We woke to rain, cloudy skies, and cooler temperatures.\u00c2\u00a0 Since the apartment was scheduled for cleaning today, we had to vacate.\u00c2\u00a0 I showered, put the coffee on and went to the bakery to retrieve croissants.\u00c2\u00a0 After breakfast, we hopped the Metro to embark on another walk from our book \u00e2\u20ac\u201c even though it was raining.\u00c2\u00a0 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 \u00c2\u00bd hour, visited the Eglise Madeleine, the gourmet food establishments Hediard and Fauchon, strolled through Printemps and Galleries Lafayette on the Boulevard Haussman, around l\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Opera, to Place Vendome.\u00c2\u00a0 At Galleries Lafayette, we found Lampe Bergers on sale, including a scent labeled anti-mosquito!\u00c2\u00a0 The designer scents\/perfume were very heavy and they had many lampes not available in US, including a design in crystal by Lalique!\u00c2\u00a0 We stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant, hoping against hope for a light lunch.\u00c2\u00a0 We decided to forgo wine \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a good idea since the portions were more than we expected.<\/p>\n
We hopped the Metro again (actually the RER) and went to Les Halles.\u00c2\u00a0 We cruised the street market and browsed all the kitchen and restaurant supply stores along rue Monmartre.\u00c2\u00a0 We have been searching stores for double-action wine openers and at A Simon, we found them.\u00c2\u00a0 So we packed in a supply as souvenirs and gifts.\u00c2\u00a0 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Orsay.\u00c2\u00a0 We turned away from the river, walking toward St Germain de Pres.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 We decided to eat at home, hopped the Metro for the short ride home, and arrived to a clean apartment.<\/p>\n
We watched the last of the Presidential debates, caught up on the news, and made our plans for tomorrow\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We woke to rain, cloudy skies, and cooler temperatures.\u00c2\u00a0 Since the apartment was scheduled for cleaning today, we had to vacate.\u00c2\u00a0 I showered, put the coffee on and went to the bakery to retrieve croissants.\u00c2\u00a0 After breakfast, we hopped the … Continue reading