Tuesday, Oct 30

Well, we were originally scheduled to leave today so instead we went for a walk starting at the place de la Concorde and then down the rue de Rivoli along the covered walkway and all the shops. We stopped at W. H. Smith, the English bookstore where we picked up a book since all of those we had downloaded onto the Nook reader have been read. This is a very interesting store with almost all of its stock being in English. It is very popular with quite a few people browsing and buying. Prices are rather high, some of the paperbacks of the top ten list selling for over thirty dollars.

We continued on down the rue de Rivoli and then up past the very modern place du Marché St. Honoré, a three or four story office building with a passageway running through center, with several large furniture stores. We got our bus at the Opéra back to our neighborhood.

We had some refreshment at the Café Charlot and noticed across the street a shop called Hier, Aujourd’hui, Demain (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow). It's an antique shop. They had on display about a dozen or so model cars some being capable of holding a small child. From what I could see, they seemed to be authentic reproductions of old cars and trucks, including a red fire engine. Some said 1939. See photos.

 Later we had dinner at the local café le Sancerre on the corner. It was a good meal, considering that eating at a café can be problamatical.

More to come tomorrow. 

Sunday, Oct 28

We got home from our walk on Sunday, listened and watched the internet for info about Sandy. We felt that our return flight scheduled for Tuesday might be canceled so we called the airline, Open Skies. They told us that both Monday and Tuesday flights were still OK. We checked with them about rescheduling and they told us we could do that without penalty but the soonest would be for the following Saturday. We decided to take the seats for Saturday thus extending our visit here for four more days. Life is tough! It's a good thing that we did because on Monday morning, they announced that both Monday and Tuesday flights had been canceled. If we had waited until actual cancelation, we wondered if we would have had to reschedule into next week along with all the others on the canceled flights.The airline waited longer than many of the American ones to cancel flights. Part of the problem was that the American airlines wanted their planes out of Newark, whereas Open Skies flies in from Paris and then returns several hours later so that their planes are not there for a long period of time. In any event we are here for a few more days and I will add a few more postings before Saturday.

Sunday, Oct 28

This afternoon, Sunday, we went on the bus to the St. Paul church which on the rue Saint-Antoine, a street which a bit farther to the west becomes the rue du Rivoli. We met up with friends, Steve and Eric, and Rick, a friend of theirs.  While we were waiting for them we spotted a very large dog whose owner told us was a schnauzer. It didn’t look like one, see photos. What do you think?

We walked over to the place des Vosges and then to a café where we sat for a while and chatted about what living in Paris is all about. We parted company and went back home. In the evening, we dined at the Café des Musées, a place we discovered on this trip which we like very much.  

Saturday, Oct 27

We went down to the rue du Rivoli but just after we arrived, it started to rain. We ducked into a cafe and spent an hour or so before we went back home. Didn't do much for the rest of the afternoon, and due to the weather, we went for the last time to Les Enfants Rouges restaurant which is just across the street. Not much done today.

Thursday, Oct 25

We finally got off to visit the Jewish quarter, something we have been trying to do for a week or so, but were always deterred by bad weather. We started out at the lovely place du Bourg-Tibourg at one of the several cafés on the place and spent an hour watching the world go by and basking in the sun, which has been absent a lot lately.

We then walk up the street (below) 

and around the corner to visit with Marcel, an old friend who has an antiques shop on the rue des Guillemites. Unfortunately he was not there and the woman there told us she did not know when he would return. Being the owner of the shop, he can come and go as he pleases. We left our card with a brief message. We hope that we may be able to get back there before we leave next Tuesday.

We walked through the quarter, principally on the rue des Rosiers and some of the smaller side streets. We saw many interesting things there. For example:

We had an early dinner, by Parisian standards, at the l’As du Fallafel. We each had a pita bread stuffed with fallafel along with some French fries and some red wine.

We walked a bit more and then went back to the rue de Turenne and took the bus home. We were gone over four hours and had a good workout. Too bad we missed Marcel.

