Around Town

Some things I want to remember when I look back on this blog (which I do fairly often).

We went to the Marche Enfants Rouges the other day. It is one of the oldest covered markets in Paris and one of the most eclectic. Besides typical markets like a flower, fruit, fish and meat markets there are many ethnic food stands with lots of people lined up for a quick, tasty meal.







Judy bought a nice bouquet of roses and thistles which she put on display in the apartment. They look gre

When Henry and Gigi were here, we took a tour of the original Opera House of Paris, the Opera Garnier. Garnier was the architect of this glorious public opera house. Between this one and the new Opera Bastille, there is opera or ballet almost every day. Make sure if you take an after hours tour that there is no performance that night as most of the venue will be closed. Anyway, it is a beautiful setting.

 According to the guide, most people not only wanted to "see" the Opera, but, more importantly, they wanted to be "seen" at the Opera. Therefore there were many mirrors and terrific vantage points so opera buffs could do their people watching.

Grand Staircase

 Judy and I went for lunch at Le Select café on Blvd Montparnasse. This is a celebrated  café that became well known to Americans when many of the ex-Pats like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Man Ray held court there on a nightly basis during the 20's and 30's. I was hoping to have a brush with greatness, but no such luck. Just a good meal and a pleasant time. Walking to catch the bus back to the Marais, we got caught in a brief snow storm.

I went for a walk to do some sketching and stopped to take a few pictures too. Here is a classic view of Notre Dame

Here is a young couple taking advantage of the great scenery for some pre-wedding photos. A little different than people taking photos on the boardwalk in Sandwich.

The book sellers are beginning to open up their stalls even if there are not too many customers. It is March 8th and still a bit cool. But when things change here they change quickly.

Speaking of sketching, here are couple I've done. I joined Pauline Fraisse' Travel and Writing workshop for a day when we first arrived. It gave me what I needed to get up the courage to go out and sit down somewhere in public and get out the sketch pad and my little travel water color kit. After the workshop I went out on my own and started some sketches and finished them at home.

View of the Patheon beyond Ile St Louis

Velib St Paul (bike rental station)

 Paris is beautiful any time of the day but especially at night. There is always something lit up in even the smallest neighborhood. Yesterday, Jo Schafer, who will take over the apartment when we leave, arrived to overlap with us for a couple of days. We had a very enjoyable dinner at Restaurant Trumilou along the river.





Here are couple of photos I took last night after dinner.

Interesting façade of a hotel on Rue de Vielle Temple

St Gervais, behind Hotel De Ville

Today, Jacques and Claire came in for lunch. Claire had made endive, wrapped in ham with a béchamel sauce for us. It is one of Judy's favorites which we remember from the first time Claire's mother made it for us in Brussels 40+ years ago.

 To top it off, we had home made macarons that Judy and Claire made in a cooking class at La Cuisine de Paris. They had a lot of fun and did some pretty fine work. This is all that was left after dinner.

I could go on forever....