http://eecoswitch.com/product/1800-series/ Getting our orange card weekly subway ticket for the week was a little harder than we expected. We went to three different stations and ticket booths before we found one open that sells them. They are trying to push the French to Navigo, so the stations in predominantly residential areas don’t sell the weekly pass. However, I did find a huge poster on the wall of the metro station at Etoile that says the weekly passes go on sale for the following week on Friday. And, you can buy a current weekly pass only up to Thursday.Weather is sunny and warm – so warm it was a Capri wearing day. The capris I hoped to wear on the barge, but they never left the suitcase.We completed the Ternes and Parc Monceau walk in our 30 walks in Paris book. The area we explored is essentially a 19th century Paris, quaint Art Nouveau buildings like the Ceramic Hotel, several buildings designed by Haussman, even a Russian Cathedral. We started out at Etoile, where the arc de Triomphe stands. This part of Paris is inhabited by lots of very chic, well-dressed, stylish people. And, me in capris!We went into the FNAC, a department store built in 1914 and now an electronic gadget store. They retained many original architectural elements of the stylish department store – but the interior is very modern. They did keep the stained glass around the skylight – thank goodness.
http://busingers.ca/concerts/j-s-bach-b-minor-mass/ 
Carte Orange – soon to be history
In Place des Ternes, we found a flower market – supposedly closed on Mondays, but open today. Eventually we wandered into Parc Monceau, a beautiful park filled with people on this sunny day. Many were local office workers, etc enjoying their lunch in the park. A few even had their computers on, using the park’s Wi-Fi. Even this late in the fall, the park’s flower beds were filled with color. Around the lake, with its colonnade of columns, lantana and fuschia were being grown as topiaries. Since the park was in high use today, park workers were emptying the trash receptacles just past lunch – an extra pick-up to keep the park clean.
We passed a fabulous lighting store at rue Poncelet and avenue de Wagram. The windows were filled with gorgeous old and new chandeliers and sconces. We had previously visited Musee Nissim Comondo and since it was closed today we passed it by. The Musee Jaquemart-Andre at 158 Boulevard Haussman near the Miromesnil metro stop was open – but only until 4 and since it was almost 3 we decided to enjoy it another day. It is reputed to have a wonderful art collection and fine pieces of furniture, tapestries and objets d’art. After a glass of wine in the sun, we hopped the metro back to the apartment, picked up our grocery list and went shopping at the ATAK around the corner using our new grocery trolley.
We decided to head to the Latin Quarter for dinner and check out the transfer situation from the RER C to the RER B at St-Michel as a possibility for our trip back to Charles de Gaulle. Too many steps….have to research another way! As we were sitting in the restaurant in the Latin Quarter waiting for our wood-fired pizza, we glanced at the menu and saw “penne alla arribiata,†bringing back memories of the e-mail link Paul sent with the Lego Deathstar and Darth Vader and a few chuckles as well.
