Collecting for the puppies Part 1

Red Puppy Appeal for the Blind Foundation

Friday and Saturday were the annual street appeal for the money needed to train puppies to become guide dogs for the blind.

 

When the previous co-ordinator for New Plymouth had to give up a few months ago I agreed to pick up the job this year. It has been quite a learning curve.

 

I have been greatly helped by Margaret and Julia, and by my good friend, Nigel Hayton, all three of whom have shared the duties, and run to cope with emergencies when other volunteers have forgotten or made mistakes. Several others have also been very helpful, friends Mike and Bev Mulqueen, as well as Nev Rowley in Bell Block, Les Sharp in New Plymouth, and Nicky Jones.

 

The Lioness Club, Pakeke Lions and Egmont Lions have taken a big share of the work, as have the staff of the two ANZ Bank branches in the city.

 

Over the next couple of posts I will share some of the photos we took of volunteers manning the ten collection sites around town: later we will report on the detailed results once the Westpac staff have counted the money and reported to the Foundation's Head Office. Hopefully we can learn some lessons for the benefit of next year's team.

 

Also working in New Plymouth, but heading a separate team, is Alesteir O'Donnell, who looks after the appeal at the Merrilands Shopping Centre. Some of his volunteers also help on our team.

 

Here is our star performer, Peter O'Donnell, Alesteir's brother, at Countdown Spotswood, with his guide dog. They spent most of both days on the job, with only the briefest of breaks. Peter has been  collecting at the Puppy Appeal for 25  years.

  

    Then we have our former co-ordinator, Katie Hermans, ready to collect at New World. Katie has done the job for several years and left everything meticulously organised and clear for me to pick up.

Then we have Hayley and Leigh from the staff of the two ANZ Bank branches, ready at Huatoki Plaza in the centre of the CBD on Friday. They were right on Devon Street, so they had good foot traffic.

 

Europe 2008 Part 54

To Portmeirion

 

Monday 17 November we left St Asaph early as Sue and Ian were leaving for work and headed west, back to the little town of Conwy within the walls of the Castle.

You can see how straight the streets are for a medieval town from this photo.

 

One of the attractions of Conwy is this little house, billed, as you can see, as the smallest house in Britain.

 

Leaving Conwy behind we travelled along the coastal highway to the famous Menai Bridge across the strait between the island of Anglesey and the rest of Wales.

Just across the bridge, we came to the village with the longest placename, and its railway station with the name taking up just about the whole of one side of the building.

 

 

 

    Even one of the shops in the village took advantage of its one claim to fame:

 

 

 

Northland. By-election

"It's a deal, it's a deal" yelled Duncan Garner on Tv3's Northland By-election Special programme at 9.30 last night just after the news that Winston Peters had won with a 4000 vote majority.

"Labour has lost the moral high ground" he roared on. You can do that under MMP, Garner reckoned, and they just used the system like everyone else.

 But by-elections are not fought by MMP rules at all; they are simple, old-fashioned First-past-the-post races. One would imagine political commentators would know that. But the whole programme was of pretty poor quality: a bit amateur I thought when you compare it with the kind of quality presentation typical of Corin Dann on TVOne.

And the most important point is that there was no deal between the two opposition parties: no tea-meeting, no agreement beforehand, nothing like the Epsom arrangement between John Key and Act to enable Act to get a seat in Parliament when they hadn't a hope of getting in on their own steam.

Northland means one additional seat for a party that already is into double figures in the House. And it means that the Leader of the Opposition now leads a total of 57 members, not enough to defeat the National Government, but because of the make-up of the Government Coalition enough to make the going more uncomfortable from here on.

We used to live in the Bay of Islands many years ago. It was then in the old Hobson electorate. There was a local saying that if a sheep stood for the National Party it would get in. And several members in those days were pretty much like that. I remember one local National Party leader telling me their member had been told to do some useful work or he wouldn't be the candidate at the next election.

I remember supporting one candidate Richard Hendry. We toured the Main Street of Kawakawa in the days when real freight trains puffed down the tracks, with a loud-hailer. We stopped at each corner and both extolled the virtues of Norman Kirk. People listened politely and then went away and voted for that decade's sheep.

The next election the candidate was a Kaikohe lawyer called David Lange, who had a quick turn of wit, plenty of good one-liners and a battered old Rover 90 that sagged noticeably when he got into the driver's seat. After that he was promoted to the safe seat of Mangere and started his rise in the ranks of MPs.

