Saturday 14 May 2011

Automobile Club de France

Well, a splendid address, and wonderful views over La Place de la Concorde... we had a great evening at the Automobile Club de France - the club is a very well-respected one, and is not just for the car-lover... 2000 members in Paris alone... yet they say it is rarely full!
Forgot to ask whether on official State days it is more crowded, as this Place is where many parades happen on important occasions.

My throat was sufficiently empty of gunge that notes came out [which was a relief to me]... and the audience reacted as if I were not quacking... so hooray for that! (Maybe they were just being polite).

We sang in the library:- "the first library of France" (we think they mean the best, not the earliest) which has a surprisingly good acoustic, and then had to suffer the terror of a champagne reception - oh the pains of our job...

Apart from the views, there were also many splendid old cars, and documents and photos of the early days of motoring... which we must remember was as much a French thing as any other nation [Germans shut your eyes for a moment... and anyone from USA.. sh!!]

We also enjoyed a taxi ride about the city, taking in two 'other' triumphal arches [or gates], L'Opéra and the beautiful Colonne de Vendôme situated in Place Vendôme, the Place created as a monument to the glory of the armies of Louis XIV, the Sun King.

As ever, a seemless Eurostar trip there and back - the RER guys chose to strike the day we went home, but we could walk to the station, so "ya boo..."

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