Since our plane from Geneva arrived late on Thursday evening, we slept in a bit. Martin, started the coffee and, then, went out to the bakery and came back to the apartment with croissants for all. Then, he slipped away for a haircut – French-style!
It took a while to get us motivated, showered, and presentable to the public…but we had reservations at La Cordonnerie for lunch. We walked to La Cordonnerie from the apartment to get our appetites going. There was a slight drizzle in the air – but it had definitely warmed up from when we left to head for Geneva. We had our usual seats at a table in the kitchen so we could watch and Hugo’s magic technique. After a divine leisurely lunch, full of simple, elegant flavors, we hopped the Metro to head up to Monmartre.
 The chicken and apricot special from Hugo at La Cordonnerie |
 Hugo's Salmon Special in Orange/Grapefruit Cream Sauce |
We strolled the souvenir shops along rue Steinkerque, the fabric and passementerie shops along rue St-Pierre, and headed up to Sacre-Coeur to take a gander at the city.
 Passementerie - silk and feathers |
 Sacre Coeur on a cloudy day |
 Hat stand busy with customers on a blustery day at the foot of the funicular going up to Sacre Coeur |
After visiting the basilica, we made our way down the hill and back aboard the Metro. After a stop or two, a group of four unruly, drunk young men got on the car in which we were seated and promptly started arguing among themselves. It appeared to be a fairly volatile situation. Unfortunately they disembarked when we did. We paused, let them get a head start, and exited the Metro.
We returned to the apartment, made a few purchases to round out our menu for dinner: another farmer’s salad, this time Paula’s interpretation. Before we set out shopping for ingredients, we started the laundry of bath towels. We diverted to a local bar when we enjoyed Happy Night – not hour – cocktails. Paula and I had French Kisses, Mike a White Lady, and Martin a Russian Mojito! While we were seated curbside, a trash truck rumbled down rue Montorgueil, passing a parked vehicle. Check out Facebook for photos! To miss the awning under which we were seated, the driver had to pull his mirror in. We looked up and there were big wheels and tires 3 inches from the table. Exciting!
And, we close with dinner......
Restaurants:
La Cordonnerie
20 rue Saint-Roch
11:00-3:00 7:00-10:00
Closed Saturday and Sunday
NY Times
