Paris, July 14 2014

And don't call it Bastille Day...ever!  It is "le 14 juillet" or "la fête nationale".  Well, we knew there was a military parade (down the Champa Élysées) because the jets roared overhead.  Ken slept for over 12 hours....a record for him, so we were late getting out for coffee and croissants.  First we shopped for sundries, coffee and milk at the wonderful market next door, dropped it all back at the apartment, then settled in at Paul, two doors down. Paul was established in 1897 and is just wonderful...inside or out...for any meal of the day.  Plus there is a "traiteur" department where you can get wonderful bread, pastries, salads, tarts etc.  This is where we will come for evening collations to take back to the apartment after we have our big meal at lunchtime.  Well, we really enjoyed our little breakfast.  Then it was off to our first stop...a place Ken had never seen.  La Sainte Chapelle.  My favorite monument.  I wish I had had my camera ready for his face when we stepped into the upper chapel!  I had struggled up the narrow spiral stone staircase and so was not prepared for anything but a big sigh of relief.  But his face said it all!  It is the most extraordinary place of worship.  But that is just my opinion.  Unfortunately, it is undergoing renovations and the rose window was under wraps.  We bought tickets for the tonight's concert of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.

We then walked over to Notre Dame, which is cleaner than I have ever seen it, and sat a while. 

 Ken will come back to see the Gallo-Roman ruins under the "parvis".  He will also come back to the area to visit the Conciergerie tomorrow. 

Then we walked over to the Place St. Michel and plunked ourselves down outdoors at a very nice café, le Clou de Paris, for our late lunch.  Nice and long, French style.  I had a charcuterie platter, which arrived sans rillettes!  Took a while, but I eventually got them and they were creamy and delicious.  Le tout washed down with a Kir and later a coffee.  The day had started out gray and damp, but by the time we started our meal,  it had cleared.  By the time we walked home down Rue St. André des Arts, it was hot!  During lunch an ambulatory "man-orchestra" serenaded us with a dreadful rendition of the wonderful Leonard Cohen "Alleluia".  Here he is...Gyraf!  (Stock photo because I could not get a good one of him without someone's face in the way.) Yes, that is what he is called and he has a website.  Well, this is Paris. Here, too, is a sculpture on the wall by the café.

My lunch sans rillettes, which were delivered later!

The concert was just wonderful: Pachelbel's Canon and Mozart's Divertimento to warm us up, then Vivaldi's Four Seasons.  What an amazing space for a concert!  I was transported!

Afterwards, we stopped at le Soleil d'Or for Berthillon ice cream. Here is the photo of mine: 1 scoop Hazelnut and 1 scoop Saltes butter caramel.  OMG!  Ken had chocolate and pistachio.  We just sat along the quais at the Pont St. Michel and people watched as the sun went down.  Of course, it is still light here at 11pm.  The cafe closed at 10 and so walked home!  You hate to go to bed by day! :)