Not Quite As Famous As The Eiffel Tower,

but pretty close, 

photograph Dietmar Rabich via Wikimedia Commons, the sails of the Windmill located in Paris's 18th arrondissement, made from wood and metal have come to be a tourist destination in the city, according to the Moulin Rouge's Instagram post, windmill sails have been turning on the building for 135 years, since its opening, but they gave out, 

photograph  © Benoit Tessier, Reuters, the collapsed sails were reportedly rebuilt 20 years ago to make them lighter and were checked every two months, Raphaël, a local resident, told Le Parisien it was “quite upsetting to see the windmill without its sails – it’s a symbol of Pigalle and of all Paris”. André Duval, the front-of-house manager in the 1980s and a neighbour for 50 years, was equally shocked, “Paris without its windmill is like Paris without the Eiffel Tower,” he said, as it happens we nearly went to the Molin Rouge way back in March 2018, 

but we ended up here, 

in the Lido de Paris,

and what a show it was! back to the windmill, the Paris police chief, Laurent Nuñez, confirmed that no one had been hurt, “safety architects” had been dispatched to the scene, and there was no risk of further collapse, may the sails soon be back and turning.

The River Seine Runs Through Paris,

“The Seine is a great place to have a crisis, since it clearly embodies the strength and the uncertainty, the beauty and the challenge of Paris itself.” – James Baldwin,

and over the years we have visited the River Seine a few times on our trips to Paris, and always wonder what souvenir, other than a model of the Eiffel Tower, to bring back with us, well that problem has now been solved by by a store in Paris, Messy Nessy’s Cabinet, at 19 Rue de Bièvre, 75005 Paris

Monday - Friday: 11 AM - 7 PM

Saturday: 2 PM - 7 PM

Sunday: Closed

From the shops owner:

“so when I decided to open a shop a stone’s throw from the Seine, I thought about how to create my personal ode to the iconic river. And the idea for Eau de Seine was born! It seemed so simple and yet it hadn’t been done before. On a warm spring day, I headed down to the riverbanks with a pitcher and scooped up my first ever batch of Seine water. We filtered it a few times with a coffee filter (although mind you, it was surprisingly clear before we did that) and it certainly had no nefarious odour to it – but of course, it’s not for consumption! It’s a novelty for the good-humoured, a souvenir that’s packs a little more punch than a plastic Eiffel Tower”

keeping to the River Seine as a theme, a few photographs of some of the happenings on the river,

when the river froze over temperatures dropped to -24C (-11.2F), freezing the Seine overnight on December 10. The river remained rock-solid until January 1880, when pieces of ice began to break, causing accidents and sinking boats while floating downstream,

on September 27, 1911, the deadliest bus accident in Paris history happened, a bus carrying 30 passengers swerved violently to avoid another bus and fell into the Seine. Priest Abbé Richard swam seven times to rescue survivors alongside other boats, tragically 11 people died,

photographs Source: France 3, in 2017 a whale washed up on the bank of the river,

the hyperrealistic fake sperm whale carcass was a stunt to bring attention to the endangerment of whales worldwide and the attack on our environment, it was left by notorious pranksters and art collective Captain Boomer, I have to say when the riots have finished we would like to visit again.

Day 28,

up early again

today to the base of the tower,

and we were going up, it is a long way down,

I know it is safe,

but it still gives me the real heebie jeebies,

I zoomed in on the mausoleum in the far distance,

looking towards Notre Dame,

I think even Diana,

was a little apprehensive, neither of us like heights,

in one of the corners of the tower there is a private lift, which goes to Le Jules Verne restaurant,

so no gueses where we are eating tonight!

overnight there had been a light dusting of snow,

luckily it did not settle,

time for breakfast,

and a chance to warm up,

then out to the park,

at the rear of the tower,

a bit of a shock,

for the spring plants with the cold and snow,

a quick picture,

and we were off,

leaving some early Euphorbia blooms with a cap of snow,

on the other side of the river you will find this flame, it is an exact replica of the flame that Liberty holds in the statue on Liberty Island in New York, it is also on top of the underpass where Princess Diana was tragically killed,

we made our way to the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, 

it is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the center of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile,

now it may seem that Diana is taking a bit of a chance, dancing in the middle of the road, but there were road works here, so no traffic,

Diana's dream has come true,

a McDonald's,

so an afternoon snack it was then,

we were informed today that the river cruise was cancelled, no surprises there then, we were given three choices, money back, a meal in the Eiffel Tower, the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower was the one we had eaten at the last time we were here, or by paying a surcharge a meal and a show at the Paris Lido, we chose the meal and show, so as we were in the area we had a look, so that is tomorrow sorted out then,

followed by shopping, well we were in the Champs-Élysées, then home and change,

for our evening meal in Le Jules Verne, 

 'Cheers!' 

 we were not told, but no one was taking Photographs, so we kept the camera in the bag, but I chanced this one of Diana, and here is the meal that we had,

Dorade marinée aux agrumes

Marinated sea bream with citrus

// // /

Asperges vertes de Provence servies tièdes, mousseline truffée

Warm green asparagus from Provence, truffled mousseline

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Blanc de bar à la vapeur,

champignons de Paris et oignons nouveaux, sucs au vin jaune

Steamed fillet of sea bass, Paris mushrooms and spring onions,‘vin jaune’ reduction

/ // /

Pigeon au sautoir, verts et blancs de blette,sauce salmis

Seared pigeon, white and green Swiss chard, salmis sauce

// /

Mangue rôtie, sorbet passion

Roasted mango, passion fruit sorbet

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L’écrou croustillant au chocolat manufacture à Paris

Crispy ‘Tower nut’, chocolate manufactured in Paris

 the meal was 5 courses, with specially picked wines between each course, it is making me hungry just typing and thinking about it, 

 meal over and we were downstairs,

 the place was deserted except for us dinners, 

 making our way home, it was snowing,

with a small reminder of a sensational meal, and with that we were off to bed.

We Have Done Our Bit,

to help refuges in Paris,

it appears that our 'love lock' will be sold, on our trip to Paris we placed a padlock on one of the bridges, then threw the key into the river,

and this is it, well it appears that the weight is too much for some of the bridges, so an estimate 65 tons of them have gone into storage, but the authorities did not know what to do with them, until now, Bruno Julliard, the environment chief at Paris City Hall, has announced that ten tonnes worth of the locks would be sold off to anyone hoping to take a piece of modern Paris history with them, "Members of the public can buy five or ten locks, or even clusters of them, all at an affordable price," he told journalists last week, "All of the proceeds will be given to those who work in support and in solidarity of the refugees in Paris." He said that the sales could bring in up to €100,000, adding that anything that wasn't sold would be melted and then sold, the sales are expected to start early next year, although exact details remain unclear as yet, the idea seems to be a bit labour intensive selling just a few locks at a time,

 although this might not be such a romantic idea I would have thought melting them all down would be the more expedient way to go, as long as we are allowed to look for find and keep our love lock first of course!