First stop, round the corner, a little nail salon, one of the few that handles acrylic nails...they are not popular here. I made an appointment for Saturday. Ken has an American friend visiting from Blois and they plan to go to the Orangerie to see the very large Monets. I have seen the restored rooms and it would be too much for me.
Next stop, the macaroon store again! I got a little bag of our favorites for the train ride to Brussels tomorrow. Then I explored a little cobblestone alley between the Rue St. André des Arts And our building on the rue de Buci. It runs between the rue de Buci and the Bd. St. Germain. Gated at both ends...it is called the Cours de Commerce St. André. It contains an olive oil boutique, a couple of jewelry stores and a lot of really interesting restaurants and tea rooms, including the rear entrance to Le Procope, the oldest restaurant in Paris, where I dined with my parents, Jonathan and my Auntie Alex in 2000. It was quite an experience! Opened in 1686, it became a gathering place for intellectuals in the 18th century...Voltaire, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and others.
Câreme was a famous Belgian poet.
All the chefs and waiters were sitting on the sidewalk having their last smokes before lunchtime. Yes, Paris still smokes! Smoking is banned in enclosed areas, so they smoke on the open terraces of restaurants...and on the streets! Still, it is a thousand times better than it was when your meal arrived shrouded in smoke!
On the Bd. St. Germain is a staue of Danton, one of the great leaders of the French Revolution. He is often considered to be the chief force in the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of the First French Republic. A moderating influence on the Jacobins he was guillotined by the advocates of revolutionary terror. The statue was erected by the city of Paris. Paris," Danton said, "is the natural and constituted centre of free France. It is the centre of light. When Paris shall perish there will no longer be a republic." How many times has Paris come close to perishing since those words were uttered!
Met Ken for lunch at the Deux Magots, across from the wonderful Église St. Germain des Près. We ate with the ghosts of every great French writer and philosopher...and Hemingway and Wilde. But, the greatest of the great, Camus, is my favorite ghost.
Ken's lunch.
Les deux Magots.
Mon héros.
St. Germain des Près.
After our wonderful lunch, we visited the church and returned to our digs. Ken then went off to walk to the Eiffel Tower and back. We later had yummy fresh baguette (it was too hot to handle!), cheese, fruit and wine for a light supper. Tomorrow, Brussels for the day!
P.S. Parisiennes are still slender and well dressed!
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