On Friday 1st July Ann and I set off on another of our regular trips to London, this time for five days, and we were really excited because we had an Andean fiesta to look forward to on Sunday and a day trip to Paris on the Monday. As the bus pulled out of the station, Aquiles phoned to ask what time we’d arrive, and told us that he had booked the day off work and was cooking Paella for our lunch and for us to arrive hungry!
The journey was uneventful and we arrived on time and our first task was to discover the whereabouts of the Greenline station where Megabus buses depart from and were pleased to find it was within minutes of Victoria station. Our bus would be leaving at 7.30 on Sunday morning so it seemed sensible to find all this out beforehand and we also picked up some bottles of wine as our contribution to the lunch. We arrived at Aquiles’ flat by 1 pm and enjoyed an ice cold beer whilst he put the finishing touches to the paella. He had invited a few friends and with the other residents in the house (who are all Bolivian or Peruvian) there were quite a few of us. The music was blaring and quite a few girls were already dancing. After a delicious lunch - Aquiles loves cooking and is really good at it - we spent the remainder of the day partying and really enjoying ourselves and the time flew. Ann and I ended up falling asleep later on Aquiles bed which meant that he and Toti had to sleep on the floor, but when I apologised profusely next morning he did not mind at all! Ann and I are used to getting up really early at 5 o clock whereas Latino people like to wake up later and party into the early hours with the last stragglers departing early the next morning and we just simply could not stay awake!!!
Aquiles and Toti had to work on Saturday so we planned our day accordingly. We were late leaving the house because we were chatting so much to Antonio, an ex Antara musician, but who is now a London bus driver, who is living in the house at the moment. Consequently we abandoned our first plan to visit Portabello market and decided to get the bus to Brick Lane and enjoy a curry lunch instead. One bus took us pretty well all the way from Walworth Road to Aldgate where we had a ten minute walk past Aldgate East tube station to get to Brick Lane. We had no idea then as we strolled past the station that a few days later there would be a bomb explosion in that station and others around London, causing injury and mayhem and total suspension of London transport.
After lunch we returned on buses towards Brixton and visited Eddy at El Inca cafe on the Brixton Road near Oval station. He was really surprised to see us. Although he always says to phone and tell him what we would like to eat we always forget to do this and always end up calling in on the hop. We were cooking that night so just stayed for a couple of drinks with him.
We returned to the flat in the early evening just before Toti and Aquiles were due home from work and were happy to spend a relaxing evening. I cooked for us all and made enough Thai noodle soup for about 10 people not knowing who would be there and after that we watched the Live 8 concert on television that was taking place in Hyde Park that day. Seeing the brilliant bands and performers made me really regret not having tried to apply for a ticket. Normally I only go for events including Andean music but the concert looked good on telly and it would have been lovely to be a part of that vast crowd, enjoying so many top name singers and groups. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Madonna, Robbie Williams, the Who and Pink Floyd and would have adored seeing U2 who performed earlier in the day. We watched the concert right to the end, even though we had to be up early the next day.
On Sunday morning I was up first at 5 o clock with time for a shower before waking up Ann. By 6.15 we were on our way to the bus stop and we reached Greenline station with half an hour to spare before our bus departed for Birmingham. We were lucky to both get window seats with a table between us and I was very impressed with the comfort of Megabus who are a low budget internet company offering bargain fares between cities. The journey took 3 hours and we arrived on time at 10.30 with plenty of time to find Victoria Square where the Andean Fiesta would take place.
Having asked directions we were on our way on foot but instead of turning right in the direction of Victoria Square we found ourselves turning left instead when our ears picked up the sound of panpipes playing in the distance! We eventually discovered an Andean musician playing, who I did not recognise immediately because of the mirror sunglasses he was wearing, I suddenly realised who it was by the CDs being sold and was delighted to find it was Edwin who with Juan Herrara used to play regularly in Bath but not in recent years. Ann was amazed and really thrilled to see him because she has known him much longer than I have and has long felt sad that he never visits Bath anymore. We knew he lived in Manchester but sometimes visits London but we hadn’t seen him at Andean events in London either. The last time I had seen him was at El Inca cafe when I was there with Layla in 2003 but Ann was not with us on that occasion. He recognised us both straightaway and was pleased to see us. He said he wasn’t taking part in the fiesta but would be working all day but would find us in Victoria Square in the afternoon. We stayed listening to him play until suddenly four llamas arrived being led by their carers and we were overjoyed to spend time with these beautiful animals and take photos. They were an amazing attraction for the shoppers and soon a huge crowd gathered and Edwin sold loads of CDs in the half hour or so that the llamas were present.
