, as it was on her bucket list.

Varenne Metro station

So, we proceeded into Paris through the gracious help of Birgit driving us down to St Cloud to catch the train into Gare Paris St Lazare. We then caught the Metro Line 13 (down countless sets of stairs - no lifts in the Metro) to Varenne, which appears to be there exclusively to serve the Musee di Rodin.

The Hotel Biron (Musee di Rodin)

We surfaced outside Les Invalides only a short walk to the Musee; thankfully, because it had turned into another hot summer day in Paris. The museum, situated in the Hotel Biron, owned by Rodin in his later life and operated as a school of art by him (we believe from the things we read in the museum), is a magnificent venue for Rodin's art and genuinely in central Paris.

Cate and Tim wandered all through the museum, over both floors (another significant stair-climb) and were completely in awe of Rodin's oeuvre. Not only must Rodin have worked diligently every day of his life to create so much astonishing work in sculpture and painting, but he has the most extraordinary ability to represent human bodies in marble or bronze as if they are alive and moving; truly astonishing and captivating art.

The plaster model

The resulting bronze

Bronze of "The Lovers"

Another perfect bronze

Plaster models of the Burgers of Calais

The Gates of Hell

Plaster model of reclining figures

Marble model of someone and his children

"Hand of God" (front)

"Hand of God" (rear)

"Man and his vision"

A named woman

Three Ombres

The Burgers of Calais

The Hotel Biron, with grounds under renovation

It was a really hot day in Paris and quite still at the Hotel Biron when we had finished the tour. Tim had a quick walk through the gardens (a large part of which are undergoing renovation at the moment) to locate the cafe. It turned out that the cafe was further away from where Cate had nested than the exit, and we'd seen a Cafe that looked very interesting, very Parisian, on the way into the museum between the Metro and the main gate. We decided to optimise further energy expenditure and head to the Metro while stopping for lunch at the Cafe di Musee on the Boulevard Les Invalides.

Cate about to enjoy lunch
in a Parisian Cafe (unsuspecting)

An eclair - much more
appetising than this photo suggests!

Lunch was very pleasant. We were served by a very helpful and efficient Frenchman who, it turned out, was missing the same front tooth that Cate hs lost during her travels. He was very attentive and very pleasant; frankly, quite unlike the archetypical French waiter of fable.

A view of the Eiffel Tower Cate always enjoys from the train

After a leisurely lunch we navigated the public transport system again, back to La Celle St Cloud. Tim remembered that he'd promised to eat an eclair in Paris for his friend Tracy, so he acquired some eclairs for himself and Cate for the train ride back to St Cloud. That made the journey that much more pleasant!

On our return to Avenue Lily, we rested and had the pleaure of eating some of Lena's birthday cake on the terrace with Birgit and Eric. Eventually, our idyllic holiday in Paris had to come to an end. An Uber arrived to take us to the airport.

Eric and Birgit, on the terrace with Cate

Birgit and Cate on the terrace, with cake

The driver was very efficient (and had no English) and managed to drop us at the correct Terminal (not really a stretch) but at the correct door to check-in for our flight (more of good luck than goodd management, Tim suspects). Cate's experience of receiving "assistance" at Oslo airport has put us in the mind to take on that assistance in all the big airports, so we negotiated with Cathay for Cate to receive assistance at Hong Kong and they suggested that we access the "free wheelchairs" opposite "macdonought" ("McDonalds" with a charming French pronunciation!). There was some logistical pfaffing around over those arrangements, but eventually the 'wheelchair people' helped us out and we were led through security and immigration through the privileged lanes reserved for wheelchair-bound travellers and aircrew. Then, the long walk out to the furtherest gate, so the wheelchair was well worth it.

In the Regal Hotel bar

Both Cate and Tim managed to get some sleep on the flight from Paris to Hong Kong, so we've arrived not completely shattered. We've spent the afternoon in the lobby bar ("China Coast Bar + Grill") while Tim caught up some of this blog and Cate read (and dozed). Dinner in the same place was very pleasant and we've retired to our room after reflecting on the wonderful blessings of our two weeks in Europe - 90 hours in Paris.

St Germaine en Laye and Malmo

Street scene in St Germaine en Laye

Cate had the usual leisurely start to the day. Birgit wanted to take Cate to St Germaine en Laye so they drove there from La Celle St Cloud. They visited the pavilion associated with the castle that housed the room in which Louis XIV was born. After inspecting the place, they repaired to the restaurant in that pavilion for lunch. The restaurant is spectacular, with views of the Seine and across to Paris on the horizon. The Eiffel Tour was observable above a small hill.

