Cour de Rohan

Let's start this entry with a challenge.  Do you know what this street furniture is and what it was used for?  It's a little over 2 1/2  feet tall and we found it in a courtyard.  The answer will be at the end of this blog entry.

Yesterday we found a very interesting and beautiful courtyard, Cour de Rohan, in an old part of the city.  In fact, one end of the three connected courtyards opens onto the Cour du Commerce Saint-André where Procope, the oldest restaurant in Paris is located. Also in the Cour du Commerce is the building where Marat published his newspaper and Dr. Guillotine did his experiments to develop a "humane" way to practice capital punishment.  The Cour du Commerce is very busy and touristy, but we were more attracted by the very quiet Cour de Rohan, which we were fortunate enough to find unlocked.

Here are a few photos of the Cour de Rohan.

We also saw the oldest tree in Paris, located in Square Rene Viviani, not far from the famous English language bookstore, Shakespeare and Company.  As you can see, it's been through some difficult times.  It's supported on three sides, and the side showing in this photo has what appears to be a concrete patch.

We met our French teacher for a pleasant dinner last night at Leon de Bruxelles, a well-known mussels restaurant.  She returns to the U.S. tomorrow after a brief visit with her mother.  Here's a (slightly blurry) picture of my mussels Provencale.

And we completed our 10 Best Baguettes project by buying  baguettes from Boulangerie number 2 (and deservedly so) on the list.

So - have you figured out what the device in the first photo is?  It's called a "pas de mule" (not a mule) and was used to help mount a horse or get into a carriage.  The one in Cour de Rohan may be the last one remaining in Paris.

Yesterday's cheeses:  Beaufort de Chalet d'Arpage Arecle and Comte Fruite