Wednesday, Oct 24

Today, we did some chores and then off to the Saint Germain area where we visited the Debauve & Gallais store to replenish our depleted chocolate supply. While we were in the area, we stopped off at Les Deux Magots café for the usual. Dinner was at Le Mâchon d’Henri, probably for the last time this year. They are always very nice to us and we appreciate this.

Monday, Oct 22

Here we are a few days late in our postings but we'll get caught up soon.

Today we took our annual walk down the Champs-Elysées. I was a beautiful day, bright blue sky, and temps in the low 80’s. You read correctly, low 80’s at end of October. Here is a typical view of the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the boiulevard.

We stopped for the first time ever at Fouquets, the very popular, very expensive, café on the corner of the Champs and the avenue Georges V. We had nice seats right on the Champs and enjoyed a beer and a hot chocolate. Guess who had the beer. Here is the café

And here is the view from our table. Don’t know the guy but he was smoking a very smelly cigar.

After an enjoyable hour, we continued our stroll. We stopped at the Toyota salesroom where they were celebrating their 75 Anniversary. They had on display some of their earlier models from the 60’s and 70’s. Here are a few. The oldest one on display was the Land Cruiser.

It was a lovely day and we finished our walk at the Rond Point des Champs-Elysées at which point there are no more stores, but only the gardens all the way down to the place de la Concorde. At the Rond Point, we took two busses back home. We had a light dinner at the Café Bretagne. They make very good salads here, very copious.

Sunday, Oct 21

We finally got around to doing something that we always have wanted to do and that was taking the guided tour of th old Opera House. We got there and hour early to be sure of tickets, got them easily, had a coffee near the entrance, and went back at 2:30 for the tour.

We elected for the one in English since Alexandria's French would not cover all of the artistic terms. We met the guide in the rounda at the rear entrance. We then spent an hour and a half with the guide telling us all about the history and art, something we enjoyed very much.

The Opera house at night. 

We entered under the rotunda and them climbed the stairs into the auditorium. First we looked at the ceiling which was done about fifty years ago by Marc Chagall at the request of Pres. DeGaulle. It is a beautiful piece of work.

The guide then talked about the history of the building, the various areas of the house, and the stage. We then went up to see the reception rooms and the various stairways. After 90 minutes we were all experts about the opera house.

 After the tour we went on the balxcony that overlooks the square and at the end of the boulevard, one can see the Louvre Museum.

Dinner this evening was again at Le Mâchon d’Henri, a place that we really like for the food, simple but good, and the atmosphere and welcome. 

Saturday, Oct 20

This afternoon we spent the afternoon at the Bastille area, mainly at the big café there. We went back home early to have a light supper because we wanted to go the la Madeleine church for a concert. Some Parisian group was doing the Mozart Requiem. It was almost a packed house and if you know the church, that’s a lot of people. We were disappointed in the performance. The chorus and the orchestra were not always together and sometimes the various sections of the chorus were not together. We know since we have done the work a number of times and know some sections almosat by heart. Even the two male soloists were not very good. The two females were better. The bass didn’t have the low notes needed in the “Tuba mirum“ and the tenor just wasn’t up to the job. They did several smaller pieces to fill out the program. The Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah was hardly appropriate and also not sung well. Oh, well. We have struck that chorus off our list. We also think that the Madeleine may not be accoutically good for choral music, especially if you are in the middle. It was after 11 when we got home. We missed a bus and had a 20 minute wait for the next one. Here is the group. I won't name them, however, or give the name of the conductor. They are well-known in Paris and should be better, especially at $40 a ticket.

Friday. Oct 19

A week of relatively routine events. We didn't do as much as we have earlier on because of

A brief day by day listing here with some photos and descriptions.

Monday, Oct 15
We spent the afternoon replacing our depleted chocolate supply. We tried a different place that we had visited last year. Got some good stuff and some marcarons. We also had afternoon tea at the Café Flore which is near to and very similar to Les Deux Magots.

