Europe Trip 2017. Part 10: 11th to 13th June

                             
  Well, the last day on the boat, the last day with TEAM DANIEL.

We have reached the end of the 2nd leg of our trip, the River Cruise, and the 3rd, and final leg begins, the 4 days in Paris.

We spend the day in Amsterdam touring by canal boat, foot and finally by bus. That night we have our final dinner on board the Travelmarvel  Diamond. I know there were tears.

And so ended a wonderful journey with some people we will always remember, thank you Carolyn & Rob, Cheryl & Terry, Christine & John, Deb & Craig, Gail & Ron, Hazel & Rob, Jan & Brian, Jane & Peter, Jenny & Geoff, Jenny & Mick, Judy & Bill, Kathleen, Laraine & David, Lenore & Greg, Margaret & Greg, Miryam & David, Peggy & Geoff, Trish & Peter plus Joe and his family.

On the 12th we left Amsterdam by bus for Paris. Only one stop on the way, that I remember, and that was at a service centre on the Somme for lunch. The fellow who was our guide on the canal boat was our travel escort, with Roland travelling to Paris on the fast train. 

after dinner I went on a reconnaissance walk, while Lynn stayed at the hotel, the first night to find the office/departure point for our booked trip on the 15th to Monet's Garden and the Palace of Versailles.

I loved the atmosphere of the area where I walked, tiny restaurants full of people, street art/graffiti, people coming home from work and entering the big doors to the courtyards of their apartments, street art/graffiti, the architecture, the weird and wonderful ways the small boutique shops decorated their windows (for some reason I never took any photos) and of course, did I mention, the street art/graffiti. 

I found the building, but it was completely empty and being renovated. The next morning I used the hotels free smart phone they provide to phone the travel company concerned and found out where their new office was. The old office was only a 25 minute walk away whereas the new place would require a taxi as it was a pretty early start but at least now it was all sorted out. 

The smart phone provide by the hotel was great as I was able to use it with Google Maps (my phone isn't that smart) instead of carrying our smart tablet around, and the calls were free.

Videos have to be watched on this page 

 and 

 click / tap on photos to enlarge.

(PbL) Photo by Lynn      

Amsterdam canal tour.

Security cameras catch unruly passengers on back of boat. 

Let the good times Rock 'n Roll.

Morning Tour in Paris

Rickshaw dispute, police involvement at the Eiffel Tower.

The last sunrise on the boat.

A train, I'll let you work out what type.

Cattle, tracks and cyclists.

More cyclists, must be Holland. 
(PbL)

The liquid highway to Amsterdam.   
(PbL)

.....and still more.     
(PbL)

He's thinking, "doesn't look that big in the net".

A lot more traffic on the section of the highway.

Our first windmill.

The Nescio Bridge (or Nesciobrug in Dutch).  This curved, steel suspension
bridge is the country's first suspension bridge that carries only a cycle track and
footway and at almost 800 metres length it is also one of the country's longest
cycle and footbridges.
Additionally, it is the longest single cable suspension bridge in the Netherlands.

Python Bridge, officially known as High Bridge (Hoge Brug), is a bridge
that spans the canal between Sporenburg and Borneo Island in Eastern Docklands,
Amsterdam.
It was built in 2001 and won the International Footbridge Award in 2002. 
(PbL)

Typical waterside apartments. 
 (PbL)

The welcoming flotilla. The 3 white X's flag is the City of Amsterdam flag.

On the right is the Schellingwouder Bridge.

We made it (well Lynn did).

Amsterdam Centraal (rail station) buildings on the right.         
(PbL)

In the 125th year of its existence, St Nicholas' Church was elevated to
"basilica minor" or basilica. That happened on 8 December 2012. 
(PbL)

Soon after docking we off the boat onto a local glass-topped boat for a tour
of the city by canal.   It would have been nice if they had cleaned the the
windows before we set off as it it made taking photos a little difficult.  The rowdy
bunch outside at the back of the boat had a much better view of things.
Also the voice (in Dutch) coming over the boats radio conflicted with
the guides commentary.
Other than those couple of things it was very interesting.