The castle at St Germaine en Laye

Cate at the castle

Birgit and Cate enjoyed a luxurious, lengthy lunch, served by young waiters treating them like royalty. They then walked around the grounds enjoying the spectacular scenery, the enchanting castle, and the warm summer weather. Eventually, the warmth tired Cate a bit, so they did some shopping in the boutiques attached to the grounds, mostly for Lena's birthday.

Birgit at lunch in the pavilion at the castle

The view of the Seine valley from the pavilion cafe

The drive home was through the town of St Germaine en Laye. Cate feels that St Germaine is a beautiful, olde worlde town.

In Malmo, the day started gloomy and overcast after rain overnight, but throughout the day it cleared so by the afternoon, it was a lovely summer's day in Sweden.

Vanessa's plan for Tim today was touring around Malmo, mostly the old city, though it included a visit to the signature new tourist attractions in the city too. So, after a slow start and an energising breakfast, we went into town on the bus and deposited Tim's bag at the railway station.

Malmo Central Station (old side)

Malmo Central Station (new side)

We then got the bus further north and west to get out at the Turning Torso, a remarkable architectural masterpiece built next to the sea in an area that is very like the Kingston Foreshore in Canberra - apartment building four or five stories high, built along a shoreline with winding lanes and pocket gardens between the rows moving away from the shoreline. (Your correspondent does not recognise a location in Sydney with which to draw a parallel.)

Turning Torso

The 'foreshore' district in Malmo

You can see the famous bridge from that part of Malmo too - as the photos totally fail to prove!

The Bridge - in the distance

The Bridge - still distant, but at least visible

By Alex

From a postcard

Boat harbour at foreshore

Houseboats on a canal at foreshore

Old-style boatshed fish-shops

We then walked back around the Malmo Castle and through the gardens behind it. There are two parks adjacent to each other next to the castle: the Castle Garden and the Kings Garden. We walked through the Castle Garden (was the consent among the locals). This is the original entry to the city/town and the gardens are both cultivated into 'garden rooms' representing different styles of gardens, and a productive vegetable garden. And, just outside the garden area, they have a windmill!

Malmo castle

A windmill!

Garden rooms

Productive garden

Garden beds (note the dryness)

Canal separating the Castle Grounds
from the Kings Grounds

From the gardens, we entered "the old city", the original town of Malmo. It is a beautiful town, with mediaeval roots, and Tim was instantly in love with it, having a total soft-spot or mediaeval European architecture and town building. We wound through the streets heading for a couple of key places that Vanessa had in mind. We visited MJ's (Master Jacques) where there is a 'secret garden' bar that was spectacular, then through narrow, cobblestone streets to the "small square". Vanessa maintains that Malmo loves its squares and is basically built on a set of them dotted around. Apparently, they were mostly used for markets and executions, in the old days. Just cafes and shops these days!

Street scenes of old Malmo

MJ's atrium bar

Quaint old buildings in old Malmo

The 'little' square

We looked around inside the inner courtyard of one of the oldest buildings in the city square, backed by a warehouse built in 1870. The next stop was in a coffee house for the Swedish tradition of "fika" (which is apparently a viral world-peace thing now!) - basically, coffee, cake and chatting. This coffee house is a favourite of the two girls and serves the best carrot cake in town - it was fantastic!

Courtyard

We set off again, eventually, to head to King Gustav square, where we saw the Griffin - symbol of the city - which was a little underwhelming like "the little mermaid". Then we had lunch at Gustav Adolf Restaurant on the recommendation from "the Frenchman" through conversations on the phone. Lunch was fabulous for Tim not least because of the wonderful company of Vanessa and Alexandra.

City 'mascot' - The Griffin

Nes and Alex hugging the City

Gustav Square

Street art in "large" square

After a leisurely lunch, we wandered to the "big square" past several places that both Alex and Nes had worked at various times (we'd passed Alex's current place of work when we were at Turning Torso). Tim acquired some souvenirs and then we all walked back to the railway station to collect Tim's bag.

The girls at Espresso House

We had a coffee in the cafe at the station - Espresso House, a chain store like Starbucks of Swedish origin that serves systemised coffee at too-high prices, but it was ok - and while we were there, Antoine showed up. So, the whole crew escorted Tim down to the train to go to the airport and waved him goodbye from the platform. It was sad. Too little time had been spent in each other's company, but it was also happy because we'd had the chance to spend time together at all!

Who won the World Cup in 2018?

Tim flew back to Paris and was reunited with Aunty Cath, Birgit and Eric. This wonderful adventure is nearly over. Frankly, it's probably the right amount of time. Tim, for one, is pretty tired from all the touring and excitement.