We also went to the FNAC which is a large chain of department stores that deals only with media: books, CD's, DVD's, mobile phones, and all kinds of audio visual equipment. We bought a couple of books because we had finished those that we brought with us on the Nooks. It's a wonderful store to browse around in. One level is just books, another CD's and DVD's. In the evening we went back to Astier, mainly for the cheese tray that we showed you earlier.

Tuesday, Oct 16
We had lunch along the Saint Martin canal with a friend of ours who works here in Paris but is originally from Ireland. It was nothing more than a café  but the food was good, as was the company, and we spent two hours catching up.

Wednesday, Oct 17
We spent the afternoon at the Paris Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) at two different exhibitions. One was called Paris As Seen by Hollywood. It had exhibits and clips from 100 films that had something about Paris; eg, An American in Paris, Charade, Casablanca, the Merry Widow, Gigi, and many more. A very good exhibit. An equally good one was about the deportation/ saving of Jewish children during the Second World War. Completely different in tone and subject matter from the first exhibit.

On Thursday we went up to see the Paris Opera House (Salle Garnier). We plan on seeing it more thoroughly later with a guided visit. Something I have never done in 40 some years I have been coming to France. We stopped off at the famous Café de la Paix across from the Opera. Guess what we did there. In the evening we had dinner at my favorite bistro, Chez René. I have been going there for over 30 years and still love the daily specials that they have there: pot au feu, boeuf gros sel, blanquette de veau. It's also for the nostalgia involved.

Friday, Oct 19

Dreary day with some more rain so we just hung out, sat in the Café Sancerre on the corner, and relaxed. Can't site see everyday!

Sunday, Oct 14

This afternoon, another concert, this time at the Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière which is the church inside the hospital complex La Pitié Salpêtrière. This is an immense complex with the hospital, medical school, nursing school, school for lab techs, etc. It even has its own bus route, it is so large and extends over many blocks. The church itself is very beautiful and made the concert even better.

Spotted this little tail on the street. If you are able, you might play the video. If you can, ignore the voices at the end. I didn't stop it soon enough.

Saturday, Oct 13

Not much during the day. Did some chores, had a sit in a cafe for a while, had Chinese takeout, and then went to an excellent choral concert at the Eglise St. Louis-en-l'Ile on the island we have talked about. It was two choruses, one from Brighton in England and the other from St Germain which is just west of Paris. Together they did one of our favorite pieces, the Durufle Requiem, which we had sung several years ago. They each also performed several shorter works.

Friday, Oct 12

Taking up where we left off at the entrance to Notre Dame, the line was not too long so we waited a few minutes and went in. We walked around and looked at the many art works, many of which we had seen before. but its is interesting see them again, sometimes from a different perspective. Here are some examples of the stained glass windows and some of the statuary.

As we were getting ready to leave, we saw the preparations for the five o'clock mass, so we stayed for the service.

After the service, we walked for a bit and then went to the Machon d'Henri for supper. It was an early supper and we were home by nine o'clock, in time for a bit of reading and a crossword puzzle before retiring.

From now on, new posts will be at the beginning of the blog. No more scrolling.

Tuesday, Sept. 18

Well, here we are again in our favorite spot in the world. We arrived last Thursday evening, Sept 13 in the early evening. We had had a flight from Florence at 4 pm but it was canceled since the plane coming in from Paris had been diverted to Pisa due to bad weather somewhere. They wanted to bus us to Bologna for a 7:10 flight the next morning, but Janet balked and they  miraculously found room for us on a flight at 7 pm from Florence. 

We arrived in Paris about 9 pm. grabbed a cab, dropped Carl and Janet off at their hotel, and then we went on to our apartment a few blocks away. We told C and J that we might meet them at the Cafe Charlot, midway between the two places. They were hungry and went for a light snack at 11 pm. We were so tired we skipped the meal and went straight to bed after talking for a bit with Steve, our landlord. The apartment was little changed from last year and we settled in rather easily. 