The A'DAM Lookout.  A 20-story rooftop with an over-the-edge swing.

The A'DAM Lookout over-the-edge swing.

The EYE Film Museum holds a huge collection of Dutch & foreign
movies & film posters in a contemporary, waterside culture centre.

Canal accommodation.

Leaning building due to subsidence.

Bicycles of the water-ways.

The biggest church in Amsterdam, built 1619 – 1631.

A classic voiture balai (broom van) is the Citroën H Van. The distinctive
corrugated or ‘rippled’ body work was inspired by WWII Junkers
(German Aircraft).
There were a total of 473,289  produced  in  France and Belgium between 1947 and 1981.

Canal will be closed for lane marking.   
(PbL)

Like thongs, you only ever find one. 
The poster is promoting the new novel by Ilja Gort, 'The Volcano'. I've read it......not bad but it goes off at the end.

This old one is a renovators dream.

Social media time.

The Carré Theatre (left) beside the Amstel River lock gates.   
(PbL)

An approach to the Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge). 
(PbL)

The Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge) is a bridge over the river Amstel.

Canal bridge and users.

Hermitage Amsterdam, Dutch branch of St. Petersburg's art & culture museum.

The Blauwbrug (Blue bridge) is an historic bridge.
The bridge owes its name to a wooden "blue bridge" that was there from around 1600 until around 1883.   
(PbL)

Walter Süskindbrug (Walter Süskind Bridge)  Amsterdam.

Houses with gabled facades.   
(PbL)

Gabled facades.

Gabled facades.

Old photos on stalls at the Flea Market.

The red-shutters are at Houtkopersburgwal 16. Just in case you want to call in for some 'cookies'.

NEMO Science Museum

Sea Palace Restaurant , a 3 story floating pagoda-style restaurant on Lake IJ.     
 (PbL)

Our (dirty-)glass-topped canal-tour boat.

Somewhere along the canals we embark for a (brisk) walking tour to the 'red-light' district, well, we didn't get there on our walk......did we? 
This is where Amsterdam's Most Dangerous 3 come into play
1. Bicycles (and scooters) the infamous Serial Killers of A'dam.
2. Trams, when you hear 'ping ping' you are already dead. 
3. Pickpockets, so what's new.   I believe we all made it back safe.

Add caption

Who said it was crowded in Amsterdam?

Another canal lock.

Instead of 'fish & chips' it's 'steak & chips' in Amsterdam.  Apparently aimed at the tourist trade.
 I was going to use the ATM in the souvenir shop, but Lynn wouldn't let me.

      Leaning out building.     
(PbL)

Heading for the red-light district, we didn't see any. On the left there are 2 green ones though.

"Roland rollin' Roland"

Bicycle jungle, Amsterdam.

C/w from left:   I saw children being transported in these.....................Could be for delivering baked apples (can you see Patty in the window?)........................I think it's a new secret military version in camouflage colours .

Bikes and leaning buildings.     
(PbL)

One of the local industries.

After your 'Green Tea' you could have a 'F...r Drink', or roll your own.

Love to be here when they all get off the train.     
(PbL)

If this was Sydney they would all be in the water, fighting with shopping-trolleys for a spot on the bottom of the canal.     (PbL)

I think mine had a black seat.

A train wheel with wings which was the original symbol for the
Dutch railways, on top of Amsterdam Centraal Station.   
(PbL)

Looking like battery-hens.

After the walking tour we on a bus again, this time around parts of town missed by foot and canal. We end up at a windmill on the river Amstel where Rembrandt painted, he wasn't there, probably away for the weekend. There was a Stork on a nest, mole hills and a men's 'stand-up' toilet that was, I believe, 'inspected' by our assistant tour guide of Italy.

