I went to Paris last weekend, meeting up with my daughter Sasha to see the sights and also (small drumroll please) to see the David Hockney 25 exhibition! It was little more than a month ago with I conceived the notion of going to see this blockbuster show of David Hockney's work and somehow I managed to pull it off.
On the Friday morning I set off by boat then plane to the mainland in what was to be perfect summer weather. I later found that my wardrobe selection wasn't quite prepared for the scorching sunshine of city life, but that was a minor detail lost in the grand scheme of this whirlwind adventure.
As it says on the tee-shirt, Paris is always a good idea, and what a time we had! Sasha had done most of the sightseeing before and therefore had put together a whistlestop tour covering her most memorable moments. I, on the other hand, had only the purchase of the exhibition tickets to secure which having bought them online felt decidedly risky as I was pretty sure they would turn us away at the door, saying our paper copies were in fact duds. But hey, it all worked out perfectly.
On Friday evening I hopped onto the overnight sleeper train from Penzance to Paddington station where we were ousted at 5am on Saturday morning. Normally one is allowed a leisurely start where exit time is 7.30am but for some unexpected reason we were all quickly transferred to the First Class Lounge where breakfast and showers were on offer.
Duly refreshed, I made my way across London to catch the Eurostar train to Paris. It was a surprisingly straightforward process until our train was called to board when it suddenly turned into a bit of bun fight as people pushed and shoved as if it was the first day of the January sales! I'm not sure why, as we all had our seats pre-booked on our tickets but for most people that seemed to make no difference.
Sasha and I met up at the Gard du Nord as she had flown in from Manchester. We hopped onto the Metro and dropped our things at our hotel then she took charge as tour guide heading first of all to the banks of the Seine. Note here, that I'd already had to discard outfit number one as the temperature was already rocketing. This large loose frock proved to be a lifesaver in the soaring heat of the day.
Sasha is a huge fan of architecture so we stopped to admire many of the beautiful (unnamed and named) buildings along the way.
Notre Dame Cathedral sparkled in the sunshine and was awash with tourists (as was everywhere, of course) - such a shock coming from Tresco.
The Pyramid at the Louvre was another huge attraction. Already I was hanging back, looking to find shade from the intense sunshine...
At this stage I was wilting somewhat but Sash was on a mission to take us onwards, through to the next sight...
...the magnificent L'Arc de Triomphe.
We popped in to this loo in the middle of Paris and I couldn't get over this colourful collection of toilet paper. We spent 2 euros to pee and enjoy the display.
As we walked along the Champs Elysees we came across this beautiful cafe selling macarons - seemingly it's very famous. There was a long queue outside as customers waited to be seated for afternoon tea. It very much reminded me of Betty's in Harrogate.
This amazing casket of macarons contained 200 assorted colourful biscuits costing 750 euros!
We stopped to rest in the shade here, people-watching as the rich shoppers sauntered past with their little bags from Hermes, Rolex and Louis Vuitton. Sasha looked every inch the elegant young Parisienne in her classic navy and white outfit. We're polar opposites style-wise.
After four hours of sightseeing I called a halt and we returned to our hotel to refuel and rest for an hour. By then Sasha was ready to make another forray into the city so I got changed and we headed out to the Metro and the Eiffel Tower.
This was my planned outfit for day one of our weekend, but as the temperatures soared up to 25 degrees I resorted to my back-up outfit which was definitely the right thing to do. By the evening I was able to don my favourite jeans and jacket along with my jazzy boots - I was happy to look the way I had planned.
At 10pm the magnificent Tour Eiffel lit up like a Christmas tree, wowing all the revellers and romantics who had been waiting for the momentous sight. Cheers and applause rang out as we all looked skywards to see the flickering lights dazzle and shine. There's a real party atmosphere at the foot of the tower; we once more enjoyed the people-watching and the most entertaining of all were a group of American ladies who were clearly in Paris for a hen party, all of them dressed in red - from mini dresses to ballgown, sequin skirts and glittery trousers and boy, what fun they were having as they took selfies and embraced the moment!
We were up bright and early the next morning as we took to the streets to walk from our hotel to the Sacre Coeur at the top of the hill. Once again Sash is sporting her classic navy and white, a look that suits her perfectly.
We stopped on this back street to capture my next outfit, chosen for the Hockney show to celebrate his love of colour. The cobbled street and buildings offer a great backdrop for the photoshoot. The trouser suit is from Boden, although I bought the trousers (brand new with the labels still on) from Vinted and then searched for the matching jacket which was in the sale at that time. I'm delighted with its soft velvet finish and vibrant colourway and just know that I'll get lots of wear out of it. I wore it with new baseball boots (from Vinted) which had been hand embroidered.
I sprayed the boots with fabric protector to make them waterproof and also (hopefully) more resistant to stains.
The Sacre Coeur has an amazing setting above a beautiful garden and overlooks the whole city of Paris. We were there quite early on the Sunday morning and yet it was already in full flow of visitors. Alongside of the garden is a steep flight of steps which is used by fitness fanatics for their weekend workout - it was gruelling stuff to see them run, yes actually run, up the hundreds of steps!
The view from above...
... and below.
And finally we arrived at the Louis Vuitton Foundation Garden where the David Hockney 25 was being held.
I knew that the exhibition was a collection of 400 works of art, but nothing could have prepared me for the emotions I would feel as the exhibition unfolded. At one point I felt somewhat overwhelmed by the intensity of colours and sizes of the paintings. I considered taking a break in one of the quiet atriums, but our ticket was on a limited time so I felt it might be a mistake. Let the emotions build, bring the colours on!
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Surprisingly, this was one of my favourite pieces of the whole exhibition. Despite being a monchrome work, the personality of the sitter just jumped out at me and I felt a real connection to the piece. Much as I was totally bowled over by every painting and drawing in the show, this one will remain with me always.
The grande finale was a moving piece with David talking us through his background in theatre design and it's influence on his further works. Sash and I lay on beanbags on the floor and soaked up the experience - a fitting end to the extravaganza that is his life's work.
By the end of the show I was totally on a high. I do hope that I've whetted your appetite for Hockney's work and that you might even consider going to see it before it closes in August.
The Louis Vuitton Garden is well worth a visit and it looked like lots of families were enjoying the good old fashioned fun of fairground rides and attractions. Sasha and I headed off for the Metro but not before I had one more chance of a photoshoot...
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This may well be the nearest I ever get to Abbey Road!
I had one final day on the mainland with Steve so that we could catch up on renewing phones etc and even managed to fit in some charity shopping. The outfit of the day was a source of lots of compliments - always a bonus! I was proud to be wearing my Tresco Island tee shirt too.
Many thanks for ploughing your way through this mega post. I'm so happy to have this pictorial reference for me to come back to time after time. It was a wonderful weekend; a once in a lifetime experience!
Anna x
Fantastic! I'm so glad that you did this, memorable even from this distance. Well done both of you, you looked great!xx
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