Janet and Carl had made up a plan of things that they wanted to see and do. We just wanted to rest up, so they did their thing during the days and we did ours, including laundry, shopping, and cafe sitting. Erwin had developed a bladder infection so we went to the American Hospital on Saturday where our diagnosis was confirmed by Dr. Shiggins, an Irishman, who was in the emergency area. He prescribed a drug and had us make an appoint with a urologist for the following Tuesday, today actually. We will see him at 5:20 pm.

We have gone to dinner each evening with C and J in some of our favorites in the neighborhood including Les Enfants Rouges, Chez Jenny, and Le Machon d'Henri. These are all places we had been to last year, and for many years before. Each one is distinctive for its decor and food. On several occasions, instead of having coffee in the restaurant, we went to a cafe. Here we are, Erwin took the picture, at a cafe on the Place de la Republique after dinner at Chez Jenny. We had been used to Italy and its cafe corretto and now in France it is not as popular.But we are sure to have decaf in the evening or else, no sleep.

This evening, after C and J finish frolicking through the two large department stores, we will have dinner for the last time together since they will be leaving tomorrow after three marvelous weeks of site seeing, camaraderie, and new (and a few old) restaurant experiences. Tonight, it will be Chez Omar, one of the best places in Paris for couscous. We all had the couscous, either lamb or vegetarian. It is so copious that we didn't order starters. We did have the little Algerian pastries and mint tea afterwards.

 Enjoying the couscous. Notice the large tray of the couscous at the right

 The lamb

 The Algerian pastry tray

Eating the pastry and the glass of the mint tea

J and C caught their plane the next morning, Sept 19, and we started our new life all alone. But we will survive. Paris will see to that. We are looking forward to the visit to Paris of two of our good friends, Davida and Ed who will arrive next week. Davida is a former colleague and they now live in Northern California.

Until we have something more concrete to report, I thought I would show you some of the door knockers that we have seen thus far through out our trip. I have probably taken photos of over 100 different ones. Here are a few. mostly from Rome and Florence.

As you can see, they are all different, some similar and others not, some ornate and others very simple. Many have a lion motif. More to come later when there is a dull moment in our lives here.

Thursday, Sept 20

Today, we went off to one of our favorite places for a walk. It's the Jardin du Luxembourg. We have been there many times but we always go back, both for a spot of tea in the outdoor cafe and for people watching. For more complete info about the Jardin, click here.  In addition to the flowers, statuary, pools, and trees, The French Senat has it's seat at the edge of the Jardin.

A map of the Jardin posted at one of the entrances

Reading in the sun

Flower display

Students having fun by making a stack of park chairs

 A stuffed duck sits on the stack.

And finally on the very top chair. Notice this is not a reflection but one chair on the legs of another

 The home of the French Senate, called the Senat

 One of the wide alleyways in the Jardin lined with trees

A contrast of the old and the new. The Jardin and in the background the more modern  skyscraper at the Montparnasse railway station

Thus endeth our visit.

Friday, Sept. 21

We have spent most of the week just walking around, seeing new things and visiting old haunts.

Saturday, Sept 22

To day we took a long walk in the Marais which is where we live. We passed by the lovely little park on the Rue du Parc Royal. It is on the rear side of the Carnavalet Museum, the museum of the city of Paris. Watch for our report of a revisit of the museum and its gardens. We had tea and a crepe in a small tea room called Page 45. Very nice place to stop and relax with a cup of tea.

In the evening we went to another of our favorite restaurants (we have a list) called Astier which was only about a twenty minute walk from the apartment. It is a typical French bistro not near any of the tourist spots. It has your traditional red-checkered table cloths, waiters in black aprons, and very good food. Read a review about it by clicking here. We each had the 35 euros fixed menu with 4-5 choices of entrees(Correct appellation of first course), plats (main courses), and desserts. Before the dessert there was also the cheese tray with a choice of over a dozen different cheeses, each one a delicious morsel. They left the tray on the table and you helped yourself to whatever you wanted. We had camembert with calvados, bleu d'Auvergne, cantal, goat cheese, and one other whose name I have forgotten. We plan on going back so I will get a picture of the tray next time. Although the menu price, about 55 dollars with a glass of wine, seems high, it really is excellent value. There certainly are others with a four course prix fix menu in Paris but I haven't found any yet, and certainly not with this quality.