If we felt overjoyed with Edwin and the llamas, we felt even more overwhelmed with delight when suddenly loads of our musician friends arrived all dressed in Inca costumes, some of them playing musical instruments, plus troops of dancers etc, and next moment with the llamas leading the way the procession began, about 60 musicians and dancers in total, and it was fantastic. Ann and I were busy taking photos including posing with our favourites as they proceeded along (me with Dante, Ann with Juan Herrara who to her great delight was there that day as well). I was wearing the top half of my Puno costume and could have joined the parade but was too busy enjoying watching our friends perform and taking their photos etc.
Eventually we arrived in Victoria Square where they re-enacted the Inti Raymi ceremony (ceremony honouring the sun god), and the Mayor and Mayoress officiated and opened the fiesta. Then as many musicians as would fit on the stage were up there and the fiesta began with a few great Andean songs. All day from noon until gone 6 pm it was a fantastic show of several bands, interspersed with troops of dancers in costume. I was overjoyed to meet up with my friends in Kantaro - from Edinburgh - who I had lost contact with for a while. We thoroughly enjoyed their show on the stage and spent time with all our musician friends throughout the afternoon, who were free to enjoy themselves once the parade and their opening participation was over. The sun shone brightly all day and we enjoyed some delicious Peruvian food and a Pisco sour. It really was a magic day never to be forgotten and we look forward to seeing the photos of which we took some 80 that day, many of which will be on my website in about a week. The final act of the day was a top name salsa band who we could hear for about ten minutes while walking away. We found our way back to the bus stop without any difficulty and arrived just as the bus was pulling in and were lucky to get window seats and a table on the way back as well. We arrived back in London at 10.30 in the evening, and the flat about 45 minutes later, where we found that Aquiles had cooked again and saved us some supper. We chatted with him and Antonio and ended up having quite a late night considering I wanted to be awake at 3.30 the next morning.
Luckily the talking alarm clock purchased on Saturday woke me up okay, Toti and Helen had to be at work early so we walked to the bus stop together saying goodbye there as we were departing on different buses. Our 5.06 bus came along on time and we reached Waterloo station without a problem. Although our train would not depart until 6.30 we had to check in at least half an hour before and leaving at that time of day I aimed to arrive even earlier to cancel out any possible delay. We had time for a delicious croissant breakfast and soon were settled on our seats on the train and looking forward to another great day out.
Ann was asleep again almost as soon as the train left the station but I had my nose in a good book and the andean music playing on the iPod and managed to stay awake the whole trip. We had left London dressed in summer clothes and no coats so you can imagine my dismay to see the heavens open and the rain pour down even before we reached Ashford and I was ferverently hoping it would improve by the time we arrived in Paris. We had zoomed through the tunnel (not much to see there apart from pitch blackness and some supports), and once on the French side of the Channel the speed picked up and we were fairly rattling along through the French countryside. I was glad to see the rain was clearing up even though the skies were still grey.
At 10.30 we pulled into Gare du Nord station and were soon down in the metro looking for the route to get to Montmartre, our first destination. The problem was, it had been years since using the French underground trains and I didn’t feel too confident about finding my way. I asked someone (using very rusty French) who explained and once we had completed that first little journey which involved one change of station I was okay and 100% confident in how to find my way anywhere else the rest of the day.
Exiting the metro at Anvers, the station in between Barbes and Pigalle, we headed straight uphill towards Montmartre and it felt really wonderful seeing this, my favourite part of all Paris, once again. We climbed the steps towards the basilica and I was on the look out for the old man who feeds the sparrows who I remembered from a visit 15 years ago. Sure enough, almost at the top of the steps, in a little rest area with seats off to the side of the steps, the old man was sitting on a bench and we were so enchanted with his interaction with the birds that we stopped to watch. The birds were lined up like a military tattoo of soldiers in front of him, others perched on the fence in front or on the hedge behind and each time he threw some food in the air they were airborne and alighting on his hands to feed, some catching the morsels in mid air. It was such a delight to watch that we ended up lingering for about an hour and after a while the man beckoned me over and gave me some of the food and I tried to emulate him. The birds approached and some caught food in mid air or from my hand on the ground if I leaned far enough forward but none alighted on my hands much to my disappointment. Those birds had an incredible rapport with the old man which is probably built up on mutual trust over a period of time. He finished a can of beer that was under the bench and I said I would go and buy him another one as Ann and I still had time to do this before meeting Leo who had phoned soon after our arrival at Gare du Nord and we had agreed to meet at Sacre Coeur church at 1 pm. We headed past the church to the nearest bar where I bought a plastic glass of Caffreys as there were no cans available and we headed straight back with it but much to our disappointment the man had gone and despite waiting a while he did not return. I ended up drinking it myself rather than waste 7 euros even though Caffreys beer is not to my taste! I guess he did not understand my rusty French and I regretted not giving him money for beer or bird food instead. All the time we were with the man and sparrows a harpist was playing music on the terrace and we were thoroughly enjoying his beautiful music.
