From Gail:
The days are beginning to all smoosh together in my brain. Don't know if it's a function of jet lag or just information/sensory overload. In our lovely apartment there is a binder full of information about the area, written by the owner. Yesterday (or was it Monday?) I read a bit about walks to take and outdoor markets to visit. I started to re-read it this morning to refresh my memory so we could plan an outing, and, amazingly (or not), it was as if I were reading something new! Some of the sentences sounded familiar, but others, I swear, I never read (but I did).
Today dawned glorious and warm long before we arose at 9:30. This sleeping in is wonderful, but it does put a rather strange tint on the day. It seems we should be starting out finding breakfast, but in fact, we need to seek out lunch because it is about 11:30 before we leave the apartment. We stay up quite late (for me!) since we don't eat dinner until 9 or 10 p.m. One of the most amazing things is that it stays light out until after 10 p.m.!
Last night we had dinner at Dames Tartines, at a table right beside the amusing fountain at the Centre Georges Pompidou (the one in the photos previous, of the boobs sculpture, etc. in the fountain). A trio of young women were out there singing and gathering a crowd. Small children, and later, bigger ones, were dribbling soccer balls. As we left, there were two street performers doing acrobatics and magic. All this at 10 p.m. and with large appreciative crowds. As we headed back to our apartment, we stopped at a gelato store. The best gelato I've ever had. Dark chocolate and mandarin orange. What a combo!
Today we went to the Place des Vosges, a small, yet beautiful little park of about one square block. Lots of nannies and parents with children. I spent some time watching a summer camp group of 5-6 year olds. It's so cute to hear little kids speaking French! There were a couple small play areas with sand and climbing structures, and lots of shade trees with benches underneath, as well as a couple fountains. We grabbed some sandwiches nearby and had lunch there. I will include here a photo of an ingenious teeter-totter. One that prevents one's evil teeter-totter mate from jumping off and allowing the other one to crash to the ground. Why hasn't this caught on in America? In America, they've all but eliminated teeter-totters, due to the evil dumping trick.
Place des Vosges
Shade in the Place des Vosges
Looking up in the Place des Vosges--flowers are everywhere!
The super-duper spring-loaded safety-approved teeter-totter.
After lunch, Kat and I split up. She to explore the Bastille area and I to explore the much-celebrated (in guidebooks) department store BHV. Let me tell you, BHV defies description. Suffice it to say that it is 6 floors of anything and everything one might need. It is a combination hardware store, lumber yard, appliance store (I'm talking large appliances, too), mattress store, IKEA, shoe repair supply store (for do-it-yourselfers), book store, stationery store, home decor store, linen store, cosmetics store, clothing store, toy store, music store, cafeteria, lingerie store, and more. Even I was exhausted!! And very impressed! Monoprix, move over. BHV is now my favorite Paris store. One thing about all these stores I visit in Paris is that it is so interesting to look at everything that I end up not buying anything. (John, you can do your victory dance a bit more quietly!)
My favorite part of today, though, was our walk to the Place des Vosges (I have no idea what that means in English). We walked along a narrow street through the Marais district, where we're staying, and the street was lined with all sorts of neat shops. My favorite being, I think, the store selling instruments of years gone by (Instruments Musieaux Anciens). We went into a few clothing stores. European clothes are so interesting and fun. I'd love to buy some, but know they'd look pretty stupid and out of place in good ol' California.
The "Instruments of Old" store
In the Bastille area we saw a large restaurant called Indiana, with lettering on the window announcing, "Indiana Tex-Mex Restaurant." I think the French have their geography and culinary regions a bit mixed-up.
A very curious sight.
While I love the idea of Paris' public transit system and the fact that one can get anywhere in the city on the Metro (though it may take a number of train switches--"correspondences"), I definitely will not miss using the system. The Metro trains are hot and crowded. I feel like moo-ing when I'm in one. They are zippy and one never has to wait more than a minute or two for a train (unlike SF Muni), but they are a bit uncomfortable (like SF Muni). And when you have to switch trains, it seems like you have to walk as far underground as you would above ground to the next stop. Stairs, hallways, stairs, hallways, escalators, and more stairs. I feel like a gopher!
I spent the rest of the day resting my aching feet, reading one of the novels in our apartment's extensive book collection. I'm hoping the absence of social, visual, and mental stimulation will make my brain less foggy!
I will post the photos tomorrow.
A bientot!