So Winston Peters' victory is a personal triumph, partly thanks to strategic voting by Labour supporters, many of whom probably voted for Social Credit in the old days anyway, and partly thanks to National being deserted by a 10% chunk of its own former supporters. Whatever our opinion he is a seasoned campaigner and has made his contribution to our political life over many years. He deserves a couple of cheers. And our thanks at least.

Europe 2008 Part 53

Family Gathering

 

So we went back to Ian and Sue's home in time for a family lunch and afternoon of meeting the Jarvises.

 

Here are Ian and Sue in their living-room.

 

The photo below shows us with Karen and Sue's parents, Vic and Dot. They lived in Auckland for several years while Karen and her brothers and sisters were at high school age, but then moved back to the UK to live in Abergele, while Vic commuted for his last working years to Luton near London.

 

The family had previously lived in Cyprus and Singapore, where Vic pursued his work as an aircraft engineer in the RAF. The other brother, Stevan, still lives in Auckland with his family.

 

 

Cousins together

Slowly other members of the family arrived; sister Helen and her husband Paul, with their children Alice and Emma, brother Ian and Sarah with children Adam and Nick.

 

As well as the direct family, we also met two of Vic's sisters; Ruby with her husband Jim, a former truck-driver, and Marion, with her husband David.

 

It was a pleasant and relaxing occasion and we felt very welcome and very much at home.

 

There were plenty of young people to keep us on our toes and tell us about school and university in that part of the world.

 

What an interesting family!

 

Here is Sue and Ian's home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Europe 2008 Part 52

Conwy Castle

 

 

A few minutes' drive west of where we were staying is Conwy Castle. Our grandchildren were insistent that it was a "must-see" while we were in the district.

 

So we went to see it after leaving St George.

 

The foyer was very well set up with the historical and architectural commentary.

 

Conwy is one of the ring of castles built by King Edward I to keep the Welsh under subjection.

 

 

 

I have become much more interested in Conwy Castle since discovering our family links to Edward I.

 

As we wandered around the old buildings we could see the view to the north, down the estuary to the beach at Llandudno in the photo above.

 

Next to the castle is the town of Conwy, enclosed in the stone walls of the fortress, and planned on a grid pattern. Conwy and other towns built under Edward I were the first to be so carefully planned, and Conwy marks a real step forward in the progress of city design.

 

 

Europe 2008 Part 51

Around North Wales

 

 

 

 

This is St George, the picturesque little village where Terry and Karen were married.

 

It sits on this slope facing the north, looking out over the coastal strip, with St Asaph and Abergele only a few kilometres away.

 

In the centre of the photo above is the village church, seen in the graveyard on the left.

 

The doorway where wedding photos of Karen and Terry were taken is in the next photo.

 

Below is another row of cottages in typical Welsh style.

 

It was an interesting visit, enabling us to feel a little of the atmosphere of the district which is home to much of Karen's family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recent Sketches

 

This is an old house, beautifully maintained, in a historic part of New Plymouth.

 

It stands on the corner of Gill and Brown Streets. Gill is one of the streets that run east and west, and are named after people who were part of the Plymouth Company in England in the late 1830s.

 

Thomas Gill was the Mayor of Plymouth in 1836, and was a board member of the company.

 

He owned the wharves and wharf buildings which emigrants had to use to board the ships.

 

Streets running at right angles to the coast are named after people who were prominent in New Plymouth's first years.

 

Brown Street is named for Charles "Armitage" Brown, whose land was just around the corner.

 

He had been a friend and caregiver for the poet John Keats when Keats was dying of TB, then lived in Plymouth and so got involved in the project to found the colony. His son, also Charles, was later Superintendent of the Province. Charles snr died a few months after his arrival and was buried on the side of Marsland Hill, where you can find his grave just above the Cathedral. 

 

This view is from Fort Niger, just on the hill above us here. Fort Niger shelters us from the cold southeasterly winds. It was named after a Royal Navy ship which was anchored off the coast during the Land Wars of the 1860s. The Niger's crew built a fort on this hill, which they named after their ship, and took part in the Battle of Waireka.

 

In this view we are looking south-east, across a row of kauri trees to the playing fields and some of the buildings of the Boys High School.

 

 

 

This morning we had breakfast at the Cathedral Café, which raises funds for Doctors Without Borders working in West Africa fighting Ebola. Then I climbed Marsland Hill, found a sheltered spot, and sketched the view to the west towards Port Taranaki and the Sugar Loaf Islands (above).

 

 

This is another view from Fort Niger, looking south-west, past the pohutukawa trees to the same horizon near Port Taranaki.

