Casal di Principe We woke to rain, cloudy skies, and cooler temperatures. Since the apartment was scheduled for cleaning today, we had to vacate. I showered, put the coffee on and went to the bakery to retrieve croissants. After breakfast, we hopped the Metro to embark on another walk from our book – even though it was raining. It started at Assemblee National, the former Palace of the Bourbons, crossed the Seine, through the Place Concorde (where the fountains appear to run at full throttle every ½ hour, visited the Eglise Madeleine, the gourmet food establishments Hediard and Fauchon, strolled through Printemps and Galleries Lafayette on the Boulevard Haussman, around l’Opera, to Place Vendome. At Galleries Lafayette, we found Lampe Bergers on sale, including a scent labeled anti-mosquito! The designer scents/perfume were very heavy and they had many lampes not available in US, including a design in crystal by Lalique! We stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant, hoping against hope for a light lunch. We decided to forgo wine – a good idea since the portions were more than we expected.
http://partnershipforcoastalwatersheds.org/is_3 We hopped the Metro again (actually the RER) and went to Les Halles. We cruised the street market and browsed all the kitchen and restaurant supply stores along rue Monmartre. We have been searching stores for double-action wine openers and at A Simon, we found them. So we packed in a supply as souvenirs and gifts. By the time our shopping was over, the skies had brightened, sprinkles stopped, weather had warmed, so we walked from Les Halles, past E Delliheran, down rue de Louvre, to the Seine, along the Seine to the pedestrian bridge (pont des arts) along the Quai to the Musee D’Orsay. We turned away from the river, walking toward St Germain de Pres. Along the way, we passed an AGA cooker store with a wide range of offerings, including a gas range top on an AGA oven in a wide range of colors including the very trendy lavender. We continued our walk to Invalides to check out a restaurant at 16 Avenue de Motte Piquet. We decided to eat at home, hopped the Metro for the short ride home, and arrived to a clean apartment.
We watched the last of the Presidential debates, caught up on the news, and made our plans for tomorrow…..
