Les Halles Area

We got a late start today, so headed to the Bastille market to replenish our fruits and vegetables and then stopped for lunch.  Leon de Bruxelles is a Belgian chain restaurant specializing in mussels.  We had mussels au gratin with marinara sauce  and mussels au gratin with escargot.  The wines were Muscadet and Alsatian.

We brought our produce home, and then set out on a walking tour of the Les Halles area.  St. Eustache church is where Richelieu, Moliere, and Madame de Pompadour were baptized.  They have a Keith Haring altarpiece similar to one I saw at an Episcopalian church in San Francisco.

There is also a modern sculpture by a British artist showing the market vendors from the former Les Halles market packing up for the last time.

The market street Rue Montorgeuil still retains some of the flavor of the former market area.  Most of this area, however, has been converted to a huge mall.

The tower of Fearless John was built by a man who had murdered the king's brother and feared for his life.  He built the tower so he could sleep in a small chamber at the top while his guards slept below.

Today's cheeses:  Brie de Meaux, St. Marcellin and Epoisses

Belleville and the Search for the Best Baguette

We got a late start this morning, so stopped for lunch across the street from Pere Lachaise.  I forgot to take the photo until we were well into the lunch, so the plates aren't  as full as they should be.  We had salads again - Nicoise and warm goat cheese.

Today's walk is not from our book of walking tours, so was far less structured than the earlier walks.  We went up to Belleville, north of our apartment.  We expected to find a Chinatown, but there were actually many more Algerian, Tunisian, and Turkish restaurants than Asian.

We came across a graffiti covered sidestreet.

We also went to Parc de Belleville, which required a steep climb, but offered a good view of the city.  You can see the Eiffel Tower in the background of the photo below.

I like projects, so one of our projects on this trip is to eat a baguette from each of the top ten finishers of the 2011 Best Baguette in Paris contest.  Today we bought baguettes from numbers 8 and 9.

Today's cheeses:  raw milk Camembert, Brie de Melun, and Auvergne

Walking Tour of Upper Marais

Today's self-guided walking tour reversed the route in our book because we started at lunchtime and the planned lunch was near the end of the walk.  It began at the Square du Temple, an attractive park, and from there we went directly to Marché des Enfants Rouges (the Market of the Red Children) on the former site of an orphanage whose children wore red uniforms.  It's now a market that sells fruits, vegetables, and lots of prepared foods that can be consumed on the premises.

We bought from the Japanese vendor and had fried chicken and grilled sardine bento boxes.

The building housing the National Archives was built for a mistress of Louis XIV.  Very impressive!

Equally impressive is the Musée Carnavalet, the museum of the City of Paris.  It has a beautiful garden, and admission is free!

Here's an example of an old sign from the Rue Moufettard neighborhood.

We stopped at a cafe we'd visited several times in 2009 for dessert, coffee, and tea.  Our deserts were a Diplomat (a marble cake with Creme Anglaise) and Mille Feuille, layers of puff pastry filled with pastry cream and raspberries.  Delicious!

Note to self:  Don't walk these tours backwards.  Too confusing!

Walking Tour of Southern Marais Area

When we stopped to put some trash in the bins on our way out of the apartment this morning, I noticed this painting on the wall.

Today's walking tour began at the Paris City Hall and went into the southern part of the Marais, a very fashionable neighborhood with a large Jewish population.  The Hotel de Sens is one of the few surviving examples of domestic Gothic architecture.  It was built in the 15th century and owned by the Archbishop of Sens.  The left-hand gable still has a cannon ball lodged in it (very difficult to see in this photo, but trust me, I saw it).

There were some interesting courtyards and arcades near St. Paul Church.

We had a delicious lunch:  a Salade Nicoise and a Norwegian salad, with smoked salmon.  The wines were Sancerre and Chablis.

We stopped at Laricol, a pastry and candy shop on Rue de Rivoli.  We bought a Breton pastry called Kouign Amann and some candy.  I expect a delicious dessert tonight.

Today's Cheeses:  Brie de Meaux and Reblochon

Sunday Market

The Bastille Market is open on Thursdays and Sundays and is one of our favorites because of the chicken crapaudine.

It's a butterflied rotisserie chicken.   It comes with potatoes cooked at the bottom of the rotisserie grill that have been flavored with the salty chicken drippings.

We also bought cheese, bread and grape tomatoes.

Here are a few more photos from the market:

Our apartment is on Rue Servan, not too far from Pere Lachaise Cemetery.  This morning we noticed that the street signs had the dates 1737 - 1807 and the word "criminalist."  Apparently Monsieur Servan was a criminologist.

Today's cheeses:  Epoisses and Morbier

First Full Day in Paris

Finally, a complete night's sleep!  What an improvement in disposition!   We walked to Place de la Republique to renew our Passe Navigo cards.  These cards give us transportation on the subway and busses for the entire month.  The cost is 62 euros (about $90).

We then took the Metro to d'Aligre market, a large street market.  We stopped at a bistro for lunch.  Charcuterie (meats) and cheeses and wine.  Delicious!

After lunch we bought some vegetables, grapes, and bread, and then walked back to the apartment.

Our September Apartment

After a long sleep-deprived night on an airplane, we arrived at Charles DeGaulle airport and took public transportation to our apartment near Pere Lachaise Cemetery.  The apartment is small, but comfortable.  Here's the living room.

The kitchen is tiny but adequately (not lavishly) furnished.  No bread knife!  What's up with that?  This is Paris, for Pete's sake.

As in many French apartments, the toilet is in a tiny cabine by itself.  Not for the claustrophobic - or the long-legged.

The bedroom has a queen sized bed and built-in cupboards.

I think we'll be very comfortable here.

Now it's off to activate our Passe Navigo for unlimited Métro transportation and to a market for fruits and vegetables.