 

As you can see, I have been concentrating on pencil; no doubt I will get back to felts, or watercolours again soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Europe 2008 Part 50

Chester and North Wales

 

On the Saturday morning we said Goodbye to our friends in Lancaster, and headed south down the motorway as far as Warrington, where we turned right along the M56 to Chester.

 

The weather was changeable, with showers. At Chester we found a car park and walked to the city centre.

 

 

We had lunch at McDonald's this time, and the photo above is taken from the window there, looking across to the Cathedral.

 

We got lost on the way back, and eventually found the car, by which time we had a ticket for overstaying our parking space.

 

We explained our problem and they let us off, but that was later.

 

Back on the road we drove the short remaining distance to Abergele, and then back to the suburb of St Asaph where Sue and Ian Mitchell, Karen's sister and brother-in-law lived. We met them and their son Richard.

 

A little later we were joined by Vic and Dot Jarvis, Karen's parents, and Sue and Ian's other two children, Stephen and Liz. So we had a pleasant chat with these members of the Jarvis family.  

 

 

 The next morning, Sunday, we went for a cruise around the area, while Sue and Ian got ready for a large family get-together in the afternoon.

 

We went to see a local attraction, the Marble Church, just along the road (see photo on left), and then drove the few kilometres to the village of St George, where Terry and Karen had been married all those years ago.

 

We spent a little while strolling around the church, looking at the Welsh houses, and drinking in the atmosphere of this beautiful locality, and taking photos, before moving on.

 

Here is a shot of one of the village streets and the traditional Welsh houses that line it opposite the church:

 

 

 

 

 

  

Europe 2008 Part 49

Around Lancaster

By the Friday we were ready for a less extensive travelling programme, and fortunately the Rigbys had that in mind for us.

 

We had a look at the priory church, here, and the Lancaster Castle close by.

 

Pauline grew up in this area and went to High School here in Lancaster, so we saw her school, before heading out to Morecambe, now a suburb of Lancaster, but then an independent town, where her home was.

 

She showed us her home and then took us to a good café for scones and coffee for lunch.

 

While we were wandering wbout Morecambe, we came across a statue of one of the town's famous sons, Eric Morecambe, and below is a shot of him with a nameless friend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we drove southwards a few kilometres to the popular and famous resort of Blackpool. Again we strolled about the town; it was off-season and the place was practically deserted; the weather was not very attractive, not too cold and not actually raining, but overcast and threatening.

 

The famous Tower was closed, so we couldn't go up it, and there were no illuminations, so we found a Woolworth's café for afternoon tea of mince pies, and then headed home.

 

We fully appreciated the effort our friends went to to make our stay enjoyable. Just being with them was great fun and special; the sightseeing and food were extras.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is the Labour Party too soft? Too PC?

This is another issue we discussed at the recent Labour Party meeting in New Plymouth.

One of our members said he considered that people did not vote for us because they found us "too soft" or "too PC'.

Another member reckoned that younger voters were turned off all voting, because their votes did not count as compared with the large numbers of older people who had already reaped the benefit of earlier measures. Young people, she said, resent the fact they have to pay heavily to take their provisional driving licence, and then pay heavily again to convert it into a full licence, and if they don't get this done before the provisional one lapses, they have to start again from the beginning.

And young people finish their education with a large student loan, when older generations got it all free. And so on.

But soft? Did you hear Jacinda Ardern's speech about the IPCA Report into the Roastbuster case? That was anything but soft.

And Andrew Little's response to John Key's announcement about sending a handful of trainers to help the Iraqi Army? Surely not!

What do people mean by PC? or Political Correctness?

We understand they mean it to be a derogatory term for some ideas they disapprove of. When they give examples, though, I begin to wonder.

To me it comes very close to saying the Party is too ethical, or too moral; as if that is possible.

It is easier to start with a definition of unethical laws, or immoral behaviour. I have come to believe that unethical actions always involve what we would ordinarily call "bullying".

If you do something because you can, because you have the physical strength, or the money, or the status, or your group has the numbers, and in doing so you harm the interests of some less powerful people, that is unethical. You may not even be aware of the collateral damage of your own  power! But if the less powerful person or group points out the damage to them, the only ethical thing to do is to talk about the problem and find a win-win situation, to protect the weak from the collateral damage of your strength.

I have found this a useful way to think about ethical issues.

The Labour Party's original purpose, and still its central objective, is to find ways of mitigating and preventing the harm done by extremely powerful capitalists to the interests, persons and lives of ordinary workers who have nothing to live on but their labour.

