The Victory Lap has turned into more of a victory limp.  Mr S has been diagonized with a perforated appendix which had become abcessed.  Ew!

He is now tucked up in the Military Hospital in Berlin where he will remain until early next week while they dose him up with spectacular amounts of antibiotics.

He was admitted on Tuesday night, and once an ultrasound revealed what was going on the need to get him admitted became quite urgent.  Surgeons operated on Tuesday night and inserted a drain to clean up the infection.  Peritonitis is the great fear.

The good news is the pain has stopped, he is a good colour, and is his normal chatty self, entertaining staff and patients alike.

The bad news is we are in limbo.  We've cancelled the Vienna portion of the trip, and from here on, we are in the hands of the insurers.
We hope very much that Mr S will be permitted to recuperate here in Berlin, as it will be a couple of weeks before a commercial airline would consent to carry him - but all that is in the future.

 For the moment, there are worse fates than being stuck in the Hotel Adlon visiting the hospital twice a day.  I'm hopeful of seeing the Berlin Philharmonic this evening, so fingers crossed!

Mr S has Nigel the elephant for company.  Nigel has been accompanying us on the trip being photographed in all sorts of exotic locations with a view to writing a story (with pictures) for our grandsons, Will and Harley.

Mr S is sharing his room with a gigantic young man covered in tatoos - who is undoubtedly wondering why he is locked up with an old geezer and a tiny knitted elephant - oh if the elephant could only talk!
 

We are gorging ourselves on Paris.  The Labeque Sisters on Friday night were terrific.  I have beeen collecting their CD's for years - they have recorded virtually everything for four hands, and now commission new work extensively.

The programme gives no clues as to their age - they look in their mid 40's - long black curly hair worn gypsy style, bright red lipstick, impossibly skinny black pants and fabulously expensive footwear.  The lack of any dates makes me suspicious, as I know I have been collecting them for decades.  Later research reveals that one is 61 and the other 59 - tres chic.

We are in the second row in the middle, so have a terrific view.  They begin with George Gershwin's Three Preludes.  The CD which made them famous years ago was a recording of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (which was originally written for two pianos) and they clearly have a great affinity with the music.  A work by Stravinsky follows, for which I have very little affinity, alas.

After interval magic happened.  They played Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story scored for two pianos and two percussionists.  I was anxious about this fearing it might have been a pastiche - but Leoard Bernstein had given his consent for the arrangement to be done before he died, and it was done by the person who had arranged the music for the film - and it was wonderful.  The absence of singers and dancers makes you focus on how strong the work is musically.  It lasted about 45 minutes, and had the usually sedate Parisian audiences going wild.

The percussionists were terrific - and indispensable in capturing the feeling of the work, which is so strong rhythmically.  Percussionist No 1 (who looked like a young (very young) Elvis Costello, sauntered on wearing a pork pie hat and hornrimmed glasses, snapping his fingers, and giving that haunting whistle that opens West Side Story - and we were away.  "America" was particularly effective, and was the work performed as the first encore.  Both percussionists abandoned their drums for this one, and clapped the rhythm, flamenco style - the crowd went wild!

It was so much fun - it would make a great Festival piece - a good length, inexpensive to stage, and utterly irresistible!  The music has been rattling around in my head ever since.

Then last night it was off to the Palais Garnier to see the Paris Ballet de L'Opera production of Coppelia.  Built at the time of Baron Haussman's reconstruction of Paris, the Palais Garnier is a staggering building, impossibly ornate - there did not appear to be a square inch that was not gilded, draped in red velvet or embellished in some way.  We arrived a little early, and an usher kindly directed us to the side reception room so that we could gawp at its amazing ceiling, and handsome proportions.  It's a real fairy story opera house - lots of boxes, where you could imagine any number of romantic assignations had happened over the centuries.

I was disappointed we had missed the Paris Ballet when they visited Brisbane, and I was determined not to miss them in Paris - which turned out not to be as easy as it sounds.  The production was sold out, but our enterprising travel agent had been able to locate two tickets (again, in the second row) which were suitably premium-priced (scalpers don't work cheap), and having paid for them we were very nervous that the tickets would in fact turn up.  We had been promised that they would be delivered the night before the performance (Saturday) and by 5.15pm on Friday they had not arrived.  They finally turned up just as we were leaving to go out for the night, to our immense relief!

The performance itself was terrific.  Swanhilde and her friends were terrific - each a distinct character, and a perfect ensemble.  Two very strong male performers in the key roles, and a fantastic corp de ballet - particularly the toys.  It was as good as any performance I am ever likely to see - although ballet always leaves me feeling that I've eaten too many sweets - it's gorgeous, but it doesn't knock my spots off like opera does. 

Then today off to the Musee d'Orsay, which has re-opened, although its refurbishment is still not complete, and not all parts of it are open.

As a postscript to last nights adventure at the Palais Garnier, the Musee d'Orsay has a huge cut-away model of the Palais Garnier - it's a tremendous creation - the area occupied by the flies looks bigger than the actual stage, and the model is so detailed you can see the individual winches for each flie.