 The owner working behind the bar

 The main dining area

 A table for four in the main area

A baba au rhum for dessert. A typical French dessert where the baba is cut in half and then doused with rum, served with a pot of cream, seen in Alexandria's hand.

We had a great time at Astier, chatting with the waiters and having a marvelous meal. We were there for more than an hour and a half and enjoyed every minute of it. We recommend it highly.

Sunday, Sept. 23

Today we did our annual visit to one of the local brocantes. A brocante is a sort of flea market and antiques show combined frequently found on a wide boulevard. This one was the Brocante Beaumarchais. The boulevard Beaumarchais is a wide street that runs from the place de la Bastille halfway up to the place de la Republique. Today the sidewalks were lined with booths and tents with over 100 merchants selling everything from expensive antiques to junk. Books, furniture, postal cards, tools, kitchen implements, clothing, rugs, silverware, plates, statues, it was all there. We walked about halfway down, stopped for a coke, and then went the rest of the way. We saw lots of interesting things but probably the best was the following living room set. You might not tell from the photo but it is suitable for small children.



Here are several photos of the brocante.

Supper was at home so no new restaurant to tell you about until later.

Monday, Sept 24

Today, we went to the Madeleine church for a choral concert. The Chamber Choir of the Imperial College in London gave an a cappella concert that was very good. They sang a variety of shorter pieces including Britten, Vaughn Williams, Parry, Victoria, and Rachmaninoff. If you are interested in the choir, click here.

After the concert, we had a drink at a cafe opposite the Madeleine, returned to our neighborhood where we had dinner at Mme Shawn, a Thai restaurant near us.

Wednesday, Sept 26

You may have heard of the play "A View from the Bridge." Today we now have "A View from the Bus." We were on our way home on the bus, it was a rather long ride, and I decided to take what I thought were some interesting photos. We both thought that they were pretty interesting, several not having any meaning for us, but here we go.

 Interesting name for a children's clothing shop

 Door into a middle school. French school children are not much different from ours.

 A poster on the side of a garbage truck. It tells us that a pizza costs 8.50 euros and if you throw the box on the street, it will cost you another 35 euros in fines for littering. It further tells us that Paris fines polluters, and that there is a garbage can every 100 meters in Paris

 Man on a motorbike, waiting for a green light

 The cupola of the department store Le Printemps in the bright sunlight

 A good example (not many remain) of the original metro entrances

 High class graffiti on a wall on our street near the apartment. Did you know the singular of graffiti is graffito?

Friday, Sept 28

Today, we went to several more of our favorite haunts. We first took the bus to visit St Sulpice on the left bank. We always stop there for a visit every time we are in Paris. This is the church referred to in the book and movie, The DaVinci code. There are many interesting chapels here. They have tried to restore some of them but in many the paintings are very dark and in need of a good cleaning. This is a long and expensive process.

 Here is one that has been cleaned up in the St Jean-Bartiste de la Salle chapel

 And here is one behind the rather modern sculpture that has not been cleaned up yet in the St Paul chapel

There used to be a disclaimer posted in the church denying any connection with the novel but it seems to have disappeared. We cannot say why. 

Here are a few other shots of the interior of the church.

After leaving St Sulpice, we walk over to the famous cafe, Les Deux Magots. Alexandria says that they have the best hot chocolate in Paris, so this is what she has. I have a glass of white wine and we share a delicious caramel eclair. Then on to our favorite chocolate shop in Paris, Debauve et Gallais on the rue des Saints Peres. We get about 200 grams which we will make last for a week or so, eating just one each every day. Good chocolates in Paris are expensive. They can be $50 or so a pound.

Saturday, Sept 29

. We had decided to go over to the two islands in the Seine, ile St Louis and ile de la Cite.

On our way, we sat for a bit in the gardens of the Hotel de Sens. Like many such gardens they are beautiful in full bloom in all seasons.

