We were walking south towards the Seine the other day, and in a little street on the Ile de la Cité, very close to the Cathéderale Notre Dame de Paris, we found this quaint, wisteria covered building.
Because the Ile de la Cité is the very oldest part of Paris, there are many buildings, lane ways, gates, arches and footpaths that seem to have escaped demolition or re-development and have great charm.
Paul just had to go and have a look and it turned out that the proprietor was quite keen to have people crawl all over his very old property.
Whatever careers it had had during its long life, it is now a restaurant and outside meal hours offers itself as a bar, a tea shop and a cafe.
And there are plants everywhere. I'm such a sucker for plants.
You have to get your head around the age of this building and the life it has lived. This building was already extremely old when white people settled Australia.
At the top of the stairs, a traditionally furnished dining area.
And around the corner, in the next room, another dining area.
And a further large dining area in what was originally the house next door. This end of the room is over the doors to the courtyard in the final picture.
The other end of the same room. The wall paper throughout is actually fabric - silk taffeta - tautly stretched across lightly framed wall partitions.
The courtyard at the rear - still cobbled.
Very well worn stone stairs leading from the courtyard up to many adjoining buildings at the rear. I can just see the handsome musketeer with sword flashing, cape streaming behind, leaping off his horse in the courtyard, throwing the reins and a gold sovriegn (or something) to an obliging groom and galloping up these stairs three at a time to his lady love!
Part way up the stairs you can peer out a tiny window and there is yet another courtyard, and this time a georgeous little number, in more buildings behind.
The original building is on the left - with the pale green ironwork. They have taken over the two buildings to the right for their restaurant dining areas and the doors you can see open into the courtyard.
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