In front of it, under the floor, and covered by glass is a model of the entire neighbourhood.  Baron Haussman was some builder!

We went to the Musee d'Orsay knowing nothing other than it had recently re-opened, and as its a museum we have always liked we thought we should check it out.  We arrived to be confronted with long queues, as there was a terrific exhibition of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism on.  Mr S, ever resourceful, slipped in a side door and bought two four day passes to every museum in Paris, which allowed us to bypass the queue and go straight in.

What an exhibition!  The length of one side of the building was devoted to the work of Vincent Van Gogh and Gauguin together in Arles.  Starry night, self-portraits, hay racks, the local doctor - it seemed every picture bought a gasp of recognition - and there were so many of them.

The other side of the building was given over to Manet, Monet, Cezanne, Renoir and Degas - and again each painter seemed to be represented by dozens of paintings, and Degas bronze The Little Dancer was also on display.  It was a huge exhibition of the absolute cream of the Impressionist period - quite overwhelming to see so many all at the same time.

It was a wonderful few hours - it reminds me of why we love travelling so much!

Tonight we are off to La Rotisserie du Beaujolais again - after such a heady day we feel the need for something simple.

Our first few days in Paris have been distinguished by gorgeous spring weather - deep blue, cloudless skies, warm temperatures - it can't last, but we have been revelling in the beautiful conditions, and have been walking for hours every day.

We are staying at the Residence Henry IV in the Rue des Bernadins in the Latin Quarter.  We've stayed here before - its a three star - comparatively inexpensive, but in a great location overlooking a little park, and we have a tiny balcony that fits a table, two chairs, and us breathing in.

We have a sitting room, a tiny kitchenette, a bedroom and bathroom, and a funny mix of decorating styles - ornate moulded ceilings, heavy drapes, a canopy over the bed - and a nasty terylene shower curtain - crockery runs to exactly two of everything - which has us resorting to paper plates and serviettes for our picnics on the balcony.

There is a very good market three days a week just a block from us - and that was our first stop when we arrived - cheeses, charcuterie,bread, radishes, white asparagus (surely the sexiest of vegetables!) and strawberries - oh the strawberries - bright red all the way through, soft all the way through, juicy, perfumed - they are a real treat.

On our first night we strolled down to the Seine looking for somewhere to eat and ended up at the Rotisserie de Beaujolais - owned by the people who used to own Tour d'Argent (sadly now closed forever) it serves grills and roasts cooked over charcoal - half a roast chicken and a bowl of mashed potato - simple perfection.  The locals obviously appreciate it too - the table behind us had bought their small dog who dozed through most of the evening, refusing to be drawn by the restaurant cat, who also made an appearance.  The food inspectors in Oz would have had a seizure!

A walk in the Luxembourg gardens, which are at the end of our Rue began the next day - the magnolias are beginning to bloom, and in a couple of weeks it will look magnificient.  Late morning saw us hiking around St Germain des Pres - we walked for several hours, and I was whimpering for mercy by the time we got back to the hotel.  A big nap restored my equilibrium, and then it was off to Spring for dinner.

Mr S had spotted a write-up about this restaurant in Time magazine - it has re-opened in a new location - an extremely inauspicious looking lane close to the Louvre.  It seats 24 people, there are 8 staff, and diners are able to see dinner being prepared literally right under our noses.  There is no menu - you eat whatever is best from the market that day - in this case, gravlax of trout as the first amuse bouche, followed by deepfried quail garnished with caviar for the second, then a first course of white asparagus (yum) roasted with almonds, topped with raw scampi, and finely diced raw asparagus, with a scampi foam.The fish course was rouget, stuffed with foie gras and minced veal, served with grapefruit and watercress.  Then a pigeon for main course, served simply with swiss chard.  Then a cheese course, then two desserts, one a deconstructed pavlova, and then a demitasse of lemon curd topped with vanilla cream and biscotti.  All served with matching wines.

Barry and Rosemary from the Napa Valley were sitting at the next table, and proved to be stimulating dinner companions - it was a great night, and a very interesting business model.

Today we shopped with enthusiasm - first at Au Bon Marche - a very chic department store, stuffed with luxury brands, inside a very beautiful building.  We were on a mission - Mr S has a terrible cold, and needed more handkerchiefs.  Evidently the French gave them up years ago, and they proved very hard to find - they were eventually located in Au Bon Marche under lock and key, but not before we had checked out every menswear store between the hotel and there.  Then off to the new Hermes store on the Left Bank - which is spectacular - wood everywhere - blond, woven wood used in staircases and shop fittings it looked spectacular, and very modern.  Mr S left with a new belt.  Then off to Alain Mikli for a new pair of specs for me before retiring for lunch at the brasserie at the hotel Lutetia.

A restoring nap, and tonight we are off to see the Labeque sisters - duo pianists, who are performing at the Theatre des Champs Elysee, where we saw Cecilia Bartoli last time we were here.  Should be fun.