 One of our reasons for this visit was to savor the ice creams made by Berthillon, probably the most famous producer in Paris. When we got to the ile St. Louis, we were pleasantly surprised since on previous visits there had been lines waiting to go into the tea room. This time there was a line but only for the takeout section. We went right in to the tea room and were seated immediately. We each ordered a three scoop coupe. Alexandria had one each of blueberry, tiramisu, and  pralines. I had peach, apricot, and cherry. all of the flavors had a very rich intensity. They are all made on the premises. Each one came also with a kind of cookie that the French call a tuille. 

Berthillon shop

Line for takeout

Three scoop coupe

We walked down the main street of the ile St. Louis which is full of shops most appealing to the tourists that flock there. We crossed the bridge between the two islands and went over to Notre Dame but we did not go in since the lines were very long. We will go back some other day when the crowds are not so large.We did have a nice walk in the gardens behind the cathedral. Here are some photos of aspects that are not always pictured.

We went to the Palais de Justice where we caught the 96 bus back to our neighborhood. We ate in this evening. We had some of the pici that we had brought from Florence. If you haven't seen the blog on Italy, click here to read about pici. 

Sunday, Sept 30

Today, we will go to walk around the Jewish quarter on and around the rue des Rosiers. Sorry, but today was a washout. We walked up to the blvd Beaumarchais to catch the bus and we found out that the buses going in the direction we wanted were delayed because of "perturbations" on the line. This means that something was interrupting the traffic, most likely a demonstration along a boulevard or on one of the important squares. At least three lines were disrupted so we sat in a cafe for an hour or so, people watched, and then strolled back home. We had dinner in a little cafe near us.

I would like to take a few minutes to make some observations about Parisians. In general, they are very nice and cordial, from our point of view. BUT, there are a few things that disturb us. First of all, being from New Jersey, we find that people in motor vehicles do not observe the marked crosswalks. This is especially true of those on bikes and motorbikes. You have the right to cross but few observe your rights. So beware. Another thing is the smokers. Not the smokers themselves but the way they get rid of their butts. So many people throw them away where ever they are and do not even take the trouble to put them out. We have even seen waiters in the cafe terraces empty ashtrays into the gutters. On the sidewalks there re many trees and around each tree is a two foot wide grating. These gratings are full of butts. Poor trees!
The other evening we were in a cafe that had all of the floor-to-ceiling windows open. As you may know, smoking is not allowed in eating establishments. There was a couple sitting at a table that was indoors but partially in the window area. Both were smoking, Enough of the smoke was coming into the indoor area to be annoying but they were oblivious, and so was the waiter. Just inconsiderate.

Here are a few more interesting photos that I hope please you.

One of our favorite spots in Paris ;-). The emergency room entrance at the Hotel Dieu hospital opposite Notre Dame. This is where the emergency EMT's took us two years ago when Alexandria fell and fractured her shoulder. Excellent treatment and absolutely no expense to us.

A

The clock on the tower of the Conciergerie was recently restored and since August has been able to be seen by people on the Ile de la Cite. The Conciergerie is a former palace of French kings before they moved to the Louvre in 1358 and also for many years was a prison. See more detailed info by clicking here.

A monument to those who gave their lives for their country. It is located in the courtyard of the town hall (la mairie) of the 3rd arrondissement which is where we are living. It is actually just across the street from the end of our street.



Guess what?

Monday, Oct 1

Today we had the great pleasure of having dinner with Ed and Davida. Both have been

friends for years and Davida was a former colleague in Millburn. She is as great a

francophile as I am, and she and Ed are in Paris for ten days to revisit old favorites and

see some new things.

We met at the place St. Sulpice and had a drink in a café and caught each other up on family

and friends. They had arrived in Paris the day before and had spent their first full day

just walking around near their hotel. We went over to the Mâchon d'Henri, yes the same

one I had reported upon before in this blog. It is one of our favorites and we have been

there enough times that the waiter greets us with a handshake which, in France, is an

indication that we are good customers. This is a very small place with just the one

waiter, one chef in the kitchen which is smaller than ours in Union, and one person who

does the entrées and the desserts. See the four of us in a photo taken by the waiter. Notice the size of the kitchen in the background of the photo.

