A WEEK IN PARIS

IWell the week was going well and I had faithfully recorded the days events when I again hit something on the iPad and everything disappeared from the screen.  Let me tell you it makes you sick because it takes a lot of time to sit down and write what's been going on.  I think I may just publish each day just to make sure at least something goes out.

Anyway, starting over again,

We left on Sunday, the 20th and we got to the right station, at the right time, found the right platform and boarded the right train.  We are really catching on to this travel by public transportation.  We arrived in Paris at Gare du Nord and caught a taxi to Ile de la Cite where we were staying.  We met with Alain who turned over the keys to us and we settled in.

We are staying at my daughter-in-law's flat which is right by the Pont Neuf, and looks out on the Seine.  The view of the Seine is from every room but the kitchen.  Right now the view is somewhat obstructed as the building is being reroofed and scaffolding and safety netting surround us.  We are also awakened every morning by the pounding of nails and the stomping of feet.  These French men are not light on their feet.  Still a great place to be calling hme for the week.

The kitchen view, although not of the Seine is lovely as well.  The flowers in the kitchen window box are in full blom.

The Pont-Neuf ( New Bridge) is the oldest bridge in Paris being completed in 1607. The Ile de la Cite is the area where the first settlers came to this city in 300 BC.  It is the location of the the famed cathedral, Notre-Dame, and other tourist attractions, The Sainte-Chapelle,the Conciergerie and one of the last remaining flower markets in the city. Although the area is a tourist atraction it seems less so than other areas of the city.  Notre-Dome is the number one tourist attraction in the city but that crowd is somewhat contained around the cathedral.  

The Pont-Neuf. (The view from our windows with scaffolding).

In the summer, sand from Normandy is shipped in and a beach is constructed along the lower walking area.  They have small eating areas, showers and the all essential bathrooms.  We view this scene from the windows in the apartment. Swimming is not recommended.  They have been cleaning the Seine for about 10 years now and fish are back.  I don't think it's recommended you eat them but sport fihing can be seen along the banks - catch and return.  Lucky fish.  They weren't always so lucky - this area developed as the early tribes started fishing for food and than realizd they could sell it to other tribes and a thriving fishing business helped develope Paris unto the city it is today.

Our street.

After getting settled we found a little cafe close by ate an early dinner and returned to the flat to just relax.

Monday was the day to get our chores done.  We found a market and stocked up on breadkfast goodies  and just wandered around the streets purchasing some items that were unavailable in Amsterdam.  After almost 16000 steps just exploring and walking around we were pretty exhausted. 

We did find these cute "faces" in one of the shops.

We stopped late in the day to have a coffee or maybe wine ( who can remember these things) and just people watched for awhile and rested our tired feet.

I remember now.  It was wine and they served it in the world's tiniest wine glass.  But still fun to watch the people go by.

See what interesting people you can see.

That night we walked around the neighborhood and got into a little trouble at one of the boutiques and than found a little place to have dinner. The evening was so beautiful we decided to take a short walk over to the Louvre.  Shortly after we arrived the lights went on.  We walked out the other side of the Louvre courtyard and decided to stop and have a glass of wine.  

Tuesday we decided to go to the other Ile in Paris the Ile St-Louis.   We walked up the street, past the flower  market,

past Notre-Dame,

and past the line of tourists who were seeking admittance to the cathedral.

And we stolled right into the Ile St-Louis.  This Ile has a village like feel  and has been an exclusive residential enclave since the 17th century.  It has only narrow one way streets. no metro stop and only 2 bus stops.  It's Main Street is lined with shops,galleries and restaurants.  It's just a fun place to shop and look around.  It is also the home of the best ice cream in Paris - Bethillion.  I have been told that at times you can see young girls carrying signs reading " Marry me Johnny" up and down the street.  Johnny Depp was a resident at one time.  I knew he no longer lived there so I left my sign at home.  No making a fool of myself.  

A cute little kitchen shop drew us in to have a look around.  Dish brushes, teapots, cheese graters and toasters were just a few of the cute items.  

Sharon found this cute carrot grater.

With these it would just be so much fun to be in your kitchen and cook.  On second thought, I think these would be just too cute to use so you'd have to go out to eat.  Mmmmmm I think that works for me!

A couple of the cute eating places...

And a wonderful little gourmet shop that I could have purchased any number of items from but I can't be transporting vinegars, and olive oils all over the place.  I did buy some Truffle salt however.  Samples of  little toasts with olive oil and sprinkled with the truffle salt were available to try.  Delicious! Sold!

We ate a little lunch and than decided to head to the Luxembourg Metro stop and see if we could find a little shop which was the sister shop to one in our neighborhood. We had looked at some things the other night and Sharon wanted something in a size our neighborhoood store didn't have available.  Off we went.  Like Pro's.  Got a little help from a native who headed us in the right direction and we proceeded to walk and walk and walk and had a feeling that the neighborhood we were in did not look like one where a little boutique dress store could be but we decided to continue our walk and get to no.19.  We looked across the street and there it was.  Unfortunately they didn't have the size that Sharon had wanted in the selected item but we both increased our wardrobe with a few new items purchased at 30% off.  We did walk along way so it just seemed right to have made it worth our while.

We walked back to the Luxembourg metro stop and decided we still had the energy to walk around in the Luxembourg gardens.  There are only 60 acres so we didn't walk the whole thing.  The gardens were created in 1612 around the palace built by Marie de Medici, regent of France.The palace now houses the French Senate.

The gardens contain over a hundred statues, monuments and fountains scattered throughout the grounds.  Surrounding the central green space are about 20 figures of historical French queens and female saints commissioned by Louis-Philippe in 1848, standing on pedestals.  I had taken pictures of many of them and when looking at them to put on the blog I realized I had beheaded a couple.  Terrible that they should get through their lifes here in France, not meeting such fate, and than along I come and behead them.  Unfortunate.

Beheaded,,,

We left the gardens without really seeing half of them but we were a bit tired at this time so wanted to get home and rest up because we were heading to the Montmartre area for the evening..

To be continued......Bonsoir