Badminton, Paris & Derby

After my last posting, I played badminton on the Saturday. Having only an on/off switch when I play sport, I went all out, as usual, and played for 1 1/2 hours non-stop with 3 Indian guys. Didn't disgrace myself and was invited to come back. As always, I felt great afterwards and continued to feel great for the rest of the day. Sunday morning, woke up still feeling great until I tried to move...Result: spent the day on the couch trying to remain as immobile as possible. I couldn't even sneeze as my poor stomach muscles complained so much that only a tiny little hiss would come out. Monday wasn't much better but as I had booked to go to Paris, up I got and on my way.
I am now sure that there is a God and He is laughing at me. I got to my hotel in Paris and, not being able to climb 1 step without pain, was delighted to find out that I had been allocated a room on the top floor. 6 flights of steps, agony all the way.
I was nicely situated near Sacre Coeur and the Montmartre area so headed out for a look. 200 more steps later, I found myself overlooking the city from the base of Sacre Coeur. It is a lovely structure but I like my churches older (it is less than 100 years old).
Wandered down towards the Moulin Rouge and was struck by how seedy the neighbourhood is. All the men on the street were approached in hopes that they could be lured into the sex shops & peep shows. Moulin Rouge itself was a disappointment. Very tired and run down. Not like in the movies at all!
Whisked myself off to see the Eiffel Tower instead and managed to get some fabulous photos of it (if I do say so myself!) No climbing for me!
Tuesday saw a trip to Versailles and a day spent in the palace and gardens. What a beautiful place full of history, elegance and scaffolding. Interesting points: the palace survived the revolution pretty much intact, a lot of the furniture also survived (including the king's desk, which has spring loaded compartments where the servants can fill up the inkwells and restock the stationery from without accessing the main part of the desk. Cool!), Louis XV & XVI didn't use the official bed for sleeping in - they would go to bed (observed by courtiers), wait for everyone to leave and then get up and go to bed in another, less ostentatious room. In the morning they would get up and go back to the official bed for the Rising. What a pain in the bum! Duty is a dirty word. Also, the queens had to give birth in public so that people could be sure that babies were not swapped and the heirs were really the heirs. Modern women should be thankful that they were not royalty of the past.
Wednesday was spent at the Louvre. My strategy was to race up to the popular 'stuff' and then spend the rest of the day strolling through the rest. The museum has a Da Vinci Code audio guide that is twice as expensive as the normal audio guide. I wonder how many people actually go for it. I found the Virgin on the Rocks, which is actually not opposite the Mona Lisa (it is in another room near the Mona Lisa). I had seen the Madonna on the Rocks at the National Gallery in London and was interested to see the differences between the two. The Mona Lisa was a bit of a disappointment. It is difficult to appreciate why the painting is so revered. I liked the Venus de Milo. She's very elegant. Some of the rooms were more spectacular than the artwork displayed in them. Their ceilings and walls were decorated with paintings, gold leaf & beautiful woodwork. When going through other parts of the museum, it was like being in the place by myself. There were very few people. When I came back into the popular sections and in the hall under the pyramid, the place was packed. Most people are just there to say that they had been there, I think.
I used the same strategy I used for the Louvre at the Musee d'Orsay. Straight up to the 5th floor and the Impressionists before heading down for the rest. Whistler's Mother was there. Thought of Mr Bean. Many of the famous works were on loan to other galleries. Starry Starry Night was missing. Lucky I'd seen it in Melbourne when they came.
I got back to London on Thursday night and headed up to Derby on Friday morning. Rosey came to pick me up from the train station. We went to Melbourne in the late afternoon! It is about 10 miles from Derby and is a very small town. It's 2 features of interest are the airport (it is the airport that Rosey and Mick use to get to Europe) and Melbourne Hall (which was not open).
On Saturday we visited Kedleston Hall (an old estate with some of the family still living in one of the wings). Mick was determined to have a picnic in its park come rain hail or shine and luckily the rain held off until after we finished lunch. It rained for the rest of the long weekend. We also visited Ashborne, which is famous for its gingerbread but there was no local gingerbread to be found.
On Sunday, we visited York. What a lovely old town centre with narrow cobblestone streets and old buildings housing shops selling lollies, tea, chocolates, fudge, books & clothes. We got to York Minster in time for Evensong which was a great disappointment. The choir performed a modern piece which, as Mick put it, sounded like their batteries were running flat. Churches should stick to performing the classics. The sermon was terrible. The 3 of us emerged confused as to what the message was, each having a different interpretation.
As we had lunch at the 'Most Haunted Pub in Yorkshire' on Sunday, Rosey and Mick took me to the 'Most Haunted Pub in Derbyshire' on Monday. Didn't see a ghost in either establishment. : (
Spent Monday afternoon watching a soccer match between Derby and West Bromley. Derby won, which means that they will go up into the Premiere League next season. So much carrying on!
Went to see Cabaret yesterday afternoon. Apart from the gratuitous nudity, it was great. Very moving. It is the first time I was watched it. Haven't even seen the movie version.
Fun is almost over. I start work on Monday. Have a week of induction.
Taffy (Eppie's brother) arrives on Tuesday. We will see whether we can get a place together.
Photos from my expeditions in the last 2 weeks are posted at the usual place.