O perfil de TQ2boyz

It was a breathtakingly serene, calm, dry, hot spring Sunday morning in Paris, so we sauntered along the Seine, intending merely to drop into St. Chapelle, about which we had been heartily recommended (see our review!). Once we had “wowed” mightily at that, we wandered over to the Cliff-Face frontage of Notre Dame, but were dismayed at the apparent queue to get in. As it happened this was ACTUALLY for the belltower for all those would-be Quasimodos, and the entrance was clear to go into the Cathedral. Now I have seen Salisbury, I have seen Winchester, but there is just something about Notre Dame that is…. INEFFABLE… NUMINOUS. Notre Dame really is a Holy Power-Point. The hairs on your arms and neck rise in supernatural wonder. The sheer Gothic might of the place is like a vision of heaven, and ohhhhh, it was Palm Sunday and the place was swollen with devotion. The organist was playing at Rick Wakemanesque rock volume and the pillars shuddered with the bass pedals and the cathedral rang with the top notes. The priests sailed down the aisles with huge holy-water soaked palm leaves, liberally soaking the vast congregation, the choirboys sang like literal angels and… well, I have no shame in admitting that when I received the host during the Eucharist, I was actually so overcome that I burst into tears on the poor unsuspecting priest!! For those who don’t have a faith, you will find Notre Dame an unequalled and stunning piece of architecture. For those of a religious nature, Notre Dame must be in the Top Ten of Most Spiritually Uplifting Sites. After Mass, we floated out of the cathedral a good eight inches off the ground, unable to believe the intensity of the experience. Now we attend Mass there whenever we are lucky enough to be in Paris. Holy, holy, holy….

Some places are small and intimate in Playa del, and this is one of them! Both alfresco and indoor spaces are available, and the coffees are great and very cheap. We went there every couple of days for a post siesta or post beach caffeine hit (yeah, alternating with Cafe Wien of course!). The staff are very attentive and the place is very busy with the locals, which is a great recommendation in itself!

Update… we popped back to the Dayana on our holiday and it is under new ownership and the food was pretty awful, dry and bitter. Can’t really recommend this one anymore, sorry!

OK, there is an expression; “Caveat Emptor”. If you want to buy a reliable car… I suggest you try somewhere else. I’m nearly two grand down the line and still not happy. Next time I’ll learn, eh? Not my usual review style, I know. Guess you can figure the rest out yourselves.
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Update 17th October 2011!
They’ve gone bust hahahahahahaha!!

How much would you pay for a good carvery? No, I mean a REALLY good carvery. A REALLY, REALLY good carvery? Frankly, I would be happy to sell my soul for the kind of carvery we enjoyed at the Two Bridges! We had happened upon the place after meeting an Australian friend and needing somewhere in the wilds of Dartmoor to have some lunch. The setting of the hotel is perfect, nestled in a hollow, surrounded by tors, with a river streaming through and a gaggle of geese on patrol. The hotel is nicely quaint with a lot of attention to detail. We had a fine cafetiere of coffee while we waited for the restaurant to open, an obliging cat to nestle in our laps, and then OMG what a carvery!! There was enough there to feed a small Third World nation, with exemplary local fare, some delicious appetisers, freshly cooked vegetables, some very fine lamb and beef and desserts that ruined any pretention at decency. The tables were set with fine linen and flowers, a fine pianist played for our digestive pleasure and it was clear from the full restaurant (Two Bridges is MILES from anywhere) that the clientele had found it, knew of its excellence and were prepared to come a long, long way for this level of service and fine dining. We have even set aside a long weekend to stay sometime, so we can eat to our heart's content, enjoy the countryside and then pretend to walk it all off on the surrounding moors! Ardent foodies - this one's for YOU!!

Now I have visited a few... is it necropolises or necropoli?? And that's including Stonehenge and the Pyramids, but nothing quite prepares you for how utterly BONKERS this enormous cemetery is! I found the expression "The Disneyland of DEATH" popping up in the back of my mind, and I think that this is quite an accurate summation of Pere Lachaise. The Cemetery is spread over around 30 acres or more, and contains thousands of graves in an enormous variety of forms, from the flat English style (Jim Morrison's slightly scruffy grave), to the Art Deco sugar-cube of Oscar Wilde. Most of the graves are above-ground crypts that remind me of the bastard offspring of a chapel and the TARDIS, lots of little houses defying the occupants being disinterred to make space! A large number of the graves are huge edifices built to reflect their occupants self-esteem and it is kind of humbling to realise that, after all these years, no-one actually remembers who they were! The cemetery is shaded by enormous plane trees and criss-crossed by many paths, so indulging in wanderlust is an acceptable occupation. Yes, we found Rossini, Edith Piaf, Oscar, Bizet (poor fellow's tomb a bit the worse for wear) Ferdinand de Lesseps (just round the corner from Jim Morrison. Even Maria Callas is buried here, but, for some reason, she wants to be alone, so you are not allowed to know where! What I WOULD most recommend, is to visit the monuments in memory of those who died in World War Two, which are right at the north end of the cemetery. These are TRULY great works of art, and we stood in front of them for ages, not only reflecting their meaning, but also in awe at the work of the artists who built them. Please visit Lachaise when in Paris, it is a truly amazing place. Oh, P.S., right next to the cemetery side exit there is a coffee bar on the same side of the road. It is AWFUL... just so's you know!!

It says a little something about the Bar du Central that my beloved other half and I ALMOST came to blows over who would review it, since we were both storing up the superlatives to lavish them upon this wonderful little "local" bar close to Pont de l'Alma and a mere spit from the Tour d'Eiffel. We had checked into our favourite little boutique hotel (Hotel de la Tulipe) and, after a grim hour or so FIGHTING our way through the Metro, we decided we really NEEDED a drink, and the concierge (bless him!) directed us to the Bar du Central. Fortunately, from the front, it looks just like dozens of other cafe bars, but when we stepped inside, we were swept off our feet by the friendly, attentive, wonderful service. There was an immediate offer of assistance from at least three waiters, who were sympathetic to our plight and immediately provided the necessary biere to chill our frazzled nerves. And we sat... and we watched. What was immediately obvious was that NO-ONE stopped working for a millisecond. Our barman careened up and down the bar, topping up this, cleaning that, dicing and preparing the other. Replacing bottles, clearing plates... Now, as hard workers ourselves we were EXTREMELY impressed, and when the bar started filling with locals who obviously knew when they were on to a good thing (and were warmly welcomed and immediately seated), we knew this was the bar for us! A little later, aftetr celebrating the beloved's 50th birthday , we returned to the bar for a drink, and, upon remembering who we were, we were seated in pride of place, and, upon discovering it was Philip's big 5-0, a big bowl of peanuts, a bowl of spicy olives and a chocolate cake appeared on the table, along with a bottle of wine chosen by the (equally tasty!) waiter, who would not let us pour our own wine, nope, he HAD to pour it for us! Our evening was made perfect, to a soundtrack of Cafe del Mar and an equisite wine! Please try and find this bar, it is a gem!!