It's barely 9pm and Claude and I are digging into our desserts accompanied by our $1.92 wine (which is very good I might add)...chocolate tarte and a ball of raspberry surpreme sin (it is shaped like a breast with a berry on top!) and we have just finished looking at each other's photo shoot for the day.
We let ourselves sleep in today, which means we were up at 0730! Claude made the coffee a la boden press and prepared our croissants, yogurt, and fruit, and soon we were off walking the streets yet again. Today, however, we had metro passes and this enabled us to get to our destinations much faster.
Once again we passed through the Tuileries as we both really like it there.
Our plan was to make it to Montmartre which is IN Paris but quite a ways out, it features things like the Sacre Coeur, Le Moulin Rouge, and the market where 'Amelie' was filmed.
We ended up seeing the Sacre Coeur, getting a sandwich that couldn't be cut in half, watching two guys doing their ab work on park benches, and running away from artists begging you to let them paint them! We did make a stop in one of the cemetaries and saw 'cemetary cats' and to which Claude pointed out that they live in one of the graves! I even took a picure of the little eyes stairing out at us from the dark from crypt below!
Finally we walked away from the glitz of the hilltop and found ourselves enjoying the town below and we had to stop and take a rest at one of the side street cafe's for a glass of wine and a small bite to eat (peanuts).
Next stop, La Defense, which is nothing more than symbolism, as Claude says, to bring Nations together. Amongst all of Paris's sky scrapers here is this huge square monument in which a space ship-like canvas hangs. It is astronomical in size and appears to be a favorite hang out for all the business people having lunch. We even had an apple there.
After all of this excitement and it being Monday (all Museums closed) we decided to go to Jardin des Plantes and see some greenery.
The main garden itself is free but any interesting exhibit within these grounds costs you a pretty penny. However, we enjoyed the walk, the fresh air, and the beautifully manicured gardens. As we were walking I noticed a large statue which appeared to be featuring a battle of some kind between something large and somebody smaller. Claude pointed it out that the large figure was a bear fighting with a man. Sure enough, when we got up close, we both noticed it was indeed a great battle, the bear had a knife in his chest, and the man was battling to save his life, all the while tugging on a rope carrying a dying baby bear! The horror! And this statue is located right in the children's play area...I don't get it but it made for an interesting conversation.
On our way to go for supper on the island St-Louis we happen to meet the 'squirrel' lady. Denise L'Ecureuil happens to be from a long line of artists (her mother was a painter and her father was a scuptor) and her grandfather actually worked with Rodin! He left Rodin's workshop because the man had a horrible temper (Denise's words). Denise was born and raised and has lived in Paris for 83 years. She is a delightful youthful woman who was a keen talker and a great help on giving us some tips for visiting Paris. Her grandfather is a 'Dejean' and he has a statue near the modern museum. Claude and I plan on visiting this monument and we will try to find it near the four female statues.
After all of this it was finally time to eat and we scoured at least a dozen places to settle in on the right atmosphere with the right vibe to relax in. We found a spot at the end of a quiet street at a restaurant called 'Tres Or'.
Ahhhhh so good to wind down. Home for showers and out on the streets yet again for some croissants for tomorrow morning's breakfast and dessert for tonight.
Both Claude and I are very happy with our day, we marvel at how many wonderful things there are to see and how much time we have to do it in...and the two don't really add up...and for now we continue to pound the pavement, ride the metro, eat well, and enjoy the scenery as much as possible.
Here comes the pictures of today.
Dd
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