Discovering Paris

Locks inscribed with the initials of people in love...

 The next day was Monday, July 12.  Time to make Paris our own.  The heat of Versailles took its toll on Aidan.  He didn’t have heat exhaustion, exactly.  But as we climbed onto the stuffy train headed back to the 16th arrondissement and our flat, he didn’t look so good.  His eyes were very glassy and he was having trouble cooling his body down – he was radiating heat from all surfaces.  That afternoon, we had been soaking a hat in water and placing it on his head for some evaporative cooling, but it didn’t completely do the trick.  We were a bit concerned, so Ken took him outside to rest on a bench for a little while until round 11pm before coming to bed.

Aidan's favorite breakfast

What's a croc ball?

The next day, as we ate breakfast, we plotted out our plan for discovering the city.  To my surprise and slight horror, Ken had plotted out a map of all the outdoor shops in the area, thinking he could get a good look at the outdoor market and see Paris at the same time.  This seemed perfectly logical to him, as this whole trip was sort of a working vacation.  And I – I recoiled and sputtered, thinking how I could ever show my face to people if I told them I saw Paris as a side bar to visiting outdoor specialty shops.  Oh no, no, this wouldn’t do.  I had to find a compromise.  Those of you who are married can guess that this means we would see Paris my way, and then if we happened to be near some outdoor shops, then we would stop by and give the kids a rest from walking.

I let Ken in on my plan.  I have already said that crowds sort of skeeve me out.  And it’s high holiday season in Europe.  So my idea is this.  Take all the cool spots I have heard about from a few blogs on living in Paris, and find them, neighborhood by neighborhood.  This way we get to see side streets that otherwise we might never stroll down.  Eat in places that don’t just cater to tourists.  And maybe, get a feel for living in the city.  That way when we come back, in the off-season, we can stay somewhere we like and do some of the more touristy things.  For example, I’d like to come back and just visit museums.  I really did want to see Musee D’Orsay, and was hoping it would happen this trip, but it just didn’t work out.  The Lourve was free on Bastille Day, but can you imagine the crowds?

We plotted all the addresses from Google maps into Garmina, set her on pedestrian mode, and headed for the Metro.

It was just perfect.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather, or better places to visit.  We basically went down into the 4th arrondissement and bounced our way through the Latin quarter and up the Seine to the Musee D’Orsay.  That took all day!  It was slow and sweet.  Here are just a few pictures.  After a fight, it’s always good to (French) kiss and make up (with the French.)

We found the city’s best espresso.  And let me tell you, it was goood.  The barista modestly took credit for something he claimed wasn’t very hard to do – make the best espresso in Paris.  He said it took him months to convince the owners to use fresh milk.  Europeans have a fondness for the ultra-pasteurized milk that comes in boxes – blech.

The city’s best English language book store…

The city’s best chocolate chaud.  It’s a good thing the shop is walking distance to Notre Dame, because you will need to go to confession after this.

The original Magasin Sennelier.  This is the place where Pablo Picasso went to ask Mr. Sennelier to make him oil pastels.  He wanted to use oil paints in stick form after seeing crayons that Japanese school children had (cray-pas made by Sakura-san, no less.)

 Not your normal pictures of Paris, but then you already know what Notre Dame looks like, don't you?