Thursday in Paris

Interesting day today. We did not get out of the hotel until almost 10:00, but since we have no firm plans, it really didn't matter. It was also a cloudy, dreary day and we were not to excited to get out there. We wandered into a local cafe and had a chocolate croissant and a baguette with butter and two cafe au laits. Sharon drinks coffee on vacation in Paris but not at home. She had cafe au lait at lunch today also. I don't know this woman!

Next stop the Marché Richard-Lenoir. This is a street market on a few blocks of Boulevard Richard Lenoir help every Thursday and Sunday just north of the Bastille traffic circle. Lovely and filled with the smells of fresh fish (smelled of the sea) and flowers, and fruits and vegetables, and cheese. A joy for the senses.

We hopped on the 69 bus and headed east. This bus line and the 42 are the best busses for visitors. Between the two of the, they hit most of the sights you want to see. We started at Bastille and got off at Invalides. In between we saw the Hotel de Ville, the Musee Louvre, the Musee Orsay, and cruised through St. Germain. From Invalides we walked east to Rue Cler and had lunch at Le Cafe du Marche. We have eaten here a number of times and it is comforting for us. We shared a carafe of rose and we each had a salad - healthy except to the amount of cheese on the salads and of course the wine.

The cafe is close to the Tour Eifel so we headed that way. Walking down Rue de Grenelle I stopped to photograph a building. A gentleman stopped and told us it was but one example of rococo style by an architect who did another building on Avenue Rapp. The architect was Jules Aimé Lavirotte. Read about him here.

On to the Tour Eifel! Construction is in progress and will be for a while. It does take a way a bit from the experience, but it is interesting. The crowds and lines were not as they normally are. I suspect it was due partly to the construction and partly by the weather. The military presence at the Tour Eifel was significant with automatic weapons and ready to go. Perhaps this explains why the normal hordes of hawkers were not in evidence! As it was, it started raining about 15 minutes after we got there. Sharon and I decided to get back on the bus, but we failed to find the bus stop which resulted in some tense moments and two dripping and cold visitors. We decided to take the RER and Metro back to Bastille. We knew where the RER station was!

Back at the hotel we rested for a while and then about 7:00 headed out for dinner - our target, Le Gorille Blanc. They did not open until 7:30 which meant we killed some time post card shopping and then an apertif of a sauvignon blanc for Sharon and a pastis for me. When we got to the restaurant they asked if we had a reservation, sad to say no, but we were seated! Another couple who came in right after us was turned away. We had an extraordinary meal! Nice atmosphere, great service, and wonderful food. I will fill in the details with photos of the menu when I have better WiFi access. We were there until after 10:00 and three courses and a bottle of wine. Two happy travellers. This really made up for the rest of the day which was somewhat of a bust because of it being cold and damp. We want it to be warm and sunny! Perhaps we have to wait for Sitges for that.

Sharon mentioned today that. she had seen a number of people who could be brothers of Pete Deckinga. As we talked about it. we realized that we often see people who remind us of someone else we know. We are all one big family no matter where we are and we are all related whether we like it or not.