It was approaching 1 pm by this time so we went and sat on the steps leading into the church, enjoying the lovely views over Paris and then Leo and Christele were there, with their youngest child, 3 year old Claire, and it was fantastic to see them again. We decided to go for lunch and headed back downhill into Anvers and walked towards Barbes which is an Arab quarter, and soon came across the same restaurant where we had all been with Colin 18 months previously and enjoyed a Cous Cous Royale (Morocco’s national dish) with lamb, chicken and Merguez sausage and very delicious it was too. After the lovely meal which Leo very kindly treated us to, we climbed the hill and steps again and took a few photos with Sacre Coeur in the background before saying our goodbyes. I will next see them probably in October as Inti Illimani are doing a tour in France and Spain about that time and they are a wonderful band to see live. Maybe I can convince Colin to come as well because he really likes Leo and Christele - who are off to Bolivia for a month in a week’s time - a month in the altiplano and La Paz and attending charango events in Oruro and Potosi, Leo being a charango player.
After saying our goodbyes I took Ann into Place du Tertre and we spent a while there enjoying the artists and whole ambience of this ancient square in the middle of Paris. Then we walked downhill, enjoyed enormous pistachio icecreams and I bought saucisson and Pyrenees cheese to take back for Colin. By this time 7 of our 10 hours in Paris had elapsed and we had to get a move on in order to see anything else! Three metro stations later we exited into bright warm sunshine with a 10 minute walk to the Eiffel Tower where we took more photos and I enjoyed witnessing Ann’s amazement at the sheer size of it. I thought then we might have time to visit the Champs Ellysees as well and we set off back into the underground. The trouble is when we exited at the other end we were nowhere near the Champs Ellysees and I could just see a top corner of the Arc du Triomphe in the far distance. We headed that way walking but when we seemed no closer after 10 minutes I realised we would not have time to include a stroll in Champs Ellysees and get back to Gare du Nord in time for our train homeward, so we reluctantly gave that idea a miss and headed back.
Three stations later we were in Gare du Nord with time to spare. We still had to buy cigarettes to take back for Aquiles but after trying in several places we realised that the price of cigarettes had gone up tremendously in the past few years and at 50 euros for 200 cigarettes were nearly as expensive as back home in England so I decided not to bother but to take his money back to him instead. We then enjoyed a drink and panini in the station before boarding the train and at 8.23 we were on our way home to London, thoroughly happy after another great day excursion, our feet aching like hell from all the walking we had done. Back at Waterloo we had difficulty finding the right bus to get back to Walworth Road but managed it on two buses rather than continue to search for the right bus stop. Back at the flat, Aquiles and Toti were pleased with the souvenirs we had brought back for them and soon afterwards we sank into bed gratefully as we were really tired after such a long day.
Our last day Tuesday was spent leisurely after those two hectic days away. Aquiles had to go to work but we enjoyed the morning chatting to Antonio who was working a later shift and Toti cooked us a nice lunch before we said our goodbyes. Then at 2.45 we were on our way and arrived at Victoria station an hour later, in plenty of time for the 4 pm bus home.
Our next mini trip with begin on 4th August with 5 days in London and a fantastic Andean carnaval on the 7th, with the arrival of my Norwegian friend Linda on the 5th who is staying until the 11th, staying partly with us in London and partly in Bath. My holiday from work starts on 22nd July and kicks off with us hosting a barbeque for the Spanish Circle on 23rd July and our departure for a week in Scotland on 24th July - so although I am not setting off for South America during these summer holidays it looks as though the holidays will be fun. After Scotland and London we will go camping a few weekends in Weymouth in August to enjoy the beach and sunny weather.