We had a good meal with D and E enjoying a lovely salad and a roast chicken.

Alexandria had the salad with Roquefort cheese dressing and the herring. I had the

roasted red peppers and the lamb chops. D and E shared a chocolate mousse and we

shared the compote, which is really just stewed fruit. And a pot of red wine. We talked a

lot more during the meal and over coffee and tea. We spent, à la française, almost two

hours for dinner. We like this place because the food is not fancy but very good, and just

a bit over 50 dollars per couple.

We parted ways out on the street and returned to our separate abodes. We agreed to

meet at Chez Jenny on Thursday for dinner. Certainly we'll have more happenings to

talk about.

Wednesday, Oct 3

We started out this afternoon to walk down to the place des Vosges. It was a bit cloudy,

but by the time we were about 3/4 there, it started to rain. We ducked into a cafe, sat

under the awning on the sidewalk, and had our usual afternoon libation. We noticed

across the street a very small, but nice park called the square Leopold Achille. It had a

lot of places to sit and a small children's playground.

Paris has many such peaceful places including the one near our place. By the time it

had stopped raining, it was getting a bit late to go to the place des Vosges, so we too a

different route back, through the little park, and through some side streets. We passed

by a very elegant building, see photo below.

We also saw some new and different graffiti pictured below.

We also passed by a building that used to be a small hotel and a café, now run down.

Here we saw the epitome of graffiti.

That evening, we had dinner in a small place a few blocks away called la Fontaine

Gourmande. There were only about a dozen tables with room for maybe 30 people. We

had a very good meal. Seated across from us was a very quiet, well-behaved customer

who never said a word. We asked if we could take a picture, and here he is.

Thursday, Oct 4

Today we went for another walk in the "quartier" and had afternoon tea, again, at the

Terasse des Archives which we had enjoyed a few days ago. We then went to visit the

gardens of the Archives. We had often come here before. It is a very beautiful and

tranquil place. See photos.

The Archives building itself taken from the gardens

The gardens of the Archives

 We sat for a bit, people watched and then took another route back to the apartment. We have just about exhausted the possibilities of routes back home. In the evening, we went again to Chez Jenny where were joined by Ed and Davida.

Ed's skewer was greatly presented.

 We chatted quite a bit before ending the evening with two desserts, one Baba au Rhum and one chocolate and vanilla ice cream coupe.

This Baba is different from one a week or so ago but equally good, and equally doused with rum

Speaking of desserts, here a few otrhers that we have recently. The first is a chocolate moelleux, rich chocolate cake with a richer soft center of chocolate. The second is a griotte tart, griottes being a type of sour-like cherries. 

We parted company after a wonderful evening and agreed to do lunch next Monday.

Friday, Oct. 5

Today we went off to the Centre Georges Pompidou, also known as the Centre

Beaubourg, not to see the art which is mostly modern, but to again people watch. Our

vantage point was a café that overlooks the front esplanade of the museum.  

We sat on the the terrace of a café where hundreds of people stroll by each hour.

There are always entertainers here. Today, there was a clown entertaining mainly

children by tying balloons in funny shapes.

But we were more interested in the juggler who alternated amongst balls, flaming

batons, and regular batons. See him below.

You will be able to see him in video if my first attempt at the technology works. It seems to work on my PC but not on my iPad.

On the way back to the apartment, stopped for a light supper at the Moroccan food

stand in the Marché aux Enfants Rouges which is the local outdoor market just behind

our place. We each had couscous, Moroccan bread, and mint tea. A simple but good meal.

Back upstairs for an early night since we had to get up early the following day.

Sunday, Oct 7

Despite the fact that it was Sunday, and the fact that it is the first Sunday of the month when the museums are free, we went off to the Louvre museum for our first visit this year. We went specifically for the new exhibition of Islamic Art which had opened recently in a new section of the museum. There were lots of people there but the security line went quickly and in less than a quarter of an hour we were seeing a wonderful exhibit of thousands of artifacts from the Islamic world.