Hence the Party's overriding emphasis on inequality, on full employment, on fair wages, on safe, healthy housing, and on fair access to education.

We still need to complete the task which Micky Savage, followed by Peter Fraser, and Walter Nash set in the nineteen-thirties:  by establishing fair industrial negotiation procedures, unemployment benefits, the Sate Advances Corporation, and the Education Act of 1944.

It may be true that the damage to these policies over the last thirty years of neo-liberal ideology (Rogernomics), has been so great that we only have time and energy for these central efforts.

But I believe we can never lose sight of our responsibility to look after the interests of other less powerful  groups in our own society, and other less powerful nations in the international arena. That's why we have been elected to the UN Security Council, according to our politicians of all persuasions: to help the smaller nations have their voices heard amid the shouting of the major powers. That is ethical behaviour, not PC nonsense!



                                                              

The Maori Ward Issue

Maori Ward 101

 

Wednesday evening I was invited to a discussion led by our Mayor, Andrew Judd. He introduced himself as a "recovering racist". He explained he had grown up in typical white middle-class society, where he had absorbed attitudes of looking down on Maori and making derogatory remarks whenever Maori were mentioned or referred to.

 

As newly-elected mayor, he was charged with appointing a Komiti Maori for the Council. So he took advice and investigated the options. As he read the various reports he learned a lot of history and other information that was completely new to him. It was like a "Damascus" experience.

 

He went on to explain that the statute under which the Council operates requires them to engage with Maori iwi in a meaningful way. Andrew asked, "Meaningful to whom?" There are three options:

 

1. To establish a Komiti Maori. This has been tried in the past and the Maori reaction has been that the committee is ineffective because the messages get lost on the way to the Council table. (As a former member of a Council Sub-committee I can understand that feeling).

 

2. To appoint a Maori member to each Standing Committee of Council. When Andrew suggested this to the Council, other members regarded it as undemocratic.

 

3. To establish a Maori Ward. This was the proposal the Council finally adopted. The Statute allows a petition of 5% of ratepayers (other petitions have to have 10%, pointed out the mayor) to demand a referendum, which, unlike other referenda, is binding for six years. Andrew made it clear he thinks the Statute itself is racist.

 

The petition has been presented and the referendum will be held next month. Predictions are that it will reject the Maori Ward proposal.

 

The members of the discussion went on to contribute their ideas. The group was about equally Maori and non-Maori. Most were about the reasons why some progress is needed, basically to redress the balance after 150 years of shutting Maori out from the decision-making progress.

 

In response to a request, Andrew explained how he had been confronted with several groups challenging the Council decision. He had himself challenged people with facts such as the pensions given to returned servicemen after the First World War: Maori were paid 50% of the non-Maori pension; Pakeha were given rehabilitation land and grants, Maori got nothing.

 

We left positive about the Maori Ward proposal, not because it is the final answer, but because it is a step in the right direction. And we will all be trying to persuade our neighbours to vote for it.

 

But the Statute needs challenging and amending, to remove the clear discrimination built in to the rules against the introduction of Maori Wards.

 

And more than anything, our children must be taught the true history of our nation: the struggles between Maori and Pakeha over a century and a half, the confiscation of land, the denial of "rights and privileges of British subjects" (Article 3 of the Treaty), and especially in Taranaki, the story of Parihaka: Pakeha hysteria which led to the attack, the non-violent response, the imprisonment without trial far from their homes, and the long-term economic effects on that part of the province.

 

Perhaps the most difficult problem is that absolute refusal of some non-Maori to even consider starting to think about all this. The same phenomenon is clear in many other privileged communities throughout the world, it is not unique to New Zealand. Unless we solve this problem, we pile up future social unrest for our society.

 

What is happening where you live?

 

Europe 2008 Part 48

The Wars of the Roses: York to Lancaster

 

We left Harrogate and headed west down the valley to Skipton, shown here on the right, where we found a pleasant café for our afternoon coffee.

From Skipton we continued in the direction of Lancashire, running into a traffic jam for an hour or so before we emerged on the main motorway north, which took us, soon after dark, to Lancaster and our friends Russell and Pauline Rigby.

They welcomed us with great fanfare; Pauline had a beautiful dinner for us and we settled back into our long-standing friendship feeling really at home.

Russell was then the minister for the Methodist Churches in Lancaster.

Next morning, which was Pauline's birthday, we set out in their car for a visit to as much of the Lakes District as we could see in one day.

