Returning to France Day 7

Song - These Are the Days by Van Morrison


Jackie, Sydney and I got up early and headed to Pierre Herme's bakery near Saint-Sulpice.  We stood in line, in the rain to get a fresh croissant.  They are popular and go very quickly!

It was so hard to choose once I saw all of that goodness in front of me!

.....but it was just breakfast time!

 So I stuck with my original decision and got a croissant....but it was a Passion Fruit crossiant!

 Oh my graciousness was it wonderful! Every last crumb!

 With our souls having been filled by that yummy croissant we ventured around the corner to Odorantes - a tiny flower shop filled with sweet peas, peonies, ranunculus, freesias etc.  They were not quite open for business yet so we headed over to some other local shops.

Cire Trudon a candlemakers shop.....


Souleiado a Provencal fabric & clothing shop.......


 A few posies were around the corner in Le Marche Saint Germain and begged to be photographed....

 After dropping off our purchases at the hotel we Ubered over to E. Dehillerin in the 1st Arr. for our copper fix!

 I have been known to bring home copper pots for Mr. B in my suitcase - large ones too! This time I spotted a small pan with a very beautiful shape but figured that I would wait to buy it until Mr. B and I return to Paris in a few weeks. No sense lugging it around France for all of that time.

And guess what time it is?   Yup.  Lunchtime!  We wanted to eat at Cinq-Mars near the Musee d'Orsay but there was a 30 minute wait as we did not have any reservations. So we walked around the block and did some window shopping.....well maybe stepped inside a few places.  Like this cheese shop - just for a quick sniff!

By then it was time to be seated at the cafe and eat.........something yummy!

Sydney and I each ordered the Morel mushroom omelette...... 

And Jackie had the asparagus and terrine......

Once again our souls were happy!

Sydney took off to explore while Jackie & I headed back to our hotel to wash our hair.  No dinner tonight as we were all too full!

"In France, cooking is a serious art form

 and a national sport." 

 -- Julia Child

Learning to Fly - Part Quatre

Song -  Smile by Madeleine Peyroux

Paris is an amazing place to people watch.  I always travel with my camera that has a great zoom lens so that people usually don't realize they are being photographed.  I use these photo's for reference when I am painting.  I did ask the woman in the photo above if it was OK to take her photo making crepes.  She very happily said "oui" as do most people when I ask.

Waiters and people at cafes are always favorites of mine.

Hot chestnuts cooking on the back of this motorcycle.

 Sometimes it's not until I return home from my trip and check out my photos on my computer screen that I realize that I may have gotten more than I bargained for!!

ooh..la la....Paris is the city of love.......even the angels that are holding onto the fountain are giving these two a double take.

The men playing petanque in the Luxemboug gardens are fun to watch as they are very passionate about their game.

The open air markets are fun for several reasons - people, food and flowers!

Young love.....what can I say?

And a more mature kind of admiration....

Doggie love is everywhere in Paris.

They also love their cheese - don't forget to look in shop windows.  

This cheese monger is trying to find the perfect fromage for his customer.

Look at the expression of this little guy looking at statues in the Musee Rodin.

Remember there are colorful characters where ever you go!

And you might just be one yourself!
 

(And no it was not Halloween but Springtime)

"If everyone would look for that uniqueness 

then we would have a very colorful world."

--Michael Schenker

Cheese

There was a huge amount of cheese represented at this market as well as big cheese!


"How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?" --Charles De Gaulle