Should have used Dulux.  There's that poster again.

(PbL)

NEMO Science Museum

Travelmarvel's new flagship.

Gate building on the Kadijksplein, next to the bridge
over the Nieuwe Herengracht (Heron Canal).

If you Google 'red shutters Amsterdam' this building comes up. 
The poster (right) is for a Fireman Sam movie.

Crossing the 'Blue Bridge' looking at the Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge).

New gay bar in Amsterdam near the Rembrandt Square. This cosy, colourful
venue is popular with locals who come to enjoy the cheap drinks and pop classics.
 (I couldn't go, I had a prior engagement I couldn't get out of)

The gabled building is the site of the Huisartsen Oude Turfmarkt / Student doctors.
So, when you're sick, head there.

Carillon Clock Tower, The Mint Tower or Munttoren, built in 1620.

Someone else took a photo here, they can tell us where/what it is.

Everyone wants a photo.

The Former Amsterdam Main Post Office, currently a shopping mall
known as Magna Plaza. 
It was built in 1895–1899 in Neo-Gothic and Neo-Renaissance style.   
(PbL)

Two women being stalked by a driverless black micro car.

Anytime is coffee time.

De Riekermolen is a historic polder drainage windmill that dates back to 1636.
It was moved here (Kalfjeslaan on the river Amstel) from its original location in 1961.

De Riekermolen (The Rieker Mill)

Stork at nest with chicks.

The Aemstel Schooltuin (school garden) replaces the Dr L. Alma Schooltuin
which had been used by children since 1959. The new working-garden, where
over 500 school children aged 9 to 11 will learn about nature and grow their
own plants, is situated on Kalfjeslaan, Amstel.

The Enneüs Heerma Bridge (Dutch: Enneüs Heermabrug) Completed in 2001, the segmented appearance is based on the skeleton of a crab.   We were told that is was also known locally as the Dolly Parton Bridge.

'For The Bees' by Frank Mandersloot, 2004. Also known as 'Tables & Bees'
and 'Folly for the Bees'. The artist worked on the  project for 9 years.
There are bee hives suspended under the top table.

Two more trains.

From top left c/w:      Scaup,     Black-headed Gull,      Jackdaw,     Magpie,     Grey Heron

Time to meet for the 'last supper'.  Some of us, working as a team, came up with a plan to be first in the dinner queue and hijack one of the bigger tables in the center of the boat. That was the first meal on the boat where I had arrived in the foyer before anyone else and be at the front of the line to be first in. Some of the people who, for some reason, thought they owned that table, weren't all that impressed. We all enjoyed the experience.
It was then time to party, with Garbor belting out some all-time rock'n hits.

I think it's the waiter.     
(PbL)

Doesn't Peggy know that Geoff is right behind her..............     
(PbL)

(......remember  Dürnstein?)   
 (PbL)

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I felt really good about the trip when Jenny asked Brian up for a dance.
I felt good before, but this just seemed to top it off

I should have kept my eyes on this bloke.

Amsterdam sunset.

Muziek Gebouw aan 't IJ (Music building on the IJ)  and a hotel with a name
that sounds a bit like a Costco Warehouse (move and pick).

And the party rolled on.

And so the sunsets on a fantastic trip with a group of wonderful people.
Tomorrow, from team Daniel,  it is just us, with Jan and Brian, who get on
a bus and head for the 3rd part of our European holiday, Paris.

Monday 12th
Today it's departure time from our home for the last 13 days, and from
the new friends we have made in the 24 days of the trip. 
Most of our goodbyes were said last night as this morning, everyone
seems to be leaving for different destinations at different times and by
different transport methods.
It was rushed, hectic, slightly confusing and a pretty sad time (for me anyway)
and because of this, we have no goodbye photos. So, at 8AM, Jan and Brian,
Lynn and I, along with a few others from the boat, head off in the bus for Paris.

A stretch of river, near Gorinchem in the Netherlands. called Boven Merwede.

