The day started out sunny enough. I wanted to get a pic of this French couple waiting at the bus stop, but did it by concentrating on Susanne. I didn't quite get the right angle so I could crop Susanne out, so here are the three of them.
A quick shot across the Place to the new Opera, the one everyone thinks is ugly, me too.
We decided to check out the St. Germain church first. It is the oldest church in Paris, parts of it going back to the 11th century.
From the outside it looks quite plain.
In front of the church steps, remnants of a morning wedding
Looking toward the chancel, the Gothic arches added in the 14th century are a nice contrast to the painted ceiling.
Looking back towards the entrance and the organ above.
On the boulevard side of the church a dixieland jazz group was playing for the enjoyment of the passersby & perhaps garnering a few euros on the side. Click HERE to get to the web.
We then meandered down Boulevard St. Germain. The day became less sunny & a bit chillier. We decided to have a hot drink outside the cafe...me/tea with milk, Susanne/hot chocolate. The tables extend out towards the sidewalk, three tables for two each that can be put together or separated as needed. The four places closest to the cafe were occupied by two couples who got in from San Francisco a few hours before, just finishing up their meal. We took the outer two places. They were operating on adrenalin. Had a very nice visit, they have four full days, no specific plans, first trip to Paris. They had the worthless freebee map from the hotel, I suggested a better map in book form & that they rely on the hotel concierge for recommendations.
They then left and were replaced by a French Fat Bastard & his girlfriend, smoking & making out with her. He was kind enough to put out the cigarette first thing and as time passed, we had a nice visit...his English was quite good. He turned out to be a cordial, friendly & quite lovable French Fat Bastard.
Here he is avec GF, I'll spare you the smooching pic.
He was quite proud of that shirt.
Here is our nomination for the weird car of 2013. Forgot the brand, it is not one of the known French or European car makers. It appears the hard top folds into the compartment where the trunk ought to be.
Susanne said they sure make the sizes small here. That's not a trick of perspective. It's actually doll size.
Continuing our stroll, we happened upon a flea market & bought a few things.
In a rare moment of sunshine, I caught the back side of Notre Dame.
The Paris blogs say Berthillion, on Ile St. Louis has the best ice cream in town & always has a line. They're right, by golly!!!!
While on the island, we came upon a church St. Louis-en-L'Ile and strolled in. Wow! We were glad we did. Built during the 17th & 18th centuries, it has to be the best lit church in Paris. Here's a shot, again, looking towards the chancel.
A closer view of the main altar.
The sunburst below the stained glass window yields a Hebrew word, pronounced "Adonai", one of the words Jews use for God.
We ain't so far apart after all!!
Looking back in the other direction is the organ, of course.
And finally, why the church is so well lit. It's those extra large, extra high, plain glass windows, unobstructed by the arches. The sun being fairly low in the sky also helped.
From there we walked home, as it turns out St. Germain-des-Pres to Bastille.
And for dinner we walked up & back almost to Republique. At a Moroccan restaurant, we had a lamb & vegetable tajine & a tomato salad plus a bakalava for dessert, all to share. The food was great but the service was horrendous, the worst we've had in France since we can remember. It was clear we didn't spend enough to suit the server; the man didn't really want to be waiting on us. I wrote them a lousy review on Yelp.
It turns out we walked a lot on Sunday.
I'm falling behind with the posts & can feel blog fatigue beginning to set in. If there are any posts left to prepare, I will do them in my spare time during the nine hour flight Paris to Dulles on Thursday, then publish them from Scottsdale. We'll be home but blog-wise, you'll still be in Paris.
No comments:
Post a Comment