We soon reached the lakeside port of Bowness by morning tea time. Bowness is on the shores of Windermere near its narrowest point.

 

This is the café on the wharf, where we had a leisurely morning coffee, while being able to look across the water at the village of Bowness in the view below.

 

Unfortunately the clouds came down, and there was a little intermittent drizzle for the rest of the day.

 

We continued north to see Rydal and Wordsworth's Dove Cottage, and then Coniston Water.

 

We stopped for lunch of some beautiful scones at a café in that area, and then wandered back south and across Windermere by ferry and so home to Lancaster for a dinner of fish and chips, John Bull and peas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maori Sovreignty

Frightening the Horses

At our local Labour Party meeting on Monday evening, we had a discussion session on five topics raised by members. I presented my summary of Bryan Gould's articles, recently posted for you; there wasn't time for discussion, but the ideas were well received.

One of the other topics was Maori Sovereignty; the issue seemed to be that people felt that any mention of this topic would scare hesitant voters away from the party. One of our members explained that "sovereignty" raised issues like "independence", "separation", even withdrawal from the New Zealand nation.

A Maori member of our meeting said that he thought Maori should discuss this issue among themselves: what did they really mean by the word? what did they really want? And that likewise the non-Maori communities should also have the same discussion, and then both sides should come together and negotiate a new understanding of the Treaty relationship for the future.

My own idea is similar to that. I think it might take up to 25 years to complete a discussion so that all sides can agree on a new constitution, and that beyond that it may take another generation to change over to a new system piece by piece.

By 2065 what would our New Zealand government system look like?

I believe it will eventually reflect the actual words of the Treaty in this way:

We will have a President, rather than a monarchy, elected by an Electoral College (MPs, representatives of Local and Regional Authorities, senior leaders from iwi and sectors). Included in the president's responsibilities will be the duty of acting as "heir and successor" to Queen Victoria according to the Treaty of 1840.

I would like to see a State Council, six Maori and six others, presided over by the Vice-President, to do two constitutional tasks:

1. Check all legislation against the Treaty, and recommend appropriate changes to the House of Representatives.

2. Set up all ceremonial protocols: honours, orders of precedence, flags, holidays, welcomes to foreign dignitaries, and so on.

The Government of the day would be appointed as now by the President, to be led by the leader commanding the majority of the House of Representatives, with Ministers selected by the PM.

The administration would fall into three parts according to the articles of the Treaty.

So first we would have the "Crown Entity", or "Kawanatanga" (Treaty Article 1): Ministries of Justice, Police, Courts, Finance, Inland Revenue, Customs, Foreign Affairs, Defence, directly responsible, as now, to Ministers.

Secondly (Treaty Article 2): "Tino Rangatiratanga": Departments of Arts and Culture, Resource Management, Lands, Conservation, Primary Industries, Education. Each of these would be managed by a Maori Board of Control, appointed by iwi, and year-by-year work would be carried on with negotiation between the Board Chairmen and their respective Ministers, who would largely be deputies to the Minister of Finance for budget purposes. But all would have other sources of revenue as well as the budget allocation from the "kawanatanga".

Thirdly (Treaty Article 3): "Rights and Privileges": Departments of Health, Welfare, Labour, Business, Women's Affairs, Pacific Island Affairs, Te Puni Kokiri, Consumer Affairs, Corrections, Internal Affairs and everything else. Each Department would be administered much as now, but with a Board of Reference (equal Maori v non-Maori membership) to act as watch-dog on rights and fairness, similar to the Ombudsman.

What is your vision for our future shape as a nation?

Europe 2008 Part 47

Au revoir Paris

Tuesday 11 November was our last morning in Paris. We reached Gare du Nord around 9.00, went through customs, and were ready for the Eurostar.

We were quite excited to be going on the Chunnel but we found it very much the same as any English train ride - always fun being on a train but there was no way we could tell we were 'under water'. We had seen much of the French countryside on our way from Brussels, and you don't get to see much of England before you arrive at St Pancras.

We tubed to Liverpool Street and then on the express to Stansted Airport, where we hired another car from our friendly car people at Sixt. This time it was a small (Focus-sized) Mercedes-Benz, which we found very good.

We headed for Cambridge, where we drove around drinking in the architecture, but found the ring-road system confusing. We eventually escaped and headed north, past the region where my Goodwin ancestors came from: the village of Collyweston, which used to be famous as a slate-quarry and for its expertise in working with slate.

We eventually reached the YHA hostel at Thurlby, just over the county line into Lincolnshire.