(PbL)

Antwerp, Belgium. I think out travel guide said that there was a refugee camp behind the graffiti wall.

The ferris wheel, centre of photo, is The Diamond Wheel
and is the world’s largest movable Ferris wheel.

Waiting for repairs in Lobroekdok, Antwerp.

I thought all the churches were behind us.

A ferris wheel I couldn't find any info on, in Antwerp.

Sludge Dryer Deurne Aquafin.  Wastewater treatment and sewage works. 
Or the 'hand-grenades'.

Being flat here there should be plenty of wind.

Their set-ups are different to our in Australia.

I was 'entertained' by the truck drivers we passed.

 Crossing the border from Belgium into France. Just a truck parking area.   
 (PbL)

              Reminded me of the El Alamein Memorial Fountain in Kings Cross, Sydney.         
 (PbL)

One giant pyramid of rubbish.

We passed a few cemeteries on the way, but.............

........only this one, through the trees, our guide said was a First World War cemetery.   
We didn't stop.

Crossing the River Somme.

Sign at the West Assevillers service area.

Bee and clover at the West Assevillers service area.

Heading in the right direction.
Sign at the Quick Fast Food Restaurant at the West Assevillers service area. 
French hamburgers for lunch.

Welcome to Paris. 

Tonight, Lynn and I, because of Roland's recommendation, met him for dinner at the restaurant next to the hotel. Lucky he was there as the menu was in French and he was able to point out that one of the meals was lamb, that sounded pretty safe so I had that. It turned out to be lamb cutlets, and after eating mostly fish on the boat, was a great choice. Roland insisted that he pay the bill so we said that we would pay for the next one.

Our hotel is in the 'Jewish Quarter' of Paris. Not sure what the other 'three quarters' are like.

The next street up, Boulevard Beaumarchais, looks a bit more busy.

Where it fell, I think I'm going to like this place.

It was different here.

'Uniformity is the death of humanity'     
 Well, let's hope we don't all look like that.

I loved the girl on the plastic steps, clever.   The 'tile' art was new for me.

Most of the way was in narrow roads like this.

So as not to get confused with all the other small red cars?

Sunshine through a street-lamp.

I didn't see the '1960's' cutouts until I cropped the photo.

The Bourse de Commerce (Commodities Exchange) was originally used as a
place to negotiate the trade of grain and other commodities, now used
to provide services to businesses by the Paris Chamber of Commerce, built in 1763–67.

Saint-Eustache, Built 1532–1632, this Gothic church offers murals, sculptures & a large pipe organ.

Henri de Miller’s 'Ecoute' (Listen) statue in the Jardin Nelson Mandela is a 70-ton statue of an enormous face and hand.  This is at 9:30 PM, still daylight.

Goldielocks in Tiles.

Ooooow, that would've hurt.

Some of the girls, in situ, on the right.

Funny angle to the building on the left.

I suppose the angle was deliberate. 
Better get back to the hotel, it's 10 PM and Lynn will think I'm lost.

Tuesday 13th           
In the morning, just for a change of pace and something different, we are on a bus for a tour of Paris. As well as a local guide, we have Roland, the boat's Cruise Director, also along to help with the tricky bits, like jumping the queues at the Eiffel Tower.    After the morning tour we ascend the Eiffel Tower for lunch, then back on the bus to be back at our hotel around 4PM. 

Beware, The Kraken lurks.

Monument at the centre of the Place de la République, topped by a statue
of Marianne, the personification of the French Republican.

Some people can sleep anywhere. 
We happened to have dinner at the Le Bailly, across the road, on our last night.

Centre Georges Pompidou Modern Art Museum.

What impressed me about Paris was the clean lines of the architecture.

Paris from a bus.  Hôtel de Ville.