At the entrance there was a large map that showed the areas of the world exhibited there.

We  spent over two hours there and really saw a portion of the displays. Here is a selection of a few that we especially liked.

 A ceramic bowl, 10-12 centuries from Iran

 Ceramic dagger handles

 A front-opening cabinet of ivory and wood, 17th century

 An elephant door knocker, copper, 17-18 century

Dish picturing the battle of the animals from Iran

Ceramic star tiles from Iran, 14-15 centuries

Oil lamps from Iran, 11-12 centuries 

There are many more photos which will be posted later.

After the museum, we went to the Mariages Freres tea room in the arcade under the museum. We have been to their main store/tea room many times before on past visits. We had a light late lunch accompanied, of course, by their famous tea service.

They will serve you tea with hundreds to choose from. Here is the tea bar where all of the brews are concocted from the containers of the different teas. The "barrista" is an expert in getting teas ready for serving.

Monday, Oct 8

Today we had a long lunch at Astier (see Friday, Sept 21) with Ed and Davida. They are leaving for home (California) on Wednesday and this would be the last chance we would have to see them before departure. It was a rainy afternoon when we left the restaurant. We took the bus back to our place, and they took the metro back to their hotel. We stayed in the rest of the afternoon. We had a light supper before watching a DVD in the evening.

Tuesday, Oct 9

This afternoon, we spent several hours at the Pierre du Marais cafe around the corner from our place. We attended presentation about using your iPhone camera. The presenter was Michael Honegger, a photographer living in Paris. He showed us a lot of useful techniques and apps for the iPhone/iPad. The session was sponsored by Adrian Leeds, a property consultant in Paris, whom we met several years ago.

Early in the evening we went out to dinner in a small café located near la place des Vosges. called Café des Musées. We had read about it in several guides so we decided to try it. When we arrived about 7 pm, most of the tables were either occupied or reserved, this on a Tuesday evening. We did manage to get a table between the door and the bar and across from the small kitchen area. It was a table that most would not have cared for, but enjoyed it immensely because we could watch the barrista preparing drinks and coffee,, the chef at work in in his small kitchen, the rest of the small staff going about their business in a very professional way.

Typical service bar of a restaurant

The small kitchen of the Café des Musées with the chef at work. He is aided by one other person doing salads, French fries, etc. There is prep kitchen on the basement level where there are probably one or two others at work doing the prep work and washing dishes. We had a fine dinner including several of the specialties: mushrooms stuffed with snails and a roast loin of pork with roasted garlic and scalloped potatoes.

Thurs, Oct 11

Not much happening the past few days. Have been to some nice repeats on restaurants.Other than that, not much to report. So here are some unusual photos that I have taken recently.

 Have you ever seen the Twizy? It's a one seat car made by Renault. Here it is in their show window on the boulevard Beaumarchais. It's electric.

More grafitti on a wall. Don't ask me what it all means.

                                   
 A hair dressers with a name that is a play on words. Notice it sounds like scissors?

 More wall grafitti

An unusual sculpture near the metro stop Arts et Metiers.

Friday, Oct 12

We have had several days of on and off showers with an occasional serious downpour. It has limited our travles and walks. However, today we went to the Ile St Louis and visited the Eglise S Louis en l'Ile. It is located on the one main street that runs the entire length of the island. It is only a few doors from the Berthillon ice cream shop and tea room. It is a smallish church but very well kept with a lot of beautiful art work and a lovely interior. See photos below.

 View of the church from the rear

 The high-vaulted ceiling

 One of many stained glass windows

 A close-up of one panel of a window

 Another window

The organ

We continued on along the main street to the end of the island and crossed the bridge to the Ile de la Cite         

                                    

Here is a view of the Paris Town Hall from the bridge.

We walked around Notre Dame to the front entrance, waited on a short line, and went into the cathedral.

Have to leave. More to come later today. If you are following, the next addition will be in the form of a new posting which means that it will appear from now on at the beginning of the blog and you will not have to scroll down to the end to see new additions.