 

Wednesday 12 November, which was my 75th birthday, was a fine, still day, as we headed north along the main road through the Lincolnshire countryside, past Lincoln, and eventually across the Humber Bridge and on to York.

 

We left the car in a large parking area and walked in to the city, enjoying the quaint old streets, and finding one or two shops we needed in or near the Shambles.

 

 

Birthday lunch was a delicious Italian lunch at a restaurant, and afterwards we walked up to the main door of the Minster. We were interested to discover that there was a statue of Constantine, the Roman Emperor outside the door, as he had been crowned at York while he was on a military expedition in that distant part of his empire.

 

Then we walked back to the car and drove the short distance to Harrogate, where we spent an hour in the local library catching up on our emails.

 

 

 

The Gould Standard

Bryan Gould is a former UK MP and more recently Vice-Chancellor of Waikato University. He is leading the team reviewing the 2014 election for the NZ Labour Party.

Bryan has recently published a series of nine articles outlining his proposals for the UK economy for an incoming Labour government after the election. I have summarised the articles here.

Bryan and his colleague, George Tait Edwards, have been looking at recent research into monetary and financial systems. They have found two important facts.

1. 97% of the money in circulation has been created by the banks, mainly to lend.

2. The Japanese economic recovery after World War II was fuelled by loans made to productive industries, on lower interest rates and longer terms than is common in the West.

They propose three areas of immediate interest for a new government:

1. Benefits should be raised immediately to pre-austerity levels, both to help the worst-off and to stimulate economic activity.

2. The minimum wage should be raised to $16 an hour, and wage rises pegged in future, to regular cost-of- living increases, plus an annual lump sum payment equivalent to productivity improvement + 2%.

3. But most of their concern is with the money supply and the way credit creation is entirely in the hands of the large banks. They argue for government to take back control of the monetary system, restructure the banks, and prevent repetition of recent disasters.

They list five purposes for the creation of credit: speculation eg on the property market (and so housing bubbles), stimulating the economy in recession, stabilising the banking system (eg bailouts), major government projects (eg war), and investment in productive industries.

So they want to reform the banks into four sectors, more or less watertight:

1.  Retail banks, regional with lots of local branches, closely in touch with local business and communities, to provide normal everyday services and loans for small and medium enterprises, as has been the norm in East Asian growth economies for decades, and as works well in Germany. These would be government guaranteed.

2. Developement banks, covering larger regions, providing loans to productive industries, both existing and start-ups, and to their essential service industries. Also government guaranteed.

3. Small, local mortgage and loan banks for households and individuals, government-guaranteed again.

4. Merchant banks, not guaranteed, to gamble on exchange rates etc, entirely at investors' risk, except for mandatory reserve.

 

How much of this do you think applies to New Zealand?

Europe 2008 Part 46

The Heart of Paris

 

 

We walked up the Avenue de l'Opera towards the Opera House itself, stopping off at one or two shops to do a little shopping for essentials.

 

 

Then we went round the Opera House to the Boulevard Housmanns which runs behind it, where we found the Galleries Lafayette.

In the main atrium just inside the main door Christmas decorations were already in place, including this huge Christmas tree.

Prices struck us as fairly steep, as you would expect.

We decided to have a second visit to Montmartre and found the metro station to get there.

We strolled around the market area in daylight now, and then up the hill via the steps you can see here, back again to the Place du Teurtre.

 

The meal at the Italian restaurant was delightful, and the Xaviers entertained us royally. After the meal, they drove us home via the centre of Paris, so we could see the lights, and especially the Christmas lights on the building of the Galeries Lafayette, of which Pierre was at that stage a director.

 

 

Here is the Notre Dame Cathedral by floodlights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Europe 2008 Part 45

The Louvre

 Next morning we returned to the Louvre soon after opening time.

 

 

 

 

We looked at a lot of very exciting and attractive paintings, until we found the room which held the Mona Lisa.

You know what it looks like, but here it is as we were able to see it from where we were.

 

 It was so small and difficult to see up close because of the number of people trying to visit it.

At the same time, no-one seemed to be interested in the exciting, lively, much larger painting on the wall nearby. Here it is to show you.

 

 

 

 

 

The building itself is magnificent; here is one of the galleries.

And there are sculptures and antiquities as well, including a large exhibition of Egyptian artefacts.

We managed to visit only the main art floor, and one of the antiquities floors.

By then we were well satisfied, even overfed, with marvellous art works, so we reluctantly left the gallery and moved on .

Outside, we were right in the centre of Paris.