          Hôtel de Ville. Neo-Renaissance edifice housing the City Hall.           
 (PbL)

La Conciergerie has been the central seat of authority and justice in Paris for almost 1000 years.  This wonderfully imposing gothic behemoth was built in the 14th century. It was initially meant to be part of the royal palace, but was turned into a prison during the revolution. La Conciergerie housed the Revolutionary Tribunal, as well as convicts headed for the guillotine.   
(PbL)

The Royal Palace and La Conciergerie.

Down walkway is Palais de Justice de Paris (City Courthouse)   
Right: Registry of the Paris Commercial Court.

Church of Saint-Séverin

Church of Saint-Séverin, opulent, historic Roman Catholic church
featuring stained glass windows & flying buttresses.

Church of Saint-Séverin

             French architecture.         
 (PbL)

The book stalls.

The Institut de France defines itself the 'Protector of Arts, Literature and Science',  founded in 1666 by Louis XIV.
It is housed within one of the French capital's most beautiful buildings: a former school, the Collège des Quatre-Nations, built by Cardinal Mazarin between 1662 and 1688. 
(PbL)

Pont des Arts, a picturesque bridge over the Seine connecting the Louvre & the Institute de France.

Pont Royal (Royal Bridge).

The Musée d’Orsay, located on Paris’s Left Bank, originated as the Gare d’Orsay,
a Beaux Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. Now the popular
museum houses works of art from the period 1848 through 1914.

Joan of Arc

Ministry of Justice building.

This column (Napoleon's Column) was erected by Napoleon as the Colonne d'Austerlitz. The 44 meter (144 ft) tall column is modeled after Rome's Trajan Column. It was built to commemorate the victory at Austerlitz in 1805.

Napoleon, dressed as Caesar and wearing a laurel wreath, found its way to the top of the column.

          The base of Napoleon's Column.       
(PbL)

          Garnier Opera Building.  National Academy of Music.       
 (PbL)

I think we were told that the display stays in the window 24/7 as they are only copies.
(I think she is real) ....... hey, that's our bus.

(PbL)

National Academy of Music.  Garnier Opera Building.

On top of the Garnier Opera Building.

French architecture.

French architecture.

Where's Bill going off to now? 
(PbL)

Hope the 'blue' group isn't looking for me.

Inner courtyard (Cour d'Honneur) of the Palais Royal.
 Louis XIV, the Sun King, spent his youth here before moving to the nearby Louvre and later to Versailles.

Les Deux Plateaux (The Two Trays), more commonly known as the Colonnes de Buren (Columns of Buren), is a highly controversial art installation created by the French artist Daniel Buren in 1985–1986. It is located in the inner courtyard (Cour d'Honneur) of the Palais Royal.   
(PbL)

Courtyard (Cour d'Honneur) of the Palais Royal.

Garden of the Royal Palace.

In a pipe store.

The Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel  (The Carrousel Triumph Arch) was built between 1806 and 1808 to commemorate Napoleon's military victories of the previous year.

Place du Carrousel.
This spacious square, once the site of a 16th-century palace, offers views of iconic buildings.

The Louvre Pyramid is a glass pyramid created by I. M. Pei, forming the entrance way into a lower-ground exhibition area.

The Royal Bridge and Musée d'Orsay (Orsay Museum).
 Major 19th- & 20th-century European art collections housed in a monumental, former railway station. 

"Hey lady, your urn has tipped over!"

       French architecture.   
 (PbL)

Accommodation on the river Seine.

Our first glipse of the Eiffel Tower, but no mention from our guide. 
 Alexandre III Bridge, Ornate, late 19th-century arched bridge in a Beaux Arts style & named after a Russian czar.

Fountain of the Seas

The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, built 1806 - 1836, honours those who fought and died for France in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.         Through the Arc is the La Grande Arche de la Défense, built 1985 - 1989, which is a monument dedicated to humanity and humanitarian ideals.

Facade of the Hôtel de la Marine on Place de la Concorde (1766–75).

The way this fellow was walking slowly along, kicking
away the gravel, he was looking for money or had lost his car keys.

      Statue Général Charles De Gaulle in front of the Grand Palais.   
(PbL)

    The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, built 1806 - 1836.   
(PbL)

The Arc de Triomphe, west side. Left:  La Paix de 1815, by Antoine Étex commemorates the Treaty of Paris, concluded in that year. 
Right:  La Résistance de 1814, by Antoine Étex commemorates the French resistance to the Allied armies during the War of the Sixth Coalition.

The Arc de Triomphe, east side.

Church of Saint-Pierre-de-Chaillot, completed in 1938.

Flamme de la Liberté - Paris. Gold-leafed torch & unofficial Diana memorial,
built to commemorate American/French friendship.

The Passerelle Debilly (Debilly Footbridge), opened in 1900 to accommodate
visitor traffic to the 1900 World's Fair across the Seine.

He must have a good aim if that's his toilet on the ground.

The cupolas on the Holy Trinity Cathedral and The Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center, Paris.
Opened in 2016.

Parisian pastime.

Scootering on dangerous ice.

The Army Museum

Cannons in front of the Army Museum.
Before we get to the tower for lunch it was time to have a coffee, and toilet break, at Le Vauban Restaurant.

I go for a walk to Les Invalides during the coffee break.

Army vehicles parked near Les Invalides.

Esplanade Jacques Chaban-Delmas, opposite Les Invalides.

Les Invalides   (1677–1706). 
Established by Louis XIV in 1670 for old or unwell soldiers,  which contains Napoleon I's tomb.

Left:  Marie Émile Fayolle was a Marshal of France in WWI   Right:  Marshal Joseph-Simon Gallieni a French army officer figure who successfully directed the pacification of the French Sudan and Madagascar and the integration of those African territories into the French colonial empire.

Monument to Marshal Gallien.
The women represent the countries/continents that the French had colonized.

To get into the grounds of Les Invalides I had to have my bag checked by the
soldier with the rifle first, and then be scanned by the soldier with his backed turned.

Les Invalides and Napoleon's tomb.

Paris Military School

We made it!

I still find it hard to believe that we actually did this. 
 Lynn freaked out when I gave my camera to a stranger (a Japanese man who had asked me to take his photo,
with his better camera than mine, a minute earlier but Lynn didn't see) to take this photo.   
(by other)

A long way to the top.

People on the second level.

Every angle covered.

Just in case you're still not sure where we are.

We saw some of their co-workers in action after lunch.

     Lunch at the 58 Tour Eiffel Restaurant on the Eiffel tower.   
(PbL)

      The view from our table, looking across to Chaillot's Palace.   
(PbL)

Lunch at the 58 Tour Eiffel Restaurant on the Eiffel tower.

My lunch, I think it was pork and soap suds. The suds leave a 'clean' taste in the mouth.
They go a bit overboard with their salads.

    Spiffing.     
(PbL)

The top of the Arc de Triomphe.

The Basilica of Sacré-Coeur (1874–1914)

From left: Arc de Triomphe, Tribunal de Paris (new Paris Courthouse), Church of Saint-Pierre-de-Chaillot,  American Cathedral in Paris and (far right) Basilica of Sacré-Coeur 

Notre-Dame Cathedral, with Saint-Jacques Tower (behind to the right).

Holy Trinity Cathedral and The Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Center.

American Cathedral in Paris.

Les Invalides, and right, the Pantheon.

Les Invalides (left)  and looking along the Champ de Mars to the Montparnasse Tower.

Over the Seine and Chaillot's Palace to the 'new' Paris.

Looking down the River Seine.

Grand Palais

Became a bit anxious when this thick black smoke appeared in Paris.

There were no more sirens than usual, nobody seemed to be concerned but I
 thought it a good time to get back to ground level.
It turned out to be just some sort of fire behind the Louvre.

Looking down, then.........

........went and stood on the glass floor of the first level. (brave boy Billy)

Lift going up.

Lift going down.

As in Rome, there were armed soldiers at major tourist attractions.

What caught my attention first was, the fellow in the T-shirt had his hand in the air as a sign of surrender.

Statues on the Alexandre III Bridge.
This is an ornate, late 19th-century arched bridge in a Beaux Arts style & named after a Russian czar.   
(PbL)

Another view of the Army Museum and the dome of Les Invalides.

The Lafayette Monument is a bronze equestrian statue of
Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette. The gagging was a political
message, but I've forgotten what it was. Then again, he just could have a toothache.

Place de la Concorde with an Egyptian obelisk and the Fountain of the Seas.

The Luxor Obelisk is a 23 metres (75 ft) high Ancient Egyptian obelisk standing at the centre of the Place de la Concorde in Paris. It was originally located at the entrance to Luxor Temple, in Egypt. The Luxor Obelisk is over 3,000 years old and was one of two set up at the Luxor Temple by Ramses II.

The Louvre Palace

A pavillon of the Louvre Palace.

      The Louvre Palace     
(PbL)

      The Louvre Palace   
 (PbL)

Decorative work on the buildings.

People relaxing on the Square of Vert-Galant. On this Island is 'Point Zero',
where the distance from Paris to all other places are judged.

Paris high-fashion.

I'd say that fire-places were popular here.

'Circular Pavilion', made out of reclaimed doors and insulation recycled from an
old supermarket roof, by Encore Heureux. In the Courtyard of the Hotel de Ville.

Hôtel de Ville. The bronze equestrian statue of Etienne Marcel that was sculpted in the 1800s. He distinguished himself in the defense of the small craftsmen and guildsmen who made up most of the city population.
He sounds like an early union delegate.   
(PbL)

It's not until you get home that you wish you had bought something.

The reader of books.

The Opéra Bastille (Bastille Opera House) is a modern opera house in Paris.

Somebody had some paint left over.

The courtyard of our hotel in Paris, the Les Jardins Du Marais.
We were in the tall building at the back, on the top floor around to the left (air-conditioning not working).   
 (PbL)

I had snails from the Les Petites Canailles (The Small Scoundrels) next door.

9:10 PM, time to go walking. 
I noticed a few of these, what appeared to be where an older building has been removed, and something newer put there.

Colourful bollards, Paris.

Patriotic window decorations.

This is the type of thing I went looking for.

And the architecture is nice as well.

"Grotesque creed ........ the idiots vent war against other idiots"     -Kafka

'Make Love....no Kids'     'And Meanwhile Simon Awakes'
Not quite the Moulin Rouge, it was just in a back lane near the hotel. 
In 1985 Andréas Voutzinas surrounded by fifty friends transformed a
carpentry workshop into a theater, he baptizes his place "Theater of the Fifty".

"I am not afraid of reprisals, I have no kids, no woman no car, no credit. It may be a little pompous what I am going to say, but I prefer to die standing than live on my knees". Charb - 2012 
 #JeSuisCharlie (re: Charlie Hebdo, French magazine ) 
Toutest pardanne (Everything is gone)

Some of it was big.

Police

Rupin Replacers.

Aux Trois Violins (Three Violins)   Authentic Russian cuisine made with Slavic specialties, from Zakouski, Borch to
Pelminis and Chachlik.  Zakouski à la russe (assortiment de hors d'oeuvre avec blinis).
Zakouski à la russe (assortiment de hors d'oeuvre avec blinis)   €21.00
Chachlik caucasien (brochette de gigot d'agneau mariné et grillé)    €24
Matouchka crepe with apples    €10

It's now 9:55PM, better get back before Lynn starts calling the police.

View from hotel room window at 10:10 PM, still plenty of light, I could've stayed out another hour or so.
You could hear children singing, it sounded like school.

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Cameras:  Canon PowerShot SX60 HS,   Sony DSC-W690  and  Samsung S5 (phone)